Recipe Sifter

A smooth, homemade jellied cranberry sauce: cranberries simmered, strained silky, set with gelatin in a mold. The from-scratch answer to canned, and easy to make sugar-free for Thanksgiving.

Easy new potato salad with skin-on baby potatoes folded into creamy dill dressing and fresh green onions. Make it the day ahead so the flavors mingle and the spuds drink in the herbs.

Stir flour, yeast, and water together to create a simple sourdough starter that bubbles to life in days, ready to bake tangy bread without fussing over wild yeasts.

No-cook couscous made by steeping the dry pasta in boiling water or broth off the heat. Five minutes of prep, 30 minutes of patience, and you have fluffy couscous ready for any North African dish.

Eggnog gelatin mold sets chilled eggnog with ground almonds, then unmolds onto a platter with mandarin oranges and whipped topping. A nostalgic holiday dessert.

Elephant ears with pecan filling: puff pastry rolled with cinnamon-cardamom-pecan filling, sliced and baked into butterfly-shaped pastries. Bakery-style breakfast treat at home.

No-bake chocolate and dried fruit squares studded with nuts, topped with candied orange zest. These refrigerator treats combine tropical dried fruit mix with rich semi-sweet chocolate for an elegant bite.

Fast creamy spaghetti sauce with sauteed onions and garlic simmered in tomato sauce and red wine with green bell pepper, basil, and oregano. Ready in 30 minutes.

Fast pita pizza topped with tomato sauce, mushrooms, peppers, and alfalfa sprouts. A 10-minute vegetarian single-serving pizza using pita bread as an instant crust.

A delicious pasta dish that's perfect for a light lunch or dinner when on the go.

First Alert Chili made with 4 pounds of ground beef, kidney beans, beer, and blended plum tomatoes. A big-batch chili loaded with cumin, paprika, and heat.

Pan-fried fish fillets in a Latin-style island sauce with tomatoes, olives, green pepper, vinegar, and bay leaf. A Veracruz-inspired one-pan dinner.

Florentine cups: miniature honey-almond cereal cups with coconut, raisins, and orange zest, finished with a citrus icing drizzle. Italian florentine cookie meets mini muffin.

Flowerpot baked Alaska bakes individual servings of ice cream, yellow cake, and meringue inside real flowerpots with a fresh bloom poking out the top. A showstopping vintage dinner-party dessert.

Freezer-friendly lasagna layered with spaghetti sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan in a disposable pan. Assemble ahead, freeze, and bake when needed.

Freezer mix stroganoff turns a beef-mushroom freezer mix into a creamy sour cream sauce served over noodles or rice. A 30-minute weeknight dinner from the freezer.