Smart choices in the kitchen mean you can afford a big spread for a group. Make-ahead prep means time savings are big, too. So dig in! Three kinds of ribs, lemonade, two salads, an appetizer and a creative dessert add up to a memorable meal. Who’d guess on a budget?

When Susan O’Hara Christopher makes barmbrack, a yeasty fruitcake, she can’t help thinking of her home. Her ancestral home. The O’Hara family ancestral home was Raheen in County Galway in Ireland. The recipe she uses came from Lady Augusta Gregory, an Irish folklorist who was a key figure in the Irish literary revival of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Lady Gregory’s estate was Coole Park, next door to Raheen, and she used to make this cake and serve it to such writers and actors as W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, Lennox Robinson, Sean O’Casey and Barry Fitzgerald, said Christopher, who lives in Wicomico Church.

Reporter Jennifer 8. Lee’s quest to understand Chinese food brought her to these truths: Chop suey, which launched the popularity of Chinese food in America that continues today, began as little more than a “culinary joke” played on an entire culture (that would be us).

When the words don’t come, Richmond author Mary Burton turns on the oven. “It’s my delaying tactic,“ Burton said with a laugh about baking. “The running joke is, you can tell how the writing’s going by the number of cupcakes on the counter.“ Burton, who has written historical romances and these days focuses on romantic suspense novels, came up with a recipe for lemon-cherry teacake cookies while working on “Christmas Past,“ a novella for “Silver Bells,“ a collection of four short novels by Burton and three other authors. “Silver Bells” spent several weeks on The New York Times best-seller list.

Sally Newton offered a family favorite for a request from reader Rebecca McGeorge for raisin cookies with a biscuitlike dough. The recipe came from Newton’s mother-in-law, Violet Newton, who lived in New Hampshire and always kept homemade cookies on hand, which, Sally Newton said, “probably accounts for her four children and three grandchildren being ‘cookie monsters’ today.“

The kitchen of Keneseth Beth Israel was filled with the wonderful aroma of potatoes and onions frying in simmering oil. “You need to eat some latkes,“ said Ilene Paley, presenting a plateful of hot potato cakes, assembled on a paper towel.

Clare Schapiro’s Parsnip Latkes

Ingrid Allen’s Holiday Rice

Ilene Paley’s Potato Latkes

Maat Free’s Red, Black and Green

The Richmond Symphony Orchestra League has published “Apron Strings II,“ a cookbook featuring more than 200 recipes. Net proceeds will benefit the Richmond Symphony. Local cookbook author, instructor and TV culinary personality Jan Carlton edited the book. “Apron Strings I” was published in 1984. The Richmond Symphony Orchestra League, which formed in 1958 as the Women’s Committee of the Richmond Symphony, sponsors fundraisers to benefit the symphony and also supports young musicians throughout Virginia.

Christmas means eggnog. OK, well, maybe that’s something of an overstatement. Regardless, eggnog is a tradition in many households. The allure for some is the frothy combination of milk, eggs and sugar. For others, it’s the bourbon, rum or some other alcoholic additive used to spice the beverage. Reader Judy Richwine of Urbanna wrote in seeking a recipe for a version of eggnog made with ice cream.