Pear Spice Sorbet

Most holiday desserts will make you feel more like a stuffed turkey than a hot chick. But unlike Paula's whoopie pies, this recipe gives you all the holiday flavor without the Santa-like waistline. The pear is silky and sophisticated, sexed up with some cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. And because no holiday is complete without a little liquor, there's a shot of rum to finish it off. 

Cloves, ginger, cinnamon.

Clove Brown Sugar Ice Cream

My all-time favorite cookies are my grandma's clove cookies. They've got the crispy edges and the gooey center, but what really makes them delicious is the clove. It's a spice that doesn't often get center stage, so people sometimes have a hard time placing it. Not me. Anytime I smell even a hint of it, I immediately think back to my grandma's famous family recipe. Call it magic or luck, but I've managed to replicate the cookies in ice cream form. It tastes like nostalgia.

Whole cloves have a much more pungent aroma than the ground up stuff.