"Hermits" are chewy, spice-laden cookies that date back to early 19th-century cookery in America, and there are many variations on the basic recipe.

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." — G.K. Chesterton

Upon reading this, a poet friend of mine, William Cole, sat down and composed a nine-stanza ode to cheese called “What a Friend We Have in Cheeses!” subtitled “Sing a Song of Liederkranz.” But neither he nor anyone else seems to have gotten around to penning a single line to meat loaf, a subject that sends perfectly rational people into raptures.

Most of the pumpkins dotting the fields with the brilliant orange will get their 15 minutes of celebrity on Halloween night. For although this hardy member of the squash-gourd family grows ubiquitously both in this hemisphere and in Europe, there are few recipes for its use. Too bad, be­cause the pumpkin’s hard rind keeps it usable for many months past the Thanksgiving pie season.

Eggplant seems to be available the year around nowadays, but is more than usually plentiful during the last warm days of September.