Make It. Pan muerto.

Today is Dia de los Muertos -- a Mexican celebration of love ones who've died -- and for the first time I can't just go out to a panaderia and buy pan muerto (dead bread).

Pan muerto is a delicious traditional sweet bread made and sold for this holiday, and today I'll be making my first pan muerto since it's not a celebrated holiday where I live in Chile.

What you'll need:

1 1/4 teaspoon of dry-active yeast

1/4 cup margarine

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons orange zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup warm water

What you'll do:

1. First combine all the liquids, milk, melted margarine, then warm water. Set aside.

2. Mix all dry products: salt, 1/4 of the sugar, yeast, and 1 cup of the flour.

3. Beat in the warm milk mixture, eggs, and orange zest. Then gradually add flour.

4. Knead the mix, and let sit for 1-2 hours until it rises, doubling in size.

5. Shape the bread however you want it to look, usually with a design on top, then pop it into the oven at 350 F for 35-45.

6. To make the glaze, combine 1/4 sugar, orange, and orange zest in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, and glaze over the warm bread.

-- Lauren Williams

Photo credit: Pan Muerto being sold in the streets of Santiago, Mexico. WikiCommons.

Eat In. Pumpkin products.

The fall is the perfect time for some nutty, pumpkin flavored products. I love pumpkin around the fall time. Here are three of my favorite pumpkin products. I can see certain things not tasting good with pumpkin, but the below products have a really exceptional flavor with a bit of the squash and spice flavor.

Pumpkin coffee -- Cost Plus World Market has a really excellent blend. Usually I hate flavored coffees, but the flavor of coffee is really well complimented by the nutty, spicy flavor of pumpkin. I usually cut the flavor by doing half breakfast blend, half pumpkin spice coffee.
Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix -- Nice, spicy, fluffy pancakes. These have a lot of flavor, and are a tasty alternative to regular buttermilk on a fall morning.
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale -- Buffalo Bill's makes excellent seasonals. In summer, it's their orange blossom cream ale. I actually like this beer better. It's spicy and goes well with the taste of hops and yeast that beer has. You can find this at Ralphs and BevMo!.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Bob's Red Mill soup mix.

Now that it's getting cool and cloudy it's time for some food that sticks to your bones. Foods with the words "refreshing," "light," "citrus-y" or anything like it just don't sound as good as some hearty stew.

A recent find at Whole Foods Market, this is one of Bob's Red Mill products. Bob also makes some tasty and funky flours if you're into baking at all. Their oat flour is great for making scones.

This Vegi Soup Mix is perfection in a bag. It has an almost-unbelievable amount of protein and fiber (21 grams protein; 19 grams dry), it's tasty, easy, filling, low calorie, and cheap.

For $4, you can make at least four batches of the stew. One serving of Bob's veggie soup can feed two people, and still have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Just add one cup of the packet of dry lentil, barley and alphabet pasta mix to four parts water and add whatever raw vegetables you want. I used vegetable broth, carrots, celery, and a coursely chopped onion, but tomatoes and potatoes would be very good in this stew, too.

It was just the thing for a muggy day indoors.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Raspberries and cottage cheese.

I recently saw an article about the wonders of cottage cheese in the New York Times, accompanied by this amazing recipe. Cottage cheese is amazing, packed with 14 grams of protein and very low fat and calories.

This recipe was absolutely delicious, and could either be a healthy breakfast, excellent dessert, or a nice snack. I made this for my family the other day and they loved it. It is so refreshing, healthy, and delicious, it's perfect for summer.

What you'll need:

1 package of frozen raspberries

1 package of cottage cheese (fat content is up to you)

1 package of plain yogurt ("")

1 lemon

sugar

What you'll do:

1. Put the raspberries in a bowl, and let them thaw with a bit of sugar over them.

2. Zest a lemon and pour a good bit of the juice from the lemon over it. This is key, it really makes the dish. I used a Meyer lemon from our garden and it was superb.

3. Blend equal parts cottage cheese and plain yogurt in the blender. I added a bit of honey to the mix in the blender because the plain yogurt was too tart for my taste.

4. Pour the raspberry mix over the yogurt/cottage cheese mix and you're all set.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Completos.

This is a different twist on a summertime classic: the completo, aptly named since it really does come complete with everything.

These hot dogs come with all kinds of quirky toppings like pebre (similar to pico de gallo), mayo, diced tomato, and avocado (a completo just isn't a completo without a bit of avocado).

These things are everywhere in Chile, often served at kid's birthday parties or just as street food. Often the Chilean dogs come complete with a large ribbon of mayonnaise down the middle (something I can skip) and a slathering of avocado (delicious).

This works well with Trader Joe's veggie Italian sausages, but other sausages are also complemented by the creamy avocado.

Below is a video of Anthony Bourdain eating a foot-long completo, kilo of mayo and all.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Green bean salad.

A fresh, but hearty salad, this mix of raw nuts, bleu cheese, with a light mustard dressing can either be a tasty side dish to another course, or can be filling enough for a meal itself. I've already had this for dinner twice this week, and am ready to go back to the market for more green beans -- it's that good.

My mom made this a few years ago and I loved it, so it became the vegetarian side dish at all major meals, including Thanksgiving, Easter, birthdays, Christmas. You name a holiday, this was on our table.

The ingredients list here is a bit pricey, (the walnuts and a hunk of bleu cheese can get costly), but it's really a tasty dish and might be worth shelling out a little extra.

What you'll need:

A handful of walnuts, chopped

flat-leaf parsley, a bit more than just to garnish, chopped

mustard (dijon or stone ground, I prefer stone ground)

red wine vinegar (I used balsamic and it worked just fine)

extra virgin olive oil

a half pound of green beans

(A side note: Find green beans that have firm, brightly colored skin when shopping. Never get limp green beans that do not have smooth skin. They should make a cracking sound when you snap them in half before cooking. If they don't throw the bad ones away.)

salt to taste

What to do:

1. Wash the dirt off the beans and break off the rough tips. Snap them in half if they are long.

2. Toss into a boiling pot, or if possible steam.

3. While they are softening, crush the walnuts, break off a few small cubes of bleu cheese, and chop the parsley finely. Set aside.

4. In a separate small container, whisk mustard, olive oil, and vinegar together to taste. If you prefer a more tart flavor add more vinegar. Don't over do it with the olive oil. No one likes greasy beans.

5. Mix all the ingredients in a dish, starting with the dressing and topping with the nuts, cheese, and parsley. I've seen this served with red grapes, but love it too much to vary from this recipe.

6. Most importantly ...

Enjoy!

-- Lauren Williams

Photo credit: the BEAT