Snack

Editor's note: This recipe is from Brini Maxwell's Guide to Gracious Living. For Maxwell's tips on throwing a summer pool party, click here. I like to serve these at afternoon get-togethers in the summer. If I could subsist on them eggclusively, I just might!

A giant cookie is topped with coarsely crushed peppermint candies and melted white chocolate, then broken into irregular pieces.

Use a variety of holiday cookie cutters to make these classic French shortbreads.

Chunks of fresh cranberries and dark, milk, and white chocolate chips dress up oatmeal cookies for the holidays.

For best results, use fresh ricotta, which is sold at Italian delis and specialty cheese shops. Avoid packaged brands that include gelatin and preservatives, as these can be watery and have a grainy texture. Prepared cannoli shells are sold at Italian markets.

In this recipe, the word biscuit refers to a savory cracker.

To make these celery root latkes a little easier, you can shred the potatoes, onions, and celery root in a food processor with the shredding disk.

When my grandmother, Noi, came to America in 1975, banh trang—Vietnamese rice flour wrappers—weren't available, so the use of wheat wrappers from Singapore and China became widespread throughout the immigrant community. While it's easier to get banh trang these days, Noi still uses the wheat wrappers for this recipe.

These savory rugelach are made with a cream-cheese-based dough, which softens very quickly. If the dough becomes tricky to work with, chill it until firm, then continue with the recipe.