Christmas

A touch of cream Sherry amplifies the sweetness of the nuts and the squash.

Using blood orange juice in the dressing means less oil is necessary, which lowers the fat in this dish. Mâche, sometimes called lamb's lettuce, can be found in four-ounce packages in the produce section of many supermarkets.

Tracy Jones Midland, Texas, writes: "I wanted to share a Christmas breakfast recipe given to my mother, Cherry Jones, by Ann Westerman, a lifelong friend. My family quickly adopted the tradition of preparing this dish on Christmas Eve, then baking it on Christmas morning while opening our presents." The thick slices of garlicky bread in this dish are known as Texas toast.

Be sure to use bittersweet chocolate with no more than 60 percent cacao for this recipe.

The zing of ginger and the sweetness of molasses combine in perfect proportions in this cookie, sent to us by Jane Booth Vollers of Chester, Connecticut. Her grandmother, Helen Dougherty, made batches and batches of them every holiday season.

Hachiya persimmon puree flavors the pudding; using arborio (the starchy, short-grained risotto rice) gives it an especially tender, creamy texture.

Polly Tafrate of South Salem, New York, writes: "I've taken dozens of cooking classes over the years, but some of my best lessons in the kitchen have come from my husband's family. His sister and his mother have shared many delicious recipes with me, including the ones here."

Hachiya persimmons, which are very soft when ripe, are preferred here (to slice them, use a serrated knife), but ripe Fuyus will work nicely, too.

Spaetzle, tender little morsels that are like a cross between a noodle and a dumpling, are common to Austrian, German, and Swiss cuisine.

Here, you only boil the rice briefly before combining it with the dried fruit and cooking it without water. We adapted this rice from a Persian method that yields a buttery crust (called tah-dig) on the bottom of the pan — later the crust is served with the rice. Usually you have to dip the pot in cold water at the end of cooking to release the crust, but a happy kitchen accident occurred when we tested this recipe. Food editor Ruth Cousineau let the rice stand for almost an hour (things can get hectic when you're preparing a holiday meal), and the crust came right out without the dipping. Using a heavy pot helps keep the rice hot, too.

An Italian salad of squash, chicory, pancetta, and chestnuts gets an American spin from a tart cranberry vinaigrette.