Adriana Janovich

As autumn nights grow colder and longer – and hearty soups, stews and chilis make their way to the dinner table more frequently – cornbread makes a comforting complement, especially if it’s moist and flavorful. However, even if the golden slice is smothered with butter and drizzled with honey, it’s oftentimes uninspiring.

Quick look: This soup-er encyclopedia features the magazine editors’ top 150 “triple-tested” recipes for soups and stews, including vegetarian options and ethnic inspirations. What’s inside: There are soups for all seasons – from Summer Corn Soup with Crisp Prosciutto to Pumpkin Soup with Sage and Gruyére Croutons or Turkey Chili. Recipes are divided into five sections: puréed soups, bisques and chowders, hearty soups, stews and chilis, and homemade stocks and broths. There are traditional soups – Classic Tomato, Classic Chicken Pot Pie, French Onion, Matzo Ball – as well as flavorful combinations – Tomato-Fennel Soup with Orange, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup with Star Anise, and Turkey Soup with Ginger, Lemon and Mint. Ethnically inspired options include Colombian Chicken Soup, Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup, Brazilian Chicken and Shrimp Stew, Moroccan Vegetable Ragout, and Pasta e Fagioloi. Recipes are listed at the front of each section as well as the index. The book also includes how-to tips for freezing and puréeing soups as well as choosing, storing, prepping and chopping certain vegetables and spices. There are “more about” explanations, “make ahead” options and suggestions for substitutions – chicken for turkey, for instance. Recipes also include nutrition information as well as the name of the contributor.

Bob Lombardi is back on the Food Network. The Spokane Community College culinary arts instructor appears in the first episode of the third season of “Halloween Wars,” which premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday.

SANDPOINT – Brandon Davenport left Los Angeles intent on drinking 100 cups of coffee in two weeks and documenting the undertaking. He accomplished his mission. But he doesn’t recommend it.

Ed Schafer was dropping off a friend after night class when he was handed an apron and put to work. He was 21, Mustard Seed was busy, and he figured he could help clear tables.

And the winners are … Recipes for honey whole wheat bread and turtle pizza won the top prizes in the 2013 Spokane County Interstate Fair’s Best Baking Contest, sponsored by Fleischmann’s Yeast.

Guiseppe Verdi set “Rigoletto” in 16th-century Mantua. While Opera Coeur d’Alene is keeping the northern Italian city as the backdrop, its weekend production of the classic, three-act tragedy takes place at some undefined point in the future. “It’s not like ‘Star Trek,’ “ said artistic director Aaron St. Clair Nicholson. “We’re using different techniques to create familiarity.”