Flour

Frozen blueberries make these muffins a year-round treat. You can use blue cornmeal for this recipe, but of course, the yellow works just as well.

All the flavor of individual tamales, but much easier to make.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Cake-making equipment and ingredients can be found at cake and candy supply stores. Be sure to use cake flour, not all purpose flour, and begin preparing the cake two days ahead. Buy one 1-ounce bottle of gel base color in the shade called Bakers Rose to tint both the frosting and the fondant a pale pink. Plastic drinking straws are used to support the middle and top tiers. Buy the straight—not bendable—kind.

As any southerner will tell you, eating black-eyed peas at New Year's will ensure good luck. For a simpler (and meatless) version of this hors d'oeuvre, omit the pork and serve these tender little cakes topped with just the red pepper mayo.

The Masa Harina adds a pleasant flavor to the light and fluffy pancakes.

This corn bread is on the dry side — ideal for our dressing (see Pork Chops with Pecan Corn Bread Dressing and Cider Gravy) but not for eating on its own. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

Samali: One of the great sweets of Thessaloniki, made in pastry shops, at home, and hawked from small carts on the streets all around the Kapani market.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Limpa—a moist rye bread from Sweden—is often flavored with aniseed (or fennel), caraway seeds, and orange zest. These same ingredients also come together to produce the following fragrant muffins. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Try this cheese-laden side dish with roasted chicken or grilled lamb.

If time is short, omit the streusel topping.

When we were children, we adored zeen doy(sesame balls). The dough is fried until golden brown so it is both crisp and chewy from the glutinous rice flour. It is eaten year-round, but especially for New Year's and for birthday celebrations. As the dough fries, it expands, so the Chinese believe if you eat Sesame Balls your fortunes will expand similarly. The Sweetened Red Bean Paste for the filling can be purchased in a can or homemade. Sesame Balls must be eaten the day they are made. The following day, they can be heated in a 300-degree oven but, like so many foods, they are not nearly as good as when they are fresh. Remember to use glutinous rice flour and not rice flour! My Auntie Lil, who taught me this recipe, says the secret is to never knead the dough and to use cold sugar water.