Maple Syrup

"When the early French settlers came to Canada they brought with them their French cooking techniques, but ingredients were scarce," said our friend Jacline Bergeron, a Montreal resident for 15 years and an authority on its cuisine. "They had to make do with what they had. That's how our French-Canadian food evolved." We were dining in the most traditional restaurant in Old Montreal, Les Filles du Roy, a 19th-Century house with walls of gray Quebec stone and beamed ceilings.

In torrential rain, I head deep into the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, leaving pasture and farmsteads for state forest as the road snakes up into the clouds. As I cross a pass, the temperature drops abruptly. Blacktop ends, and I roar along the dirt track, engine in second gear. My arrival at Mike Richter's maple house seems like a return to civilization. "Come in; come in," he urges as the pungent sweetness of maple vapor hits my nose.

  Perfect pecan pie Total time: About 1 hour Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try any of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen recipes from this week's Food section, please share it with us: Click here to upload pictures of the finished dish. Servings: 8 Olive oil crust 1 1/2 cups sifted flour (6 ounces) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla or orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (Armagnac or cognac will work as well)

Make homemade granola using the excellent recipe in Christine Moore's new "Little Flower" cookbook, changing the mix of nuts and dried fruit depending on what appeals to you at the moment. The granola mix makes a terrific gift, packaged in cute storage jars. RECIPES: 25 homemade holiday gift ideas! Homemade granola is just one way to get crafty this holiday season with homemade gifts from the kitchen. We've compiled 25 great ideas, ranging from quick and simple gifts (perfect if you're working with kids)

When sap oozes from the maple trees in springtime, the Cartwrights give their dairy a breather and grease the griddle. The family's Maple Tree Inn is unshuttered and the tables are wiped down for an all-too-brief pancake season. On a busy day, the line of pancake-craving customers may extend out the door and more than 100 feet down to the road. Inside, steam rises from the grill where flapjacks are poured and flipped, 27 at a time.

  Dutch baby Total time: 35 minutes Servings: 8 to 10 Note: Adapted from "The Lost Art of Real Cooking" by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger. Dutch Baby can be served with such toppings as cinnamon, yogurt, maple syrup, honey and/or marmalade. Show us your photos: If you try this recipe, send us photographic evidence: Click here to upload pictures of the finished dish. 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 4 eggs 1 cup (4.25 ounces) flour 1 cup milk 1/2 cup sugar, preferably brown 1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

  Nothing makes Times Food editor Russ Parsons feel like a dad more than cooking a good breakfast. Not some fancy menu full of hollandaise and cream sauce, either, but hearty, home-style food, such as the cornmeal pancakes from the 1943 edition of the "Joy of Cooking. " Though the author, Irma Rombauer, a good Midwesterner, wasn't one to sing the praises of her recipes, she does describe this one as "delicate and good. " They certainly are. The trick here is pre-cooking the cornmeal by covering it with boiling water for 10 minutes.

Hannah Teter didn't waste any time drawing her line in the snow. The defending Olympic gold medalist in the women's halfpipe was talking about what she was going to drink and eat at the Olympics and mentioned a certain fast-food franchise. You know, that place with the golden (not medal) arches. " NOT ," she said, grinning. She felt that way long before the movie "Super Size Me" and hasn't gobbled down a Big Mac or anything on the menu in 10 years. "I have seen parts of it," Teter said.