Buttermilk

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

There are only five employees at The Little Rooster Cafe, a small breakfast and lunch spot, but its terrific food and friendly service make it popular with locals and tourists (especially those who come to browse the town's outlet stores). Chef and co-owner Hub Poelmann features a different waffle every day. "We have an open kitchen," he says. "People smell the waffles cooking, and then order them." Poelmann credits his cooks with this lemon-poppy seed recipe, which was the happy result of "playing around in the kitchen." These light waffles would also be good with maple syrup, if you prefer.

Here's the traditional southern way to bake and serve corn bread: right in the skillet. Using shortening to grease the pan produces a nice, brown crust.

"On a trip to Longboat Key in Florida, my fiancé and I ate at Pattigeorge's," writes Wendy J. Harbart of Forest Hills, New York. "The five-spice calamari was out of this world."

If you don't have a 2 3/4-inch-diameter cookie cutter, the same size tin can (with top and bottom removed) works just as well.

Allowing the batter to chill overnight gives the yeast time for a long, slow rise, which makes the waffles light and crisp and develops their malty flavor. Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 9 hr

This recipe was inspired by the irresistible onion rings served at two classic New York City restaurants, Lindy's and Junior's. We tested the rings with both vegetable shortening and oil; although both yield a crisp, crunchy coating, our food editors preferred the fuller flavor the shortening imparts. For dramatic effect, we only used the larger rings of the onion, but feel free to use the smaller ones, too. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Taller, heavier-weight paper molds — typically used for individual panettone, the Italian holiday bread — are used instead of regular muffin papers to create a more elegant look. Vanilla and Almond Frosting is an accompaniment for this recipe.

Using frozen blueberries in the batter will keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the pan as the cake bakes.

You can use these pancakes for the caviar pancakes and save the remaining batter for breakfast. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min

Tender Iowa corn was the inspiration for these terrific biscuits. They are best eaten the day they are baked; extras can be warmed up the next morning for breakfast or brunch. Be sure to serve them with plenty of butter.

Whenever you serve this lightly spiced, moist buttermilk layer cake you'll turn dessert into a celebration. The spices in the cake mellow as it stands, so it's even better the day after baking.

Moist, with subtle heat from the chipotles.

This recipe makes more dressing than you'll need. The remainder makes a great everyday dressing for any type of green salad, or a delicious dip for chicken wings or raw vegetables.

A sure-fire way to get the kids to eat their vegetables—and chips, of course.

For easy serving, ladle the soup into pretty bowls, and set them on the buffet table.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.