Winter

The French often serve flavored wine as an aperitif. This one has a base of red wine infused with orange, lemon, vanilla and cloves; it is later mixed with raspberry brandy and sugar. The drink is best at cool room temperature, accompanied by nibbles such as olives, almonds and crudités. It also makes an excellent Christmas present—just double or triple the recipe, and pour the drink into pretty bottles. Be sure to begin the "winemaking" process at least three weeks before you plan to have the wine or give it as a gift.

Terrific when served with vanilla or coffee ice cream, and a very appealing breakfast or snack cake on its own.

In this version of the classic holiday dessert, a croissant bread pudding is steamed in the oven instead of on the stove top. Ignite the finished product in front of the guests for maximum effect.

Lane Crowther, a contributing editor at Bon Appétit, says, "Every year, I try to get my tradition-bound family to eat something new at Thanksgiving. This year, I'm hoping everyone will accept this dish in place of yams with marshmallows. It will take a lot of convincing, but I think they'll be pleasantly surprised. The orange juice gives the acorn squash a nice sweetness. Besides, Asian ingredients have become such an important part of American cooking lately that I thought it would be nice to fuse Pacific Rim flavors with a classic of the American table in autumn."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

"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.

A veg-forward main or gets-along-with-everyone side.

These cheesy biscuits are a dream savory breakfast. Or pile them in a basket to round out any dinner.

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

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

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

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