Alcohol

Finish off this meal with some cookies from the bakery and fresh fruit.

Buy an apple tart for dessert.

Jim Fobel, cookbook author, says, "My mother always added lots of sage and nutmeg to her stuffing. I loved those flavors when I was a kid, and I still put them in the stuffings that I make today."

To allow enough time for the soufflés to freeze, make them at least one day before serving.

Throughout the Spanish-speaking world, thickened sweetened milk is a regular feature at dessert time (and, like all treats, whenever Mom isn’t looking). Though not difficult to make from scratch on top of the stove, the use of condensed milk eliminates the need for constant stirring. Be sure to check the water level in the pan about halfway through cooking; if it’s low, carefully add a little more.

Jean Anderson, author of The American Century Cookbook, traces the origin of sloppy joes to the depression-era 1930s, and the popularity of this messy ground-beef sandwich increased markedly in the fifties and sixties. We update it with ground turkey, canned diced chilies and ale.

Hélène Wagner-Popoff writes, "My husband, Ivan, and I moved to Corsica from Madagascar eleven years ago on a whim. We restored an abandoned convent and saved the thousand-year-old olive grove surrounding it. The fact that I live in the country — with the luxury of having a garden full of wonderful ingredients — makes it easy for me to love cooking. I strive to teach my three little girls how to take pleasure in the simple, good things in life."

Good accompaniments to this Sicilian-style pasta are an arugula and fig salad, breadsticks, and gelato with amaretti.

Fresh herbs and pancetta (Italian cured bacon) blanket the pork before it goes into the oven. Ask the butcher to tie the two loins to hold their shape. Begin marinating the meat one day before serving. What to drink: Open a few bottles of spicy Zinfandel or hearty Bordeaux to place on the buffet table.

Here's a super-sophisticated yet easy-to-make topping for ice cream. Serve shortbread cookies alongside.

"My husband isn't usually a bread pudding fan," writes Priscilla Moynihan of Vancouver, Washington, "but he loved the dried-cherry version I had at the Southpark Seafood Grill in Portland, Oregon. In fact, after he helped me finish it, we ordered another one." The restaurant prepares this dessert with house-made brioche. We simplified the recipe by using purchased challah.