Kemp Minifie

It's good news for America that grass-fed beef is increasingly available in supermarkets. Cattle were meant to eat grass, and they are efficient at converting that green goodness into nutrient-dense meat, rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamins A and E, to say nothing of environmental benefits. Because grass-fed beef is leaner than grain-fed, it's not quite as tender. So turning it into a meatloaf is a great—and economical—way to make a meal of it.

A little ground pork adds the bit of richness that all meatloaves need, and if you can persuade the butcher to grind some pork shoulder for you, all the better. Meatloaves look naked without some sort of topping, and bacon is the obvious trendy choice to entice finicky eaters; feel free to aim for high-end bacon from heritage hogs.

Editors' Note: Kemp Minifie reimagined the foil tray frozen dinner for Gourmet Live. Her updated menu includes: meatloaf made from grass-fed beef, scalloped potatoes, lemony green veggies, and your new favorite brownies for dessert.

There's a special place in the lexicon of American layer cakes for the classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It's practically the standard for birthdays and anniversaries, so it was my top choice when creating a cake to celebrate the first year of publication of Gourmet Live. And if ever there was a version that will elicit either a string of excited OMG's or the low-humming purr of rapturous mmmm's, this is it. Tender, buttery cake layers sandwich a creamy frosting so light and airy it's as if you're nibbling a chocolate cloud. (No offense to dense, fudgy ganache-style icings—of which I'm also very fond—but they don't lend themselves to the kind of exuberant flourishes and swirls of frosting that convey the excitement of a first birthday.) Even a strong-willed soul won't be able to resist a second slice.

With its velvety chocolate glaze and snowy flakes of sea salt, this dressed-up honey cake is perfect for Rosh Hashanah. It's equally ideal for any other occasion or celebration, whether it's a dinner party, an impromptu gathering of friends, or a school bake sale. It's that simple—and that good. Don't be surprised if people start pestering you for the recipe after their first bite.

Is quinoa the new breakfast of champions? According to a marathon runner friend, it is. She loads up on quinoa before every race. But you don't have to be an athlete to get an energy boost from it. My husband and I find that a big bowl of quinoa in the morning holds us well into the afternoon. We love the chewy texture and earthier flavor of the red quinoa, but because it costs a bit more than the white variety, I often mix the two. If you add some of the black, you'll really start the day on a colorful note.

Feel free to add as many accompaniments as you wish. I'm a big fan of flaky sea salt and love the surprise of a little briny crunch on top of my morning cereal.

Anything grilled could be described as smoky, but our cover burger is a multi layered masterpiece thanks to chipotle chiles mingled with adobo, smoked paprika, and bacon. Seared avocado makes it almost too good to be true.

I'm not the first to think of this variation on everyone's favorite campfire sweet, but I'm willing to pit mine against anyone else's! This is a win-win s'more because not only does it turn a beloved but messy dessert into something spectacular—and easy—for any time of year, but it also frees you from having to fire up the grill to reach chocolate-marshmallow nirvana.

Even better, you can secretly feel good knowing you are upping everyone's fiber with 100 percent whole-wheat crêpes (you can't say that about graham crackers), yet the crêpes are so tender and have such a deliciously nutty flavor that you'd never guess they're actually good for you. The marshmallow filling may be homemade or store-bought. Raspberries are optional, but I bet you'll find they add a welcome hit of color and tang.

Intrigued by the whole-wheat flour in the crêpes? Read my rant about white flour and my tips for using whole-wheat flour on the Gourmet Live blog. Then check out the 05.11.11 issue of Gourmet Live to read about my on-again, off-again affair with crêpes.

Homemade marshmallow spread is so ridiculously easy to make that you'll chuckle at yourself for ever having assumed it was complicated. Making it also allows you to use pure vanilla extract, which tastes so much better than the fake vanillin flavoring in many commercial versions. This spread is superb in S'mores Crêpes .

The very first recipe I tested for Gourmet magazine was a rhubarb fool. It was a rather complicated affair that required a sugar syrup—of which you used only half—gelatin, whipped cream, and a whipped egg white. Fools don't need to be so involved; they're an old British dessert that basically consists of a fruit puree folded into whipped cream. The recipe below will show you just how delicious four simple ingredients simply united can be.

Ready for more rhubarb? Get my tips for how to pick the perfect stalk and learn how this vegetable gets its ruby red color, all on the Gourmet Live blog. Then tune in to the 04.20.11 issue of Gourmet Live to read about my first adventures with rhubarb. Download the Gourmet Live iPad app for free!

Learn how our executive food editor rediscovered the joys of fresh pesto and made it her own.

Turkey soup may be the end of the line for turkey leftovers, but it doesn't have to be boring and predictable. The hearty essence of the roasted holiday bird is concentrated into a deeply satisfying broth, thick with noodles and laced with garlic, rosemary, and tomatoes. This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser whether it's just the family or a last minute gathering of friends. And thanks to the ready availability of turkey wings, executive food editor Kemp M. Minifie bets you won't want to wait until next Thanksgiving to make it again.

For the pesto mixture, executive food editor Kemp M. Minifie switches from pine nuts to pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, and she incorporates flat-leaf parsley in with the basil. To top it all off she adds homemade bread crumbs. It's not quite Italian anymore, but it works.

Punch is one of the easiest ways to set the Halloween mood—all you need is a cauldron, perhaps, or a pointy black hat and ice block "hands."Not every blend of fruit juices takes well to the with-or-without option of alcohol, but the combination of sparkling cider and cranberry juice cocktail, subtly enhanced with a spice syrup, both support an optional dose of dark rum.

You and your guests will be utterly charmed when you see how easily mashed potatoes can be transformed into a gaggle of ghosts. Simply form them into pointy mounds and then personify—no, make that "ghostify"—them with seed "eyes." Don't be surprised if these become a new family must-have for Halloweens to come.

Too often crackers get short shrift as merely vehicles for a slice or smear of cheese. Not here. By incorporating cheese into the dough, along with the tiny crunch of poppy seeds, these crackers become crisp snacks that keep your fingers reaching for another and then another and, well, you know how it goes. In no time, they're history.

In name alone, a devil's food cake is an obvious choice for a Halloween dessert. This one will far exceed your expectations of deep chocolaty naughtiness hidden under a fluff of espresso-tinged frosting. (If your trick-or-treaters are too young to embrace the slightly adult bitterness the coffee flavor adds, feel free to substitute a couple of teaspoons of good old vanilla extract.) Have some fun with a very tasty spiderweb—you'll want to eat it rather than shriek and brush it off.

A few fresh vegetables and a leftover turkey is all you'll need to create this phenomenal soup — perfect for cold nights and holiday nostalgia.

This is best done on a large gas grill fitted with a thermometer — it's more labor-intensive to keep a charcoal grill at a constant high heat. You'll need a disposable roasting pan large enough to fit the turkey on a V-rack.