Honestly, give it a try. Went through several days of mental brownout, information overload, whatever you wanna call it, where I either didn’t know what to say about anything, or didn’t trust myself to say it right. One thing I did know was that I wanted to treat my son and daughter-in-law to a blowout meal at one of the great restaurants downtown–but the money just ain’t there, and I can’t add to my stress level by whipping out the credit card, either. It was also about time for me to experiment with new recipes. Solution: create a restaurant-worthy dinner for four within my means and my abilities and my space.

We started with crab cakes for an appetizer–but baked ones, as opposed to the usual fried. Fried crab cakes are absolutely wonderful, but baked ones are so light and tender–and don’t sit like rocks in tummy hours later.

I love the recipes from The Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, but often can’t afford the exact ingredients called for. Anyone price shallots lately? Her recipe for Roasted Pears with Arugula looked absolutely mouth-watering, and I thought it would be a nice course between the crab cakes and the marinated grilled salmon I planned for the main course. Pear halves are topped with a mix of bleu cheese, walnuts, and dried cranberries, drizzled with a mixture of port, lemon juice, brown sugar, and apple cider, and then roasted until done. When cooled, they are set on a bed of arugula dressed with olive oil, lemon, and leftover pan juices from the pears. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of apple cider. We don’t normally drink apple cider, especially out of season, and buying a half-gallon for 1/4 cup was just not going to happen. I left it out. Arugula was also not to be found in the grocery store, but they had some irresistably tender Boston lettuce, which I love, so I substituted that. Turned out just fine, although I think I will use about half the brown sugar next time.

The salmon fillets were marinated with a mix of low-sodium soy sauce, lemon juice, and a little salt and pepper for a couple of hours, then grilled–get this–on a Foreman grill. I topped each fillet with a slice of lemon before grilling, which looked really neat. In the meantime I cooked wild rice in a good chicken broth, and roasted a bunch of organic carrots that were tossed with a little olive oil and kosher salt (a la Barefoot Contessa). There were separate bowls of lemon butter and a yogurt-dill sauce with green onions and capers. Red wine and a warm loaf of French bread went along with the salad and main course. The nice thing about grilling salmon on the Foreman is that it’s right there on the counter, up close and personal, and easy to determine the very moment of perfect doneness without worrying about dropping it in the coals or getting smoke in your eyes. I sprayed it with cooking oil beforehand, and the salmon took on great grill marks without sticking.

Desserts tend to be my strong suit, as I am a baker at heart. After a winter of cheesecakes, pies, tarts, carrot cakes, and whatever, it was time for something different. A great restaurant favorite of ours is creme brulee. The last time I made it, it was tasty but the texture was a little too close to pudding. It also made too much. I cobbled together a recipe that I thought would make the right amount and have a silky texture. It used 2 cups of cream and 4 egg yolks, which made a little over 1/2 cup of creme per person. I baked it gently and then chilled it for a couple of hours before topping it with powdered sugar and browning it with a kitchen torch. I don’t own a Viking Range with an indoor grill, but I do own a little kitchen torch for creme brulee! I topped each creme with a few fresh blackberries. Perfection! Silky creme, delicate paper-thin crisp crust, and plump berries. Made pecan-topped merengue cookies out of the leftover egg whites, too. That was a fun meal to make and to enjoy in a leisurely manner, which we did. I felt restored and cheerful and much more myself, even after the ungodly pile of dishes we had to do!!!