It’s Labor Day.

I should be focused on savoring the last of the good summer tomatoes and Silver Queen corn-on-the-cob. But weeks ago, during a string of 100-degree days, my belly’s compass inexplicably started pointing towards comfort foods – pot pie, homemade bread, maple-oatmeal scones and big mugs of chai.

And I got tired of fighting it.

Because once you start dreaming of big, bubbly dishes of soul-hugging macaroni and cheese, an arugula salad just won’t cut it.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

In just a few hours, we’ll be kicking off Labor Day weekend.

I had a long list of things I wanted to get done, but that was so misguided. This is the last three-day weekend until Thanksgiving! Time to hang out with friends, fire up the grill, go to the lake, throw a tailgate party or have one last summer picnic. Or get sucked into a marathon of “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.” Don’t you judge me! Those L&O marathons are powerful.

I’m not sure what adventure this weekend will bring, but I know it will include a batch of Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies. You make a simple chocolate brownie batter and a peanut filling, layer the two in a baking pan, and swirl them with a butter knife. I should have taken a photo of the pretty swirly top,  but when the brownies were cool enough to slice and eat, I totally did.

Any weekend that starts with this rich, fudgy, peanut-buttery goodness is destined for greatness. And a very tall glass of milk.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

Technically, Summer won’t be over for a few weeks, but Labor Day weekend is traditionally the Last Call. It’s when we walk over to the bar, tap Summer on the shoulder, and tell him that he doesn’t have to go home, but he can’t stay here.

Then, we belly up to the bar to share one more weekend of cookouts, picnics, pool parties and general debauchery.

Here are 10 menus full of ideas for your Labor Day weekend. So, try something new! Grill a pizza. Make one more batch of ice cream. Eat cobbler for breakfast. Give Summer his last dance.

We’ll be trading the swimsuits for sweaters soon enough.

Eat. Pray. Layer.

So, what are you making?

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

Last weekend, my nephew Jack announced that he wanted to see the Great Balls of China.

A little switch makes a big difference.

Take this Provencal Tomato, Olive and Goat Cheese Galette. At first glance, it looks like a pizza. But it’s actually a free-form tart piled high with sliced Roma tomatoes, black olives, crumbled goat cheese and onions sautéed with garlic and herbs. That might not sound like a huge difference, but the pie pastry is impossibly flaky, so when you cut into it with your fork, it shatters, and all of the toppings that were barely contained anyway just start tumbling down into this beautiful mess of buttery crust and bright, summery flavors.

The recipe says it’s eight servings, but my belly says four.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

“Dude. Seriously? Don’t even try it. Just buy the can.”

My sister was less than enthusiastic when I told her I was working on a recipe for homemade Sloppy Joes. She’d tried a few copycat recipes for the canned mix. And really, really hated them.

So, I looked up the ones she’d tried, jotted down some notes and decided on a few things. Namely, I didn’t want green or red peppers in my sloppy joes. It’s a texture thing. And I didn’t want to replace the canned mix with ketchup. I know that not all ketchups are created equally, but the one in my fridge contains high fructose corn syrup and other amazing feats of science. So does my favorite canned sloppy joe mix. Why trade one for the other? For me, the point of making sloppy joes from scratch was to avoid any man-made nutritional grenades.

(Butter and brown sugar don’t count, because they are surely of The Lord. Testify!)

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

There’s no such thing as a bad grilled cheese sandwich.

Think about your mom’s grilled cheese. It was probably made with the cheapest, whitest bread she could get her hands on and a few slices of “American pasteurized prepared cheese product.” The filling was gooey. The bread was crisp and buttery. Even when it came out a little blackened, you’d just scrape it with a butter knife and keep eating. Manna from heaven.

When you love something that much, you never lose your soft spot for it. But you might want something slightly more sophisticated than white bread and imitation cheese. A grilled cheese for grown-ups.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

It’s always happens around this time of year.

When the store aisles are bulging with shiny school supplies and the leaves are just threatening to turn, I’ll glance at the calendar and think to myself, Oh, crap.

Of course, I’m looking forward to the next four months. Pie-baking, tailgating, merrymaking–what’s not to like? But it’s about this time I remember those New Year’s resolutions I made when I was ready to kick ass and take names. Back before it got too hot. And now it’s almost September, and those asses and names are still dangling around the cosmos, still waiting to be kicked and taken.

If we’re going to do some ass-kicking this year, it’s time to lace up our shoes. And I can’t think of a better breakfast to jump start the kicking than this Magical Breakfast Blaster Smoothie.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

Doesn’t this apron make you want to bake pies?

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was stocking an Ezra Pound Cake online store with fun products made by small businesses, and this is the first item: Flirty Aprons’ Very Cherry Original Apron.

Most aprons are theoretically one-size-fits-all, but this is the rare case where that’s actually true. It’s cut to be curve-friendly, and I love that it ties at the neck and has extra-long ties at the waist, so you can adjust the “belt” to suit your body type.

It’s also really nice to have an apron with pockets. They’re deep enough to hold a cell phone, a pen and a small notebook, a flask. Whatever small item you need at the ready.

The perfect apron for frosting cupcakes, hosting your next “Mad Men” party or acting out your sexy housewife fantasy. Own it!

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

You know that feeling you get after you’ve had your heart broken and then you meet someone new, and suddenly it feels like every cell in your body is waking up?

Something about this ice cream reminds me of that.

Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the rich, lemony cheesecake flavor (which I will forever associate with post-breakup rituals, thanks to “The Golden Girls”) against all of those ripe, sweet, promising berries. But then there’s also the addictive crunch of the graham cracker crumble. And that dreamy ribbon of strawberry sauce.

This is ice cream worth shaving your legs for. And you don’t even need a candy thermometer.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

I come from a hot pudding family. Mama always served it as hot as we could stand it, but I’m sure that was more of a mental health strategy than a culinary choice. From the time we got that first whiff of chocolate coming from the pot on the stove, my sister and I would buzz around the kitchen emitting a high-frequency tone inaudible to people over 30. We were relentless. Excited. Maybe a little scary. Hence the bowls of scalding-hot pudding.

Mama needed some relief.

© 2010 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.