-as adapted from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook Makes: 2 1/2 dozen cookies Prep time: 30 minutes plus 36 hours in the freezer before baking (If you are chopping the chocolate yourself, be sure to sift any tiny fragments of chocolate out by sifting the chocolate before putting it into the dough.)

Serves: Makes one dozen Prep time: one hour and a half, including rising time

Serves: 6 Prep time: Tart Crust: Pecan Chocolate Filling: Berry Sauce:

Serves: 2 dozen mincemeat tartlets or one 9-inch pie Prep time: 45 minutes For the filling: For the crust: I like former White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier’s pie dough the best. If you don’t want to make the dough from scratch, you can buy premade piecrust dough in your dairy case.

This recipe comes from the Philippines. It has a rich molasses taste that you will love. You can use brown sugar, or the hardened brown sugar that I used, which came from an Asian grocery store. Serves: 10 Prep time: 40 minutes, allowing for twenty minutes to cook the sugar