Dairy

Cheesecake and Champagne are a great finale. Begin making the dessert a day ahead.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

You can make this up to three days ahead; be sure to start at least one day in advance.

You can use purchased sauce here, your own homemade or the versatile This is terrific over pasta.

Here's a versatile recipe that can be served as a first course, a side dish or even a meatless main course. For extra flavor, add sautéed mushrooms, diced salami, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese or sautéed strips of bell peppers to the topping before baking.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Corn tortillas and bottled salsa are great with the salad. For dessert, top purchased vanilla pudding with fresh blueberries and a touch of cinnamon.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. The importance of vine-ripened tomatoes goes without saying, but don't compromise with the bread, feta, or olive oil, either. This delicious sandwich deserves the best.

A radicchio and fennel salad with red wine vinaigrette adds color and crunch, and warm focaccia rounds out the entrée. End the meal with poached pears and biscotti.

This is easily one of my three favorite dishes in my mother's repertoire. She only started making it five years ago, and whenever I'm home I ask for it. It takes well to substitutions, so go ahead and experiment.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Tofu has a custard-like texture and is available in soft, firm and extra-firm varieties; firm is preferable here. Serve these hearty burritos topped with purchased salsa and some plain nonfat yogurt.

This recipe originally accompanied Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate-Raspberry Frosting.

Cake making was quite a fad in the twenties. The new gas stoves were efficient, reliable and easy to operate; besides, with more women working outside the home, there wasn’t as much time to prepare multiple desserts, so fancy layer cakes were made to satisfy everyone. Marshmallows were popular in the decade, and they were used in desserts, salads and side dishes. Here they sweeten an old-fashioned frosting and decorate this easy-to-make chocolate cake.

Carole Resnick of Cleveland, Ohio, writes: "I invented the following recipe for salmon mousse on dill pizzelle as an appetizer for a gathering. I hope that you enjoy it as much as my guests did."

Tina Thompson of Orlando, Florida, writes: "Food and nostalgia are closely related in my mind. When I miss my dad, I make an extra-buttery grilled-cheese sandwich just the way he would every Saturday for lunch. When I miss my college roommate Jenny, I splurge on a new ethnic food to remind me of adventures during our junior year abroad in London. Inspired by my great food experiences there, I attended a small cooking school stateside so that I could come up with some fantastic meals of my own."