Quick

Three great ways to keep warm — coffee, hot chocolate, and bourbon — in a single mug.

Vanilla ice cream is decked out for the holidays with orange liqueur and purchased almond lace cookies. Look for Florentine cookies at bakeries and some supermarkets.

Lime juice and curry powder enliven this simple yogurt dipping sauce. It's so quick and easy that you can make it while the pancakes are cooking. For best results, use full-fat yogurt. In a pinch, low-fat will do, but do not use nonfat.

Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, these little prune tartlets (made with just five ingredients) are so delicious, they'll have everyone at the breakfast table begging for more.

Nils Noren, executive chef at restaurant Aquavit, in New York, pairs this smoky hot drink with venison, but it works well with almost any wintry game preparation. He uses Assam tea, a full-bodied brew from India. For a richer, molasseslike flavor, use muscovado sugar.

This sweet-tart liquor-less cocktail is very popular at restaurant Frisson, in San Francisco, which mixologist Duggan McDonnell has helped turn into a drinking destination.

This recipe brought to you by Bertolli.

Gerald Colapinto of Corona, California, writes: "My grandparents were born in Italy and were wonderful cooks, so I'm partial to Italian food. I especially love the cooking of Southern Italy. Fortunately, I often travel to Rome on business. Back home, I like to re-create the dishes I discovered."

You don't need a panini machine to make these; use the low-tech method of weighting the sandwiches with a baking pan filled with canned goods. If you're making just one or two sandwiches at a time, you can cook them in a skillet and top them with another skillet weighted with cans.

Green Apple and Celery Salad with Walnuts and Mustard Vinaigrette Recipe

If your Thanksgiving dinner is a formal affair, serve the crostini on small plates with the frisée salad. If your guests like to hang out in the kitchen until dinner is served, offer the crostini as passed hors d'oeuvres topped with a sprig of dressed frisée.

Both turkey meat and gravy are used in this vibrant soup. Pass grated Parmesan cheese alongside if you like.