This is a recipe that a friend gave me a few years ago.  I add raisins to it and think it makes a great lunch or dairy dinner with a salad.  It is very rich and creamy.

Food Editor's Notes:  This is one of our 2006 Passover Recipe Contest winners!  You won't believe how light and fluffy (yet still rich and creamy) a Passover kugel can be!  This is basically a sweet cheese noodle kugel without the noodles.  The farfel helps to hold it together, but doesn't make it dense or heavy.  This is a sweet treat – it comes out of the oven a beautiful golden brown and puffed up high.  It's best served like this, right from the oven – perfect for a brunch or company supper - but it's also wonderful reheated for breakfast, lunch, or a special snack.

Cheese blintzes are delicious and are much easier to make than most people imagine. The crepe batter mixes up in a minute and each pancake slips out of the pan in just about the same amount of time. The filling is also a snap to mix up and the forming of the blintzes is easily learned and quick work.

Small blintzes may be served as hors d’oeuvre, but I prefer to make larger ones and serve them as a main course, topped with sour cream. My mother eats them sprinkled with sugar, but I think this recipe produces blintzes which are sweet enough on their own. Of course blintzes may also be served for dessert, with or without a fruit topping or cinnamon and sugar. If you like blintzes that are less sweet, reduce the amount of sugar in the filling.

Blintzes are often served on Shavuot, as it is traditional to eat dairy foods on this holiday. But do yourself and your family a favor and make these filling, nutritious bundles more than once a year. They freeze well, and will be a welcome treat for any meal of the day!

I adapted this recipe from one claiming to be the "Original Durgin Park Cornbread." Since I've come across no fewer than 25 "original" recipes, I can't vouch for its authenticity, but it does remind me of childhood visits to that Boston landmark every time I make it.

Food Editor's Note: This is a wonderful, simple cornbread - flavorful, a bit crumbly, and just sweet enough. It was the first cornbread my younger son ever decided he liked! I've always wanted to try to make a pareve cornbread, but was afraid that it wouldn't pass muster. I finally attempted it with this recipe and the results were surprisingly good. In fact, my husband David preferred it to the dairy version. This is best eaten right from the oven, while still warm, and it goes well with either of our chli recipes, Lisa's Three Bean Turkey Chili or Chili with Beef and Beans.

Food Editor's Notes: This is an adaptation of a recipe given to me by my aunt at my wedding shower – a long time ago.  She said then that it was my uncle's favorite cake, and it quickly became one of my own favorites.  I will forever be grateful to her for sharing this recipe with me – I love bananas with whipped cream!  It is a very elegant looking cake, too – wonderful for a special dinner or as part of a dessert buffet at a party.  Make sure to use very ripe bananas for the cake batter and just ripe bananas for the slices.  The cake layers can be made in advance and frozen.  Defrost fully before filling and topping with the whipped cream and banana slices.  I like a lot of whipped cream in my desserts, so I usually make extra for the filling/topping.  If you have any left over, you can always use it on pudding or berries or ice cream sundaes!

This was originally to be baked in a 9 x 5 loaf pan, but I like to make the muffins instead, especially for the kids.

Food Editor’s Note: These are delicious and a bit different from the typical banana muffin or bread. They are lighter and fluffier, with a milder banana flavor. Perfect for kids and all muffin-lovers, who will gobble them up! I'm sure they can be frozen, but they have disappeared from my kitchen too fast to test that out!

Food Editor's Notes:  I first tasted these incredible hors d'oeuvres at a dinner party that Linda and I and our husbands hosted for donors to The Second Step, a shelter in Newton for victims of domestic abuse.  Linda made these as part of our appetizer offerings and they were a major hit.  They are elegant and unusual and the different tastes and textures of the ingredients merge into a delectable bite, perfect with a glass of white wine or champagne.  They look great, too, so do make these when you want to make an impression.  But don't fret – they are as easy as can be to put together and then popped in the oven a few minutes before you want to serve them.  And the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.  Thank you, Linda, for sharing this recipe with us!

Food Editor’s Note:  This is a wonderful cake to serve in the fall during apple season.  It is perfect for a Rosh Hashanah dessert or for any special occasion.  The layers of apple are visible after baking and look beautiful in the rich cake.  Linda recommends Granny Smith apples and, although she usually glazes the cake, for a less sweet (and pareve) version you can just sprinkle with powdered sugar for a pretty presentation.  Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for an extra treat.  This cake is simple to make, and can be baked in advance and kept in the refrigerator for a day or two or frozen. I am definitely including it in my Rosh Hashanah dessert buffet!

This dessert always comes as a wonderful surprise at the end of our Passover seder (after a little breather)...a creamy center chocked full of granny smith apples housed in a rich pastry crust which tastes remarkably like the real thing, even though it is made with matzah cake meal...a little goes a long way!

Food Editor’s Note: This is a dairy variation of Judy’s wonderful (and pareve) Apple Rustica in our Recipe File. This one is a light and creamy cheesecake in a buttery crust, with apple slices and walnuts throughout. (You can also just sprinkle the nuts on top.) Serve this cake cold or at room temperature. Absolutely delicious, and not your typical Passover dessert!