Swiss Cheese

These small pizzas from Indigo in Honolulu feature sweet caramelized onions, spicy chicken, and mozzarella, Swiss and provolone cheeses. Refrigerated pizza dough is used here to simplify the recipe. Chili-garlic sauce can be substituted for the Thai chili sauce if necessary.

For an elegant dinner, just add a salad of Bibb lettuce and Belgian endive with walnut-oil vinaigrette, and pass a basket of warm French bread. A purchased apple tart makes a lovely finale.

Crusty sourdough rolls and coleslaw made of shredded red and green cabbage tossed with a vinaigrette are nice with the soufflés. Afterward, have a caramel-nut tart from the bakery and cups of herbal tea.

Serve with: Red cabbage slaw and pickles. Dessert: Fudge brownies.

Serve these with a couple of tall, cold beers.

"We dine at the Meridian Café whenever we're in Louisville. The portobello mushroom sandwich is our favorite," say Libby and Roys Ellinas of La Grange, Kentucky. "It has a tangy, creamy sauce that we would love to know how to make." Prepare this sandwich with any favorite bread — crusty country bread or artisan-style rolls would be especially good.

If you wanted to entertain in the '60s, a fondue pot was de rigueur, presenting a casual alternative to the formal dinners of earlier eras. Some of us still have the dregs of that original bottle of kirsch in the back of the liquor cabinet. This is fortunate because, with the current and unprecedented cheese renaissance in this country, it's time to unearth that old fondue pot and light up the Sterno.

If you can't get premade patties, buy bulk pork sausage meat and form your own.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 3 hr

(Cheese Pastries)

The microwave makes this dish a snap to prepare.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The recipe calls for both chicken broth and beef broth, but using either one or the other will give an equally good result.

Ham and Thousand Island Dressing

A version of the famous Parisian ham-and-cheese sandwich pairs up with a classic soup.