Winter

Thanksgiving timing tip: If you have only one oven, you can prepare this dish ahead and serve it at room temperature, leaving plenty of room in the oven for the turkey.

Joanne M. Pietroske, Greenfield, Wis.
"I always include these in 'cookie boxes' I make for relatives who can't bake anymore."

Serve a nice bottle of Merlot alongside.

This is a colorful variation on the classic potato latke.

"Five years ago, I threw my first dinner party," writes Kristin McGill of Chicago, Illinois. "It was a memorable night with good friends, great food and lots of wine. That night, cooking became my passion. And despite all of the effort, I still love to throw parties. My husband, Henry, and I host get-togethers once or twice a month. I do most of the preparation — admittedly that's because I enjoy cooking so much that I prefer to have the kitchen to myself. But I have to confess that since I started sharing the counter space, I've discovered we make a great team." Pair this lovely side or first-course salad with the Blue Cheese Toasts. Add cooked, peeled shrimp for a lunch entrée.

These sweet, tangy wings should appeal to even the pickiest kid. Eight pounds may sound like a lot, but no matter how many of these we made in our test kitchens, they always disappeared quickly. You may not have the oven space to cook the wings and the macaroni simultaneously. We found it best to do the wings first, then keep them warm under foil while baking the macaroni. Finally, because the wings tend to leave a mess to clean up, we like to make them in disposable foil roasting pans.

Terrific with roast turkey or pork.

Good enough to eat by the spoonful, this curd can be used as a cake or tart filling or served with scones, muffins, or fresh fruit.

Prepare this cake a day ahead.

Pavlova meets Black Forest cake in a holiday dessert designed to steal the spotlight.

Canned butternut squash purée (find it by the canned pumpkin!) makes this cozy, cold-weather recipe come together in a snap.

Crisp winter greens and tender slices of steak get the restaurant treatment with a punchy peppercorn dressing, crisp bacon bits, chives, and blue cheese.

Fully loaded, meal-prep friendly, and ready to be dressed up, down, or sideways.

A mix of leafy greens turns extremely tender with the simplest treatment. Topped with crispy breadcrumbs, this is proof that boiled vegetables aren’t boring.

A classic drink that never goes out of style. Stick with these steps and you’ll nail it every time.