Dried Fruit

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

These pastries are best when freshly baked, so if you plan on giving them to someone who may not be able to serve them within a day or two, you should deliver them frozen, along with the baking instructions.

Complementary ingredients give the yams a deliciously sweet and tart flavor.

The vinegar in this gravy gives it an appealing tartness. Round off the meal with cranberry sauce and steamed broccoli. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Here's a sophisticated but easy desert.

Can be made in 45 minutes or less.

Traditional recipes for mole poblano call for several varieties of dried chilies, which, outside the Southwest, are available only at specialty foods stores or by mail order; as well as sesame seeds and/or pumpkin seeds and/or peanuts; roasted tomatoes; and chocolate; among other things. A mole can sound like a peculiar combination of ingredients, but at its best it is every bit as subtle and well balanced as the most evolved French sauce. Our quick version uses only ingredients available at the supermarket, and broiled, not fried, chicken, which makes the dish easier to prepare, lighter, and most important, still delicious---if not exactly authentic.

Mary Tuohy, a Cappagh, County Tyrone, native who now lives in Redbank, New Jersey, has been making this raisin tea cake for so long that she can almost do it from memory. She says, "I can't remember where the recipe came from, but we used to bake it over an open turf fire back home. It came to me on a piece of dilapidated paper, which I still have." It's a very moist cake, she says, nearly foolproof. "You can't go wrong with it."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Caramelized pears plus dried apricots, cranberries, and prunes add intense fruit flavor to this stuffing from Rochelle Palermo Torres, a freelance recipe developer and cooking teacher.

Panforte — a cross between a cake and a candy — is a classic Italian Christmas treat. It's a very dense, rich confection loaded with nuts, dried fruit, and spices (hence its name, which means "strong bread"). This recipe yields much more than you'll need for the party, but it keeps so well that you'll have delicious leftovers long after the holiday season. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 4 hr (includes cooling)

Jambon au Sirop d'Erable Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 4 hr

Brining results in moist, tender meat. Be sure to use a large center-cut loin, which cooks more evenly than two smaller pieces tied together. Begin this recipe one day ahead. What to drink: A medium-bodied fruity red, such as Merlot, or a fruity white, such as Australian Sémillon.