Oh decadence! Veterans Day provided not only a chance for reflection but also a rare day free from the classroom. So what to do with this open period of time? The answer was easy, dinner party.

I have wanted to have my colleagues Roxanna and John over, but time is always an issue. I phoned them up and they accepted. Now the fun began — menu planning.

While vacationing with my parents in Vegas last summer we went out to marvelous food chain, The Cheesecake Factory. I had their sumptuous fish tacos and have been dying to recreate them. I knew my guests were fish friendly so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

What stood out most in the dish was its lively combination of flavors: delicate whitefish, a tangy, creamy avocado sauce, crisp Asian greens, Mandarin oranges, and crisp red cabbage. The combination was a taste delight.

Of course, restaurants are often loathe to share their recipes and trying to figure it out for yourself is an adventure, so here’s what I did. First, I brushed a little extra virgin olive oil on a baking dish. I placed four tilapia fillets on the baking dish and gave them a liberal dose of kosher salt. I stuck the pan in a 375-degree oven for 25 minutes.

Then I took three ripe haas avocados, sliced them open, removed the pits, and scooped their insides into my trusty food processor. To that I added about a third of a cup of limejuice, three tablespoons of fat-free sour cream, salt to taste, and about half a cup of half-and-half. I blended it until smooth and creamy. Depending on the size of the avocados you may want to add more half-and-half and/or limejuice. It should be rather thick but easy to spread.

While waiting for my fish to finish up I organized everything I needed to make the tacos. I shredded up a small head of red cabbage and I took from the fridge a bag of mixed Asian greens, and the flour tortillas. From the pantry I removed a can of Mandarin orange segments, open and drained them, and placed them in a small bowl.

When the fish was finished I let it cool for about five minutes then I flaked it with a fork. To assemble the tacos I warmed the tortillas on a large skillet, then I spread each tortilla with some of the avocado cream sauce, the I put down a small handful of the greens, a small two or three heaping tablespoons of the fish, another dollop of the avocado cream sauce, and then a smattering of the cabbage and five or six Mandarin orange pieces. I fold these in half and set a wooden spoon on them for a few minutes to keep the fold.

I served the tacos with saffron rice, black beans, (purchased in the Mexican section of my local grocery store) and, of course, a big pitcher of margaritas.

Like all well bred women, my mother always told me not to play with my food. However, as we get older we realize that sometimes ignoring the rules is just as important as, generally, following them. Food is fun. It has wonderful tastes, smells, colors, and textures. Something with so many wonderful attributes is just begging to be played with.

For me, breakfast is not just the most important meal of the day, its also the most wonderfully yummy for one specific reason — maple syrup. I live in New Hampshire and we take our maple syrup very seriously. While those of you in the rest of the world (except our dear neighbors in Vermont) like the nearly clear, grade A maple syrup (or, god forbid, Mrs. Butterworth) we know that the best syrup is the rich, dark, delicious, grade B syrup. Since every weekend breakfast at MaisonBisson must contain food that is syrup friendly, we eat more than our share of pancakes, french toast, and waffles. Last weekend I decided to have a little fun with breakfast. Mr Smiley here is the result. My husband liked him a lot, and I think others who are young at heart, or just plain young, would enjoy him too. Its easy and it reminds you not to take things too seriously.

My wonderful neighbor, Wendy, went berry picking and dropped me off a large container with luscious, fresh blueberries and raspberries. I decided to try a bit of an experiment and use the batter for one my favorite cakes with the berries. The result was this heavenly sour cream berry bread.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour an 8-cup loaf pan.
Melt 5 tablespoons of salted butter, pour into a large bowl, let cool.

Add and stir together until smooth:

• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 large eggs

Add in pinches to break up any lumps and whisk in:

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Stir until just combined:

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Fold in:

• 1 cup of berries (I used a 50-50 mix of blueberries and raspberries.

Pour into the bread pan and bake for one hour to one hour and 15 min.

The bread is delicious warm, cool, or toasted and buttered.