As winter inches ever-closer, the cold and snow will soon be the norm. So make a pot of this hearty stew, and find a good spot to watch the falling snow.

Mel’s Beef Stew

1⁄2 onion, chopped

1 fresh tomato, chopped

1⁄2 teaspoon each of thyme, garlic powder, black pepper

Teriyaki sauce

2 pounds of Angus stew beef

1 small bag of mini carrots

1 sweet potato, chopped

3 or 4 tablespoons butter

Melt the butter in large cast-iron pan and add the spices, onion and tomato. Let cook for four minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so. Add the Angus beef and brown it all, stirring and turning pieces to be sure all sides get browned. Drizzle with the teriyaki sauce. Add carrots and sweet potato. Let cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Put stew and juices into a slow cooker on low for about five hours.

Almond Wafer Cups

2 egg whites

Dash of vanilla

31⁄2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

1⁄2 cup sugar

1⁄2 cup flour, sifted

1⁄4 cup very finely chopped almonds

Beat your egg whites, and then add dash of vanilla. Once soft peaks have formed, start adding sugar by the tablespoon, and beating it in, until all sugar is incorporated. Beat egg whites until stiff.

Fold in half of the flour, and then fold in melted and cooled butter. Fold in the rest of the flour. Sprinkle over and gently fold in nuts.

Grease a cookie sheet. One at a time, spread out 1 tablespoon of cookie dough into a 3-inch circle.

Bake at 375 degrees until cookies are brown on the edges ”“ about 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet ASAP with thin, flat spatula, gently getting it under the whole cookie. Then drape the cookies over the bottom of one cup in a lightly greased muffin tin turned upside down. Make the cookies into the shape of a cup, and let them harden. When cooled, gently remove cookie cup and set upright.

Serve filled with fruit and whipped cream or chopped nuts and Nutella ”“ whatever your heart desires.

Powdered Nut Crescents

1 cup butter

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

Dash vanilla

1 egg

21⁄4 cup flour

3⁄4 cup very finely chopped nuts ”“ almond, hazelnuts, pecans

Powdered sugar

Beat room-temperature butter together with sugar and vanilla. Beat in the egg. Stir in flour, and then add the nuts.

Form cookie dough into small crescents. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees, until crescents are very lightly browned on the edges, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Let cool until warm, and then roll in powdered sugar.

Holiday Salad

1 head lettuce

1⁄3 can jellied or whole berry cranberries, chopped

Handful pecans

1 cup cooked stuffing

1⁄2 sweet potato, cooked and chopped

1 big large roll, buttered, crumbled or chopped and very lightly toasted

This recipe can be made with any leftovers, but you must taste the salad and balance out the ingredients and their flavors.

Slam the lettuce down on its bottom side, so that the stem goes further into the body of the lettuce. Reach in and remove stem, twisting the whole core of the lettuce and pulling it out. Rip the lettuce into mouth-sized pieces, and place them into a large bowl.

Sprinkle the bowl of lettuce with pieces of cranberry sauce, pecans, stuffing and sweet potato. Make sure the ingredients are distributed throughout the lettuce. Sprinkle the top of the salad with prepared dinner roll crumbs.

Serve with oil and vinegar dressing ”“ with or without flavoring ”“ Thousand Island, blue cheese or your favorite dressing, on the side.

— Mel Baker is an experienced chef, caterer and cafe manager. She resides in York County and has published “The Noisy Oven” since 2006. Email her a [email protected].