5 Ingredients or Fewer

Serve this fragrant main dish with basmati rice pilaf and a salad of cucumber, yellow bell peppers, and red onion. Melon wedges sprinkled with light rum and garnished with mint make a refreshing finale.

"I have a 'stragglers Thanksgiving' — that's what I call it — at my house every year," writes Frances Teasley of North Hollywood, California. "I know a lot of people who, like me, don't have any family nearby. Thirteen years ago I started inviting a few people for dinner. And that small holiday gathering has become a big tradition among my friends. For weekday meals, I look for shortcuts and do-aheads. But for holiday meals, I like to do everything the same day because I love the smell of cooking that fills the house."

This tiny meatloaf should not be overbaked! Once removed from the oven, it will keep cooking for a few minutes. The chili sauce is the American kind, not the Asian.

Juana Vázquez-Gómez of Redondo Beach, California, writes: "Growing up in Cuernavaca, just outside Mexico City, I remember my grandmother cooking elaborate Mexican meals every day. My mother continued that tradition, but not in such an all-consuming manner. For her it was a great joy to plan a menu and then invite people to help with the preparation. "The women in my life taught me the beauty of a good meal. I still use many of their recipes today, but unlike my grandmother I don't spend an entire day in the kitchen. Fortunately, my husband and kids like to cook, so I've found a balance between my grandmother's time-intensive recipes and my mother's practicality. "

One of the most popular flavors in gelaterie in Italy is crema, a simple frozen custard unenhanced by any flavoring. It has a rich, yellow color due to the brightness of the yolks of Italian corn-fed chickens.

Serve this dish with French bread to get all the delicious sauce.

Fruit simmered in cinnamon syrup is a typical after-dinner treat throughout Mexico.

The Spanish sauce known as romesco is usually high in fat; this version contains less oil, but just as much flavor.

One diner's instructions on how to find Mrs. Wilkes': "Walk along West Jones Street until you smell fried chicken."

Chef Ian Algerø‸en of Skadi restaurant serves this side dish with duck. It's also terrific with roast pork or Cornish game hens.

This recipe makes more ice cream than you'll need to fill the cones (see Coconut Tuile Cones with Passion-Fruit Ice Cream recipe), but it's so delicious you'll have no trouble getting rid of the leftovers. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 3 1/4 hr

Shop for smaller parsnips, which are more tender.

"I have been enjoying Aperto restaurant here in San Francisco ever since it opened eight years ago," writes Leslie Appleton, of San Francisco, California. "Everything prepared in that little kitchen is delicious and attractively presented. If you could obtain the recipe for the soft-centered chocolate soufflés served there, you would make me very happy." These can be prepared ahead.