Champagne

If you only have time for a dessert after the kids are in bed, try something elegant and expedient, like poached pears. This recipe works best with pink champagne.

Bubbly with benefits? Ginger may help prevent cancer by halting abnormal cell growth. (We'll take two!)

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art, by Tom Gilliland, Miguel Ravago, and Virginia B. Wood. . This traditional wine punch presents the opportunity to turn robust jug wine and fresh seasonal fruits into a festive party drink. The recipe includes a mix of firm fruits (such as seedless grapes, apple slices, pear slices) and soft fruits (like strawberries, peaches, and kiwi). The soft fruits are added to the glasses at serving time.

Part of what makes this luxurious dish so delicious is that the spinach, artichokes, and oysters have a similar texture and the same soft, gentle flavors.

This recipe is adapted from Audrey Saunders, owner of Pegu Club in New York City. The slightly bubbly riff on the Bloody Mary goes wonderfully with Oysters on the Half Shell with Spicy Vinegar. For expert advice on pairing cocktails with food, click here. Editor's note: Saunders suggests that you use your favorite Bloody Mary recipe for this drink. In case you don't have one, we've provided one of our best.

This recipe is adapted from Ryan Magarian, the Seattle-based cocktail consultant behind Liquid Kitchen (www.kathycasey.com/liquid_kitchen). This autumn cocktail, with its palate-enlivening bubbles, is light enough not to overwhelm the delicate meat in Roast Turkey with Bacon and Applejack Gravy . The subtly sweet pear flavor echoes the presence of fall fruit in the gravy. For expert advice on pairing cocktails with food, click here.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month.

Happily, we found that the only word which rhymes with Clicquot was a tasty white rum.

When selecting the Champagne for this cocktail, we wanted something moderately dry but with a hint of sweetness. Demi-sec (a French term meaning "half dry") Champagnes and sparkling wines provide the perfect balance.

We chose to garnish our cocktail with Seckel or Forelle pear slices because of their small size — they fit perfectly in the Champagne flutes. Be sure to lower the slices slowly into the flute or the Champagne will bubble over.

If you can't find fraises des bois liqueur in your local liquor store, you can substitute cassis or Chambord, though the cocktail will taste somewhat different.

Passion fruit nectar adds a tropical twist to this traditional brunch cocktail.

These refreshing cocktails, named for the French 75-millimeter howitzer cannon, starts a party off with a bang.

This refreshing cocktail can be a dessert, but it is also a great brunch drink. In Italy, Lucia likes to use Italian sparkling wine (such as spumante) instead of Champagne.

This variation on the Champagne cocktail skips the standard Angostura bitters in favor of herbal, honeyed Benedictine liqueur and fragrant crème de cacao.