Holidays recipes

A spiced steamed pudding loaded with dates, apples, and walnuts, served warm with a silky vanilla custard sauce. An old-fashioned British-style dessert for holiday entertaining.

Eggnog chiffon pie in a flaky homemade crust with a light, airy filling of custard, whipped cream, rum extract, and nutmeg set with gelatin. A holiday dessert classic.

Anise almond biscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies with toasted almonds and warm anise seeds. Crisp, dunkable holiday treats that keep up to 4 weeks. Makes about 2 dozen.

Eggnog pie in pecan crust: a silky, no-bake rum-and-brandy custard filling spooned into a toasted pecan crust. The grown-up Christmas pie your holiday table needs.

A jewel-red Christmas borscht simmered with beets, garlic, bay leaf, and lemon juice, then topped with cool sour cream and fresh dill. Light, earthy, and ready in 45 minutes for your holiday table.

Gefilte fish made from scratch with ground whitefish, pike, and carp, poached in a vegetable broth with carrots and onions. A traditional Jewish holiday recipe.

Marcia Adams's maple baked ham: an 8-pound cooked ham glazed with pure maple syrup and served with a mustard-Worcestershire pan sauce. A classic holiday centerpiece with sweet-savory drippings.

Slow-baked caramelized peanuts coated in brown sugar, salt, and a thin egg white wash. A holiday gift candy with a crunchy, candied shell and deep molasses sweetness.

Pork chitterlings: soul food classic of pork intestines simmered with vinegar, onions, and hot peppers until fork tender, then served hot or battered and fried. A Southern holiday tradition.

None Such mincemeat cookies: a vintage drop cookie made with crumbled prepared mincemeat folded into a simple shortening dough. Bakes 4 dozen in 12 minutes for the holiday cookie tin.

Sweet potato and apple casserole microwaves cubed sweet potatoes and Golden Delicious apples with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then thickens the syrup with cornstarch. A 35-minute holiday side without the oven.

Buttered rum pound cake: a tall, tender sour cream pound cake with vanilla and lemon notes, lightened by whipped egg whites folded in at the end. A Southern holiday classic for slicing and sharing.

Soft persimmon cookies studded with whiskey-soaked raisins and chopped walnuts, spiced with clove and nutmeg. A late-fall holiday cookie that uses ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp.

Tiny cheesecakes built on a single vanilla wafer crust and finished with a candied cherry. Four-ingredient mini cheesecakes that bake in muffin liners for instant holiday party trays.

Best antipasto is a big-batch homemade relish of cauliflower, green beans, peppers, mushrooms, olives, tuna, and anchovies in a tangy tomato-vinegar base. Spoon it onto crackers for a make-ahead party and holiday spread.

Breakfast muffins are not always sweet, give these savory and delicious muffins a try, also use up your leftover ham or turkey from the big holiday.