Oven Bake

"I spend as much time as I can cooking," writes Brigette Lyons of Allendale, New Jersey, "and I'm equally comfortable feeding two or two hundred. I thoroughly enjoy giving sit-down meals, including an annual Christmas luncheon I do for about twenty guests. I just like to cook, period. Cooking for two hundred may be different from making weeknight dinners for myself and my husband, John, but organization is the key to both. I try to keep things on hand that are simple and easy to prepare." Brigette prepares this dish for her annual Christmas luncheon. It's ideal for entertaining because it can be assembled ahead and baked just before serving.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 3/4 hr

Tuna would also work well in this recipe. Use a combination of black and white sesame seeds for dramatic contrast. Don't forget to provide a bowl for the toothpicks.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Cooking the sea bass in parchment paper is a great technique — it keeps the pistachio topping in place and allows you to brown both the fish and the topping in the skillet (the parchment becomes translucent so you can see the browning. Since Gras is on the West Coast, he likes to use Dungeness crab when he makes this dish. We've substituted jumbo lump crabmeat because it's available year round nationwide.

"Cooking with friends — that's pretty much what my life has been about," writes Louise Pickerel of Muskogee, Oklahoma. "When I moved here from Texas ten years ago, it was hard to leave the people I'd known for so long, but I've probably met two hundred new people since then. I have always entertained, but now that I'm retired, I finally have more time to play bridge and cook." Perfect for Thanksgiving, these warm hors d'oeuvres can be assembled a day ahead and chilled, then baked before serving.

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

These small potato cups (each one is half a russet potato) are a great choice if you're short on oven space. The potatoes can be baked and stuffed one day ahead and chilled, then warmed in the oven for 20 minutes while the turkey rests before carving.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr Created at de Jonghe's restaurant in Chicago, this dish is a memorial to a time when we were afraid of garlic but not of butter. The amount of garlic in it was considered outrageously racy.

Although these are super-fast to make, you can assemble them the night before so that they're ready to bake in the morning.

Sautéed vegetables are piled atop a creamy goat cheese-custard filling.

This flavorful chicken makes an impressive impromptu dinner when accompanied by the Caramelized Onion and Roasted Red Pepper Linguine and a nice salad (use a bagged lettuce mixture, of course). Frozen chicken will work here if that's what you have on hand; just defrost it quickly in the microwave.

Bonnie Wilkens Metully of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes: "As much as my husband and I love to go out to eat, it's just more fun, intimate, and cozy to cook and entertain at home. I've taught a lot of our friends just how easy it is to prepare restaurant-quality dishes themselves. Who taught me? My older sister, who's a professional chef. She showed me the importance of getting everything prepped beforehand and seeking out the freshest ingredients." This terrific dish also works well as an appetizer if it's cut into bite-size pieces.

Tamales are traditionally served in the southwestern United States and in Mexico at Christmas. In this easy do-ahead version, corn husks are wrapped around spicy pieces of pork tenderloin. The husks keep the pork tender and juicy as it cooks. What to drink: Pinot Noir.