We all had a favorite food when we were little, whether it was just-right buttered cinnamon toast or after-school English muffin pizzas.

You can find recipes for those (and more) in Loukoumi's Celebrity Cookbook, a new collection of more than 50 celebrities' favorite childhood recipes (the book also benefits a Chefs for Humanity and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital). Beyonce contributes Easy Guacamole with Corn Chip Scoops, Katie Couric offers Brownies and Lemon Squares, Jennifer Aniston contributes a recipe for Quinoa Salad (clearly, she was a sophisticated child) and Oprah Winfrey gives us her recipe for crispy Corn Fritters.

 It's a fun, nostalgic cookbook--and it even has a few surprises. For instance, who knew Ellen DeGeneres could eat 12 Vegan Sliders?

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O editors are nothing if not intrepid, and when word got out that there was an eggnog tasting going on near my desk, nog lovers and skeptics came running (well, the skeptics may have been a little reluctant, but they came). We pitted 6 different nogs--including traditional supermarket brands, healthier versions and even a homemade one--against each other in a blind tasting. Here are the three we loved best.

Turkey Hill Grade A Eggnog
Pictured: Back row, left
$2.49 for 1 quart
1/2 cup: 190 calories, 9 grams fat
The consensus among tasters is that this pasteurized, homogenized nog--which has rum flavoring (though not actual rum) and spices--is the standard against which all others should be judged. Our resident eggnog lover declared Turkey Hill her favorite.

Lactaid Eggnog
Pictured: Back row, right
$2.49 for 1 quart
1/2 cup: 170 calories, 9 grams of fat
This lactose-free drink tasted more like vanilla pudding (or "pudding mix before it's puddi-fied," according to one taster) than eggnog. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Said another, "It doesn't taste like eggnog, but it's good."

Homemade
Pictured: Front row, middle
This O mag recipe was one of the simplest I found. I made a thin custard from cooked eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg; then, once it cooled, I stirred in whipped heavy cream. Some tasters liked the resulting froth, and one even said, "This tastes like a milkshake!" Conclusion: This is the eggnog for people who don't like eggnog.

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A glass of sparkling wine, with its golden (or even pinkish) hue and tiny little bubbles traveling upwards? A sight to behold. But due to unprecedented demand, Champagne has started taking a price hike, as this recent article explains. While the piece does offer ways to cut corners on buying bubbly (including a list of lesser-known and lower-priced options), another way to stretch a bottle is to make sparkling wine cocktails. Just a small amount of the stuff (sometimes even just a splash) can add fizz and depth to fruit juices and other liqueurs. And before you know it, you've poured as many as 12 drinks out of just one Champagne bottle--and these cocktails are just as easy on the eyes as a glass of straight sparkling wine. Here are a few we love...

1. Cranberry Lemongrass Martini
2. Pineapple-Cucumber Mojitos
3. Pear Champagne Cocktail
4. Raspberry Champagne Cocktail
5. Peach Bellini
6. Hope Floats Cocktail
7. Pink Halo

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Photo: Spoon Sisters

The weekend is within reach...let these little splurges make getting there more fun.Hanging Globe with Succulent Planting Kit, $29. This simple kit comes with a terrarium, plant, pumice and hanging string. Put it on your Christmas tree now; show it off in your kitchen, bathroom or any other place around the house all year long.

Champagne and Shimmer Acai Sugar Polish, $37.  Definitely a contender for the most luxurious body butter you've ever used, this has a slight shimmer, making it perfect to smooth over skin before you head out to a holiday party wearing  a shoulder-baring dress or top.

Zoku Single Pop Maker, $25. Make yourself a different pop every night. We're thinking egg nog, hot chocolate or even apple cider might taste pretty good in frozen form.

Photo: Hannah Whitaker

The best thing about going to a cookie exchange (aside from the 6 dozen cookies you cart home) is the often amazing recipes they help unearth. How else would I have come across my mom's friend Rita's pistachio-cranberry icebox cookies, or our neighbor Linda's Italian almond crescents, other than at Aunt Betty's annual bash? So when an editor at The Food Network invited me to a virtual cookie swap, I knew I had to join in. It works like this: on one day (today!), food magazines, blogs and other websites each "bring" a different cookie recipe to the table. Instead of sorting through your cookbooks or the millions of recipes online, you can scroll through this best-of-the-best list: Since each site is only allowed to share a single recipe in the swap, you know every one of them is going to be a winner.

Life Lift's contribution to the exchange is a butter cookie recipe from the December issue of O. The dough is beyond simple; what makes these sweets unique is that you use a glass with a design in the bottom (it could be a vintage water tumbler, a vase, a Ball jar or anything else you find in your kitchen cabinets) to stamp each circle of dough. Even something that’s just a basic ring looks beautiful when it’s sprinkled with colored sugar.

Photo: Thinkstock

You're looking at a bowl full of bread dough, left to rise under a towel in a warm place in your kitchen. It's been two hours and nothing seems to be happening. You could throw it in the oven and hope for the best (maybe it will rise once it's in there? Is that even possible?), or you could call a professional. Yes, there are actually pro bakers standing by at various hotlines around the country, just waiting for you to call. They'll talk you off the ledge and give you some tricks to turn that flat ball of dough into a puffed-up masterpiece. It's like tech support for holiday baking.

Crisco's Pie Hotline
1-877-FOR PIE TIPS
Monday to Friday: 8 AM to 8 PM EST

Fleischmann's Yeast Baker's Help Line
800-777-4959
Monday to Friday: 9 AM to 4 PM, CST

King Arthur Flour Baking Hotline
802-649-3717
Monday to Friday: 8 AM to 9 PM EST
Saturday and Sunday: 9 AM to 5 PM EST

Nestle Toll House Live Chat
Monday to Friday: 8 AM to 8 PM EST
Saturday: 8 AM to 4 PM EST

Hershey's Consumer Hot Line
800-468-1714
Monday to Friday: 9 AM to 4 PM, EST

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Photo: Thinkstock

Punch might just be the ideal holiday party drink: It's easy to prepare in advance, serves a crowd so you can avoid stocking a full bar, and is retro chic. Dig out your mother or grandmother's bowl and cup set, follow these four simple rules from Dan Searing, author of The Punch Bowl and co-owner of the bar Room 11 in Washington, D.C.; and then try making Searing's Cold Claret Punch or Jamaican Punch.

1. Keep It Seasonal
An iced tea-lemonade punch is terrific in July, but December calls for ingredients such as citrus, apple brandy and warm baking spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. And now's the time to serve heartier punches (think ones that include egg nog).

2. Watch the Booze
One of the most common mistakes Searing sees is too-strong punch (even if part of the drink's appeal is its potency). Either follow a recipe to make sure you don't over-spike, or adhere to this rule of thumb: Each 5-ounce serving (the standard size for the cups that accompany most bowls) should contain about 1 and a half ounces of an 80-proof spirit (most vodka, gin, whiskey and rum fall into this category).

Photo: Thinkstock

When I think of the famous verse from Clement C. Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas--"The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads"--the first image that comes to mind is of plums with little arms and legs, two-stepping to Jingle Bell Rock. Once I really start to think about it, though, I imagine a very sweet variety of the stone fruit.... Alas, sugar plums aren't even plums at all.

As this article explains, these treats with such lovely names are made of sugar hardened around a central seed in successive layers using a process called "panning" (think Jawbreakers). In Moore's time, they were often made with caraway or cardamom seeds, or almonds at the center; their shape resembled plums, hence the name. The essay also offers a very sweet reason for why Moore would have them dancing in children's heads.

These days, sugar plums aren't so popular, but recipes abound. Most don't even involve any cooking; they simply advise you to mix ingredients ranging from dates, walnuts, cranberries, prunes, hazelnuts, jam, sugar and spices; to almonds, honey, orange zest and apricots, roll them into a ball and coat them in sugar. Alton Brown's recipe comes with a helpful video (it's worth watching, if only for the drill sargeant fairy dancing above the food processor).


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Photo: Thinkstock

We've just begun the darkest month, and the shortest day of the year is on its way. Time to hole up in the kitchen and take a temporary break from cookies and hot cocoa with these five foods...

Tangelos
Also called a honeybell, this citrus fruit is a hybrid of a tangerine and either a pomelo (a citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia) or a grapefruit. They're juicy, easier to peel than oranges because of their loose skin, and have a distinguishing little knob at the top.

Gingerbread
Even better than the traditional cookies, a slice of gingerbread is a moist, delicious taste of heaven. Follow this recipe, which calls for cinnamon, cloves, ginger, molasses and buttermilk, and includes instructions for making a spiced honey butter with freshly grated ginger.

Chicken Soup
Soothe sore throats with a big bowl of this classic winter elixir. This recipe includes tortellini, while this one is built on Thai flavors, and you'll never believe that Luther Vandross created this Mediterranean take.