Real chocolate keeps a chocolate martini's taste clean and crisp. This recipe makes two. It's from "Adventures With Chocolate: 80 Sensational Recipes," by Paul A. Young (Kyle, $24.95).

Throwing a dinner party soon and looking to make an impression with guests? Alessia Antinori, whose family has been making wines for 26 generations, offers these tips:

One look at the mess in the kitchen and that special-day meal the children made for you can lose its appeal. But a make-ahead breakfast lets you manage the chaos in the kitchen while allowing your children to take ownership of a piping hot meal and brightening everyone's day.

Bran muffins are a welcome addition to any breakfast.

There are two school cafeteria recipes that I would love to have. I attended California Junior High School from 1963 to 1964. They served a very thick-crusted hamburger pizza baked on a huge cafeteria baking sheet.

What's Boursin?

Gals wanna grill

Moms work hard all year 'round, but it's usually only the second Sunday of May when thank-yous come her way. Give a second gift that will keep giving all year long: A book to make meal-making a bit easier. Here are some new titles.

When I stumbled on a recipe for a coffeecake in a coffee cup, I was hooked. The ingredients were insanely tiny and the results could be tasted in minutes because the cooking was done in the microwave. In short, it was kind of brilliant.

High heat is crucial to successful stir-fries. Home cooks have to maximize the heat that they have. On average, American stoves put out 7,000 British thermal units, while wok burners in Chinese restaurants range from 80,000 to 150,000 BTU. Because home cooks are starting with such lower BTU, cookbook author Grace Young says, anything that drops the temperature of a wok is bad.

Here are some memorable meals

Tips on freezing berries

A collection of easy weeknight dinners is the aim of several new books, including "Betty Crocker The Big Book of Weeknight Dinners" (Wiley Paperback, $19.95).

Spring salad days are almost here. With warmer weather, a fresh crop of lettuce soon will come rolling into stores and farmers markets.

What you need to know about lettuce