Dried Cranberry

Loaded with dried fruit, toasted almonds, and bittersweet chocolate, these blondies combine the best of a brownie with what you wish fruitcake could taste like. A terrific addition to any holiday cookie platter, they are also a satisfying stand-alone dessert.

If your Thanksgiving dinner is a formal affair, serve the crostini on small plates with the frisée salad. If your guests like to hang out in the kitchen until dinner is served, offer the crostini as passed hors d'oeuvres topped with a sprig of dressed frisée.

Amaretti cookie crumbs, sprinkled between layers of phyllo, give lots of satisfying flavor and texture this this apple-cranberry pastry.

This sweet-tart chutney is great alongside lamb or pork chops, atop goat cheese and crackers, or on biscuits with sliced ham.

Lauren Beal of San Rafael, California, writes: "When it comes to making dinner, my husband, Stuart, and I have the perfect system. He's in charge of our backyard garden, and I'm in charge of cooking with what he harvests—things like basil, onions, lemons, and even apples. It's our favorite way to create a meal together."

Using blood orange juice in the dressing means less oil is necessary, which lowers the fat in this dish. Mâche, sometimes called lamb's lettuce, can be found in four-ounce packages in the produce section of many supermarkets.

Hachiya persimmon puree flavors the pudding; using arborio (the starchy, short-grained risotto rice) gives it an especially tender, creamy texture.

Here, you only boil the rice briefly before combining it with the dried fruit and cooking it without water. We adapted this rice from a Persian method that yields a buttery crust (called tah-dig) on the bottom of the pan — later the crust is served with the rice. Usually you have to dip the pot in cold water at the end of cooking to release the crust, but a happy kitchen accident occurred when we tested this recipe. Food editor Ruth Cousineau let the rice stand for almost an hour (things can get hectic when you're preparing a holiday meal), and the crust came right out without the dipping. Using a heavy pot helps keep the rice hot, too.

These truffles are particularly good when made with Valrhona "40% cacao" milk chocolate. We recommend tempering the chocolate used for coating them, as it will result in glossier, firmer shells.

Dense, moist, and delicious, this bread is great as a quick snack or with a bit of whipped honey butter for afternoon tea.

Bright, fresh flavors star in this holiday salad.

Spiced cranberries top chilled orange slices for a sweet-tangy contrast in this colorful salad.