One of my favorite things to do is hop on the treadmill at my gym, getting pumped for a nice 5-6 mile run, complete with elevations and surges, and pop on the Food Network (yes, I go to one of those fancy-shmancy gyms with TVs on every treadmill) to watch Ina smear some innocent bird with 10 pounds of butter, or Giada daintily mix three pounds of cheese into a casserole.

A tad incongruous, yes, but there is nothing I like better than working up a VERY big appetite (mine is quite substantial without the long run), whilst watching cooking shows and gathering ideas for that night’s supper.

Things have been a little hectic around Chez Besotted lately, but the brisk Fall air, ushering in the change of seasons has me very excited for some of my cold weather favorites – chicken stock and soup, pies, and scones, and braised meats.

But, there’s still just enough summer left in the air for a de-constructed Summer tomato sauce, made with farm-fresh tomatoes. This is a no-cook, light and easy week-night dinner (unless you count cooking the pasta) that really capitalizes on the flavor and brightness of local tomatoes.

First, I can not believe that it has taken 6+ Months of Besotted’s existence for me to put up this Shrimp Scampi recipe. It’s one of my favorites (more so than my other favorites), is a consistent crowd pleaser, and is easy enough to make for a Weeknight Dinner, and it’s just butter-heavenly delicious.

It also has the added, though unintended, benefit of vindicating my slightly-neurotic frugality. I have to me a few confessions – I buy in bulk…. A LOT, I buy meat on sale and freeze it, I scan my grocer’s circulars for special deals, and I am adamant that they give me my $.10 off for using my own carrier bag. I know that I should be more focused on letting my culinary creativity guide me, and I do often, but, the fact is, I love to penny pinch.

Green beans (or haricot verts if you’re feeling fancy and worldly) make a great side for the Summer Fried Chicken, and, as I’ve made them probably 18 different ways this summer, I thought I would include two of my favorite recipes.

The first, Haricot Verts with Crispy Shallots, is one that I’ve been making for years, with slight tweaks here and there, depending on the season. At it’s core, it’s simply shallots fried in an olive oil and butter combo until crispy, mixed into ever-so-slightly cooked green beans. But, depending on my mood or hunger level, I’ve been known to toss in some toasted walnuts, or add a bit of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. I’ve served this to company, and also made it the core of a lazy, weeknight dinner for myself, making its versatility one of its most commendable features.

My farm share has been inundating me with firm, vibrant bundles of bok choy, and, while I enjoy Asian-inspired recipes more than anyone, my recent consumption of ginger and five-spice-powder has been bordering on excessive.

Which is why I was so thrilled to find a provencal recipe for bok choy, allowing me to enjoy this wonderful, jewel-colored veggie with the bright, pungent flavors of Provence. Hearty, summer tomatoes mingle with briny kalamata olives, garlic, orange peel, and thyme producing a rough sauce in which the bok choy stews to tenderness.

I am boldly plowing my way through a refrigerator full of veggies with some, admittedly, mixed results. Anchovy frisee was not so good. In fact, it was so bad, I couldn’t eat it.

Ah well…. But, this little gem of a culinary epiphany is well-worth documenting, sharing, and trying, and I would encourage all of you inundated with zucchini and summer squash (whether from your own garden or a farm share) to embrace the flour, egg, and bread crumb combo.

This is my total cop-out post. For several weeks, I was busy baking up a storm and churning homemade ice cream, and then I stopped. Dead stop. I’ve eaten out the last several nights and been making my way through the mountains of baked goods already cluttering up my kitchen, and thus, have prepared little else for the last week or so.

And, when it came time for dinner last night, I realized that there was nothing suitable already made in my refrigerator. This does not happen. I usually have a buffet of left-overs ready for the nights that I don’t feel like cooking, or that are too muggy to contemplate turning on the oven, but not last night. And so my only solution, apart from becoming even better acquainted with the sushi delivery guy than I already am, was to recycle something from the fridge into a dinner-appropriate meal.

There are certain kitchen tasks that, no matter how simple, always reduce my ego and perception of my own mental capacity to the size of a child. For example, basting a turkey…. It’s quite simple, really. You just dip the tip into some of the juice, squeeze the little rubber-thingy, and distribute the juice over the turkey. Simple, right? But, somehow, I always end up choking on the heat of the oven, bump my head tellingly against the oven door, can’t quite get the juice into the baster (at which point it makes that hideous slurp-slurp noise), jab at the turkey senselessly, causing it to lose far more moisture than I ever intended to put in, and usually give myself a nasty burn.

It’s officially raspberry season in New England, which feels like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. For 9-10 months of the year, berries are too expensive, not tasty enough, and from too far away to be contemplated…. But then, for a brief window of time, they are profuse, overflowing at farmers’ markets, in farm share boxes, proudly proclaim their local origin in the supermarkets, and are equally boastful of their budget-friendly prices.

If you’re like me, you scoop them up by the armful when they are as sweet and luscious as they are in July and August, get them home, and then wonder what on earth you’re going to do with all of them. Well, this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake recipe should help in some small way to make good use of the now-prolific fruit.

It is amazing how many veggies I’ve been eating since joining a CSA. I didn’t eat this many when I was a vegetarian (a long, long time ago), but it’s hard not to when half of your refrigerator is filled with them every week.

The funny thing about these veggies and greens – it’s been mostly greens since the start of the season – is that they actually do a bang up job of filling me up. I’m not the person that thinks “Hmmm… arugula sounds good,” when my tummy’s growling. I’m more likely to think that a grilled cheese, fried chicken, or a salty peanut butter cookie will do the trick, but rummaging through a fridge stocked with such a copious amount of veggies, just to find the one fat-laden item, brings on such a crushing tidal wave of guilt that words fail me to describe its strength.