Several updates for you today:

I'll be teaching a cooking class on "Fun with Fall Vegetables" this Saturday, September 22. I'll be concentrating on those Vitamin A-rich veggies--squashes and sweet potatoes. The line-up will include Nutty Pumpkin Lasagna with Almonds and Sage, Pork Chili with Sweet Potatoes, and Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas. It's from 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m., at East Bay Restaurant Supply, 522 N. 12th St., 440-0620, $40. for the class. You'll get generous tastes of everything and I'll have my Hands-Off Cooking books available for purchase and signing.

Last week's Random Cookbook Pick (see the Book Geek Project post) was fairly uninspiring. I did make one recipe from it though--a corn cake--which was a pretty good rendition of cornbread. My husband ate the leftovers heated up with milk and molasses on top.

This week's Random Pick is yet another from my vintage and small press collection: Three Little Cookbooks in One, which is a self-published collection from the Lancaster County, PA, restaurant Miller's Smorgasbord. It's full of Pennsylvania Dutch specialties like Shoofly Pie (like pecan pie without the nuts) and Dutch Caviar (cream cheese and pepper jam). I'm much more interested in this one than the last! Maybe because I grew up near that area, or maybe because they seem to use more than salt, pepper, and cinnamon for spices.

You'll also see that I moved the cookbook listings to the left column, near the top, and have made some other sidebar changes to clean things up. Hope you find it easier to navigate.