Make Ahead

Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings for a lovely presentation.

This colorful blend of bell peppers is as delicious at room temperature as it is hot, so it could be several hours ahead.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A simple version of a Scandinavian fruit soup. This can also be served as a sauce over ice cream, frozen yogurt or pudding.

Freezing the rugelach before baking helps the cookies maintain their shape. For gift giving, layer them between sheets of waxed paper and arrange in tins lined with colorful cellophane or tissue paper.

This type of dish is common in England, where all desserts are called puddings.

Since just about any combination of fruits will work for the topping, this recipe can be used all year long.

Offer some crusty bread with this lovely main-course salad.

"As my kids have gotten older, their taste buds have become more sophisticated, and now they're willing to try dishes they wouldn't have touched just a few years ago," says Ken Haedrich, cookbook author. "So I've started serving this blend of mashed roots for Thanksgiving. It brings a bit of diversity to the table, and I also happen to love rutabagas and carrots. There was some dissension at first, especially from my youngest, Sam, whose fondness for mashed potatoes is the stuff of family legend. But now he dives right into this with the rest of us."

"My husband and I recently visited New York with some friends," says Helene M. Strassman of Gaithersburg, Maryland. "One evening, we had dinner at Babbo. The whole meal was fantastic, but the best part was the maple and mascarpone cheesecake. I asked our waiter for the recipe, but he politely refused. Maybe Bon Appétit could persuade pastry chef Gina DePalma to part with it." Be careful when boiling down the maple syrup for this recipe. It gets very hot, as a caramel syrup does. Use a heavy, large, deep saucepan because the syrup bubbles up high and vigorously when boiled. Let the syrup settle before measuring it.

We loved these tomatoes after they were cooked for 6 hours. We served them on crusty bread with a little olive oil and thought they'd also work well as a side dish. But to toss with pasta, we wanted a more intense flavor, so we cooked them an additional 2 hours. They were perfect.