One of the things my husband and I try to do every Lenten season is give up meat. Well, as much meat as possible. We love salads, of course, and a our fresh tomato and cheese sandwiches are particularly satisfying, but when we want something with a little more heft, we turn to potatoes. Baked potatoes.

My usual baked potato features a very generous amount of crispy bacon bits (the real stuff, mind you- none of that bottled capsicum “bacon”), but for Lent we do without. And you know what? The baked potatoes are still awesome. I’m convinced it’s the sour cream and chives- one of the best combinations in the world.

Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream & Chives
Serves 4, or 2 very hungry people

4 large russet potatoes
vegetable oil (Canola or Sunflower)
Kosher salt
For topping:
good butter, salted
sour cream
chives, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash potatoes well with a brush or scrubber under cold running water. Wipe gently with an absorbent cloth until dry.

Poke around 8 deep holes on each potato, using a good sturdy fork. I use a regular table fork. Coat lightly with vegetable oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, and put on a baking sheet. Bake around an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, or until the flesh beneath the skin feels soft.

Serve immediately with some good butter, sour cream and chives. If you like, wrap the potatoes in foil first- this helps prevent the skin from shriveling too much.

On some days, it feels like the height of summer here. On those days, much as I love my usual comfort food of stews and roasts, all I want is a sandwich. A good, filling sandwich made with crispy fresh organic lettuce, juicy red tomato slices, and cool, creamy mayonnaise. A sandwich like this one: my homemade Bacon Lettuce & Tomato sandwich, otherwise known as the BLT.

Because however hot it gets, I always love bacon.

I’m fine with just this sandwich and a tall glass of water, but some people like adding sides to this delicious meal. My mom absolutely must have a small pile of barbecue Kettle chips, and my husband likes a crunchy kosher pickle to nibble on between bites.

Whichever way you want to have this sandwich, I urge you to have it. It’s perfection in a sandwich.

Homemade Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Sandwiches
Serves 2

4 slices good bread. Whole wheat is fine, but I prefer brioche (who doesn’t?)
6 slices thick bacon. Turkey is fine. Pepper bacon is awesome. So is regular smoked bacon. I could go on, you know.
Fresh lettuce, washed and spun-dried
Fresh red tomato, thickly sliced
Cheese slices. Optional. I LOVE provolone on this, but anything that you prefer. Or none at all.
Good mayonnaise. Hellmann’s/Best Foods has my heart.

Cook bacon over LOW heat. You want it crispy but not charred, with a little bit of chewiness in there. Set aside.
Lightly toast bread slices.
For each sandwich (this recipe makes two): Spread one piece of bread with mayonnaise. On the other slice of bread, make layers like so: Bacon, Tomato, Cheese, Lettuce. Top with mayonnaised slice of bread. Repeat for other sandwich.

Many of my friends are hot-sauce fanatics. The ones who seem to add it to everything, whose pizza slices are always almost completely red from way more than a dash of the stuff, who are happiest when their eyes are watering from the fire in their mouths. I’ve never been one of them.

But. Tonight the husband made a batch of homemade hot sauce. He used the freshest, most gorgeous chili peppers- at least 3 different varieties- and lots of plump garlic, and a bunch of other things (I had to leave the kitchen, my eyes were stinging too much). The point is, because he used all fresh, all beautiful ingredients, the hot sauce was like none I’d ever had before. It was delicious.

For the true test, of course, we ordered a plain cheese pizza for dinner. I compared the homemade hot sauce with three of my usual pizza hot sauce toppings: a jalapeño sauce, a green pepper sauce, and a sriracha. And there was no question: the homemade sauce beat all of them by a mile. Fruitier, sweeter, hotter, bolder, rounder… everything about it was “-er”.

So if you’re even thinking of making your own hot sauce, I’m here to say: do it. Start with the freshest chilies you can find, plug your blender in, and go to town. Here, some links to making your own hot sauce at home:

• Emeril’s Red Hot Sauce Recipe
• EHow to make homemade hot sauce (never mind that the photo looks more like salsa!)
• Pepperfool’s List of Recipes

According to The Free Dictionary, the expression “stick to one’s ribs” refers to food that will “last long and fortify one well”. The example sentence they give is “I don’t want just a salad! I want something that will stick to my ribs.”- something I agree with very often. In a perfect world, all meals will fortify you well.

These barbecued ribs are such a meal. Yes, they’re mostly bone, but as any rib-aficionado knows, it’s the meat next to those bones that are stunningly delicious. Moist, succulent, and tasty.

Stick to Your Ribs Barbecued Ribs

Ingredients
6 lbs pork spareribs (or pork babyback ribs)
1 28-oz can chunky tomato sauce (or you can use some tomato sauce and a can of good chopped tomatoes)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I’ve used either chinese or japanese- they’re both good)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder (may be substituted with 3 crushed cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients (except the ribs, naturally) together in a large bowl. Slather over the ribs. Now, depending on how you want to cook this, you can either:
- Put it into a crock-pot, cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, OR
- Fire up the grill, and barbecue these babies.

Note that there isn’t anything ladylike about this dish- enjoying it requires a good amount of paper napkins, after all- but if you want ladylike, have a salad.

Once in a while, though, I just want something good and sweet and quick, something that’ll make the house smell like cinnamon, and be heavenly with a cup of coffee. These churros are just that. Fried batter rolled in sugar- how much simpler can you get?

Yes, you have to deep-fry them. If you have a deep fryer, all the better, but I’ve never needed one, and I swear that these churros are easy to make- as long as you’re careful, and take the usual precautions when deep frying.

Cinnamon Churros

A cup of water
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 whole eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

First, mix the white sugar and cinnamon in a dish. Set this aside. Then, start your oil: in a deep frying pan, heat about two inches of oil to 375 degrees.

In a separate pan, mix together the water, brown sugar, salt and butter, and bring to a boil- you want everything melted, but watch it, you’re not making caramel here. Turn off the heat, and add the flour, stirring it well into the mixture. Add the eggs and vanilla, making sure not to cook the eggs (add them slowly), and stirring well until good and blended.

Prepare a piping bag with a large star tip (or a sturdy freezer bag with one of the corners cut off). This is how you’ll pipe your churros- place your batter into it now. When your oil is hot enough, pipe some of the dough into it, around four to five inches long. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Now work quickly. You should be able to do four or five churros at once- they only need around two minutes in the oil… remove them when they’re golden brown to a plate covered with paper towels. While they’re still warm, roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated.

Serve immediately with some good hot chocolate (the thicker the better), or a cup of dark-roast coffee.