Bon Appétit

Slice it and serve with our soft dinner rolls so guests can make mini sandwiches, then use the bone to make soup. Ask your butcher for a whole cured, smoked bone-in ham from the back leg of a pig, or order one from dartagnan.com (ask for the applewood-smoked bone-in whole ham). You can also buy a half ham and cut the recipe in half. Flavor the meat with Riesling from the same bottle you use to make the gelée for the chicken liver mousse .

Forget the salad. This colorful assortment of vegetables will stay fresh and snappy on the buffet all night long.

We like the rich flavor and look of Marcona almonds in this bark, but roasted almonds work nicely, too.

Candied orange peel is the star of this granola.

Use a triple hit of ginger—fresh, ground, and crystallized—and blackstrap molasses to lift your ginger cookies to the next level. The dough is rolled in raw sugar for a sparkly effect.

This smooth pâté can be set up in small jars for a more festive presentation up to 2 days ahead. A simple wine jelly topping—optional, of course— serves as both a conversation starter and a tart-sweet counterpoint to the rich mousse.

This rustic dip is an easy way to add bright flavor and color (and vegetables!) to the hors d'oeuvre table.

Lightly salting a center-cut tenderloin, a.k.a. chateaubriand, overnight allows the salt to penetrate this luxurious roast and keep it extra-flavorful and juicy.

Serve these fragrantly spiced classics with coffee or tea.

The recipe for this cocktail-hour snack was inspired by one from contributing editors Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer.

Skip the bottled ranch; make this dressing all winter long to add a tangy kick to salads and crudités.

A fruit-filled ice ring will melt more slowly than ice cubes, which means it won't water down your punch.

"I was making breakfast at home one morning, and my son suggested using croissants for the French toast instead of bread," says owner Michael Stein. The swap was such a hit with his family that the dish soon made the restaurant menu. Stein is thrilled that the dish caught the eye of our young reader: "Sometimes you just have to let the kids have their way."

Use to liven up Bloody Marys, or stir into sour cream as a sauce for roast beef.

Forgo the old-school crown roast by arranging two pork rib roasts with the bones crisscrossed like a military honor-guard salute. Ask your butcher to french the bones by removing excess fat and muscle for a more elegant presentation.

Use any combination of red or black grapes to achieve a deep purple color.

An elegant twist on the pineapple classic. You can use any kind of pear you'd like.