Gourmet

Beef stock (often called brown stock) is no more difficult to make than chicken stock, and just a small amount of it can be used to great effect in all sorts of dishes.

In this recipe, the word biscuit refers to a savory cracker.

A splash of vodka or gin transforms this lively punch into a festive cocktail.

The thickness and bitterness of your drink will depend on your chocolate's level of cacao, which varies among brands. We got great results with Ghirardelli, which produced a full-bodied cocoa (our preference for dunking the ginger doughnuts). We also used Lindt to good effect, but needed to add more cornstarch for extra thickening. Chocolate with more than 60 percent cacao will be too bitter.

Omelettes Bauveuses aux Lardons
This omelet is meant to be runny (baveuse) in the middle.

Tracy Jones Midland, Texas, writes: "I wanted to share a Christmas breakfast recipe given to my mother, Cherry Jones, by Ann Westerman, a lifelong friend. My family quickly adopted the tradition of preparing this dish on Christmas Eve, then baking it on Christmas morning while opening our presents." The thick slices of garlicky bread in this dish are known as Texas toast.

Be sure to use bittersweet chocolate with no more than 60 percent cacao for this recipe.

We used store-bought graham cracker crumbs to save time; if you prefer to make your own in a food processor, you'll need 13 crackers, each about 4 3/4 by 2 1/4 inches. Freezing the tart helps to chill it quickly. If you're not in a rush, simply chill the tart in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it.

Yvonne M. Parnes of Batavia, Ohio, got the recipe for these rich, buttery cookies in an e-mail from the McCormick spice company. We like them plain, but drizzled with espresso icing and bittersweet chocolate, they are truly out of this world.

Our food editors find the texture of pineapple sherbet so much lighter and fluffier than that of other sherbets and sorbets — it practically has the weightlessness of granita. It provides a wonderful, tangy balance to the rich ambrosia cake and is delicious on its own, too.

The zing of ginger and the sweetness of molasses combine in perfect proportions in this cookie, sent to us by Jane Booth Vollers of Chester, Connecticut. Her grandmother, Helen Dougherty, made batches and batches of them every holiday season.

These lightly spiced butter cookies are similar to Janhagel, a popular Dutch cookie. Jane Valentine Talbert of Encinitas, California, uses pecans instead of the more traditional almonds.

When Abby Cohen of Oakland, California, was in college, her friend Michael Gevelber would receive these cookies in care packages sent by his Czechoslovakian mother. They taste best when made and filled 1 day ahead.

It's best to have a napkin handy when eating these crunchy chocolate cookies — the confectioners-sugar coating can get messy. After Catherine Rieger of Martinez, California, found the recipe in The Babbo Cookbook, the cookies became a staple in her home.

Fredricka Schwanka of Terryville, Connecticut, re-created her grandmother's recipe for these pastrylike cookies. This dough is extremely tender — if at any time during the filling process it gets too soft to work with, chill it on wax paper on a large baking sheet. You will have leftover filling, which is wonderful spread on toast or an English muffin.

The pleasant bite of anise gives these beautiful cookies a grown-up appeal. This recipe is from Mary McAvoy of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, who has been baking since she was ten years old.

Ambrosia may sound exotic, but it's simply chilled fruit (typically oranges or bananas) tossed with coconut and sugar. In some homes, it is served as a salad as well as a dessert. Here, food editor Alexis Touchet put her own spin on this southern classic by bringing cake into the picture, and moving the oranges to the filling and pressing the coconut into the frosting.

Michele Evola of New York, New York, writes: "I thought you might enjoy this family recipe. My aunt Bess puts fresh persimmons in the freezer so she can make these bars anytime." When Hachiya persimmons are very ripe, they're so fragile that they nearly turn to juice. If you want to freeze them as Michelle Evola's aunt Bess does, we suggest first putting them on a baking sheet in the freezer until they harden. Then wrap them in plastic wrap while they're hard and freeze them in a sealed plastic bag.