Cream Cheese

Many kinds of vegetables and even some fruits go well with this versatile dip.

Wonderful sugar cookies with the crunch of poppy seeds and a luscious lemon cream cheese filling. Assemble them shortly before serving to keep them crisp. If you like, you can always skip the filling and serve the cookies on their own.

Use leftover poached or baked salmon. Canned red salmon that has been drained, skinned and boned also does the trick.

Called Goldie Lox at Sarabeth's restaurant in New York, this delicious dish gets its name from the golden color of the eggs, which are combined with the lox. There are pockets of cream cheese throughout this savory mixture, the key to creating them is keeping the cheese cold until it is folded into the eggs. Be sure to have plenty of coffee and an assortment of teas on hand to complete the meal.

Prepare this a day in advance to give the flavors time to blend and the cake a chance to become firm and properly chilled.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Use a cherry pitter to remove the pits before cutting the cherries in half.

Begin preparing this a day before serving.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.