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Baked salmon makes an excellent Christmas main course!

This puree has a sensational color as well as taste. Garnish with sprigs of fresh dill and a few pink peppercorns.

This cake is a rich, dark, moist fruit cake, very flavorful at Christmas. Try icing with almond paste for a more festive touch. This recipe is started in October or November so as to let it mellow before the holidays. I remember very well my mother storing her fruit cake in an old butter churn that belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother. I wish that I had that old crock.

Green beans are tossed in butter, lemon, soy and garlic, with pimentos and peanuts, for a nice change from the traditional holiday green bean casserole.

A quick and easy cake that resembles a root beer float. Cake mix, root beer and powdered whipped topping mix are used.

I made this up for my niece who couldn’t eat chocolate but loved peanut butter when she was about five years old. She is now fourteen, and she still asks for it every Christmas.

Three varieties of mushrooms sauteed with garlic and olive oil blend beautifully with nutty pesto, milk and cream cheese to make a sumptuous sauce with delightful earthy tones to toss with hot fettuccini.

A dense pound cake with 3 flavors - vanilla, orange and almond.

This tasty mulled-wine is a German Christmas specialty. It is the signature drink at Christmas markets across Germany and it warms you from the inside out!

An easy cake to make. Cake mix is combined with blackberry wine and blackberry flavored gelatin, then baked in a Bundt pan.

You Texans are pretty lucky. Beer dinners are rocking the Lone Star state recently, and there’s another one coming up next week.

Lawry’s in Dallas is hosting a Flying Dog Beer Dinner next Friday night (the 19th of September, for those of you keeping score at home). Flying Dog beers featured are Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, Dogtoberfest Märzen, Old Scratch Amber Lager, and In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen.

Read more about this cool beer dinner at TexasMonthly.com.

A crust-less cranberry and walnut pie that can be whipped out in a jiffy. The perfect partner for a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This luscious pound cake has a nutty top crust, and is moist and flavorful. Makes a great gift. You can use halved maraschino cherries instead, if you prefer.

This is a very good stocking stuffer for that collegiate in the family, or a gift for the boss at work. It makes a small but elegant gift for the holidays.

Clams are steamed with tomatoes, chilies and wine in this fast and easy dish. Serve over linguine with crusty bread to sop up the juice!

This is similar to fruitcake, and is excellent to serve.

These are chocolate-covered balls of peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar.

For good times, but not for the faint at heart; extremely rich and dense chocolate cake.

A decadent and rich jelly-roll style cake. Makes a wonderful showcase, well worth the effort!

Sweet, tart candies that are usually made around the holidays - especially at Christmas

A delicious, easy-to-make Armenian/Italian-inspired dish bursting with flavor. You can substitute green beans or cauliflower - or whatever suits your tastes - for the red cabbage! Excellent served with a green salad and crusty bread.

From old German cookbook…here are the peppernuts made with corn syrup

Pairs wheat germ and whole-wheat pastry flour for a healthy, wholesome breakfast treat.

Devil’s food and white cake cubes are layered with whipped topping and pecans in this easy, chilled dessert.

This spicy traditional German cookie takes a few days to ripen into its full flavor. This makes a large batch, but they last for weeks in a sealed container.