Smoked Salmon Spread is cool and creamy, bursting with the flavors of salty salmon and fresh herbs. Serve it with crackers or crudités, or as a sophisticated spread for sandwiches or bagels.

On a still-chilly early Spring Saturday, we celebrated our first shot of the vaccine with this Tex-Mex themed feast of spicy marinated beef, restaurant-style salsa, crunchy chopped salad and a creamy cool chocolate pudding tart.

Chocolate Cream Tart starts with homemade Double Chocolate Pudding – dark and silky and supremely creamy – cradled in a chocolate cookie crust and crowned with fluffy whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

On the first night of Spring, I made a casual but special dinner of pickle-brined fried chicken with creamy mac and cheese and crisp green beans on the side, with chocolate-covered graham cracker cookies for dessert.

Chocolate French Toast starts with homemade chocolate bread, griddled until it’s crispy on the outside and pudding-soft on the inside, then drizzled with dark chocolate sauce and dolloped with mascarpone cream.

On Valentines’ eve I made a romantic, French-themed menu for two, featuring a small but elegant cheese board, crispy-skinned chicken with a mustardy white wine pan sauce, and mini Boston Cream Pies for dessert.

Boston Cream Pie is a bakery treat that’s way better when homemade, with soft yellow cake, vanilla pastry cream, and dark chocolate ganache.

Cherry Crumble Tart has a glossy, intensely fruity, jewel-toned filling between a tender shortbread crust and a buttery crumble topping.

This mid-winter Italian menu features Milanese-style Veal Saltimbocca, a crunch celery salad, and creamy Mascarpone Cheesecake with raspberry sauce for dessert.

For this Veal Saltimbocca Milanese, paper thin cutlets are topped with salty prosciutto, melty Fontina cheese and sage-infused butter.