Dried Currant

A sweet, buttery dessert that's a snap to make. It's excellent with tea.

These chewy cookies are great with ice cream, espresso or a glass of Marsala.

The following recipe comes from my mother's home economics class in Louisiana back in the 1940's. I hope your readers enjoy the muffins as much as I do.

This dessert, long favored by the British at holiday time, originally contained minced meat along with the fruits and spices. This version, more suited to the nineties table, is meatless and brimming with apples, dried fruit and lots of spices.

Dundee has been synonymous with marmalade for hundreds of years. The story goes that around 1700, an enterprising Dundee housewife crafted marmalade as we know it from a boatload of bitter Seville oranges purchased by her husband from a Spanish ship stranded in the harbor. In this recipe, marmalade is gently heated with orange juice and whisky until it liquefies, then the sauce is poured over the cake.

One of our editors, who was raised in the Midwest, was eager to share her grandmother's recipe for fruit cookies. Although this cookie doesn't look particularly Christmasy, it's apparently a venerable family tradition.

In England, plum pudding was required at Christmas in the nineteenth century, and it still is today. This luscious cake takes its cues from that beloved dessert. It combines the flavors of a plum pudding in a chocolate cake and iced it with fudge frosting.

A conserve usually consists of a mixture of fresh fruits, often with raisins, currants or nuts added. New England seafarers prized citrus fruits, which are perfect with native cranberries.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A great way to make a different and light meal with leftover lamb.

An Armenian dish that's the perfect accompaniment to roast turkey, goose or ham. This version is dressed up for the holidays with golden saffron and studded with dried fruit and nuts.

A favorite of Nancy's son.

Anadama bread, a traditional New England yeast bread made with cornmeal and molasses (said to have been created by a woman from Massachusetts named Anna), is the inspiration for the following muffins. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr