Marty Martindale, a freelance food writer who runs FoodSiteOfTheDay.com, has compiled this great list of websites to help you in your search for the perfect holiday recipes online.
PARTY TABLE/HORS D'OEUVRES
CDKitchen.com
In CD Kitchen, find many cheeseball recipes, from apple to blue cheese, hot cheeseballs, crab cheeseballs, even chocolate chip cheeseballs.
RecipeSource.com
Here are 200 hot cheese dish suggestions from Recipe Source. Black bean, goat cheese enchiladas with mango relish? Brie pinwheels? Brandied krok-a-cheese and more.
Epicurus.com
Ptés and terrines are so festive. Epicurus.com features recipes for bourbon pté, chicken liver pté, duck liver mousse and eggplant tahini pté. (Search "pate" and "terrine.")
JustCaviar.com
The ultimate splurge, caviar is a passion for many. Find oyster purses with fresh salmon and Osetra caviar, and potato cakes with bacon and caviar.
Melborponsti.com
Just Recipes presents 98,774 recipes in 856 categories. Visit for dips for pretzels, chips, crackers or fresh vegetables. (Click on Dips A-F, G-Z.)
ILoveCheese.com
This is a recipe finder site. In the upper right, choose the recipe type you want, then fill in the cheese you wish to use. The site also suggests wine pairings.
Home.earthlink.net/~virtual.fondue
Fondue is back and a great way to get guests involved. Find three categories: meat, cheeses and desserts. Take a peek at Mexican midnight fondue. Guaranteed fun!
COOKIES/BARS/DESSERTS
Christmas-cookies.com
This site brings you over 400 cookies in many categories. See recipes for bar cookies, refrigerator cookies, cookie cutter cookies, cookie press types, drop cookies and more.
FatFree.com
Find carrot-tofu, fudge, hot-fudge, cheesecake and raspberry brownies.
Ebicom.net/kitchen
Discover goober chocks, malt bars, blond brownies, shortbreads, streusel bars, biscotti, macaroons and the annual favorite, snickerdoodles.
Pastrywiz.com/cookies
In addition to stollens, gingerbread men and orange bars, find Christmas cake decorating ideas including step-by-step gingerbread houses, Yule logs and a bit of history.
Webterrace.com/cookie
Here's a whole site dedicated to sweets made with chips. Besides chocolate chip recipes, find banana chip, triple chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate raspberry.
BEVERAGES (INCLUDING WINE PAIRINGS)
WineIntro.com
Wine Intro brings you mulled wines, eggnog history and recipes, five versions of the Scandinavian glogg and four hot ciders.
Vernalisa.addr.com/xmasfood2.html
Vernalisa's Christmas Beverage is a holiday site featuring unusual holiday drinks, including a yuletide wassail and hot buttered rum.
GourmetSleuth.com
Find many cheeses, their countries of origin, classifications and wines that complement them. You will use this site all year.
ThatsTheSpirit.com
This site gives you access to 3,000 drinks and how to make them when you insert the drink's name into its quick search. Also covers mixology, wines, beer and some food.
DINNERS & SIDES
MarthaStewart.com
Martha still loves us. In this recipe search, select from choices that include ingredients, health needs, children's cooking, type of holiday or which category you want.
FoodNetwork.com
Leave it to Food Network to have a regal, 158-page holiday banquet offering. (Click on Recipes; Season's Eatings.)
HungryMonster.com
The monster is a monster. In addition to a glossary, international cuisines and reviews, over 52,000 recipes give you a chance to find what you really want.
Recipelink.com
This is another very large recipe site with everything from kolaches to brioche, from gorgonzola mascarpone torta to walnut-date cheese balls. Cookies include chocolate wows, icebox sugar cookies, pecan praline lace cookies, orange cocoa sandies, sivananda cookies and tuile cookies. (Click on Christmas Recipes; Cookies.)
CanadaBBHosts.com
Canadians are very good with food. Here, some bed and breakfast offer a host of recipes for meat dishes, quiches, frittatas, fruit dishes, seafood and very many veggie dishes.
ETHNIC PARTY FOODS
RecipeSource.com
Pick a country, just about any country, and Recipe Source has recipes: from Wales to Peru, Lebanon to Serbia, Rumania to Tibet.
Recipes.wuzzle.org
Browse by country or alphabetically by recipe names. This is a good place to locate ancestral dishes.
MexConnect.com/mex_/recipes/
Feliz Navidad with tamales, pozole, tequila sunsets, mole negro, three kings bread, salsas Mexicana, capirotatas, bunuelos and much more.
HANDY REFERENCE SITES:
Ingredient Substitutions: The Cook's Thesaurus
Epicurious.com Food Dictionary
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2004.