American

Sandwiching two slices of bread with a mixture of bananas and walnuts results in French toast with a surprise filling. Try other favorite nuts in place of the walnuts, if you like. Accompany the French toast with bacon, ham, or sausage.

They use deep-fat fryers at the Pirates’ House. If you have one at home, by all means use it.

This dressing is especially good on tossed greens with tomatoes, red onion, and crumbled blue cheese.

This is great over salad greens and excellent with fish; you can also use it as a light veggie dip. I recommend roasting fresh red bell peppers, but if time doesn’t allow, substitute a 14-ounce jar of roasted red peppers, drained, adding 1 teaspoon of sugar to ensure sweetness.

This sauce is wonderful on pound cake, ice cream, and many other desserts.

This sauce makes something special out of plain cake or vanilla ice cream.

This is excellent on char-grilled chicken or pork. Swab or brush the sauce on the meat for the last 15 minutes of grilling time. Turn often, continuing to baste, to prevent burning.