Four miles roundtrip. On the oldest mountain hiking trail in the United States. To the summit of Mt. Crawford and twelve miles farther to the top of Mt. Washington. Since 1819. Before the invention of switchbacks. It's short but steep. The views are 360.

You can grow tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and parsley in a single pot. Sure, it's a little crowded - but the stuff actually grows well with six hours a day of summer sun. When summer's gone, time to harvest and roast.

The summer garden's disappearing fast, so it's time for the next-best thing. Fresh frozen pesto. Brightens up the winter. Let's you re-live the summer, a meal at a time. Great return on investment: grow it for five months, eat it for twelve. For $5. Freeze now, smile later.

Big flavor bang for the buck. Twice the steak and half the price of a Taco Bell. Perfect example of Better is Cheaper. Deeply flavorful steak. Rich but light sauce. Light, bright lime-sauteed onions. For one dollar.

Stripped down. No equipment. No exercise balls, no balance boards, no weights. Just your bare hands. Not just Better and Cheaper. Better and Free. Here's a bike exercise - without the exercise bike. Press Play.

Three hours, six miles and 3,600' to get to the edge. To be on the edge. To look over the edge. At something you've never seen before. Something you can only see from here. Go on. Press Play. For a mellow-minute adventure.

A huge, beautiful braided loaf of bread that's light but rich. Moist and slightly chewy. Golden and glossy. At least 30 big, thick slices. For $2.50.

Switchback your Way up to a ridge line so steep and razor sharp that a whole new world pops into view in that split second you step on top. 14 miles. 3,600' up. 7 hours. 4,000 calories. Burned.

In Spain, it goes on vegetables, meat, chicken and fish. It's a full-bandwidth sauce. A huge range of flavors spreading across your tongue. Deep flavors that make you pay attention and eat Slower. Mild or spicy. Your choice.

Fall Colors Risotto.
The world's best rice. With very fresh red and yellow late Summer sweet peppers. Stuffing an orange one. You can make a great risotto in 30 minutes. Required kitchen skill: stirring. And not that much.

This caramelized eggplant & soffrito pizza is a perfect example of Better being Cheaper. Not just a great $2 pizza. A great pizza, period. Seasonal vegetables, 34 cents worth of pizza crust and a beautiful, colorful finish.

Nobody's getting out of here alive. But while you're here, you might as well live Better and Cheaper.

Wonder what they're talking about. Sounds like everyone's into it, but it's all talk. Not much action out there. Maybe they're singing. Probably sounds great to them. They keep doing it. Press Play. Eavesdrop. Just for a minute. It's Sunday.

A luscious, transporting dessert for about $1 per serving. Rich flavor. Light texture. Like injecting fudge sauce with air bubbles. And cream. Unusually low calorie count.

Six or seven hours Walking one of the greatest walking cities on the planet. A few more hours for Eating in one of the world's great food capitals. Fifteen miles. 24 kilometers. More than 2,000 calories burned.

It's seasonally abundant, cheap and everywhere right now. The sweetness of the caramelized soffrito vegetables is great with the deep, dark kale flavor. A great Way to get to know this unusually flavorful green.

The butter makes a luxurious and rich mouthful. Water makes it light. The emulsified butter-water is a miracle. The free water and three minutes of extra effort transform a simple-and-just-fine dish into a great one.

Make a bowl of your own crisp, light, healthy ones for 20 cents. Or buy a bag of the commercial chips more responsible for long-term weight gain than any other food. Weight gain that leads to diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

What I learned on my summer vacation: hiking the "small" mountains of New England can be tougher than hiking the "big ones" out West. Why? Might be the rocks.

Images from a happier time and place. Ten years before 9/11. A laser light show I made every night up on the roof of the World Trade Center. These are the images stuck in my head forever. Press Play. See if you can make them stick for a little while.

Hard to say if it's better for breakfast or dessert. Depends if you want ice cream with it. Very intense lemon flavor makes it vibrant. Seasonal fresh pears give it a mellow sweetness. Olive oil keeps it moist, light and healthy. Ten minutes to prepare.

Do it all and you cover nine miles over a wonderful four hours. You'll burn about 1,500 calories. That ought to cover three spectacular meals at Café Pasqual's.

If you use a lot of it, it's even Better than you thought. If you don't, you should. Here's a study that looks at virgin olive oil and finds it reduces the risk of stroke. Significantly. And here are a bunch of delicious Ways to get more in your diet.

So satisfying and so easy. And cheap. The weather's cooling down and farmers everywhere are pulling their onions. Should be your first soup of the season. Luscious, deep and sweet onion flavor. NOT a calorie bomb.

Pickled Cucumber & Yogurt Soup. A very aromatic, very summery, very light but yogurt-rich soup. Five minutes of preparation. A great Way to use the late summer cucumbers. Like the two-pounder I just grew.

Labor Day. A holiday from everything. Even exercise. So just think about exercising. No serious sweat. Do that tomorrow. Thanksgiving's just 80 days away. And 30 more until Christmas. Think about that. And tomorrow's exercise.

Strange weather. Beautiful colors. Probably the only rainbow you'll see today. Just Press Play. Or get a wand and a bottle of the bubble stuff. Blow some. Different. But the same colors. Pretty good thing to do on a Sunday.

Dessert for a lazy, late summer cookout. A no-labor day dessert. As satisfying as a pie right out of the oven. Without making a pie. Hot. Sweet. Just slightly smoky. A little crumbly. Like a great pie once it's in your mouth. Where it counts.

This place is so spectacularly beautiful you should eat your organic smoothies, tacos and ice cream outdoors. While you stare at the dramatically close mountains and waterfalls.

No grill. No fireplace. You do it right on your stovetop. No pan. No pot. Just direct heat. They're succulent. They're sweet from heat. They're smoky from the direct heat. Now all you need's a fork.