Orange

Tame the heat with turnip greens and biscuits, then warm up again with hot chocolate topped with cinnamon whipped cream.

Autumn has officially arrived, and after a summer of cool, light cooking, it's time for some homey, hearty meals. Braised meats, with their rich flavors, tender texture and intense, reduced sauces, are definitely homey, but you may never have tried to make them at home. They sound as if they might be complicated to prepare—like something best left to a restaurant chef—and what exactly is braising, anyway? Relax. Braising is easy—there are only two steps: The meat is browned first, then covered and simmered in seasoned liquid. According to Cory Schreiber, the chef at Portland's super-popular Wildwood Restaurant & Bar, braising is a great way to cook lamb shanks. In the recipe here, he does something slightly unusual: He simmers the shanks uncovered in the oven. That way, he says, "the dry heat caramelizes the top of the meat—giving it a bit of a crust—which adds nice texture and color." The lamb is accompanied by a roasted squash purée and wilted Swiss chard. With this recipe in hand, you can actually have your next homey meal at home. Add a salad and crusty bread, and you've got your first dinner party of the season. Use a pot that's at least 12 inches across.

Serve with: Yellow rice pilaf mixed with baby peas, and buttered steamed spinach.

Each recipe makes about three dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutters used. The gingerbread cookies are crisp and lightly spiced, while the sugar cookies have lively lemon and tangerine flavors. Both are perfect for a variety of imaginative decorations.

The gravy can be started while the turkey roasts. When the turkey is through cooking, finish the gravy with balsamic vinegar and the pan juices. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Baby back ribs are less fatty than spareribs, and this marinade is flavorful without being a heavy barbecue sauce.

This delicious dessert uses the Easy Pie Crust .

Serve this quick and easy sauce warm over vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

We find that different generations have different ideas about what a typical New York cheesecake is. To us, a New York cheesecake is high, firm, and dense, with a slightly lemony flavor. The Lindy's cheesecake in our January 1991 issue, adapted here for a simpler crust, is all of that. It's also a cake that keeps for up to two weeks and lends itself easily to flavor variations.

Chinese five-spice powder is available in the spice section of most supermarkets. Serve with: Steamed broccoli and an Asian rice pilaf mix. Dessert: Vanilla ice cream sandwiched between gingersnaps.

Moist, billowy, light as a feather, and perfumed with fresh orange juice and zest, this is an incomparably refreshing cake. If you live in a part of the world where oranges grow, you could not ask for a more appropriate and aromatic adornment than orange blossoms, but fresh daisies also convey the lighthearted spirit of this lovely cake. A serving contains only 129 mg. of cholesterol.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 3 days

Until powdered gelatin came on the market in the 1890s, making gelatin molds was a labor-intensive endeavor. By the twenties, electric refrigeration and the Jell-O brand made the salads so easy to prepare that cookbooks were filled with recipes for them. This one incorporates the flavors of sangria. Serve it as a side dish or as a dessert.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 4 hr We think all turkeys are improved by brining (soaking in salted water), but it's a cumbersome process that few holiday schedules can accommodate. We found kosher turkeys, which are salted during the koshering process, to be just as flavorful and succulent as brined ones, without all the fuss. However, if you'd like to try brining, just stir together 8 quarts water with 2 cups kosher salt in a 5-gallon bucket lined with a large heavy-duty garbage bag, and soak turkey, covered and chilled, 10 hours. If you don't have room in your refrigerator, executive editor John Willoughby recommends brining in a large plastic cooler, using freezer packs to keep the water cool and replacing them as needed.

Add corn biscuits (you can find them in the supermarket refrigerator case) and a romaine, arugula, and radicchio salad with goat cheese. Coffee ice cream drizzled with Kahlúa is a nice dessert.