Makes 12 toasts

If you can’t find ciabatta, use hearty Italian bread instead.

Serves 8 to 10 as a side dish

This salad is best served the day it is made; if it’s been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before serving. The pesto can be made a day ahead—just cook the garlic cloves in a small saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute. Garnish with additional shaved or grated Parmesan.

Simmer down to prevent blown out beans.

SERVES 8

We prefer the creamier texture of beans soaked overnight for this recipe. If you’re short on time, quick-soak them: Place the rinsed beans in a large heat-resistant bowl. Bring 2 quarts of water and 3 tablespoons of salt to a boil. Pour the water over the beans and let them sit for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans well before proceeding with step 2. If pancetta is unavailable, substitute 4 ounces of bacon (about 4 slices). For a more substantial dish, serve the stew over toasted bread.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We were determined to avoid tough, exploded beans in our Tuscan bean stew recipe, so we soaked the beans overnight in salted water, which softened the skins. Then we experimented with cooking times and temperatures, discovering that gently cooking the beans in a 250-degree oven produced perfectly cooked beans that stayed intact. To complete our bean stew recipe, we added tomatoes toward the end of cooking, since their acid kept the beans from becoming too soft.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/test-kitchen-community/2012/08/best-of-the-best-day-nine-tuscan-bean-stew/

Makes about 8 dozen

Any Hershey’s Chocolate Kiss—dark, milk, white, or "Hugs"—works in this recipe. For best results, the cookies should be baked on the middle rack, one baking sheet at a time. This recipe can be cut in half.

Serves 12

In step 3, the oven rack should be 10 to 12 inches from the broiler element. Don’t wander off while the wings are in the oven.

Serves 4 to 6

Let the potatoes cool for 10 minutes after the first bake before tossing with the oil (hot potatoes will stick to the pan).

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Partial thawing of the spinach produces a cold dip that can be served without further chilling. If you don’t own a microwave, the frozen spinach can be thawed at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours then squeezed of excess liquid. The garlic must be minced or pressed before going into the food processor; otherwise the dip will contain large chunks of garlic.

Makes 16 potato skins

The potatoes can be cooked, scooped, and refrigerated in an airtight container for 2 days before proceeding with the recipe. Serve with sour cream and sliced scallions, if you like.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

We like these cookies dipped in melted chocolate (heat 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate and 1/2 cup heavy cream until smooth; stir in rum reserved from plumping cherries).

Serves 4 to 6

This recipe is designed to work with potatoes 1½ to 2 inches in diameter; do not use potatoes any larger. It is important to thoroughly cook the potatoes so that they will smash easily. Remove the potatoes from the baking sheet as soon as they are done browning—they will toughen if left too long. A potato masher can also be used to “smash” the potatoes.