Last Bites

Even as busy hosts, we enjoy the camaraderie of a meal as much as our guests do. And we especially like those few moments between saying goodbye at the end of the evening and heading to the kitchen to clean up. We stand back, perhaps take another nibble of cheese and a sip of wine, and scroll through the conversations. Often we've laughed all night, and usually we're still smiling.

As we write our last column in this space, we find ourselves in a similar moment. After 25 years, we've decided it is time to pass the whisk to another capable cook. A weekly column, one that includes writing, testing recipes, and food styling, hasn't left us much time to do other things. It was, however, an important part of our lives, and from what those of you who clip and cook tell us, yours, too. Sheryl will continue her full-time duties as editor for the Globe's Wednesday Food section, where she'll also write stories. Julie will write for the section as well, and we'll both use our food styling skills to enhance its pages. In June, Julie is headed to France to teach cooking.

What and how people cook has changed dramatically since the column began. Looking back, it's hard to believe how people used to do it. Or rather, how much time they had! It was common for hosts to spend an entire day in the kitchen before guests arrived that evening. But, then, people didn't go to the gym every day or run as many errands or try to squeeze as much out of every moment. Elaborate sauces that we leave now to restaurateurs were fairly routine. Imagine beginning with a big pot of beef stock in order to ultimately add a few spoonfuls of a well-reduced sauce to each plate. Twenty-five years ago, we, and many of you, thought nothing of it.

A more relaxed attitude toward cooking developed gradually in homes all over the country. We weren't the only ones who decided that guests didn't need three courses, that a hearty soup is a fine meal, and that if you haven't time to bake, there's always fruit and chocolates. As the notion of what constitutes a meal evolved, so did our recipes.

Rack of lamb we now save for celebrations. Sturdy hanger steak is cheaper, easier, and quite wonderful with our favorite oven fries. When the steak comes out of the pan, we deglaze the sediment with shallots and red wine to make an instant sauce. Our weeknight tables are filled with roast chicken, cod with buttered crumbs, seafood chowders, pork chops, bean dishes with fresh herbs and sausages, and trays of roasted vegetables. When company comes, we never "plate" food in the kitchen (that's another technique best left to chefs). In fact, we often don't even bother with serving dishes, carrying the cooking pot right to the table.

Sheryl began this column as both the writer and food stylist, and when Julie joined 16 years ago, we turned it into a happy collaboration. At Jim Scherer's photography studio every week in Dorchester, we brainstormed, cooked, and set up food for Jim's handsome shots, which he'll continue to produce for these pages. But while we really love styling for the camera, there's nothing like cooking together. Even knee-deep in chopped onions or chicken stock, we'll catch each other up on what's going on at home and in our social lives and make each other laugh and sometimes cry. Those afternoons together, which Julie calls our therapy sessions, taught us that much more than cooking happens in a kitchen.

In 2003, we wrote The Way We Cook, which includes many recipes from this column and others we had been saving. When we hit the road to promote the book, we found, to our surprise, that a vast majority of you think we're Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso, the authors of The Silver Palate Cookbook, which was just reissued in a 25th-anniversary edition. Mix us up all you want! We admire them, too.

Our own lives have changed as well. Our children grew up and left home, we both remarried, and while we continue to cook all the time - filling the freezer with big containers of our favorite cookies, making pots of chicken soup year round, lamb and beef stews in winter, and lots of grilled fish in summer - we also had to watch our waistlines. So though you may not have noticed, much of our food is heart-healthy, with only a drizzle of oil before or after cooking. That quiet agreement between us never held true for baking. Load it with butter, we say. Dessert should be worth the calories.

We're often asked about our favorite dishes, and the answer depends on what the weather's doing, what's going on that day, and who's coming over. Even taking all that into consideration, Sheryl makes pita crackers and tuna pate for nearly everyone who walks into her house, and Julie's cookie jar is always brimming with her crunchy almond biscotti. You've already got two ends of a nice meal; slide a piece of fish under the broiler, add a few vegetables, and you have a menu.

What we have come to appreciate most is that food isn't the most important thing at the table. It's lively conversation, good ideas, exciting exchanges, laughter, warmth, and a sense that whatever else is going on in the world, your gathering feels comfortable and welcoming. We hope that, sandwiched between the recipes and pages you clipped all these years, that sentiment came through.

TUNA PATE
SERVES 6

1 can (6 or 7 ounces) tuna in olive oil, drained
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste Squeeze of lemon juice, or to taste
2 heaping tablespoons capers, drained

In a food processor, combine the tuna, butter, cayenne, and lemon juice. Pulse the mixture until it is smooth. Taste the pate for seasoning and add more cayenne or lemon juice, if you like.

Add the capers and pulse for 30 seconds only, just to distribute them. Transfer the pate to a small bowl, smooth the top, and press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture. Cover the top with another piece of plastic wrap.

Refrigerate the pate for at least 2 hours or for as long as 3 days. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving with pita crackers.

PITA CRACKERS
SERVES 6

1 package medium pita (4 rounds) Olive oil (for sprinkling) Kosher salt (for sprinkling)

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Have on hand 2 rimmed baking sheets.

Tear the pita rounds into quarters. Separate the tops and bottoms. Set the pieces on the baking sheets in a single layer, close together and with the rough sides up. Sprinkle or brush the pita with oil, then sprinkle lightly with salt.

Toast the pieces for 12 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown all over. Watch them carefully toward the end of cooking and remove any pieces as soon as they are browned.

Cool completely before serving.

MINI ALMOND BISCOTTI
MAKES ABOUT 6 DOZEN

1 pound (3 cups) unskinned whole almonds
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Set the oven at 375 degrees. Have on hand 3 baking sheets, one rimmed. Line the 2 unrimmed sheets with parchment paper.

Toast the nuts for 12 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until they are toasted. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a food processor, chop the almonds coarsely.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or the whisk, beat the eggs and sugar for 1 minute on medium speed. Beat in the oil and vanilla just until combined.

With the mixer on its lowest speed, beat in the flour mixture, followed by the almonds. The dough will be thick and sticky. Using a large metal spoon, place small dollops of dough down the length of one side of a baking sheet to form a rough log. Continue in this fashion until you have two 2-by-12-inch logs (four logs total) on each of the 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Use a metal palette knife to shape and smooth the logs. Flatten them slightly with the knife.

Bake the logs in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, or until they are light brown and firm. Remove from the oven and slide the logs, still on the parchment paper, onto wire racks to cool.

Turn the oven down to 300 degrees. With a wide metal spatula, release the logs from the parchment paper and transfer them to a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to cut the logs on an extreme diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Set the slices, either cut side down, back on the parchment paper.

Bake the biscotti for 30 minutes, or until they are crisp and dry. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

ENTERTAINING TIPS

Guests feel uncomfortable when the hosts disappear into the kitchen all night. Design a menu in which many components are already made, so you're not doing too much last-minute cooking. If the main course needs your attention, be sure that neither the first course nor dessert does.

It's your job to serve and clear. When guests pop up from the table, it disrupts the conversation. Tell them nicely to stay put so they can enjoy the evening.

When entertaining, don't just invite couples. Include singles, interesting people you've just met, your carpenter, and your investment banker on the guest list. Have a seating plan, so you never have to say, "Just sit anywhere." Sit couples across from each other, and put shy people beside chatty ones.