Dried Fruit

This upscale meat loaf deserves contemporary partners like sweet potatoes whipped with maple syrup, and some steamed broccoli with lemon-herb butter. End with a sure winner-devil's food cake. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

If you don't have individual soufflé dishes, this can be prepared in a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish, in which case the crisp will need to bake for about 55 minutes.

A nice accompaniment to roasted pork, venison, game birds or turkey.

Nice with duck, Cornish game hens or the Thanksgiving turkey.

"When I lived in South Africa, rum and raisin chocolate bars were a special treat," says Beth Peterson of Phoenix, Arizona. "I created this brownie recipe based on that combination of flavors, and perfected it with the help of friends and colleagues who sampled the brownies at each stage of development. These have a grown-up taste with the right balance of sweetness and rum." Try these warm with vanilla ice cream.

This fluffy Lady Baltimore cake is layered with toasted pecans, dried figs, raisins, and frosted in a thick, luscious Swiss meringue.

Begin preparing the dessert a day ahead.

These cookies are perfect with a cup of tea.

This simple apple salad got its name from the luxurious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Invented in 1896 not by a chef but by the maître d'hôtel Oscar Tschirky, the Waldorf salad was an instant success. As often happens, many variations evolved—some with raisins, some with chopped nuts. This one has green apples and red seedless grapes.

Pear wedges are tossed with brown butter (easily made by melting butter, then keeping it on the heat until golden and nutty) for an especially comforting treat.

Toast a slice of this bread, and serve it with butter or cream cheese for breakfast.