By GRETCHEN McKAY, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Culinary historian Michael Twitty's love affair with his ancestors' cuisine sprouted early.

It's not often I get inspired to make a dish after watching a celebrity chef whip it up on TV. Especially when said cooking star is Sandra Lee, who's best known for her "semi-homemade" style of cooking, which relies heavily on prepackaged products instead of fresh items.

Hey, guys: Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and bet many of you are planning on celebrating the old-fashioned way: with a fancy box of chocolates, reservations at a fancy restaurant or maybe both. We have a better idea for showing your valentine how much you adore and desire her.

Abandoned, boarded up and stripped clean of its original architectural details, the 150-year-old townhouse in Pittsburgh wasn't long for this Earth when David McAnallen decided to rescue it from the wrecking ball.

New Year's, the biggest party night of the year, is just a little over a week away, and hosts across the globe will be looking for that one special beverage to keep their guests smiling -- and sipping -- until the ball drops at midnight, if not well after.

Meatballs are currently the darling of the food scene, and they're perfect for spicing up a holiday spread or slipping into a bun for an easy, at-home sandwich.

No one makes better meatballs than the Meatball Shop in New York City. Or so says my sister-in-law Elisa, an artist who lives in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood. She declared the shop's spicy pork meatballs "amazing."

They're one of fall's most visual offerings, foods so colorful you make them the centerpiece on your Thanksgiving table.

What you really should be doing is eating them, those brightly striped, sometimes weirdly shaped, more often than not hard-as-a-rock autumn gems known as winter squashes.

In a holiday rush? This tasty tomato soup is made, in a flash, with ingredients most of us keep stocked in our pantries. Serve with a tossed green salad and toasted Swiss-cheese sandwiches. Dunking optional.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1 teaspoon dried herbs, such as thyme, oregano, rosemary or basil

It was like any and every other Thanksgiving gathering I've ever known: the controlled chaos of too many cooks in the kitchen, too much darn-good food to fit on the table and too long a wait for it to get there.

Lately, I've expanded my grill repertoire to include fruit.