[Times photo: Cherie Diez]
	Plum Good Cupcakes With Polka Dot Frosting and Red Velvet Cupcakes With White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting.

Home for the holidays with kosher cooking
Centuries ago, the Inquisition forced Jews to flee Spain. But they returned, and a new restaurant in Madrid plans a special menu for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.

Help for the hapless holiday host
It's your turn to host Thanksgiving dinner. Problem is, you can't cook.

The cure for the common cupcake
Anne Byrn, the "Cake Mix Doctor," has the remedy, and she wants to share it with you.


Books
Two tomes to egg on home cooks
Insiders' cooking lore is shared in a couple of new books, one that's titled How to Break An Egg and another that includes, for beginners, tips on how to boil an egg.

Calendar
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dish
Briefs: Cooking en Espanol
Betty Crocker has released a bilingual cookbook with recipes in English on one page and Spanish on the facing page. Cocina Betty Crocker: Favorite American Recipes in Spanish and English (Wiley; $19.95) includes 125 recipes for classic dishes such as stuffed peppers, Cobb salad and mashed potatoes.
The unusual suspects
Pasta comes in more than 350 shapes, conjured over the years by clever Italian cooks to entertain, honor and nourish. Spaghetti, elbows and shells, we know so well. Orecchiette, mafaldine and radiatori are not as familiar.

Food news
'Bon Appetit' honors industry achievers
NEW YORK - Recipients of Bon Appetit's American Food and Entertaining Awards this year include renowned chefs and restaurateurs, distinguished food writers and teachers - and a humanitarian whose work adds a reminder of the profound side of feeding the hungry.

Rosh Hashana
Go Italian for Jewish holidays
NEW YORK - Poached quinces in a clove and cinnamon-scented syrup for Rosh Hashana? Absolutely. Food writer Joyce Goldstein calls quinces an ideal choice to serve as one of the holiday's traditional sweet dishes - and she has put that in print.

Taster's choice
Croutons that are tops for your salad
Salads are one of those dishes that I love to eat, but hate to make. Everything about them in tiresome: the washing, the tearing, the chopping and the tossing. So you can imagine how I feel about making croutons.

You Asked For It
Corn bread adds grist to your salad
Shirley Hampton was looking for a corn-bread salad recipe, and Bettye Weaver shares a recipe she has had in her files for years. She says it goes great with summer vegetables as a bread-salad combination. Deborah Yerman and A.L. Bamford share recipes with interesting twists: Deborah's is for Layered Corn Bread and Turkey Salad, making it perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers, while A.L. Bamford's has a Southwestern flavor.