Pit avacados and scoop out the green stuff. Mash in a bowl. Add the juice of half a lemon, tomato, shallot, garlic, salt (add more to taste), and tabasco sauce. Serve with tortilla chips. Note: This is best eaten quickly as it the avacado will discolor over time. I’ve never had it last long enough to discolor.

4 (8-inch flour) Tortillas (available in all grocery stores but sometimes hidden in the refrigerated or frozen food sections)
1 Ripe mango, peeled, and sliced (If unavailable, replace with papaya or pear)
1 Serrano chile, or 2 jalapeno chiles, minced
2 Scallions, trimmed and diced
1/2 c Lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, stems discarded before measuring
8 oz Brie, sliced into long 1/4-inch slices (Rind removal is optional but I always remove it)
Sour Cream and Lime Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Heat a 10-inch nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Place 1 tortilla in the dry pan for approximately 1 minute per side, or until it just begins to brown. Remove. Repeat with the second tortilla. (If your tortilla expands like a blowfish, poke it with a fork to release the hot air.)
After the second tortilla has browned, leave it in the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Spread half of the mango evenly over the tortilla, then top with half of the peppers, scallions, cilantro, and Brie strips. Top with the first tortilla. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 2 minutes.

Flip the quesadilla with a spatula, re-cover the pan, and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. (Don’t worry if a bit of cheese escapes and begins to sizzle loudly.)

Remove the quesadilla from the pan, let sit for 1 minute, then slice into 8 wedges (like a pizza). Serve immediately with the sour cream dipping sauce.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve with Sour Cream and Lime Dipping Sauce.

Sour Cream and Lime Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend sour cream, lime juice and salt with a fork until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a small decorative bowl or teacup and refrigerate

Mix all ingredients and chill until ready to eat. Makes 1 serving.

1 16-oz Can pear halves or slices
3 c All-purpose flour
2 1/2 t Baking powder
1/2 t Salt
1/2 lb Unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c Sugar
3 Large eggs
3 T Grappa, rum, or brandy
1 t Vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Drain the pears and reserve the liquid. Chop the pears into half-inch pieces. You should have about 1 1/4 c pears and 1/2 c liquid.

In a medium bowl; stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer; beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the reserved pear liquid, the grappa, and vanilla. The batter will look curdled, don’t freak out.

Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and beating just until blended, aboout 1 minute. With a rubber spatula; stir in the pears.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Invert the cake onto a rack and remove the pan. Let cool completely.

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving.