It has been ages since I last posted…hmmm, what can I blame? Work? Junior League? Being five months pregnant? The weather? Band practice? Trying to organize the house? Oh well, better late than never is my motto for many things!

I just made this to-die-for dessert last weekend for a special girls’ lunch, where my “Baby Council” offered up tons of great advice and stories to prepare me for baby’s anticipated arrival in August. And surprisingly, I am not terribly overwhelmed.

This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa and her book, Barefoot in Paris. It was divine and one of the easiest desserts you can make a day or two in advance of serving it. I call it  “Dome à la Creme” as I used a  7″ sieve and can’t be bothered with buying a special heart-shaped mold. I recommend you do the same. The sauce makes a lot so if necessary, you could cut it in half. Also, to double this recipe, which is easy, don’t double the ingredients, just make two domes. I don’t know about other Barefoot Contessa fans but just about everything of hers I make turns out delightful. And I can’t help being totally envious of her Hamptons lifestyle.

Coeur à la Crème with Raspberries

- 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I used Trader Joe’s, do not use low or non fat cream cheese)

- 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

- 2 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used Trader Joe’s bourbon vanilla extract)

- 1/4 tsp grated lemon zest

- Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (again, from Trader Joe’s)

-Raspberry sauce (recipe follows)

- 1 pint fresh raspberries, washed and dried

Place the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high for 2 minutes. Scrape down the beater and bowl with a rubber spatula and change the beater for the whisk attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the heavy cream, vanilla, lemon zest and vanilla seeds and beat on high until the mixture is very thick, like whipped cream.

Line a 7″ sieve with cheesecloth (I used unbleached) so the ends drape over the sides and place it in a bowl so there is space between the bottom of the sieve and the bowl for the liquid to drain (about 1″). Pour the cream mixture into the cheesecloth, fold the ends over the top, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, discard the liquid, unmold the cream onto a plate and drizzle raspberry sauce around the base. Serve with raspberries and extra sauce. Alternatively, slice pieces, drizzle with sauce and scatter with raspberries.

Raspberry Sauce

- 1 half-pint fresh raspberries, washed and dried

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 cup (12 ounces) seedless raspberry jam

- 1 Tbsp framboise liqueur (I used kirsch)

Place the raspberries, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam and the liqueur into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth. Chill.

Thanksgiving to me is…mismatched chairs. A dining table extended by a card table, with an uneven break between the two. No elbow or leg room. Days spent planning which delicious dishes to make. Surrounded by family, friends, food and fun. It’s my absolute favorite holiday of the year.

For the past 20 years (give or take a few), we have celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents’ house in Augusta, GA. Our table each year includes the same group of friends, who are really considered family at this point. Spouses and children have joined the gang in the past ten years. Guests arrive around 6:30pm and dinner is served at 8:00pm. Nobody in this household sees the point of waking up at 6:00am to begin cooking.

There is a clear division of labor for our Thanksgiving prep. My mother is the executive chef. Mom oversees everything, tasting and adjusting along the way and giving the final stamp of approval. She is a terrific baker and usually bakes a pumpkin pie with the flakiest pie crust. My brother, Birju, roasts the turkey and makes the gravy and helps with the mashed potatoes, discovering a new turkey recipe and testing the latest, tastiest turkey technique. I make sides: sweet and spicy yams, savory Brussels sprouts, buttery mashed potatoes and a killer cheddar-jalapeno cornbread. Guests bring bean chili and salads to round out the meal for the vegetarians. My husband, Kumar, selects the beer and wine to pour that evening and with Dad, jumps in to do the dishes and empty the trash as soon as things start to pile up. Kristy, my sister-in-law, helps Kumar set the table and lends a hand where needed. Dad gently reminds us to take a break for lunch, not to start drinking too early (how could noon be too soon?) and that it is time to take our annual Thanksgiving walk.

This year, I gave Mom a break as head baker by baking what I hoped would be a scrumptious pumpkin pie rich in brown sugar and made by my friend Kirstin for a harvest dinner Kumar and I hosted a few weeks ago. This recipe may have come from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook; I can’t quite tell. All I know is that Kirstin’s pie was delicious and it looked relatively easy to make, as far as pies made from scratch go.

Thanksgiving this year was interesting. Our carefully planned prep quickly went to the wayside as we all competed for the attention of my gorgeous and precocious one-year old niece, Ariane, who has each of us wrapped around her teeny finger.

The pie didn’t quite turn out as perfectly as I’d hoped. The filling was a bit too spicy (maybe it was the Penzeys spices I used, which are pretty potent) and the crust stuck to the fluted pie dish. I also burned the crust a tad; I should have covered the crust at 40 minutes. Next time, I’ll reduce the spices by half and use a 10-inch pie dish. I’ll also reduce the flaky sea salt in the crust by half. Despite the pie’s shortcomings, it was still tasty, especially with fresh whipped cream. Hey, I’m not Martha Stewart. I wonder how many pies it takes her to get it perfect. I don’t have that luxury but I am blessed to be surrounded by lovely people who will eat just about anything I serve and enjoy it. Life is too short to pass up not-so-perfect homemade pie.

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie with Toasted Pecan Crust

1/2 cup pecan halves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 Tsp. flaky sea salt

1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus flour as needed

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

2 Tsp. ground cinnamon

2 Tsp. ground ginger

1 Tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 Tsp. ground cloves

1/2 Tsp. salt

1 can (15 oz.) organic pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 large eggs

Sweetened whipped cream for serving

Position one rack in the bottom of the oven, another rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F.

On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the pecans on the middle rack until fragrant and lightly browned, 5-6 minutes. Pour onto a glass plate to cool, then finely grind in a food processor; take care not to overprocess them by turning them into a paste.

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, beat the butter and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg yolk and flaky sea salt. Add the ground pecans and 1¼ cups flour and stir, working the dry ingredients into the butter mixture by smearing it against the sides of the bowl, until the dough comes together in large, shaggy clumps.

On a lightly floured work surface, press the dough into a mound and knead it until it just comes together. Press the dough into a flat disk, then transfer to a 9-inch pie dish. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Use the bottom of a metal measuring cup dipped in flour to smooth and even out the dough. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork, the freeze the pie shell for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, using a food processor, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt and process until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree, buttermilk and whole eggs. Process until combined.

Place the frozen pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the filling into the shell and bake on the middle oven rack for 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the baking sheet and transfer directly to the lower oven rack. Bake until the center jiggles only slightly when the tie is tapped, 10-15 minutes longer. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

To serve, cut into wedges and top with whipped cream.