It's been a wild ride of a week in terms of the weather. Friday it was 75 degrees – Saturday it snowed. Currently hanging out on my dresser is a cute little floral dress, right next to a pair of long underwear.

I'm ready for anything!

When the cold snap hit, I decided to make this cheddar broccoli rabe soup. Even with the weather in flux, sooner rather than later it's going to be hot and soups like this will be as unappealing.

But, on a snowy Saturday in April it was perfect.

Have you ever been down for no particular reason? For instance, you go to bed feeling happy, cheerful and sleepy and then you wake up, feeling like a blight on humanity.

Yeah, that didn't happen to me the other day at all.

But, for the purposes of this exercise let's say that I have felt like that, and I've found that the best cure is a Parks and Recreation marathon.

When one feels like: a) a wart on the soul of the universe; b) the gum on someone's shoe; or c) hair caught in a drain – watching the adventures of the people in the Parks Department in Pawnee is chocolate sauce for the soul.

How can you not love a show with lines like:

“The raccoon problem is under control. They have their part of the town and we have ours.”

Or:

“Pawnee’s library department is the most diabolical, ruthless bunch of bureaucrats I’ve ever seen. They’re like a biker gang. Only instead of shotguns and crystal meth, they use political savvy and shushing.”

So the other day when I was watching some Parks and Recreation episodes back-to-back, I decided that I wanted some comfort food too. My mind wandered to what was in the fridge, and it focused on cheddar, jalapenos and some gorgeous fresh dill that Jedd had grabbed at the store.

“You should make some scones,” my brain said.

However, you hear of “cheddar and dill” this, and you hear of “cheddar and jalapeno” that, but you don't really hear about the three of them together.

The episode I was watching was “Go Big or Go Home,” so I took that as a sign from the universe to give this recipe idea a shot.

Two weeks ago, Jedd and I packed our bags and headed to Maine for two nights and one glorious day of hanging out on the beach. Sure, early April isn't the warmest time to play near the ocean – but we were lucky enough to have the sun shining and temperatures that were in the upper 50s.

In other words, it was perfect.

Because it was in the off-season, it was just us and the people who lived there. In fact, it was so “off-season” that we were the only people staying in the motel. Even the office closed after 9 p.m.

Have you ever been the only people in a motel on the beach with a full moon and an empty parking lot? It's eerie and awesome at the same time.

But the lack of tourists didn't mean that everything was closed. We had some great meals and chatted with cool bartenders and wait staff while we dined.

And this meal was inspired by a soup that Jedd had at a – there's no other way to put this – bizarre sports bar that was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The reason I describe it as “bizarre” is because I've opened and closed places that serve alcohol, and trust me on this, the guy who's there until last call isn't necessarily the person I would want to see stroll in for eggs benedict five hours later.

That might be just me, though.

So, that's what I was pondering while I ate the greatest turkey club sandwich of my life, and Jedd had a soup loaded with sausage and greens.

While he happily ate his soup, it dawned on me that a spicy sausage and broccoli rabe saute would make an excellent side-dish.

Spring is in the air. I can say that with authority because when I walked around town doing errands today, I kept running into friends and acquaintances who all said, “Spring is in the air!”

See, I told you I was authoritative.

Street chats aside, the other reason I know that we're heading into spring is because the grocery stores are filled with amazing vegetables. Vegetables that are so pretty that I was giddy when I put them in my basket. Crisp little green asparagus stalks, pure white asparagus, sassy broccoli rabe bundles, and - joy of joys – organic cherry tomatoes that looked like they came straight from the farmer's market.

Tomatoes and I have a rough relationship in the winter. After hearing the Splendid Table show where they discussed how buying plum tomatoes is giving money to slave traders – well, let's just say I eye them warily. (No joke by the way. I've linked to the episode and you really should listen to it. It's mind blowing. Seriously.)

So, in the dark days of winter I buy hydroponic tomatoes and hope for the best. But, when I saw this container of tomatoes I was thrilled. In my mind's eye I saw them in a variety of recipes, but first I saw them in a herby ricotta pie with fresh dill and cheddar.

Note: There's also dill in the pie dough. That's because around our small kitchen we have a phrase: “There's no such thing as too much dill.”