Meet/3 recipes

Fruit tarts with cheddar cheese pastry shells filled with pineapple and orange curd. A vintage sweet-and-savory dessert where sharp cheddar meets tropical citrus.

Friendship starter orange cupcakes with raisins, pecans, and a warm orange-sugar glaze dip. Sourdough-style tanginess meets bright citrus in a tender, studded crumb.

Rio Grande grits casserole layers creamy garlic grits with kielbasa, black beans, salsa, and melted cheddar. Tex-Mex meets Southern soul food in one bubbling baking dish.

Roasted cauliflower meets tangy goat cheese in this elegant vegetarian casserole where steamed florets get smothered in a creamy herb-spiked cheese sauce, then baked until golden and bubbling.

Macaroon meets chocolate chip cookie in this co-winner in the drop cookie category, with a twist of cinnamon, nutmeg and mint; it's from Jessica Wall-Valadez of Milwaukee.

Sauteed crawfish tails with honey in a fresh tomato-dill sauce, served over rice or pasta. A Southern-meets-Mediterranean crawfish dish with a sweet-savory twist.

Kirghiz baked beef casserole with curried flank steak, dried apricots, apples, raisins, prunes, and yogurt. A Central Asian-inspired dish where sweet fruit meets savory spice.

Cream of curried corn soup blended silky smooth with chicken stock and half-and-half, garnished with popcorn. Sweet corn meets warm curry in every spoonful.

An Italian-inspired tuna and new potato salad with green beans, dressed in pesto mayonnaise with mashed anchovies. Think salade niçoise meets Genoa in one bowl.

Salmon corncakes flake poached salmon with sweet corn, shallots, peppers, and cilantro into pan-fried cracker-crumbed patties. Pacific Northwest meets Southwestern in one crispy bite.

Pumpkin bran muffins with chocolate chips, warm spices, and brown sugar. A fiber-rich fall muffin where cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice meet melty pockets of chocolate.

Everything tastes better with bacon. Needless to say when bacon meets beef tenderloin, it's an ultimate combination. We made this during the weekend, it was delicious.

German fest pizza layers crumbled bratwurst, sauerkraut, swiss and mozzarella on a prepared crust, then tops with mushrooms, peppers, and olives. Oktoberfest meets Friday pizza night.

Stuffed meatloaf rolled jelly-roll style with layers of capicola and pepper salami inside, finished with a white wine pan gravy. Italian deli meets comfort food.

Coconut pecan upside-down cake with chocolate chips, dark brown sugar, and a tender vanilla butter cake. Like a German chocolate cake meets a skillet dessert.

Old-world warm beer soup spiced with cloves, cinnamon, and lemon zest, thickened with milk, flour, and egg yolk. A traditional European comfort drink-meets-soup.