Peanut Butter and Banana Cream Pie

        The boys at Baked, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, were inspired to create this dessert by the King himself.   Elvis’s obsession with Peanut Butter is well known.  I first read about it when my friend Yvonne gave me “Are You Hungry Tonight?” by the brilliantly named Brenda Arlene Butler, the all-Elvis cookbook that you could likely put on ten pounds just by reading.   Elvis’s mother is credited with his love for Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches.  Talk about variations of a theme:  Later in life, Elvis added bacon to the mix thereby creating the first heart-attack-on Wonder-bread sandwich.   The only person I ever knew who could out-peanut butter Elvis was my Mother. 

Ina Garten’s Pastitsio

        I’ve waited all summer for the first cool day to arrive.  Not that I don’t love every minute of summer, it’s just that I have been dying to try this gorgeous dish ever since I saw it in House Beautiful. With yet another dire weather prediction for high winds and heavy rains, it seemed the perfect night to hunker down with this wonderful comfort food.  And I always look forward to anything from Ina, whose new cookbook "How Easy is That?" is due out October 26th.  You can order it right here!  

Pastitsio, Ina informed us, is like a Greek version of lasagna.  Ground beef is combined with ground lamb and then flavored with tomatoes, then mixed with pasta.  And, as in a truly great lasagna, the whole thing is covered with a delicious Bechamel sauce with a twist: Greek yogurt is added to the sauce at the last minute.  This gives the topping a completely different taste…it tastes, well, Greek!