Nutmeg

Tender banana cake, Cream Cheese Frosting and Mango Curd (see recipes) stack up to one impressive dessert.

Carrot Torte This cake is from the Veneto region in northern Italy. Use the sweetest, most flavorful organic carrots you can find—otherwise it will be a big "so what."

This poultry dish features many of the flavors of the classic Moroccan dish b'stilla but is much easier to make.

This is the soup everyone enjoyed in Louviers for Carnaval. Quick to make, deliciously satisfying and alluring, you will find it hits the spot on a cool late winter to spring evening.

This is my recipe for a straightforward apple pie. It reflects not only my preferences but also countless influences. It is intentionally imprecise because there are so many variables to consider. To get it right, you pretty much have to taste as you go along or trust your instincts.

We found this recipe in Austin Leslie's cookbook. It is from his mother, Ruby — she was Aunt Helen's sister and assisted her at Chez Helene and its predecessor, Howard's Eatery. Although Leslie served the bread pudding with a rum hard sauce, we prefer it with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Schupfnudeln The potato in this recipe cools for what seems an excessively long time — 4 hours or overnight — but chefs in Baden insist on this step because as the potato cools, more moisture evaporates through the skin, requiring less flour to be worked into the dough. The result is a lighter dumpling. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 5 hr (includes cooling)

While I was growing up, my mother was very good about cooking food she knew I liked (I was such a picky eater). That's why I found it inexplicable that she kept making baked acorn squash, which I considered, at best, repulsive. Once she wouldn't let me leave the table until it was all gone. No surprisingly, we sat there all night!

Here's a great drink that is guaranteed to take the chill off a winter day. It's also quite nice with an added splash of brandy or Kahlúa.

Raisin-studded egg bread is nice for variety in this recipe. Soaking the bread in the batter a day ahead makes it even easier.

This is a very near replica of the small cheese quiches Madame Fromage sells each Saturday at the Louviers market.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 5 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

"Every time I visit my sister in Los Angeles, we make a point of having dinner at Mimosa, a popular French bistro," writes Frances Candler Brown of Birmingham, Alabama. "I like to think I'm an adventurous diner, but my order there has become only too predictable: a glass of wine, a salad and the restaurant's delectable version of macaroni and cheese." This French take on macaroni and cheese has a nice assertive flavor.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until thick. Slowly stir in the brandy, rum, peach brandy, milk and cream. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and pour into a punch bowl. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold gently into the eggnog. Grate a little nutmeg on top and serve in 4-ounce punch glasses.