A one-pot dish -- or one served as a casserole -- is a traditional part of Virgin Islands cuisine as well as a popular mainland approach to cooking in the 1950s that's making a comeback. This recipe is for one that's just right for using up leftovers and sneaking in veggies for good measure.

Beans and peas are said to bring good luck in the coming year when eaten on New Year's Eve or Day. Combine that bone left over from your Christmas ham with a bag of green split peas and stir up a soup that tastes delicious -- good luck or not.

Christmas in the Virgin Islands just wouldn't be Christmas without coconut tarts. Here are some tips for making them from scratch (that is, starting with a coconut), as well as a recipe that works equally well with shredded coconut and a pre-formed pie crust bought at the store.

Baked or boiled ham and sweet bread are the centerpieces of the perennial Christmas Day meal in the Virgin Islands. Nowadays, it's a lot easier to prepare your holiday ham than it used to be; here's a recipe that's simple but delicious.

Just as the Filipinos are part Malay, Chinese and Spanish, so the cuisine of the Philippines is a mix of many cultures. To this Eastern influence, add ingredients and cooking styles of the West, and you get some delicious dishes -- such as this recipe for oxtail flavored with peanut butter, fish sauce and brown sugar and served with eggplant, green beans and bok choy.

East meets West, cuisine-wise, at a new St. Thomas restaurant, Fusion Express, where the menu features innovative dishes that are a coming together of the cooking styles and ingredients of the Philippines and the Caribbean.

Easily recognized by its frothy foam bubbling out of a longneck glass bottle, maubi is a bittersweet beverage made from the bark of the maubi tree that is especially favored around Christmastime. Don't look for it in the beverage section of the grocery store; it's a made-at-home treat, and here's one of innumerable variations on the recipe.

Think Thanksgiving, and turkey and the trimmings come to mind. Instead of bread stuffing, Virgin Islanders enjoy potato stuffing. If you're trying to skim some of the calories from your holiday fare, then try this recipe for Slim Potato Stuffing.

Consider lightening up in your baking this holiday season. With a few simple ingredient switcharoos, you can whip up traditional favorites that are high in flavor but so low in fat that you and your family can enjoy eating them without much worry about gaining weight. Here's an example -- a "light" pound cake.

Banana Tree Grille and Bellow's International invite all wine lovers to join them from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 13 for the Grape Escape at Banana Tree Grille at Bluebeard's. This month's event features some of California's best wines.