There's no point in waiting. It's officially the holiday season, and we all need a drink. Not just any drink, mind you, but a spiced and spirited elixir designed to warm you inside and out. I'm talking about glogg, the Danish term for what is also known as mulled wine or gluhwein. Now, there's more to just heating a bottle of vino that makes a good cup of glogg. After all, in Nordic countries where it grows dark in the winter afternoons and the weather is more often gray and wet than not, a cup of glogg is considered a necessity, right up there with mittens and a fire. Throughout the month of December, this libation is a Danish staple, served in cafes, doled out from street carts and ladled at social gatherings often accompanied by ginger cookies or aebleskivers. You can be sure that this concoction will be fortified with enough spirits to warm a Viking, and tasty enough to please a family gathering.

While glogg can be made from a pre-bottled mix, I encourage you to make it from scratch. This recipe avoids the cloying sweetness often found with mixes and is remarkably easy to prepare. You don't have to splurge on a nice bottle of wine for this recipe, but be sure it has heft. And don't let the wine come to a boil while it's heating -- lest you boil away all the alcohol and disappoint your fellow Vikings.

Glogg (Danish Mulled Wine)

Total Time: 30 minutes; standing time: at least 1 hour for the garnish

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

For the garnish:

1 cup raisins

1/3 cup orange liqueur, such as Cointreau

For the glogg:

1 1/2 cups port wine

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup orange liqueur, such as Cointreau

1/3 cup light brown sugar

Zest of 2 untreated or organic oranges, shaved in strips with a vegetable peeler

10 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks, plus more for garnish

2 bottles full-bodied red wine

Fresh orange slices for garnish

Prepare the garnish:

Combine the raisins and Cointreau in a small bowl. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour. (The raisins may be prepared up to 1 week in advance. Cover and refrigerate until use.)

Prepare the glogg:

Combine the port, orange juice, Cointreau, sugar, orange zest, cloves and the 2 cinnamon sticks in a heavy large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid reduces by about one-third, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the red wine, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Heat the glogg without letting it come to a boil (this is important); keep warm.

When ready to serve, add a spoonful of raisins to a glass or mug. Strain the glogg into the glass. Garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon stick and serve with a teaspoon for scooping up the raisins.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

This is a Sunday soup, a perfect antidote to a long holiday weekend punctuated with big meals and late evenings. It's restorative, healthy and nourishing -- a perfect time-out meal to enjoy on a relaxing day with no social agenda. It's also a simple way to use some of that leftover turkey lurking in your fridge. But if you've soldiered through your Thanksgiving leftovers already, you can easily use cooked chicken or a rotisserie chicken from your local store or farmer's market.

There are two important ingredients I like to add to this soup. Shiitake mushrooms impart a luscious slinkiness and umami flavor to the stock, and farro, an ancient nutty wheat grain, lends satisfying heft to each slurp. Use pearled or semi-pearled farro for easiest cooking. Whole-grain farro, while the healthiest option, requires soaking and a cooking time of at least 1 hour, and has a distinct earthy flavor. Milder semi-pearled farro still retains some of its nutritious bran and germ, but is scored to hasten cooking, and pearled farro is completely stripped, thus the least nutritious, but quickest to cook. If farro is not available, pearl barley is a good substitute.

Turkey and Farro Soup With Carrots and Shiitake Mushrooms

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 to 50 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, sliced 1/4-inch thick

6 ounces small shiitake mushrooms, ends trimmed

1/2 cup pearled farro or pearl barley

6 cups turkey or chicken stock

2 thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cups shredded cooked turkey or chicken breast

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian flatleaf parsley

Heat the oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add the onion and saute until it softens without coloring, about 3 minutes. Toss in the carrots and mushrooms and saute until the carrots brighten in color and the mushrooms begin to release their juices, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the farro and cook briefly, stirring to coat and lightly toast the grains, and then add the stock, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the farro is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the chicken (or turkey), salt and pepper and top off with additional stock if needed. Simmer until the chicken is heated through. Ladle the soup into bowls, and serve hot, garnished with the parsley.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and just like clockwork, I begin to second-guess the amount of food on my menu. Surely it won't be enough, I think. (I should know by now that there is always, magically, enough.) Nevertheless, my entertainer's preservation-instinct kicks in, and I worry that there won't be the requisite abundance of food befitting a Thanksgiving table lined with expectant guests. So, I devise a few last-minute recipes to extend the menu -- and this always includes a salad.

For all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, a bright and robust seasonal salad is often overlooked. Cooked vegetables, mashes, stuffings and dressings are the norm, but a heaping bowl of fresh seasonal greens should not be dismissed. Not only is salad a refreshing and palate-cleansing addition to any holiday table, but you can also add a vibrant array of colorful vegetables and leafy greens, speckled with glistening fruit, seeds and nuts, and -- voila! -- have a sumptuous side dish pretty enough to be a centerpiece.

Fall and winter tend to yield peppery and bitter greens, so add sweet and salty ingredients to your salad to round out the flavors. Roasted butternut squash is sweet and nutty, while crispy prosciutto shards add a lick of salt to each bite. Don't be bashful about tossing in handfuls of dried fruit, nuts or seeds either -- this salad is meant to be hearty, and the sturdy greens can handle it.

Radicchio, Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad With Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish

4 ounces prosciutto

1 medium butternut squash, 1 1/2 to 2 pounds

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of ground cayenne

1 tablespoon olive oil

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 large garlic clove, peeled, smashed but intact

1 teaspoon light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 ounces arugula

3 ounces spinach leaves

1 small radicchio, cored, thinly sliced

1/2 cup lightly toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tablespoons pepitas

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the prosciutto on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in the oven until crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. When cool to the touch, break into shards. Set aside.

Cut off the neck of the squash and reserve the base for another use. Peel the neck and slice into 1/2-inch-thick planks. Cut each plank in 1-inch squares and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Arrange the squash in one layer in the skillet and cook until tender, but not mushy, and golden brown on each side, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Prepare the vinaigrette: Bring the balsamic vinegar, garlic and brown sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; simmer until the vinegar has been reduced by about half, stirring frequently, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the vinegar cool to lukewarm, 10 to 15 minutes; discard the garlic. Season with the salt and pepper, and whisk in the oil until emulsified.

To serve, combine the arugula, spinach, radicchio, squash, walnuts, cranberries and pepitas in a large bowl. Drizzle with the dressing and toss to combine.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS