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So this is my appeal. Andrea has proposed a grow-your-own-athon and invited her readers to cook something that uses homegrown ingredients and write about it before August 29th. She's given those of us with brown thumbs a loophole, too, saying that if we don't grow anything, we can get something from a friend.

So now I have to find a friend out there who grows something. Not easy to do when we're all apartment-bound, but I have hopes that Kelly's growing some herbs or Terry still has a few figs.

Anyone? Anyone in the area have something to offer?

I've been getting stuff from the CSA every week, so I feel like an entry would embrace the spirit of the law if not the letter. But it is a fun challenge to try to track down something.

For V-Day August and I made some cheesecake bars that turned out a little humdrum. So I whipped up an easy, easy chocolate sauce that I have been eating by the spoonful since. It would be truly glorious with some good chocolate, but all I have in the house are Nestle semisweet chocolate chips, and a couple generous pinches of salt made the sauce very, very tolerable. (Licking-the-bowl tolerable, of course.)

In a 2-cup measure, microwave 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup light corn syrup until it's steaming, then pour it over 4 ounces of chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup?) in a metal bowl. Whisk until the chocolate has melted. I thought it tasted kind of drab at this point so I added some salt and that perked it right up. It thickens as it cools.

I think I'll also make a cherry preserves and Grand Marnier topping for the bars. Choices.

So I'm standing in the Metropolitan Pavilion, hoardes of chocolate fans coursing around me (baby on one arm, chocolate-covered potato sticks in another). And more than half of these hurried New Yorkers are smiling at me, cooing at the baby. I'm handing over lavender-scented milk chocolate to junior chocoholics who can't get to the booth because of my overhung and overflowing stroller, and there's a smile on my face, too.

It's chocolate euphoria. And it has convinced me that the world would indeed be a better place if we all had our daily dose of chocolate, right along with the vitamins (instead of the vitamins?).

Maybe it's because this is where I was looking, but I noticed three things going on all over the place at the show: low-sugar, no-sugar (works because people love their bittersweet these days) and theraputic chocolates, drinking chocolate and single-origin chocolates.

What I bought:

NewTree's lavender-infused milk chocolate (part of their "mood-enhancing" line of dark and milk chocolates with botanical extracts; this was my favorite, even though I think of myself as more of a dark-chocoholic).

Chocolats Pralus tower of single-origin chocolates, since my palate was so chocolate-fatigued that I couldn't taste the difference between most of these varietals and I wanted to do a proper chocolate tasting. E. Guittard had a nice collection of single-origin chocolates, too, that I could not taste the difference between. Chocolove had a collection of single-origin, 2004 vintage chocolates in three different cacao concentrations: 70 percent, from Sao Tome; 60 percent, from Grenada; and 33 percent, from Java. The last chocolate had a smooth, buttery flavor that surprised me. The woman working the booth said that the flavors of the various varietals will develop and change with time, like wine (the bitterness of the 70 percent smoothing out, the 33 percent developing more coconut flavor). I was already a fan of Chocolove's Ginger chocolate so it was fun to try some other flavors.

A Michel Cluizel bittersweet chocolate round with different nuts and dried fruit on it (pictured).

What I wish I had bought:

Schokinag's mint and Dagoba's Xocolatl hot chocolate with chiles and cinnamon (it's one of their new line of hot chocolates; I've used this flavor chocolate bar, with chilies and cocoa nibs, to make hot chocolate, and it's fantastic). Schokinag also had a Moroccan spice that wasn't quite spicy enough for me (maybe it was the milk to mix ratio they used when they made it).

Galler's no-sugar dark chocolate with toasted walnuts. The warm, toasty nut taste mellowed the bitterness of the chocolate so you didn't miss the sugar at all.

Vere's collection of stacks, particularly to try the seed stack: dark-chocolate covered toasted pumpkin, poppy and sesame seeds. This is a new company with a factory in Manhattan that sources milk from a local dairy (Ronnybrook) and beans from Equador, then processes them in a way to double the antioxidents and mellow the bitterness so less sugar is needed. Their chocolates are unofficially diabetics-friendly and officially gluten-free (the dense, rich brownie I sampled was made with almond flour), and their packaging is simple and modern.

Although I've been writing this blog for a (relatively) long time, this is the first time I've been tagged for a meme, by The Wednesday Chef. I'm to go back to my 23rd entry (May 7, 2003) and rerecord my 5th line. Unfortunately it's not a very interesting one:

I also sauteed some bulk turkey sausage and then added sliced garlic (which burned while I wasn't paying attention so I picked it all out and threw it away) and some broccoli.

Three things struck me when I read this over. First, I have a tendancy to try to fit the whole recipe in one sentence. I guess I imagine it gets across how easy whatever I'm making is to do (but probably just muddies the whole recipe). Second, that I burned garlic in the pan and didn't throw the entire pan out. I wish I could remember how it tasted; I just wonder if my standards have changed since 2003. Third, the entry was labeled Comfort Food and polenta was the star of the dish, so I'm just struck by how "comfort food" always means carbs to me and now I know there's a scientific reason behind it.

When I wrote this my life was so different. I didn't have to chop furtively while the baby naps. I worked in an office with a test kitchen. My zeal for cooking was fresh, and every technique and ingredient was new. (Not that I'm an old hand at it now, but 2 1/2 years does make a difference.) I still turn to food for comfort, though. In fact, I've been wondering lately if I do it too much, but reading my old entry give me some reassurance, because it's not a new development, and I think it's just fine.

I realized that I'll never post this if I have to come up with 5 folks who would appreciate being tagged, so I'll just list out the 2 I think would like it, and if anyone else wants to give it a go you can e-mail me to let me know. Julie's blog, Juggling in My Kitchen, is so new that she might have to alter the rules to come up with something (maybe 23rd line, 5th word?). And the Crash Test Kitchen folks (www.crashtestkitchen.com) seem so game, I think they might like to give it a go (if they haven't been tagged already).

I really like the Wittard Afternoon blend of tea Todd brought back from London once, so when the IMBB theme for this round turned out to be tea, I saw a chance to try it a different way. I'd been thinking about making a panna cotta, but the ice cream maker has been sitting on top of the fridge all summer, forlorn and unloved, so I took it down for these tea-flavored ice cream sandwiches.

I used Alton Brown's recipe for vanilla ice cream and substituted 3 teaspoons of tea leaves for the scraped vanilla bean. It's an OK recipe but I find all the cold fat in it leaves a greasy coating on the spoon. Maybe it's my machine (I have one of the hand-crank ones) or maybe I should use a custard-based recipe next time. The flavor's pretty cool, though.

Bring 2 cups half-and-half, 1 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons loose black tea and a couple good pinches of salt just below a bubble (the edges will start to bubble a bit), then let it sit for about an hour to steep the tea. Pour through a strainer and chill overnight, then freeze it in an ice cream machine the next day. It gets to the texture of soft serve in the machine, then you transfer it to a lidded container to freeze it more solid.

I made a couple of tea ice cream sandwiches (using shortbread cookies, of course), but most of the cookies were broken when I opened the package so I also just mixed crumbs into the ice cream.

I really like the Wittard Afternoon blend of tea Todd brought back from London once, so when the IMBB theme for this round turned out to be tea, I saw a chance to try it a different way. I'd been thinking about making a panna cotta, but the ice cream maker has been sitting on top of the fridge all summer, forlorn and unloved, so I took it down for these tea-flavored ice cream sandwiches.

I used Alton Brown's recipe for vanilla ice cream and substituted 3 teaspoons of tea leaves for the scraped vanilla bean. It's an OK recipe but I find all the cold fat in it leaves a greasy coating on the spoon. Maybe it's my machine (I have one of the hand-crank ones) or maybe I should use a custard-based recipe next time. The flavor's pretty cool, though.

Bring 2 cups half-and-half, 1 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons loose black tea and a couple good pinches of salt just below a bubble (the edges will start to bubble a bit), then let it sit for about an hour to steep the tea. Pour through a strainer and chill overnight, then freeze it in an ice cream machine the next day. It gets to the texture of soft serve in the machine, then you transfer it to a lidded container to freeze it more solid.

I made a couple of tea ice cream sandwiches (using shortbread cookies, of course), but most of the cookies were broken when I opened the package so I also just mixed crumbs into the ice cream.

Laura Brody says that without eggs, dessert would be fruit. But what would we eat for breakfast? I know there are tons of yummy recipes where eggs star, shining figuratively as a mile-high souffle or literally in a gorgeous meringue, but I love eggs for their dutifullness behind the scenes. An egg theme for IMBB instantly had me thinking of mornings when I was a kid, when even the Bisquick mix my dad used to make pancakes required the addition of an egg.

So when we had buttermilk pancakes for brunch yesterday Todd snapped a photo. We ate them with whole-berry preserves my father-in-law had made and fresh whipped cream. I love the tender, fluffy texture that the buttermilk and eggs gave these.

It's a basic recipe, really. Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. Then in a 4-cup measure whisk 2 cups buttermilk with 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 large eggs. Mix the two together just to combine, then cook 'em up.

Laura Brody says that without eggs, dessert would be fruit. But what would we eat for breakfast? I know there are tons of yummy recipes where eggs star, shining figuratively as a mile-high souffle or literally in a gorgeous meringue, but I love eggs for their dutifullness behind the scenes. An egg theme for IMBB instantly had me thinking of mornings when I was a kid, when even the Bisquick mix my dad used to make pancakes required the addition of an egg.

So when we had buttermilk pancakes for brunch yesterday Todd snapped a photo. We ate them with whole-berry preserves my father-in-law had made and fresh whipped cream. I love the tender, fluffy texture that the buttermilk and eggs gave these.

It's a basic recipe, really. Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. Then in a 4-cup measure whisk 2 cups buttermilk with 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 large eggs. Mix the two together just to combine, then cook 'em up.

Once again, I found out about the citrus-themed Sugar High Friday on the due date, so I had to scramble for something to make. Todd brought me some marmalade from London last time he was there, so I decided that counted as citrus and set to work. I made something simple, crostini with Cointreau-sweetened ricotta and marmalade, and then since it's raining I decided to bake some bar cookies.

I toasted little bread rounds brushed with olive oil, slathered on ricotta, then sprinkled with salt and Cointreau. Then spread on a tawny, bitter marmalade. The cheese took some, but not all, of the bite out of that topping.

The bar cookies came out totally crumbly and dry, but I liked the combination of the orange peel in the marmalade with all the warm spices in the cake, so I thought I'd still mention it. Also think the dry, crumbly portion could be vastly improved by using butter instead of shortening. Like a cakey spiced shortbread topped with a marmalade glaze. And the dryness can easily be remedied with a cup of tea. I like Whittards Afternoon blend.

The recipe sandwiches the marmalade between two layers of dough, but one reviewer on AllRecipes mentioned he had to double the dough part to get that to work and I was using a 9-inch pan instead of an 8-inch pan so I decided to use the whole recipe for a bottom layer and just put the marmalade on top. Cream 1/2 cup shortening with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon each almond and vanilla extract. Add one egg, then 1 1/2 cups flour sifted with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground cloves and salt. Press into bottom of pan, spread with a cup of marmalade, then bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Mine burnt a bit around the edges so you could probably decrease the baking time or temp, too.

I can't bring myself to call this Indian pudding, although that name does conjure up warm New England winter desserts. It also brings up in me 4 years of p.c. training at a liberal arts college in the '90s. So the more accurate, but much less evocative, cornbread pudding.

This is what I think of when I think of molasses desserts -- actually, first I think of molasses cookies, then gingerbread, then this. But I read about this edition of Sugar High Fridays today and wanted to participate so bad I could taste it. Plus, the baby's turned me into a quickie, shortcut-taking, make-ahead, throw-it-together kind of cook, and this recipe, from Gourmet's 5-ingredient-recipe column (I think), fits my new lifestyle.

So here it is: Cut 1 medium corn muffin into cubes and put in an oven-proof bowl, then mix 2/3 cup milk with 1 tablespoon molasses, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and some salt. Pour milk mixture over cubes and let set 5 minutes, then bake in a 275 degree oven for 45 minutes. Top with ice cream or whipped cream (or just cream might be nice, or a drizzle of maple syrup, or some fruit compote).