Bon Appétit

Rich chocolate cookies get some Mexican flair when spiced up with cinnamon, cloves and cayenne pepper. Blanched almonds or pistachios can be used instead of cherries.

This Colombian-style one-dish meal is perfect for a cool winter evening.

Enjoy this dessert at room temperature if you like a creamy texture similar to that of a soufflé, or serve the cake cold if you prefer a dense, fudgey texture.

Try these as appetizers, as a salad (on a bed of greens) or as a light dessert.

Pick up some roasted or steamed vegetables from a deli or salad bar and some corn bread to serve alongside. Vanilla ice cream topped with sliced peaches and toasted pecans would be a nice ending. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Rajas is the word for a traditional Mexican mixture of sautéed peppers and onions. Green onions work well in this version.

Make the tartar sauce at least one day ahead.

Pumpkin pies have long been favored in New England; there is a recipe for a "pompkin" pie in Amelia Simmons's 1796 American Cookery. New England colonists, in spite of their puritanical reputation, were known to enjoy a tot of rum now and then. And if the liquor was hidden in a pie, even the ladies were able to indulge.

This recipe was created to accompany Chocolate Strawberry Orance Wedding Cake .