Hats off

Is there fun after 50? Yes indeed, if you're among the jaunty women who lunch together wearing purple outfits topped off with red hats. The Red Hat Society calls itself a dis-organiziation of women who have done for others for all too many years and now, at a certain age, deserve a break and a little visibility (check out those hats!). The members, numbering more than a million, live in every state and in 30 countries. Luckily, they've decided to share their specialties, their absolute best of best recipes, with us. The Red Hat Society Cookbook, includes 1,000-plus recipes selected by highly accomplished Red Hat cooks who served as tried-and-true testers and tasters. It's like having a big old recipe exchange with hundreds of new friends. Desserts (more than 160 pages of them) come first, then Everything Else from BLT Dip and whiskey-glazed pork chops to carrot marmalade. Hatted or hatless, you're in for a good time.