During holiday season, radishes and greens deliver Christmas colors: a bright red exterior, crunchy slices and some zippy, peppery heat (the heat dissipates when radishes are cooked).

First pick your favorite greens: We like a mix of arugula, romaine and watercress; plus some red leaf lettuce, when we can find it.

Beyond the radishes, you can add more red color with cherry and grape tomatoes (you can cut cherry tomatoes in half), red bell pepper strips or dice and radicchio.

We also like to snip in a tablespoon of fresh herbs: basil, cilantro, chives and/or parsley. They’re the best way we know to brighten up a salad with “something special.”

Finally, we add a splash of yellow, via cherry and grape tomatoes, yellow bell peppers and/or a slice of starfruit.

We dress the salad with a vinaigrette: 3 parts olive oil, 1 part red wine vinegar or lime juice and 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

You can also use the radishes to make:

Fortunately, we don’t need to, because we can buy them from Veronica’s.

Anyone will be delighted to receive Veronica’s holiday collection cake pops, which include:

When looking for a copy of August Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire on Amazon.com, we found an elucidating customer review by Charlene Vickers of Winnepeg, Canada.

The great Escoffier (1846-1935) was a was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who updated and codified traditional French cooking techniques. In 1903, he published what instantly became the culinary bible. One hundred and eight years later, it is still the classic reference source for professional chefs.

An abridged English-language version, The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery: For Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures, Complete With 2973 Recipes, is half the cost of the original.

Ms. Vickers responded to another customer’s complaints about this abridged edition with such depth, that we asked her permission to reprint her comments. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into culinary history.

“However, to appreciate this book fully, it’s important to understand exactly for whom it was written. Escoffier’s original guide was never for a second intended for the home cook. Escoffier was a pioneer with respect to the education of professional chefs, and originally wrote this book for the use of those working in grand houses, in hotels, on ocean liners, and in restaurants, who might not have had access to contemporary recipes.

“Accordingly, the original book does not attempt to teach basic cooking or food preparation techniques. The American translation does include some details on cooking utensils and techniques unfamiliar to the average American chef (such as poeleing,* worth the cost of the book alone, and the old French form of braising), but even in the translation it is assumed that the reader is a trained, experienced chef.

*Editor’s Note: Braising calls for liquids to be added to the meat. Poeleing uses just butter and the meat’s own juices, with no added liquids.

“The recipes themselves are clear and simple to follow, but represent only a small subset of French cooking of the early 20th century. An earlier reviewer mentioned that there was no recipe for onion soup. This is true, but it should be understood that onion soup would never have been accepted by the class of restaurant patron for whom Escoffier cooked.

“Much of what has arrived on this side of the Atlantic as ”French cooking”—dishes such as pot-au-feu, onion soup, and steak frites—is distinctly middle-class fare, and consequently would have been rejected by the clientele of quality restaurants of the time as being unspeakably boorish. Escoffier personally enjoyed bourgeois cooking, but as an astute, intelligent businessman, he provided the haute cuisine his clients demanded.

“One interesting difference between modern cooking and the cooking featured in this book is that Escoffier uses few spices, and indeed declaims on the foolishness of using large amounts of spices in meat dishes. This appears bizarre from our vantage point, but Escoffier had sound economic reasons for his proscriptions.

“Most diners of the time grew up in the days before refrigeration, when old, deteriorating meat was heavily spiced to make it palatable. Fresh, unspiced meat was a sign of the highest quality. The association between strong spices and poor quality was powerful enough to survive long into the 20th century, as any reader of a 1950s American cookbook can attest.

“As for the recipes themselves, I doubt that many of them could be prepared by the North American home cook. Most of us cannot afford (if we can even find) foie gras, truffles, or capons, and few have espagnole sauce or fish fumet available at all times. However, many recipes can be adapted for the modern cook—using cepes or porcini mushrooms instead of truffles, for instance—and those that can be prepared really are delicious.”

Thanks so much, Ms. Vickers. If we ever get to Winnepeg, we would love to take you to dinner—although it sounds as if we might enjoy even better fare in your kitchen.

Delicious chocolate mint cookies are our favorite holiday cookies (photo © Wisconsin Dairy).

What we’re baking for the holiday cookie exchange: chocolate mint christmas butter cookies, with a recipe from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

We know that other food writers will be pushing the envelope, trying to make the most memorable cookies to present in our annual cookie exchange.

But we love chocolate mint cookies, and it’s our annual occasion to indulge in them.

Far beyond Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, this recipe, made with real butter and peppermint extract and top-quality cocoa and chocolate, makes the real deal.

In addition to the round shape in the photo, here’s a version made with a Christmas tree cookie cutter.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE MINT CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Servings: 3 dozen cookies

For The Cookies

 
For The Chocolate Coating

 
Preparation
 
For The Chocolate Cookies

1. In a large bowl, beat butter and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in peppermint extract, followed by salt and cocoa powder. Blend. Add flour and mix to incorporate.

2. Divide dough in two pieces and place each on large sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten into 1/2-inch thick discs, wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out, about 45 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove chilled dough, place discs between two sheets of parchment; roll out to 1/8-inch thick. Cut the desired shapes and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 5 to 6 minutes. Remove cookies from oven; cool on pan 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For The Chocolate Coating

1. Place chocolate in a large microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 30 seconds on high, stir, and continue to microwave in 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring after each until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in peppermint extract.

2. To frost cookies, place one cookie on the slotted spatula, carefully dip into the chocolate, coating completely; lift the cookie out. Hold the cookie on the spatula, allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Place cookie onto wire cooling rack to let the chocolate set. Repeat with remaining cookies.

3. Sprinkle with decorations, or dip, before the coating dries. Place coated cookies in the freezer for 1 hour to set before storing or serving. Store cookies in airtight container for up to 1 week, or in freezer for up to 3 weeks.
 
 
> More Christmas butter cookie recipes.

> The best way to store extra cookies.
 
 

You can make the one in the photo, just by adding tree ornaments to a glass bowl.

For a food theme, substitute some of the ornaments with pomegranates and lemons. Push some cloves into the lemons for more visual interest and aroma.

You can also visit the produce department of a fine supermarket (or a produce store) to see what looks good. Look for:

For accents, consider:

 
Arrange in a glass bowl or a basket, and you’ve got your centerpiece. Tie a ribbon around the bowl or basket for more festiveness.