I wonder why from late November to early January, we crave the same food that we’ve eaten year after year at this time. I suppose traditions run deep, and on some level, we desire that consistency. I remember one Thanksgiving dinner, I tried a new dish: roasted carrots with a Harissa dressing for my family — you would have thought I’d blasphemed the sugary-sweet veg we normally eat. My family wasn’t having it.
I love to think about food, especially around the holidays. I spend way too much time planning menus. Food magazines are everywhere in my house, and a good cookbook is better than a novel. Full disclosure: I have eight binders filled with recipes that I want to try or that have become favorites. Perhaps a tad obsessive, but if you need to put a dinner together, I’m your gal.
That being said, I like to let someone else do the heavy lifting for the holiday meals. We order several things premade from a favorite, local restaurant, leaving me time to make the things I really enjoy putting together. Nowadays, that means something that I can make ahead or that requires minimal effort on my part.
Here are five of my favorite holiday dishes to make for my family. Let me know if you try any of them and what you think!
1. Mashed Potato Casserole with Sage and Fontina
I keep this recipe in my arsenal and pull it out every year. It comes courtesy of Food & Wine.
This casserole brings mashed potatoes to the next level. The ultimate comfort food perfect for fall. It is incredibly satisfying, delicious and you can make it ahead of time. Yes, there is a ton of cheese in it (mmm, creme fraiche), but so what? It’s the holidays. Live a little.
2. Country Apple Coffee Cake
A long time ago, a friend cut this recipe out of her local paper and gave it to me. Country Apple Coffee Cake has been a holiday tradition in my home ever since. I have to thank Sue Porubcan of Whitewater, Wisconsin, for all those years of enjoyment. She baked this for the 1984 Pillsbury Bake-Off and won the top prize of $40,000 for her achievement.
Super quick and easy, this dish has all the holiday feels. If you want to sleep in and don’t want to make it in the morning, put it all together and bake it the night before. Rewarm it in the oven at about 300 degrees for 15 minutes or so, and top it with the glaze. We have it with coffee while we are opening presents on Christmas morning, but you can serve it as a dessert drizzled with cream. It isn’t fancy, but it is satisfying.
3. Christmas cookies
For as long as I can remember, the women in my family have gotten together every year to bake Christmas cookies. We follow just a basic sugar cookie recipe with royal icing, but to me, it is Christmas.
My mother used to bake for a whole day and then decorate for another until we girls were old enough to help. My father would decorate one — and only one — cookie every year, and we all waited excitedly to see his creation. There were bikini-clad teddy bears and snowmen that looked like Elvis; what he lacked in tradition, he made up for in incredible detail.
And when I’m having a party, I always buy the most delicious cookies from Lattypoo’s Cookie Company. Run by my niece, she has taken the family tradition to new heights (plus she does all the work and packages everything up beautifully so that I don’t have to!).
She did these charmers for a “Sound of Music” themed holiday event I was hosting. The copper tea kettles were stunning. They also make the perfect gift.
4. Meyer Lemons
Speaking of holiday gifts, who doesn’t like to receive something homemade? Our Meyer Lemon tree is drooping with hundreds of fruits by November, so every fall, we start production of preserved lemons and lemon marmalade.
Because Meyers have been crossed with oranges, they are juicy and a little sweeter than regular lemons — wonderful in baked goods and lemonade, too. A big basket of Meyers with a couple of recipes tucked inside is a welcome gift.
This is a great lemon marmalade recipe, except I prefer about 1/2 cup less sugar to keep my marmalade on the tart side. Sometimes I substitute some of the lemon with equal parts oranges or kumquats when I have a good harvest from those trees.
5. Caviar and chips
Nothing puts me in the holiday mood like caviar. I just love it. If I’m honest, I shame myself just a little bit, because I swipe out the last bits of flavor from the container with my finger. I’m not going to miss a morsel.
Blini and all the fixings are good, but what I really want is to taste the salty, umami bite of the caviar itself. Is it sad that my life hack is to use Ruffles Original Potato Chips and a dollop of creme fraiche topped off with some delectable pearls of caviar? It is perfect, and the easiest thing ever to put together.
To make it even more festive, we drink Schramsberg Brut Rose sparkling wine from the vintage coupe champagne glasses I inherited from my mother. It makes me feel like she is still with me having a little party.
