10,000 bitter recipes

Cream cheese cookies with lemon zest, tender and buttery with a subtle tang from the cream cheese. A versatile roll-and-cut dough with just six ingredients. No eggs needed.

Make-ahead mashed potato casserole with sour cream and cream cheese, refrigerated overnight, then baked the next day. The Thanksgiving and holiday side that frees up your stovetop.

Old-California empanadita pastry with a flaky cream cheese and butter dough. A versatile chilled make-ahead dough for sweet or savory hand pies, brushed with egg wash before baking.

Kolachky dough made with cream cheese, butter, egg yolks, and flour. An overnight pastry dough that rolls out flaky and tender for filling with fruit or nuts.

Kolachky cream cheese dough, the rich, flaky pastry base for these Eastern European cookies. Just flour, butter, cream cheese and egg, chilled overnight, rolled on sugar and filled with prune, apricot, walnut or poppy seed.

Cream cheese shortbread cookies crowned with a fresh strawberry half. Buttery, tender rounds with a jammy ruby center that bakes right into the dough. Pretty enough for tea, easy enough for a weeknight.

Fruity couscous sauteed in butter with rum-soaked raisins, sugar, and chopped nuts, topped with yogurt. A sweet, nutty side dish or light dessert ready in 25 minutes.

Mushroom pate: a vegetarian appetizer of buttery sauteed mushrooms and onions deglazed with sherry, then blended with cream cheese and fresh parsley. Spread on crackers or crusty bread for the perfect cocktail snack.

Variations: Omit parsley, add tarragon or rosemary.

Garlic shrimp scampi-style with butter, white wine, and parsley over rice. A simple weeknight classic adapted from the Drawbridge Inn, ready in under 30 minutes.

Red lentil dahl simmered with turmeric, green chili, and butter-fried onions. A simple vegetarian Indian classic finished with fresh lemon juice.

Sauteed smallmouth bass meunier dredged in cornmeal and flour, pan-fried in butter, and finished with a vinegar pan sauce. A classic French-meets-camp fish preparation.

Buttery garlic shrimp tossed with sautéed mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, and white wine in this Hawaiian-inspired scampi from the famous Volcano House restaurant overlooking Kilauea Crater.

Cheesy garlic bread with melted Swiss, garlic butter, and parsley spread between slices of French bread. The pull-apart loaf appetizer that ruins regular garlic bread for everyone.

Easy to pack and perfect as crudités for that favorite dip, the crunchy texture and sweet taste of carrots is popular among both adults and children. Although they are shipped around the country from California throughout the year, locally grown carrots are in season in the summer and fall when they are the freshest and most flavorful.

All root vegetables can be sautéed. However, because of their density they must be cut into thin slices or a small dice. If not, the exteriors will burn before the center is cooked.