by：Tip: if the almond paste is canned, remove it from the can and freeze it before grating.

by：I used to make this for breakfast when I cooked at a bed and breakfast. If I got up early, I'd make the risotto fresh, but adding a poached egg on top of a cake made from leftover risotto is delicious too.

by：If you are putting together some pre-dinner-party nibbles, these pita chips work well with a cheese platter that includes a young goats' milk cheese! The honey and herbs pair well with the lemon-y, citrus-y tang you often find in a young goats' milk like Selles-sur-Cher or Valençay. Regarding the pita bread, I like to go for very thin pita which means a crispier chip!

by：Here’s how to do right by stuffing: Remove stock, replace with cream. Add plenty of cheese. Thank Thomas Keller for this delicious leek bread pudding recipe.

by：These are my very favorite Christmas cookies. They're a traditional Norwegian holiday cookie, and one of the few we ever baked in my family. (Growing up, the only time there were *ever* cookies in the house was Christmas. My brothers and I hated only getting cookies once a year, but because of a few failed batches of cookies at other times of the year, we were also convinced that because of some curse, the only time of year that our oven could actually produce decent cookies was at Christmas!). Serinakaker are extremely simple—basically just buttery shortbread thumbprint cookies. Yet somehow they taste so much more complex and delicious than you might expect. They're so good that one of my friends became completely addicted to them, and last winter, when out cross-country skiing, he got really tired and refused to go any further unless I came skiing by to offer him cookies. Miracle of miracles, my parents stopped by and they happened to be carrying some serinakaker in their pockets (this is what we do around Christmas instead of using energy bars), which they offered to him, and he finished the ski tour! So yeah, they're that good. The recipe I have is scrawled in Norwegian, in metric measurements, in an old, falling-apart notebook of my mother's. This version is my attempt at making it understandable for friends and others who wish to be able to make serinakaker.

by：This vibrant, refreshing salad makes a great lunch or light dinner, but the dressing is really the star here. The bright lime and rich coconut milk pairs perfectly with briny fish sauce, spicy chile, and herbs. Warning: The dressing is addicting—it also makes a great dipping sauce for fresh spring rolls, chicken satay skewers, and lettuce cups.

by：This recipe comes from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, and appeared in the Times in 1966. Forty years later, readers are still making the pancake with no less bliss. What keeps cooks faithful to one recipe is often some confluence of ease and surprise. Eyre’s pancake possesses both. A batter of flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg is blended together, then poured into a hot skillet filled with butter and baked. Anyone confused? I didn’t think so. The surprise comes at the end, when you open the oven door to find a poufy, toasted, utterly delectable-looking pancake. It soon collapses as you shower it with confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice, slice it up and devour it. It’s sweet and tart, not quite a pancake and not quite a crepe. But lovable all the same. Cooking Notes: Don’t overmix the batter, or the pancake will be tough—a few lumps are fine. This is the moment to call your well-seasoned iron skillet into service.

by：A new spin on oats, this baked dish comes together with only a few stirs and less than an hour of time but feels like a special and indulgent breakfast. Vary the fruit with the seasons, and make a batch on Sunday so that you can cut slices and enjoy it through the week. It's lovely either hot or cold. If you're gluten-free, be sure to use certified GF oats.

by：After its stint in the oven, the marinade cooks down to this incredible, sticky savoriness around the potatoes and chicken. And when combined with the crispy bits of chickpeas, tender chicken, and marinade-sodden potatoes, it's heaven on a plate. This is adapted from Elaine Boddy's "Lebanese Inspired Potatoes and Chickpeas" from her lovely blog "foodbod."

by：I love tomatoes and mayo on toast and I really love BLTs but only have them twice a year, once at the beginning of tomato season when the tomatoes are at their best and then again at the end of the season when I know they'll be soon gone. We'll have them with plain mayo or avocado mayo, depending on our mood. This sandwich satisfies that BLT craving even when the tomatoes are not quite at their peak.