What Are Your Signature Dishes for the Holidays?
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I happened to be looking at Cup of Jo recently and noticed that had a whole series where the site's various writers were sharing their signature dishes for the holidays. (These brownies look ah-ma-zing…) I immediately knew what they were talking about — my Grandma Kay's Cranberry Cake!!! — and thought it might be a fun discussion here today. What are YOUR signature dishes for the holidays, ladies? Do you have any killer cocktails, desserts, side dishes, or main dishes that you always make?
I've written before about my mom's mom, who passed away recently(ish) — but my father's mom passed away from complications from emphysema when I was far too young. (This is why, growing up, “don't smoke” was the biggest message my parents gave me, much more so than any other vices, and I'm kind of thankful they did.)
Anyway, she always made this sugary, crazy-rich cranberry cake for the holidays, and in her honor, my mom started making Grandma Kay's cranberry cake every Christmas Eve, for our family tradition of having a small, intimate dinner the night before the big family to-do at my maternal grandma's house. It's basically like a cranberry muffin drizzled with a sauce that is literally a whole bunch of butter and sugar.
(I think we inherited these Royal Albert plates from her as well.)
(Looking for something slightly healthier? I wrote about my family's signature Siggy's Salad in our last discussion on holiday recipes…)
My Family's Signature Dish: Grandma Kay's Cranberry Cake
Cake
Sauce
Picture credit: my brother.
Over to you guys — what are your signature dishes for the holidays?
I make the rolls. Sounds boring, but there’s nothing quite like homemade bread. I make this recipe, and they are FAB. I usually make a side of whipped honey butter to go with them. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/amish-dinner-rolls-recipe
given that we’ve never had homemade bread at any of my holiday gatherings, i don’t think it sounds boring at all!
Mine is also a cranberry recipe! “Cranberry salad” made with berries run through food processor, some sugar, heavy cream, and mini marshmallows throughout, then frozen until solid and cut into squares. It always ends up being a beautiful pink color. It came from my dad’s mom (a fantastic cook) originally and is basically a holiday distant relative of all those terrible 50s Jello salads – the original includes walnuts and drained pineapple, which my mom omitted when she started making it for her picky kids, and now I make it like she did. The first Thanksgiving my husband tried it, he got me a slice, slid the whole dish in front of himself and said, “And this is for me.”
My in-laws make a chilled pie with a filling similar to this (not sure about the marshmallows), and it’s delicious.
My family made a fruit pie that combined cranberries and blueberries. The fruit comes out a pretty color, and it isn’t as strong as straight cranberries would be.
This sounds yummy! I only have 2 signature dishes. The first is baked salmon, and the second is wedding chicken. I will make salmon this weekend at Dad’s house, and he loves fresh salmon. There is a place in Cold Spring Harbor that catches fresh salmon that I will visit and they clean the fish for me for free. I will make this on Sunday. It is very good for dad and his cholosteral. I recommend salmon to the entire hive, not only for the holiday, but for ANY day! YAY!!!1
We are from New Mexico, so we always have biscochitos. They are like sugar cookies, but made with lard and anise, then topped with cinnamon and sugar. I am excited to make them with my kids this weekend. My grandmother died recently and left me her old, tin cookie cutters that she used to make these cookies, so I am glad we will get to use them.
I make a tenderloin roast every year. I use Ina’s recipe. Every year my mom pitches a fit about it – says I’m doing it wrong, the oven isn’t clean enough, it’s too hot, why am I holding the pan this way, it’s too much butter etc. etc. etc. Every year it comes out exactly. perfect. #dowhatinatellsyou
https://www.foodnetwork./recipes/ina-garten/filet-of-beef-recicompe-1920383
I mean, is there ever such a thing as too much butter?
Ha, no. Absolutely not.
This sounds yummy! I only have 2 signature dishes. The first is baked salmon, and the second is wedding chicken. I will make salmon this weekend at Dad’s house, and he loves fresh salmon. There is a place in Cold Spring Harbor that catches fresh salmon that I will visit and they clean the fish for me for free. I will make this on Sunday. It is very good for dad and his cholosteral. I recommend salmon to the entire hive, not only for the holiday, but for ANY day! YAY!!!1
I make a lasagna for Christmas Eve. With fresh, homemade noodles (though I do use jarred sauce.) I roll out the noodles on the thin side, so it pretty much melts in your mouth.
Love this question! My mom makes “Gourmet Potatoes” for every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they are such a hit with the extended families that I end up eating them multiple times. Yum. It’s basically mashed potatoes with milk, butter, sour cream, and cream cheese then baked but they taste like heaven.
We’ve been making the Smitten Kitchen Liege Waffles every Christmas morning for the last few years and that’s become one of my favorites.
Kat, your cake looks delicious! Do you use fresh cranberries?
I’m in charge of pies for Thanksgiving, and always do homemade mincemeat (w/ dried fruit, apples, spices, brandy), pumpkin, using fresh roasted pumpkins, and chocolate pecan. It’s the only time of the year I put so much effort into baking.
Yes – fresh cranberries!
I was just assigned a dessert for Christmas night – I think I’m introducing your cranberry cake to my family!
My family turned super healthy conscious (as did I) in the recent years, so I haven’t been able to flex my dessert making (my favorite past time, honestly) in the same time. My new go to dish is honestly japchae – korean glass noodles salad. It’s customizable with a spice level (or none), with meat (or none, but bulgogi totally seeps into the vegetables), and is relatively healthy (I often make a version that is half the glass noodles to basically be cooked salad).
Having said that, my favorite dessert to make and serve is a cheesecake. There are lemons in my backyard, so it’s often cheesecake with lemon rind/sauce.