Ice Cider Cocktail with Spicy Chile Apple Chips

Here is a random list of things that you will never find on the dinner table at Casa Trix: apple pie, apple sauce, apple strudel, apple dumplings, apple cake, caramel covered apples ... Sensing a pattern here? Yes, it's true: While everyone else in my hemisphere is busy extolling the virtues of freshly-picked autumn apples and scheming ways to stuff them into everything from pastry crusts to pork tenderloin, I am left somewhat cold.  It's not that I hate them - I just don't get all worked up about them. For me, the very idea of apples elicits a resounding "meh."

So you can imagine my initial blankness when the theme of the September 5 Star Makeover - hosted as always by Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks - was announced. Apples. Oh my.

Chicken Soup with Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Fish Peppers, & Lime

I will spare you the whole (seemingly) obligatory preamble about how there's an autumn chill in the air and it's got me thinking cozy thoughts about soup and blankets and roaring fires and blah, blah, blah.  Besides, there is no weather that is inhospitable to even the hottest of soups, in my humble opinion. This one, for instance, is inspired by a caldo de pavo that I had at a Yucatecan restaurant, Coox Hanal,  on a warm day in Mexico City. It featured one of the things I love so much about many Mexican dishes: the unabashed use of limes.

Frida Kahlo's Pueblan Mole Recipe

One of my favorite non-food related experiences in Mexico City was my visit to the Frida Kahlo museum in Coyoacan. It's actually her family home where she lived with Diego Rivera, and it's filled with beauty, books, and traditional pre-Hispanic Mexican arts and crafts - a stunning example of the merging of art and life.

Take Me Out To (Eat At) the Ballgame

The awesomeness that is bacon on a stick

The last place anyone would probably expect to find me is in a place where sports - particularly team sports - are played. I simply cannot get excited about cheering for a bunch of guys just because they happen to be wearing the right uniform.

That said, I will go just about anywhere to have a food adventure. And so when I was invited to take part in the Foodie Tour at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, I put all my sports ennui aside and threw myself into the spirit of the thing.

Curry Leaf-Infused Lime Curd Tartlets with Cardamom Rose Whipped Cream and Candied Curry Leaves, in a Coconut Almond Crust

"Yes, that's it," said the Hatter with a sigh. "It's always tea time . . . "

                                                        --Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

As soon as I found out that the theme for this month's Five Star Makeover - hosted as ever by our fearless leaders Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks - was to be a variation on a dish one might find at high tea, I knew that I wanted to incorporate Indian flavors somehow. After all, Indian cuisine has become an integral part of food culture in England, and I thought it would be fun to reference it in such an old British tradition as high tea.

My regular readers are no doubt aware that I almost always choose to make (and eat) savory over sweet, so I though I'd play against type and do something sweet for high tea. And so these curry leaf-infused lime curd tartlets with cardamom rose whipped cream and candied curry leaves were born.

A South African Wine Journey: Five Course Pairing Dinner at the Explorer's Lounge at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court

When you write about food for a living, many of the tastings and multi-course pairing dinners and cocktails and nibbles - even the best ones -  eventually blend into one another. The nuances and intensity of the flavors gradually fade from sense memory.

I love the rare exceptions to this phenomenon.

As Poppa Trix (who took all of these lovely shots) and I ate and drank our way through a recent five-course wine pairing dinner at the Explorer's Lounge at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court in Baltimore, I knew that this was one of those special meals that would stick with me for a very long time.

Potent Pairings: Seared Duck Breast and Blueberry Sage Sauce with Mezcal Anejo

Pairing liquor with food can be tricky: high-test alcohol has the potential to overwhelm the palate and obliterate the flavors of the food. But it can be done, as long as the dish is bold enough to stand up to the boozy beverage while simultaneously harmonizing with it.

Fresh October Bean Chili with Bacon & Booze

Okay, Texans, I already know what you're thinking: This chili contains beans and tomatoes. Therefore, according to Texas chili orthodoxy, it is not actually chili at all, but rather an abomination. I don't want to hear it. I have, in fact, made a proper Texas Red right here on this very blog. It had beef and chiles and spices and that's about it. It was thick and smoky and stick-to-your-ribs fabulous. But this bean-packed chili is fabulous in its own way as well. If it offends you, however, I suggest thinking of it as a really, really thick bean soup.

Summer Tomato, Eggplant, & Herb Gratin

There are plenty of summer gratin recipes out there, all fighting for your attention. So what makes this one so special? Well, for one thing, it's pretty. (If I do say so myself.) For another, unlike some of its heavier cousins, it's not a cheese-laden calorie bomb. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not what I want on a hot day.

Mini Barley Flatbreads with Tomato Confit & Homemade Farmer's Cheese: Cretan Dakos, with a Difference, for the 5 Star Makeover Greek Mezze Challenge

This theme for this month's 5 Star Makeover Challenge - hosted as always by the lovely and talented Natasha of Five Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks - is Greek mezze, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I don't know about what it's like in your neck of the woods, but where I live it is hot and sticky as Hades, and light bites are just about all I want to make, or eat.