Sour Cream

Don't assemble these hors d'oeuvres until the last minute, or the chips will get soggy. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 2 hr

Make a cake the easy way: Spruce up a mix with sour cream, chocolate, brown sugar frosting and a crunchy pecan brittle.

Watch everyone’s eyes open wide when you serve this big four-layer cake.

This moist bread is best fresh from the oven, but it can also be made ahead and reheated.

Fresh horseradish can have very intense flavor and heat, which is why we start with a small amount — taste the sauce and add more only if desired.

Manti The lamb will be easier to cut if it has been well chilled. Adding the salt to the filling just before forming the manti prevents the meat from curing.

My mom ate a lot of things — frogs' legs, escargots, sweetbreads — that horrified me as a child, but I took to caviar right away. She didn't use the good stuff, but even made with supermarket roe, this dish makes an elegant impression. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min (includes making pancakes)

Gianduia, a ground hazelnut and chocolate confection from the Piedmont, inspired this spectacular terrine.

There will be enough of this delicious make-ahead soup for seconds or leftovers.

Makes enough for a 13-inch tart shell.

These crab cakes are flavored with the "holy trinity" of Cajun cooking: onion, green bell pepper, and celery. Serve them with a helping of coleslaw or a green salad.

This elegant first course is ideal for entertaining, because everything can be prepared a day ahead (just chop up all the toppings and refrigerate them until ready to use).

Rillettes, potted meat spreads, are a French specialty traditionally done with pork and goose. This lighter version makes for a delicious, contemporary canapé.

As Gourmet wrote in 1959: "Long ago...it did occur to some blithe spirit, a poet of the kitchen to be sure, that when these little veal rolls were arranged on a platter they looked like a flock of headless birds. And oiseaux sans têtes, or veal birds, they remain to this day in the cuisines of such diverse countries as Belgium, Italy, and France.

Holidays in our home were strategic missions. We had a plan, everyone had a job, and in a perfect world, we would somehow deploy the food from a cleaned kitchen to a set table, complete with ice in glasses, by 5:30 p.m. Time was scarce. To compensate, my mom had a collection of simple coffee cakes that were quick, had enough chocolate to qualify as desserts in my family, and didn't contain walnuts (as they bother her mouth). This was the first from-scratch cake she taught me. It's good, easy, and practical, with chunks of chocolate and a sprinkling of spice.

Bake this at least one day ahead.

Try this recipe, inspired by a visit to a pizza truck in Normandy!

These cakes are actually better made ahead. They become richer and fudgier one to two days after baking.