When Martha gives a caroling party, the sounds and the flavors of the season meld in perfect harmony. This festive buffet menu balances the savory and the sweet.

appetizer
White Crudites with Buttermilk Dip
Oysters with Mignonette Gelee
Potato Pancakes with Pink Applesauce and Creme Fraiche
Pickled Lady Apples
Smoked Salmon Platter with Fennel Salad
Individual Pork Potpies
Rice-Stuffed Cabbage
soup
Creamy Winter Squash Soup with Herbed Crostini
beverage
Martha's Classic Eggnog
dessert
White Cake with Mincemeat Filling and Glaceed Fruit
Walnut Cookies
Almond-Orange Cookies
Cranberry and Pistachio Rochers
Speculaas Cookies
Serves 12

Why not try a new take on the old cocktail party? By stocking the pantry and making hors d'oeuvres ahead of time, you can pull off a festive affair in only an hour or two. This easy-for-the-hostess menu is ideal for an impromptu after-work party with friends in the midst of busy holiday preparations. Start with one idea, such as a signature drink, and build on it. Cheese balls are a retro nod as well; one base recipe and some add-ins later, you have three enticing variations. We've updated bacon-wrapped dates with tart apricots and salty pistachios, and stirred up a beautiful orange punch. Savory lemon-parsley gougeres and crisp radishes with salt and olive oil for dipping round out the flavor-texture canvas. Have best-quality breadsticks, olives, and nuts ready to supplement the menu in case your guest list grows at the last minute.

Neither dinner nor cocktail party, this holiday gathering borrows the best of both, taking the substantial foods of the former and serving them in the bite-size portions and buffet style of the latter. This menu splurges on special ingredients: Baby lamb chops, sliced from a roasted rack, make delicious finger foods, with the bones acting as utensils. Densely packed mini crab cakes with Asian flavors play the exotic role in an otherwise traditional menu. Salted, honey-roasted figs can be eaten with the savory foods or with sweet grapes, working two ways on plate and palate, and flexibility is what a buffet is all about. Don't be afraid to mix and match flavors, tableware, and approaches to entertaining for a gathering that truly reflects your style.

Behind every great cocktail party is some savvy planning -- and not just the type that ensures there are plenty of chairs and canapes. If the hosts expect to spend time with their guests, the food must be more than just brilliant; the hors d'oeuvres also need to be made in advance and able to be served with ease, rather than requiring last-minute fuss. And ideally, the accompanying cocktails would not only complement the recipes, but be similarly simple to pull together. The following recipes were carefully conceived to create harmony around nuances of flavor, which means one less thing for you to plan. And because you won't be playing bartender, you can spend the evening juggling conversations, not liquor bottles.

Every year, Gael Towey and Stephen Doyle spend Christmas Eve inside the gloriously transformed rooms of their four-story town home in the West Village of New York City, surrounded by family and friends. Their menu combines time-honored traditions and a procession of desserts that will inspire you to create your own memorable holiday celebrations.

A Hanukkah party is a wonderful way to gather together family and friends of all ages. Our homey, hearty meal can be made ahead -- helpful if your party falls on a weeknight. But any of Hanukkah's eight nights offers the opportunity to enjoy the holiday's many traditions, the company of loved ones, and, of course, a memorable dinner.

Create a festive Christmas brunch with a menu that's sure to please. A maple-bacon quiche takes center stage, and extras like spiced apple cider, butternut squash soup, and turtle brownies round out a warm, tasty meal.

We recommend serving this menu with sharp cheddar cheese and brown bread for added appeal.

A meal featuring beef tenderloin is a delicious indulgence for a celebratory occasion.

A seasonal meal can be effortlessly festive: Try pork stuffed with fruit, plus impressively tasteful accents. With layers of sweetened cranberries, buttery pound cake, and fluffy whipped cream, an easy trifle makes for a merry ending to a dazzling meal.

Ring in the holidays with style by serving a sumptuous roast with all the trimmings. This grand cut of meat -- like a present in itself -- easily feeds eight or more for dinner, with ample leftovers. Potatoes sizzle in rich pan drippings, which also flavor the accompanying Yorkshire pudding. And no roast beef is complete without a tangy, spicy horseradish sauce to cut through its deep flavor. Supporting players come together easily. Toasted pecans accentuate the earthiness of roasted brussels sprouts and parsnips. Peas and pearl onions with fresh mint brighten the palate. Chocolate Bundt cake, drizzled with glaze and paired with seasonal citrus, completes the meal.

Three generations of the Hellewell family gather at their restored ancestral home in Midway, Utah, to celebrate the holiday and their Swiss heritage with a traditional dinner. The menu begins with a classic Swiss dish of cheese fondue, followed by baked ham, sides of potato rosti and spaetzle, and a dessert selection including apple pie, cookies, and candy.

Skip seasonal stress with our step-by-step plan for a fabulously easy Christmas extravaganza.

A Southern Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without family traditions and decorations, without oyster pie, country ham, and biscuits. But these time-honored elements always have room to evolve. At this central Tennessee Christmas party, a casual open house allows entertaining in a leisurely way before the Christmas crunch really sets in. It also means plenty of help trimming the tree.

Our tips for preparing dishes ahead will let you spend more time with your guests.

Poussin, a very young chicken, is roast to perfection in this holiday meal. Serve alongside buttered carrots, caramelized onion tartlets, and a trio of festive desserts -- and for an added holiday bonus, sip a cup of eggnog.

When there's something to celebrate -- be it a family event or a holiday -- the Jewish tradition is to feast. Food plays an important role in many Jewish customs, from the weekly Shabbat meal to annual Hanukkah festivities. Thankfully, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy these robust, spirited meals. These dishes are representative of foods offered at different times of year. Each recipe serves at least eight people, but you might consider making double batches to send home with guests or for leftovers the next day.

The celebrated tastes of the season sing out in a chorus of exquisite dishes.The flavors of Christmas are a lot like carols, rolling melodies that move forward by folding back on themselves, season after season. We may know these yuletide classics by heart, but we never tire of them. Instead, we rejoice in them all the more. In celebration of these quintessential flavors, we've compiled a sampler of hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and every bite in between.

Enrich your family's holiday feast with two key ingredients: elegance and ease. During this season of giving, putting together a buffet is a suitably generous way to entertain. Because guests serve themselves, a buffet is also the most practical, fuss-free way to welcome a crowd. We've created two stand-out buffets to sample. One grand buffet -- the main event -- features a satisfying selection of savories, including an update on roast stuffed turkey and plenty of accompaniments. A dessert buffet follows: a suite of sweets that would tempt any sugarplum fairy. Then, raise a glass and toast this tradition of easygoing, enchanted entertaining.

Before the flicker of holiday candles gilds the rooms, before the trill of tearing gift wrap fills the air, before the shopping is even finished, the smell of Christmas wafts through Ron Suhanosky and Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky's New York City apartment. The aromas from homemade potpourris announce the season's arrival, and it starts, as it should, in the heart of the Suhanosky home: the kitchen. The owners of two Italian bistros -- the homey Sfoglia on Nantucket, in Massachusetts, and its more polished namesake in New York -- the Suhanoskys are also a study in alchemy. Where he is crisp and efficient, she is effusive and warm. He does savory; she does sweet. His family is Hungarian, Polish, and Italian; hers is Sicilian and French. When they bring together their family traditions, as they did last year for Christmas at the New York Sfoglia, the result is magical.

If we're meant to spend the holidays with family, then why do so many seasonal recipes leave us stranded in the kitchen? Enter these modern twists on classic Hanukkah fare. The dishes here offer all the beloved ingredients -- crisp potatoes, braised beef, sweet doughnuts -- but can be prepared in a fraction of the time. Dress up the table with star-embellished hurricane lamps that lend a festive glow, and lay the food out buffet-style so even serving is a snap.

appetizer
Potato and Celery Root Rosti
Roasted Apples
main
Kumquat-Braised Short Ribs
side
Sauteed Spinach with Toasted Pine Nuts
dessert
Doughnut Twists
Serves 8 to 10

Spread the joy with our classic holiday menu, complete with a schedule, useful tips, and a feast that's sure to dazzle. It's amazing, achievable, and impressive at the same time.