Fall

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 4 hr

This recipe is intended as a baked dressing to accompany the Thanksgiving turkey . It can be used as stuffing (a practice I do not recommend for turkey), if you desire. It also makes a good stuffing for capon or pork.

"I have a 'stragglers Thanksgiving' — that's what I call it — at my house every year," writes Frances Teasley of North Hollywood, California. "I know a lot of people who, like me, don't have any family nearby. Thirteen years ago I started inviting a few people for dinner. And that small holiday gathering has become a big tradition among my friends. For weekday meals, I look for shortcuts and do-aheads. But for holiday meals, I like to do everything the same day because I love the smell of cooking that fills the house."

At Geronimo, located on eclectic Canyon Road in Santa Fe, this is served with a mixed green salad and roasted corn on the cob. The idea here is to dip the lobster meat into the spicy vinaigrette.

This is enough sauce for two pounds of pasta; it's good with fusilli, orecchiette or linguine.

Coconut, lemon rind, and raisins are a bright surprise. "A lot of people buy my cookbook just to get this recipe," says Mrs. Wilkes.

If you don't have a 2 3/4-inch-diameter cookie cutter, the same size tin can (with top and bottom removed) works just as well.

Small imported Turkish bay leaves, available at supermarkets, are ideal for this recipe.

A basil vinaigrette is served in a shot glass alongside each tomato; guests can drizzle it on to taste.

All the appeal of traditional mincemeat pie—without all of the traditional work.

Butternut squash and a variety of beans give this vegetarian dish its hearty texture.

Serve with: Red-skinned potatoes roasted with thyme, and steamed green beans.

Bruce Aidells, founder of Aidells Sausage Company, says, "Stuffing was the most important part of my family’s holiday menu. The turkey was always overcooked, but the stuffing was moist and delicious. We usually had two, sometimes three stuffings, but I leaned toward the kind with sausage. It was meaty and spicy, just like this one."

Serve one of these loaves the day you make them. Wrap the other in foil and freeze up to one month so that you'll have it on hand for unexpected company.

We prefer Gorgonzola, Italy's star blue cheese, for this recipe, but if Iowa's Maytag blue — or another import — is easier to find in your area, then use it instead.

In addition to the fried parsnip the executive chef at Ashford Castle, Denis Lenihan, often adorns this soup with a poached carved apple.