There are nights when I could happily eat crackers and dip for dinner.  In fact, I am ridiculously partial to a certain eggplant recipe that I haven’t posted to this website because I’ve never managed to take a good photograph of it.  This, on the other hand, I think I did fairly well with.

And I know it’s a little 80’s retro, but I loved these as little hors d’oeuvres at the beginning of a party.  Easy to make for a crowd, and hearty enough to take the edge off without spoiling anyone’s appetites.  They’re easy, can be made in advance and left out at room temperature, and ridiculously good.  Try eating just one — good luck.

Also, the winner of the Max Brenner book is Natalie (who, incidentally, chose “oreo truffles” as her favorite chocolate creation — those sound awesome)!  I’ll be emailing later today for your address.  For everyone who didn’t win, you can buy the book here!

Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp olive oil
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
4 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped chives

DIRECTIONS

Roast the garlic at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Put roasted garlic, oil, beans, and lemon juice into a food processor. Puree until smooth, then add the chives and pulse 4-5 times. Serve warm or cold with bread, or pipe onto crackers. Garnish with additional chopped chives.

Maybe it’s because my formative years were during the age of Nirvana and Reality Bites, but there is something about a flannel shirt that makes you want to live in it.  So I am thrilled — seriously, thrilled — that these are back in style.  Does it get any easier than throwing on some leggings and a flannel shirt?  And somehow that comes out trendy?  Amazing.

From top left, clockwise:  Joie Gemini Belted Shirtdress, $162 from Nordstrom, available here;  Abercrombie & Fitch Ashley Shirt, $58 available here; Vince Plaid Shirt, $195 from Bergdorf Goodman, available here; Elizabeth and James Laurent Plaid Shirt, $225 from Shopbop, available here.

No, it’s not my love story (although I think every one of us has a love story with chocolate buried somewhere in our past).

It’s Max Brenner’s.  For those of you who don’t know, Max Brenner is the most amazing restaurant in New York for dessert-o-philes.  Their dessert menu is, I am fairly sure, at least 30 pages long, and consists of amazing creations like chocolate pizza, chocolate waffles, fondue, s’mores, and a zillion different versions of hot chocolate.  Help — I think I am actually gaining weight just by typing this out.

So, when the company offered me a copy of their book (full disclosure: for free!), I immediately thought of you guys.  As in, “can I give one of my lucky readers a copy of this amazing book?”

Because who doesn’t want to learn how to make chocolate pizza?

Fortunately, the answer was yes, so one winner will be getting a copy of this book as well!  (Only residents of the US and Canada this time — sorry!)   To enter, leave a comment telling me your favorite chocolate creation.  I’ll announce the winner a week from today — good luck!

One of these dresses is $318, the other is $22.80.

But which is which?

Leave your guess in the comments, and I’ll announce the answer later this week!

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Update:  Over half of you guessed correctly, but this seemed to be a tough call!  The one on the left is $318, from BCBG, available here, and the one on the right is $22.80, from Forever 21, available here.  Enjoy!

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When I was in college, I had major problems with insomnia. Not an occasional night of being unable to sleep, but weeks on end where I would be studying or reading, and suddenly it was 4 o’clock in the morning and I wasn’t even tired. Or I would get into bed at an oh-so-reasonable hour for a 19- or 20-year old, and lie there, awake, for hours.  My Type-A, hyperproductive friends would smile knowingly when I’d explain that I literally did not sleep, but it wasn’t about bragging rights — it was frustrating, exhausting, and I would have done almost anything to fix it.

Recently, and I’m not sure why, these problems have resurfaced. After an easy year of falling asleep easily the moment I hit the bed, I find myself wandering out into our kitchen at 2 or 3 am, looking for that midnight snack or snippet of television that will signal to my body that the day is over.

And that’s partially how I conceived of this recipe.  It started out as scones, which are a breakfast food, but to me, this recipe is a bedtime snack.  Savory and rich without being too heavy, a little wedge of this is enough to compel the most reluctant sleeper.  Which is not to say that it shouldn’t be used for breakfast — or, frankly, as an appetizer at dinner.  But after a long day when you want nothing more than to close your eyes, this is comfort food at it’s best.

Night, everyone.

Cheddar Biscuit Bread

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold butter, diced
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated, plus an additional 1/2 cup grated cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Combine the flour with the baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, fork or two knives, until the butter bits are pea sized.

Lightly beat two of the eggs and mix them with the buttermilk, then add the mixture to the rest of the ingredients above. Using a wooden spoon, mix until the dough begins to come together. Add the grated cheddar and mix until everything is incorporated.

Place the dough in a cake pan, and sprinkle additional cheddar cheese on top. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown, and serve.

Last year, I obtained my first evening bag that was not borrowed from my mother.  It’s simple black satin with a gold clasp and cost about $100.  That translates to about $1 each time I use it, because I carry it all the time.  With jeans, with dresses, to dinners, to parties, to weddings.

A good clutch is one of the more versatile items you can own, and there are lots of great options this season.  If you don’t have a go-to clutch, think about picking up one of these:

From top to bottom: Patent Envelope Clutch, $12.80 from Forever 21, available here; Metallic Derby Clutch, $69.50 from J. Crew, available here;  Audrey Bag, $765 from Stuart Weitzman, available here; Berkley Patent Leather Clutch, $198 from Michael Kors, available here.

Sometimes, the simplest meals are the best.  Bread and cheese is one of those examples, and this sandwich is only a slight step beyond that.  Perfect for lunch on a day where it’s just starting to get chilly and you want something warm and hearty that you don’t have to slave all day over.  And there’s something a little more special about paninis, compared to plain old turkey sandwiches.

The New York City marathon is in a few more weeks, and although I’m not running this year, just thinking about it makes me remember all the days of turkey salads and turkey sandwiches I ate when my vegetarian diet wasn’t cutting it.  I still eat mostly vegetarian dishes now, as I’m sure you can tell from reading this site, but I have a soft spot in my heart for all those turkey lunches.  And good luck to everyone who is running this year!

Also, in case anyone has been having trouble finding old recipes, I have *finally* updates the archives!  So check out all my old recipes here, or old style posts here.  If there’s something you’ve been trying to find and couldn’t do it using the search function, try there.

Turkey, Tomato and Brie Panini

INGREDIENTS
2 large ciabatta rolls
1/4 pound turkey
4 ounces brie cheese, sliced
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
Olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Slice the ciabatta roll in half and fill with the tomatoes, brie and turkey.  Brush olive oil over the top and bottom of the sandwich, and grill in a panini press for about five minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the tops are marked.  Cut in half, and serve.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

I had this paired with a cardigan originally, but let’s be serious:  When you are embracing the animal prints trend, you can’t really hold back.

Or maybe you can.  That’s what I like about it this season — you can go all out with a leopard print dress, or something totally understated like a small clutch or shoes.  And since it’s in style, you get an auto-pass (within reason) out of the “tasteless” label.  So have some fun — you know it’s going to be another 30 years before you can wear this trend with immunity again!

Last week, my post on leather jackets took a little bit of heat because I didn’t include any moderately priced options.  That’s fair — I didn’t.  It’s because I don’t think a leather jacket is a great piece to be cost-conscious with — as I said in the comments, cheap leather is obviously cheap, and at some point it’s just a waste of money.  (And seriously: the Gap has a leather jacket for $300 — it’s just not a cheap thing to make!).

But this trend is a great one to pick a more affordable version of.   The most expensive item I’m featuring is around $100, and there are plenty of cute pieces in the $30-50 range.

So many, in fact, that I couldn’t come close to including all of them in this post.  But, from top left, below, my favorites are:

1) Leopard Print Ballet Flats, $125 from J Crew, available here;

2) Mossimo Supply Co. Odell Ballet Flats in Cheetah, $12.99 from Target, available here;

3) Leopard Cross-Body Bag, $60 from TopShop, available here;

4) My pick, Silk Leopard Top by Rebecca Taylor, $109 at Saks, available here;

5) Animal Print Combo Dress by Aqua, $62.40 at Bloomingdales, available here;

6) Marlo-Print Top by Ella Moss, $87 at Saks, available here.

The first night I made this, I meant to eat something else for dinner.  Or at least, something in addition to this.  But after that first, delicious eggplant-tomato-onion-garlicy bite, I was smitten.  So smitten, in fact, that I spent the next hour sopping up every last bit of this recipe.  (Yes, all by myself.  Do you have a problem with that?)

Caponata is great on its own, but this takes it to a whole new level.  I love eggplant, but it’s hard to use in recipes without losing any healthiness for the dish — it soaks up oil faster than you can add it to the pan, so it’s easy to overdo.  My solution is to start the caponata with the eggplant cooking in water with garlic and onions, and add the oil only after the eggplant has cooked — enough so it cooks into the caponata (and will blend in even better if you let it sit for a day or two), without making this fresh, healthy dinner into something to feel guilty about.

Eggplants are in season here now, so they should be readily available.  This recipe is, seriously, shockingly good — and I bet you can resist it about as well as I could.  Or, well, couldn’t.

Eggplant Caponata

INGREDIENTS
1 large onion, diced
2 medium eggplants, diced
4 large cloves of garlic
Water, as much as needed
4 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt
Ground pepper
1 baguette, sliced and toasted

DIRECTIONS
In a large saute pan, over medium heat, add the onions, garlic, eggplant and 1 cup of water on high heat, along with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook until the eggplant has softened, adding more water when necessary so the mixture doesn’t dry out. When the eggplant has absorbed enough water to be soft and well-cooked, add the tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, along with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Lower the heat and simmer the mixture for 10 more minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, and then serve with the toasted baguette slices.

Serves 4.

Leather jackets have hit New York City in waves this season.  We’ve had several consecutive days of chilly October weather, and literally everywhere you turn on the streets is a girl in a leather jacket.  It was only a matter of time (lemming that I am) until I bought one too.

But I will admit, my particular fascination, and probably the tipping point that made me buy this leather jacket, is the detachable hood that Quotation has so brilliantly zippered into this jacket.  Because a few weeks ago, I watched Adventureland for the first time.  As some of you will recognize, the top two pictures above are from the final scene of that movie — and watching it, I couldn’t help but get distracted by what a cool, layered look Kristen Stewart’s character had accomplished (it was particularly notable in a movie full of awesome 1987 monstrosity outfits).  So, when I started looking for jackets, I had this outfit in mind.

And I think someone at Quotation had seen Adventureland as well, because this jacket is as close as I could find to that outfit (and frankly, I’m not sure I would have wanted the hoodie to be blue).  So I consider this a success: now I just have to do the same for all the outfits on Gossip Girl this season.

But in case you don’t want the hoodie/punk leather jacket look, I’ve collected a few other great examples of gorgeous jackets this season.  Below, from top left, clockwise:  Draped Leather Jacket from Loeffler Randall, $765 at Intermix; Gusset Leather Jacket by Alice & Olivia, $697 at Shopbop; Ruffled Leather Jacket by Diane von Furstenberg, $895 at Saks; Fringed Leather Jacket by iilia, $605 at Bloomingdales.

Or if you want mine, it’s Quotation: Doma from Bloomingdales, available here.