Starter

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

María de los Angeles Rodr‭guez Artacho, co-owner with her husband of Bar Jordi, was kind enough to share her recipe.

A tangy feta and yogurt sauce is the perfect foil for these fresh-tasting latkes. They make a nice starter for a party of ten.

We have given no-boil lasagne noodles as an alternative to fresh because regular dried lasagne noodles often have curly edges and are too thick. Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr

Tracey Medeiros of Atlanta, Georgia, writes: "I'm a food stylist and recipe developer — and passionate about my job. It was a dream of mine to have a career in the culinary arts, but I didn't think that was possible. In college I was a political science major and considered going to law school. But soon after graduation I realized cooking was my true calling."

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 40 min

If you don't want to cook a live lobster for this recipe, buy 2/3 pound cooked lobster meat from your seafood shop. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 2 3/4 hr (includes chilling)

When Caesar Cardini first served his famous salad in the early 1920s, he used just the hearts of the romaine lettuce, the tender short leaves in the center, and he presented them whole. The salad was tossed and dressed, then arranged on each plate so that you could pick up a leaf by its short end and chew it down bit by bit, then pick up another. However, many customers didn't like to get their fingers covered with egg-and-cheese-and-garlic dressing, and he changed to the conventional torn leaf. Too bad, since the salad lost much of its individuality and drama. You can certainly serve it the original way at home — just provide your guests with plenty of big paper napkins. And plan to be extravagant.

"When I was a medical student, the importance of good nutrition was drilled into me by my instructors," writes Laura Christie of Oakland, California. "Unfortunately, my heavy course load kept me from actually practicing everything I learned. But I began making soups, salads and one-pot meals because they were easy to prepare and because they helped me get plenty of those vitamin-rich vegetables." Ready-to-use spinach makes it easy for Laura to add important nutrients to her diet, as she does in this low-fat soup.

Cajun seasoning spikes this soup with heat, so adjust according to your taste. Serve with: Jalapeño corn bread and carrot sticks. Dessert: Cheesecake topped with thawed sliced frozen peaches.

Caesar Cardini, the Tijuana restaurateur who originally served his namesake salad sans utensils, obviously knew what generations of romantics have always known — food eaten by hand is sexy. Start things off with the best caviar you can find. What to drink: A brut, or dry, Champagne or sparkling wine (the 1995 Domaine Carneros Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs is an excellent choice if you want to splurge).

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

Cooking doesn't get much easier than this, but it still took me a while to catch on. Being a northerner, I didn't realize that everyone south of Baltimore knows spiced shrimp like New Englanders know maple syrup. I tried spicing up my shrimp and crabs with a spice mix called "Shrimp and Crab Boil." I took the cue from the name and added the spices to boiling water to boil the shellfish. Not until I moved to Maryland crab country did I find that you douse the shellfish with spices and steam them over boiling water. Perhaps someone should market a spice mix called "Shrimp and Crab Steam" for us literalists. The shrimp are cooked with their shells on, so provide lots of napkins for spice-coated hands and beer or lemonade for spice-coated throats.

You can form the sweet-potato pancakes up to six hours ahead, leaving only a quick frying before serving.

These hors d'oeuvres are light, flaky and absolutely addictive. They are also simple to prepare and make a big impression — just what you want in party food.