A plate of homemade empanadas with dipping sauce. (RAY GRAHAM, The Palm Beach Post)

How far would you go to revive your senses with a favorite taste from your childhood? I have searched throughout Palm Beach County for the perfect Argentine empanada, one that takes me back to the tastes and aromas of my hometown, Buenos Aires. I crave the native flavors of this tidy turnover, the perfect portable meal to sip with a glass of ruby red malbec.

A true Argentine empanada — defined by its delicate crust and well-seasoned filling — is rare to find here. At least it is to my palate. Granted, there are a handful of good empanada vendors across the county (a few are listed in the adjacent box). But since the empanada I crave is the empanada of my youth, I make my own.

When I was growing up, the typical filling for a meat empanada was made with onions, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, peppers, olives and in some cases raisins. There were also sweet empanadas, filled with quince paste or the traditional sweet potato paste. (Empanada makers in other Latin countries might use guava and cream cheese, apple, pumpkin or other fruits.)
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Figs are among those foods known for purifying qualities. (File photo)

Out with the old. Time to embrace the shiny new beginnings of 2010. Time to say good-bye to the bacchanalia that was the holiday season and say hello to the promise of balance. The body demands it after the end-of-the-year excesses, when even the most judicious eater may have strayed into sugary, carb-loaded terrains.

The result is more complicated than what the scale may tell us, for our excesses leave us with more than a few extra pounds. They leave us with an accumulation of toxins. And these toxins are the holiday gifts that keep on giving — gifting us with that bloated, lethargic, cranky state and unduly aging our cells.

Those poor cells are now clamoring for a good detox. A cleansing can chase away the blues and lethargy, clarify the mind, restore the skin’s glow, ease insomnia and rev up energy. And, here’s the best part: it can be quite delicious.
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The great feature about pumpkins and squash is their versatility, which can make them critical ingredients in everything from soup to entrees. (AP)

More on pumpkins:

Save those pumpkin seeds | Recipe for soup with a Thai kick
Capture the taste of fall with ‘love soup’ | Risotto is pumpkin decadence for one

The leaves remain unchanged in color. The temperatures dip only ever so slightly. In South Florida, it takes a little imagination to summon the feel of autumn.

But once you do, you quickly realize there is simply no autumn without the aroma of baked pumpkin treats or the parade of fall colors upon the plate.

Imagining autumn is not so difficult when one has a kitchen and a bounty of seasonal vegetables and fruits. Besides, somehow our bodies seem to know when it’s fall — they begin to crave more earthy foods, more robust than summer’s lighter fare.

I know this because I’ve been craving a good pumpkin soup since my calendar signaled the start of fall.
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