Gluten-free desserts: If you’ve recently gone gluten-free and are missing baked goodies, sigh no more. Health-food stores carry a plethora of mixes that make it easy to whip up a treat to impress friends and satisfy a sweet tooth. Two we’ve tested have baked up into delectable desserts that no one guessed were missing anything: Pamela’s Products Irresistable Chocolate Brownie Mix and Dowd & Rogers Golden Lemon Cake Mix. If you really want to gild the lily, make two layers of the lemon cake, adding about a tablespoon of poppy seeds. Spread raspberry jam between the layers and cover the cake in homemade lemon buttercream icing. The brownie mix has a nice fudgy texture and takes well to added nuts – but be sure to leave it in the pan until it cools. | Vitamin Cottage | Susan Clotfelter
Half a “cheers”: The three-martini lunch is long gone, and the one-glass- of-wine lunch is on its way out too now that Panzano is offering wines by the half-glass, on its lunch menu only. All chosen by Gary Keller, Panzano’s wine expert, who is as bubbly and fun to be around as the Candoni prosecco. Choose from 18 whites and 21 reds, ranging from $3.25 to $6.50 for a 3-ounce pour. | Panzano, 909 17th St., 303-296-3525 | Kristen Browning-Blas
Ricotta salata al forno: As if running Mizuna and Luca d’Italia, preparing for the upcoming Food Network macaroni-and-cheese challenge, and raising two little boys weren’t enough, Frank Bonanno has been up nights making his own cheese out of organic heavy cream, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice and salt. He strains the mixture through a cheesecloth, then molds it into logs that he sprinkles with sea salt. They dry for two weeks, then he bakes them in ramekins 6 hours till they’re solid gold. At Luca, they shave it over house-cured Bresaola and arugula. | Luca d’Italia, 711 Grant St., 303-832-6200 | Kristen Browning-Blas
