treacly goodness

I'm sure I'm not the only one who, after reading some of the Harry Potter books, wanted to try treacle tart. I looked through websites and developed what seems to me, an American who only knows what she found on the Internet, to be a basic recipe that stays true to the dessert.

I really enjoyed trying it. It's tasty. My favorite part is actually the shortcrust pastry, which appears in lots of dessert recipes. Maybe I'll make a pie with it this weekend.

Try some treacle tart. I bet you'll like it. And in the meantime — have you ever been inspired by a book to try a certain food, or something else?

new to us

Photo is a downloadable wallpaper from ABC.com.

Next week is when the big onslaught of fall TV shows premieres. I watched "Prison Break" this past week and was happy to see it back, despite the grossness and general depravity of life in the new prison, Sona.

Of the new fall shows, I am by far most excited to see "Pushing Daisies." This quirky, apparently fun and unusual show about life and death doesn't start until Oct. 3. The other new shows I'm definitely planning on trying out, at least once, are "Chuck" and "Bionic Woman," both starting this coming week on NBC.

What about you? Which new series are you excited to see?

Arrr...

I couldn't go the whole day without noting ...

Avast! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!

The '80s: not all bad

Ah, the '80s. The decade the ozone cried out in pain under a massive assault of aerosol hairspray. The time when otherwise intelligent young men and women chose to go out — in public — with their jeans folded and tucked into their socks. The padded shoulders of blazers that made women look like football players. The alarming slang (totally grody, man). But the '80s weren't all bad. The pictures here prove it, showcasing highlights that began or reached their peak during the decade of embarrassing photographs. To read Prerogative Editor Samantha Perry's accompanying plea against the comeback of '80s fashion from our current issue, visit the Prerogative website. To see our full list of '80s highlights, visit our MySpace page's blog. And tell us ... did we leave anything out? (Of course we did; we could only include so many John Hughes films, you know.)

From top: A "Gremlins" toy Gizmo, Atari, "We Are the World" poster, some '80s album covers, "The Lost Boys" poster.