Make-Ahead

Dark, hearty molasses gingerbread cookies or pale, sweet honey gingerbread cookies? Your choice. (Hint: You can't go wrong.)

One of our trusty tactics for disguising Halloween candy so it turns into something new and eminently shareable.

Booyah! We've found the secret to simple yet sensational fried chicken. And it's as basic as can be. Just salt. Pepper. Flour. Water. Patience.

Yup. We went there. To that homemade Cheez-It place. Go ahead. Admit it. You're awfully glad that we did.

Pecans. Chocolate. Bourbon. Dunno about you, but that's sufficient to make us forget all about that other traditional Thanksgiving dessert. Pumpkin who?

What's spookier than a skeleton? Disembodied bones. Although these meringue bones are surprisingly and sweetly irresistible.

This sweet and spicy little number wooed us from our very first spoonful, banishing bottled barbecue sauce forever from our pantries.

What exactly is a snow cookie? It's a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth moment of loveliness, and it's as easy to roll, bake, and decorate as it is to admire--and devour.

Simply stunning. Stunningly simple. These fancy pants pears are perfect after being poached in a cinnamon-infused syrup and drizzled with a coffee-infused caramel sauce.

Rabbit confit is so delicious, so falling-off-the-bone tender, you'll wonder why you don't eat it more often. Made even better with loads of spices, it's rather elegant, too.

Five-spice powder adds sass to this chocolate chiffon cake. Oh, and the lappable drizzle of chocolate certainly doesn't hurt.

This beauty of a biscotti may seem a descendant of sorts from fruitcake, though it boasts a heck of a lot more allure than its stodgy ancestor.

Sweetly salty to taste, easy peasy to make, and lovey dove with white wine, these just may be the perfect before-dinner nibble.

These peanut butter cookies are filled with a creamy milk chocolate filling for a taste that takes you back to childhood. The cookies are easy to make and can be filled later.

This pumpkin soup gets a boost from apples and a bite from a cupful of Irish cider. The soup, with its intense pumpkin flavor, makes for great fall fare.

Not just a hit with kids, this chocolate and peanut butter pudding is rich, creamy, and pretty darn irresistible.

These eggplant wraps are a cinch to make. Roasted eggplant, goat cheese, and basil make pretty nifty appetizers or a full-on lunch.

Lots of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest are added to the ethereally light and super smooth dessert mousse to give it a zip of flavor.

When we think of brittle, we tend to think of a wallflower-like candy. This snappy little number proves that we couldn't be more wrong.

This rice pilaf with cherries and pistachios is a perfect side dish for poultry. The pistachios add a bit of crunch and the cherries add sweetness.