Buttermilk

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.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

The original cornmeal batters, as made for the settlers by the Indians, consisted of cornmeal, salt and water. These simple batters quickly evolved to include eggs, butter and milk, and were the basis of many of the most celebrated Early American breads, cakes and puddings.

A flavorful turkey prepared in an interesting way. It is soaked in brine, which helps tenderize the bird, and then rubbed with a citrus-thyme butter. The butter keeps the turkey moist and also enriches the pan drippings for the gravy. The stuffing borrows from the long tradition of corn breads in America. Be sure to make the Giblet Broth before you start roasting the turkey. Pour hard cider throughout dinner. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

A cross between spoon bread and tamale pie, this flavorful, colorful side dish is a huge crowd-pleaser. Assemble it at least one hour and up to one day before baking.

In this recipe, the oven does the frying, eliminating most of the fat, and all of the messy splatter of traditional pan-frying. This quick and easy supper will be a sure family favorite, especially if you serve it with steamed green beans, sliced tomatoes, and biscuits.

In this pretty dessert, a buttermilk-based lemon custard fills the spiral of a light sponge cake roll.

St. John's Jug Muffins "I was given the recipe for these muffins years ago, and I make a batch of the batter every winter," writes Judith Cadigan of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania."When the urge for a muffin strikes, you can bake just one instead of a whole batch, and put the remaining batter back in the refrigerator." Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Walnuts add crunch to these breakfast treats served at the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid.

"Benne" is the Carolina Low Country word for sesame seeds, which came to the United States from Africa. This biscuit dough is made a day or so ahead, then formed right before baking. Angel biscuits, so called because of their tender, light texture, will not keep well at room temperature once baked

At restaurants, onions can be sliced into very thin rings on a meat slicer. By cutting the onions in half first, home cooks can get close to the same thinness with a knife, even though it means sacrificing the ring shape.

The big, All-American layer cake returns. Think pancakes and syrup, all dressed up. Buttermilk makes the cake moist, and maple-walnut candy provides the crunch.