By MARLENE PARRISH, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If you are underweight and want to pick up a few fast pounds, you're in luck. Eggnog, a super-rich beverage usually made with cream, whole raw eggs and spirits, is traditionally served in America at Christmas time.

It used to cost me in the neighborhood of $500 to get, arguably, the world's best mac 'n' cheese. That's the rough cost of an airline ticket to Seattle and a take-out casserole from Beecher's Handmade Cheese store at the Pike Place Market. Beecher's recently added an East Coast location in lower Manhattan. The new 8,000-square-foot shop/factory/restaurant opened in the Flatiron District.

Their zest and juice are companionable to almost all cuisines. They are essential in Asian, Caribbean and Latin kitchens for their fragrance and citrusy accents. Chefs everywhere use them to brighten seafood, marinades, melons and salad dressings. Bartenders need them for margaritas, daiquiris, Collinses and tonics.

Food joke: What do you get when you cross a souffle with an omelet? A Dutch Baby pancake.

With your eyes closed, a Dutch Baby tastes like the pancake it is. Eyes open, it presents as a craggy, cratered and goofy-rimmed "one-of-a-kind-every-time" pancake. Adults love them. Kids are awed by them.

Super-easy and delicious -- that's the kind of recipe I like best. Before you go to work in the morning or at night after dinner, combine ingredients for the marinade and pour it into a large, resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces and squoosh them around to coat well. Set the bag in a bowl and refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight. That's it.

So what's a geek? It used to mean an overly bookish, nerdy guy or gal on the social fringe, who is uber-obsessed with technical details.

No more. Contemporary geeks are in a similar mold, except now it is fashionable to be a geek. In the mainstream world, that might include coffee geeks, wine geeks, food geeks and you-name-it geeks.

Keeping the crust crisp is the biggest challenge when making a pumpkin pie. Too often the crust is soggy.

Two things work against you: Pouring liquid filling onto unbaked pie dough almost guarantees a soggy bottom; over-baking the custard filling causes the proteins in the milk and eggs to denature and exude water. And guess where that water goes? Right into the crust.

If you love the turkey, but hate the carving, here's a great tip from Sunset Magazine: Skip the last-minute hacking at the table and speed up the roasting by having the butcher cut your fresh turkey into pieces when you buy it.

I remember our small back porch in the suburbs. Almost every afternoon in my pre-teen years, I would sit on the top step, the late sun in my eyes, helping Mum get the day's Victory Garden pickings ready for supper.

Hot Butterscotch Sauce

This is a classic butterscotch sundae sauce. It is also delectable on cake, pudding or right off the spoon. For a killer combo, serve over dulce de leche ice cream. Best served warm, but not hot.
-- Marlene Parrish

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon table salt