5 Ingredients or Fewer

You can make this potato cake right before grilling steaks, then reheat it on a baking sheet in the 450°F oven while the steaks rest.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 20 min

"While staying at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas, I went up to the VooDoo Café & Lounge," writes Adam Lantheaume of Billerica, Massachusetts. "I highly recommend the view; from 51 stories up, it is spectacular. I also recommend the apple Martini, which I've been trying to make at home for friends. Can you help?" If you prefer shaken Martinis, simply fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and add half of the liquid ingredients. Shake, and strain into three Martini glasses; repeat with remaining ingredients. (The Rio uses DeKuyper brand Sour Apple Pucker for the schnapps.)

These crusty potatoes go well with the tuna in tomato sauce .

When my Scottish stepmother married my father, in 1963, she had a lot to learn about cooking. Once she made my father what she thought was a charming American variety of onion for dinner; they turned out to be bulbs of garlic. She's come a long way since then, providing our family with increasingly exotic taste memories influenced by years of living in Mexico and Brazil. The secret to a good fool, whatever the fruit, is to taste as you go. Some need more sugar; any fruit with little acidity benefits from a smidgen of lemon or lime juice; and more delicate flavors, like mango, require less cream. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr (includes chilling)

Squash blossoms are extremely perishable; it's best to use them the day you buy them.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Makes enough for 1 spotted dick or jam roly-poly You can order ground fresh beef suet from your butcher. The suet will not be rendered; the process of rendering suet is a simple one and will yield a lighter, cleaner-tasting pudding.

This classic Swiss potato pancake and the Green Bean and Red Onion Salad are great together. Serve dry Champagne throughout the meal.

We've taken the French tradition of eating radishes with salt and butter (which tames the vegetable's bite) just a step farther. Serve the beurre blanc and salt in small individual dishes so guests can dip as they like. This fresh, springtime hors d'oeuvre would be well matched with steak or grilled fish.

An easy substitute for the mascarpone, a soft Italian cream cheese, is 12 ounces cream cheese blended with six tablespoons whipping cream and 1/4 cup sour cream.

Skordalia is often made with mashed potatoes or bread soaked in water, but we feel the yogurt gives it more flavor. Skordalia is also good with grilled fish or chicken breasts.