pumpkin pie. It has to be pumpkin pie. Starting in mid-September, my husband starts leaving little hints like adding "pumpkin" and "cans of milk" to the grocery list.

I make a pie about every two weeks, get a slice, and the rest disappears to his office until I get an empty pan back.

It has to be pumpkin pie.

Fall means pecans in my family. Pecan pie is on the list, but generally as an afterthought. My grandparents taught all of us grandkids how to make pralines and it just doesn't seem like fall without them...

Home-made Nanaimo Bars. Hands down favorite of our clan...

No favorite, just the rule "always have a dessert on hand"!

I've managed to turn my girlfriend on to the wonders of Filipino halo-halo. basically, take a bowl and add in alternating layers of

- sweet red beans
- jackfruit or mango chunks
- coconut gel
- tapioca

then top with shaved ice and milk. eat with a long spoon.

occasionally, I'll mix the milk with a bit of rum -- which I believe was key in end user acceptance.

though, recently, we've moved to being a block away from a tasty independent ice cream shop, and that also tends to be our default backup when we're out of sweet fruits to use our in boozey ice milk dessert.

Nothing but a classic -- chocolate chip cookies. I made some tonight, an original recipe I've been working on over the last week or so. They're the best I've ever had and I've had my share.

Cookies! I make a lot of pie, too (pecan, sweet potato, custard, rhubarb) but cookies come up more often. My husband is incessantly requesting plain vanilla shortbread (so buttery that my sister once referred to it as "a heart attack in every bite." Yum!)

No one actually requests sweets in my house. It's more like my craving finally gets the best of me. It's always something simple - Tollhouse cookies, chocolate chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and occasionally palmieres.

I make them when I know my husband can take most of them into the office the next day. That way we both get a few and the rest are out of the house.

Pie or cookies for day-to-day sweets, cakes for birthdays or other occasion days. Or, if I just feel like making a cake.

I also try to always have a good quality vanilla ice cream on hand for turning any dessert ala mode.