New year recipes

Fruit solitaire tarts with orange-scented butter pastry shaped like playing card suits, filled with cherry and blueberry pie filling. A festive New Year's Eve dessert.

A dense, moist Jewish honey cake rich with cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, and golden raisins. This Rosh Hashanah staple bakes into a fragrant loaf that symbolizes a sweet new year.

Homemade fortune cookies: thin crisp wafers cooked on a skillet, folded around your own paper fortunes while still pliable. A party project for Lunar New Year or kids' birthdays.

Zampone with potatoes and balsamic mustard vinaigrette serves the classic Modenese stuffed pig's trotter sausage over butter-braised potatoes with a tangy chive vinaigrette. A traditional Italian New Year's feast.

Oysters in champagne sauce: plump shucked oysters cloaked in a silky butter-champagne sauce, broiled just until golden on a bed of rock salt. An elegant appetizer for New Year's Eve or any holiday table.

Traditional Chinese Buddhist vegetarian stir-fry with wood ear mushrooms, lily buds, bean curd, bean thread noodles, and fresh vegetables in dark soy and sesame oil. A Lunar New Year classic.

Hopping John simmers long-grain rice with smoky bacon, sweet onions, beans, and Ro-Tel tomatoes for the classic Southern New Year's good-luck dish. One pot, simple ingredients, big flavor.

Long life noodles with egg: blanched egg noodles topped with wilted spinach, a soft-poached egg, and a glossy soy-sesame chicken broth. Chinese New Year birthday tradition in a bowl.

Homemade fortune cookies cooked on a griddle, folded around a hand-written paper fortune, and cooled in muffin tins until crisp. A fun kids' project and a charming party favor for Chinese New Year.

Tall honey cake (lekach) baked with 1¼ cups honey and a full cup of strong coffee for moisture and depth. Walnut-studded with warm spices, traditional for Rosh Hashanah and the Jewish New Year.

Classic Chinese Buddhist vegetable stir-fry with ten ingredients including cloud ear fungus, lily buds, bean thread noodles, and soy-spiced bean curd. A traditional Lunar New Year dish loaded with earthy, umami-rich flavors.

A stunning three-tiered champagne cake soaked in bubbly and frosted with champagne buttercream. Built from two pans and cut into graduated layers, this is the centerpiece for weddings, New Year's, and any excuse to celebrate.

Easy and tasty! I make this casserole a few times every year when I have spaghetti squash in my kitchen. It's a well-balanced meal with just enough protein and loads of vegetables.

I got this recipe out of a magazine a few years back and I have made it a lot. The person who submitted it said it won her a blue ribbon, she also said she was a six-time Pillsbury Bake-Off finalist. I had no way to confirm this but the recipe sounded good and when I tried it I loved it.

This has been a hit since I first made it on X-mas a few years ago! This dish has been demanded at every occassion!