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Somerville is just the most fun city you could live in – a hop skip and a jump outside of Boston, close enough to easily get into the big, bad city without too much hassle (or cab/UBER fare) but far enough out that you never really feel the need to do so, because it has so much of its own awesomeness in food, entertainment and just general hipness that Boston is kind of like an afterthought. The first place I ever had Buffalo Fried Brussels Sprouts (which we tried to recreate and failed miserably) AND the inspiration for this here salad – Devils on Horseback. About a month ago, we were having our neighbys Mike and Christine over for dinner, and I was trying to think of a fun and different salad to have besides the lame old salad scene that usually come s out of this kitchen. Maybe it’s all the glorious fig photos that have been swirling around Instagram all summer, or just that it was an excuse to incorporate bacon into an otherwise healhty’ish salad.

But not like baby blue – not like a nice gray blue – like periwinkle’y/purple’y blue that only belongs in a painting – maybe a child’s finger painting – or actually I like this color for like a dress or a cute shirt. So this Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Raspberry Scone combination was just like a twinkle in my pumpkin/chocolate/scone loving eye, a twinkle waiting to be born. I’ve found in many baking experiments this summer that when incorporating berries into a recipe (like blubes or raspbs), it’s really helpful to freeze them before, and then take them out of the freezer just before you’re ready to incorporate them into your mixture. Do your Fall/Pumpkin & Chocolate loving self a favor and get these Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Raspberry Scones on the table today!

This No-Churn S’More Ice Cream is a direct result of two things: 1) realizing how stupidly easy it is to make ice cream after making these No-Churn Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches and 2) my childhood friend Casey. Then last year, I talked about her again in this recipe for Casey’s Peanut Butter Cookies when she lost her battle with cancer after fighting for two long, strong and brave years. We had pizza, lots of it, and then managed to stuff some ice cream into our bellies, because of all things that Casey enjoyed eating, ice cream was probably in the top 3. The pizza was a treat from Rail Trail Flatbread, and the ice cream from New City Micro Creamery, both in Hudson, MA.

But because this Loaded Baked Potato Pizza is so GD good, I went ahead and made sure to make it for ya on a day when I knew I could do all of those things – and also still shove a piece or two in my mouth. So now on Friday nights, before I go to bed at 9pm after 1.5 glasses of sauvignon blanc, I relive my “fancy pizza” college days from time to time, and whip up this Loaded Baked Potato Pizza. I always enjoy a break from a red sauced pizza and the base for this is actually the same thing you’d find on a good ole’ loaded baked potato – sour cream with a heavy sprinkle of chives. AND if you’re husband isn’t super picky and digs sour cream, add a little bit o’ sour cream drizzle on top of that pizza (not shown in this photo – because mayo and sour cream scare Dave more than Valentine’s Day.)