Thanksgiving has passed, but that’s no reason to stop eating cranberries. These pert and tart berries are a welcome addition and decorative garnish throughout the year, and especially brighten up a winter table during the frosty holiday season. Their bright ruby color practically screams celebration, livening up salads and sauces, desserts and cocktails, and their pucker-y tartness easily complements sweet and savory dishes.

Need inspiration?

While a good ol’ cranberry sauce is the go-to accompaniment to turkey, you can also add cranberries to chutneys, salsas and relishes. Blitz or cook them down with savory ingredients, such as peppers, onions, ginger and dried fruit to accompany red meat, game and pork.

Blitz cranberries into marinades. Their astringent tartness will work wonders as a flavorful meat tenderizer.

Add tart cranberries to fruity desserts, such as pies, crisps and cobblers. They pair well with apples, pears, quince and dried fruit. Their tartness will make the dessert pop, and nicely balance the sugar and sweetness of the fruit.

Did anyone say chocolate? Cranberries love chocolate (who or what doesn’t?). Fold them into dark chocolate cakes, bark and bars, or simply dip and coat them in chocolate for a dangerously easy nibble to eat.

Add them to cocktails and mock-tails. Use them to flavor simple syrup, infuse vodka, muddle into mixed drinks, or simply float a few berries as a colorful garnish.

And while we’re on the subject of drinks, this is a bright and festive cocktail that will carry you through the holiday season. The berry’s cheek-sucking tartness provides contrast to the warmth and spice of honeyed bourbon, acting as a natural bitter, if you will. The berries are incorporated in three ways: in a cinnamon-infused syrup, muddled with citrus and mint, and then added in frozen form for colorful bling.

Cranberry-Bourbon Citrus Smash

Makes one cocktail

Cranberry-Orange Simple Syrup:

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick

2 strips orange peel

Cocktail:

3 to 4 fresh or frozen cranberries

3 to 4 mint leaves

1 lime quarter

1 orange slice

1 1/2 ounces bourbon

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1 ounce Cranberry-Orange Simple Syrup

1 ounce fresh lime juice

Ice cubes

Make the simple syrup:

Combine the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the cranberries break down, about 15 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, pushing down on the cranberry pulp. Discard the solids. Cool the syrup to room temperature. (The simple syrup may be stored in a glass container in the refrigerator for up to one month.)

Make the cocktail:

Combine the cranberries, mint, lime and orange slice in a cocktail shaker and muddle. Add the bourbon and Cointreau, and then add the remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously and pour into a tall glass or strain into a rocks glass. Serve with whole fresh or frozen cranberries, lime wedges and mint sprigs.

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Bring on the layers when it’s cold outside. And before you reach for your fleece or parka, let’s be perfectly clear: We’re talking about salads. That’s right, salads have a place in the fall and winter, and when the brisk seasons invite layering hefty, nourishing ingredients into our meals, this principle also applies to salads. They can handle it.

This vibrant salad is a perfect example. It’s layered with toothsome nutty black rice, juicy-crisp radicchio leaves, and spice-roasted delicata squash rings. Each ingredient brings flavor, texture and nutrients to the salad party, and when composed together in a serving bowl and drizzled with a thick balsamic vinaigrette, they produce a unified and highly decorative salad that will please and wow everyone at the dinner and holiday table.

Delicata squash is a winter squash that is often bypassed for the ubiquitous butternut squash. Delicata is a small oblong squash with green and yellow striated skin that is edible, so there is no need to peel it. It cooks quickly, and roasting is an easy method that amplifies its mildly sweet and creamy flavor. The squash can be halved lengthwise and roasted, or better yet, sliced into thin rings, which resemble decorative flower shapes.

If you need any further encouragement to make this salad, note that it can be easily prepped ahead of serving, since the rice and squash rings should be cooked and cooled to room temperature. The final assembly takes minutes, which is a cook’s gift during the busy holiday season.

Delicata, Radicchio and Black Rice Salad

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes, plus rice cooking and cooling time

Yield: Serves 4

Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 small garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup black rice, rinsed

Salt

1 large delicata squash, scrubbed clean

1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large head radicchio, cored, leaves torn into shards

3 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley leaves

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (or pomegranate arils)

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

Cook the rice until tender, according to package instructions. Season to taste with salt and set aside to cool to lukewarm or room temperature.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the squash crosswise in 1/3-inch-thick slices and scoop out the seeds. Place the rings in a large bowl. Add the oil, 1 teaspoon salt, the cumin, paprika and black pepper and toss to coat. Arrange the squash rings on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment. Transfer to the oven and roast until golden brown in spots and tender, about 25 minutes, flipping once. Remove from the oven and lightly brush with the dressing. Cool to lukewarm or room temperature.

Spread the radicchio in a wide shallow serving bowl. Stir the scallions into the rice and then spoon the rice over and around the radicchio. Arrange the delicata rings around the salad, tucking some of the rings under the radicchio leaves. Sprinkle the parsley and pumpkin seeds (or pomegranate arils) over the salad. Drizzle with the remaining dressing.

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The holidays can be stressful, so take the pressure down a notch and feed and entertain with a decorative cheese platter. Cheese is a perfect accompaniment to cocktails, an inviting appetizer or, heck, a casual help-yourself dinner. And with a little thought, a cheese board can take center stage on the holiday table. Everything you need for a cheese board can be purchased ahead, ready to prepare and arranged with simple tips.

Try to balance your cheese selection in strength, texture, flavor and color. As a simple rule of thumb, select four to six cheeses, depending on how many people you are serving. Vary the colors, textures, strengths and milk source, such as a fresh goat cheese, a bloomy pungent or washed rind cheese, a wedge of piquant alpine cheese or butterscotch-y Gouda, a nutty Pecorino (sheep cheese) and streaky blues. Mix the shapes as well, choosing bricks, wedges and molded rounds. And be sure to serve each cheese with its own knife.

Use the farmers market for decorative inspiration and edible garnishes. Arrange the cheese on large leafy greens, such as chard and collard greens, and decorate with curly, frizzy leaves such as purple kale, chicories and frisee. Weave smaller decorative sprigs of herbs and edible flowers around the cheese as aromatic garnishes. Hollow out a small red cabbage or a radicchio head to use as a serving vessel for nuts and olives.

And don’t just stick to cheese. Add savory slices of salami and cured meats accompanied by cornichons. Sweeten up the board with colorful nibbles such as fresh grapes, crab apples, pomegranate arils and persimmon wedges, or dried cranberries, figs and apricots. Serve with a jar of chutney or jam. Add a wedge of honeycomb or a little glass of honey for drizzling.

Select a variety of crackers, crisps and breads for texture, color and consistency: hearty fruit and nut bread, rustic baguette slices, olive oil crackers, seeded crisp breads -- and don't forget to add some gluten-free options, just in case.

Arrange the cheese on a background of black slate or a weathered cutting board, or place a cutting board in a large wide basket. Arrange smaller wooden plates or decorative bowls on the boards to contain runny cheese and fill with crackers, olives and spiced nuts, such as these Bourbon Spiced Pecans.

Bourbon Spiced Pecans

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: Makes 2 cups

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup bourbon

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 cups pecan halves

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

Combine the sugar, bourbon, salt, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Add the pecans and stir to thoroughly coat.

Pour the pecans onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out in one layer. Bake until browned and crusty, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and slide the parchment and pecans onto a rack to cool completely. Break the pecans apart and store in an airtight container.

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