maple pumpkin pots de crème with vanilla bean whipped cream. (Gourmet, November 2002)

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
• 7 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Whisk together cream, milk, syrup, and pumpkin in a heavy saucepan and bring just to a simmer over moderate heat.

Whisk together yolks, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl.

Slowly add hot pumpkin mixture to yolks, whisking constantly. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, then divide among custard cups. Bake custards in a hot water bath, pan covered tightly with foil, in middle of oven until a knife inserted in center of a custard comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer custards to a rack to cool completely. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours.

Using an electric or stand mixer, beat whipping cream and the seeds of half a vanilla bean until it reaches desired, fluffy consistency. Dollop onto chilled custards and enjoy!

as per usual, i resorted to baking in order to clear away the cobwebs and the sorrow. flavor of the week: magnolia bakery’s famous vanilla-vanilla cupcakes (with pink icing, of course). after living in nyc last summer with a few of my very best friends, it is embarrassing to admit how many times we frequented magnolia bakery and spent upwards of $3 on a cupcake. those days, however, are long gone. after getting my hands on a copy of the magnolia bakery cookbook, i can now have a slew of magnolia cupcakes at my disposal in less time than it takes to hail a cab to greenwich village. and at less than 50 cents a pop, not forgetting the money saved on cab fare, the financial incentive is obvious.

note: a special shout out goes to sara (roommate extraordinaire and never one to turn down a cupcake) and peez (if you find yourself in need of a sous chef and/or flatmate, she’s the girl to call. together, we’ve produced a disgusting number of these delicious nuggets of cupcakey goodness).

magnolia bakery’s vanilla-vanilla cupcakes. (More From Magnolia)

for the cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 2 cups sugar

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the buttercream:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

cupcake method:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. in a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside.
2. in a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. with each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
3. cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

buttercream method:

place the butter in a large mixing bowl. add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. add a few drops of food coloring, if desired. we prefer pink!

i thought to myself, what better way to acclimate to the rain than to drink like a fish at sunset grill & tap? my advice: when boston gives you inclement weather, you drink boston’s beer.

with 100+ beers on tap and hundreds more available by the bottle, sunset grill & tap is a veritable playground for beer-sympathizers everywhere (at least those finding themselves in the allston/brighton area circa sundown).

terrified as i was about the bevy of beer within arms reach, i figured it was best to start off with something familiar. harpoon i.p.a.  is brewed right here in boston.  if you typically find IPAs to be somewhat offensive, this is a great one to start off with. give it a try, if you haven’t already.

moving on, i decided to try something completely new (let’s be honest, most beers are completely new to a keystone-dependent recent college grad).  i opted for stone cat blueberry ale, which is on tap at sunset as ipswich blueberry ale. the oh-so-helpful bartender recommended it, citing it to be sunset’s most popular fruit beer. i was sold. to my delight, the draught arrived complete with fresh blueberries floating about in my glass. that’s right, it’s practically a health food.

typically, i do not enjoy fruity drinks. this variety was very clean and had a distinct blueberry taste, but was not overwhelming. this beer may be a bit too light for some. however, i appreciate its airiness and find it to be perfectly appropriate for a rainy evening when i am doing my best to pretend it is summertime.

although i would have loved to try any number of other beers from sunset’s extensive menu, my job and my bank account were urging me to go home.

while i thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to sunset grill & tap, i do have one small bone to pick…

i did my best to stay true to my williamstown roots, but a berkshire brewing company selection was nowhere to be found! that said, i’d like to give a shoutout to bbc’s steel rail pale ale. it’s delicious, drinkable, has a nice bite to it, and just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it rhymes! what more could you want in a beer? i conclude not much.

next stop: mead!

my version of black bean and corn salad (aka texas caviar) features a sizable portion of black beans along with a handful of fresh veggies, is laughably easy to throw together, and will keep for a solid week, typically imporving on flavor as the week goes on. spoon a hefty serving over a bed of lettuce and that’s all folks!

black bean and grilled corn salad.

• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 ears sweet corn (or 1 can sweet corn kernels, drained and rinsed)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 4 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1-2 tbsp hot sauce (i use mild green tabasco sauce)
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper to taste

if you opt to use fresh sweet corn, which i recommend, grill the corn over an indoor or outdoor grill until the corn develops a light char (7-10 minutes, rotating occasionally). remove from the grill and dislodge the kernels using a large knife.  if you’re short on time or don’t have access to a grill, by all means use canned corn; the end result will still be fantastic.

place corn kernels in a medium bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients. refridgerate for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. happy lunch hour!

certainly, i am not the first recent grad to seek out beantown as a place of post-collegiate residence. precedent aside, i had every intention of returning to minnesota following graduation. but a wise man once told me… when a bum economy gives you a job, you take it. so just when i thought williamstown was as far from minnesota as i could possibly travel, i extend my reach even further eastward to boston.

as i drove the three lonely hours from billsville to beantown, i couldn’t help but wonder: what sort of enviable fare will my new city have to offer? i began to daydream about gourmet cuisine, nights at the bar(s) with new friends, and myriad cultural happenings. i thought to myself, it can’t be too hard to improve upon a town with one bar and a coffee shop that closes during the hour of the early bird special.

no sooner had i dismissed my collegiate life than i began thinking of all the wonderful things contained within the walls of williamstown, not least of which being my life long friends and confidantes. i realized that letting go of a world that had been so central to my human experience was going to be a lot harder than i thought. so here i am, in boston, forging ahead on my own; making new friends, while making sure to stay connected to the old. as you will soon discover, baking is my coping mechanism and food is my passion. outlook: caloric. enjoy!