Every family has its vision of what a holiday dinner table should look like. Yet, we all have certain foods that have already become the holidays essential. Of course, we do change recipes and adjust dishes to personal liking and tastes. Nevertheless, they are more or less the same dish. In fact, there is something beautiful about it. You can spend holidays with your family, distant relatives or at a friend’s house, and still find the food you expect to be served for dinner. Here are the 7 holiday foods that always find their way to our hearts and dinner tables.
Eggnog
It’s one of those products you either love or hate, and for a good reason. You really can’t confuse the taste of eggnog with anything else. It’s unique in its nature. So many people are not ready to experiment with his classic drink, especially since we don’t get to have those around all year. Eggnog is specifically a Christmas cocktail, and it exists only during this period. Just like Santa. However, unlike Santa, eggnog can bring you more trouble than joy if you overdo it. Due to eggnog’s thick consistency and sweetness, drinking too much of it can have pretty bad consequences. Anyway, consider yourself warned.
Gingerbread cookies
There is no Christmas without gingerbread cookies. Period. That smell, that crisp, and their shape are unique to holiday cookies. Nothing can repeat those. In fact, there is a good reason we bake these cookies only on Christmas. They are simply too good to eat them all year long. They have to be baked only on special occasions, such as winter holidays, of course.
Besides, they are not just food. They are a whole activity for the family. It’s not just the baking process. It’s also the frosting time afterward that can unite the whole family. You all come together to complete your cookie art decoration skills (spoiler alert: moms always win).
Mashed Potatoes
Let’s not overlook the holiday classic, mashed potatoes. Of course, it looks like such an obvious choice that it’s not even worth mentioning. There is something about this dish that makes it so comforting. No celebration dinner can do without a big bowl of mashed potatoes in the middle.
Everyone has their own recipe on how to cook mashed potatoes. However, here is the thing. Exactly because we all know how to cook mashed potatoes, we should check some other recipes every once in a while. Cooking basic food is usually the hardest challenge in the kitchen. Though, it can take one simple trick to bring your mashed potatoes to a whole new level. For instance, you can add certain herbs to the mixture or even smoke the whole pot with some hay or herbs.
Ham
Most families can’t imagine their Christmas dinner table without ham taking the central place on it. Indeed, for decades now, if not centuries, ham has been the main meat course during holidays for decades now, if not centuries. To this day, the tradition still holds, though it starts to crack a little. The thing is, today, the dietary focus is shifting away from meat and towards plant-based foods. It is much healthier and more environmentally friendly to pay more attention to veggies and other foods other than meat. Yet, the ham will, of course, remain a big part of a holiday dinner in non-vegetarian families.
Casseroles
Casseroles are an old classic among holiday foods. Indeed, there is hardly any family gathering without someone bringing a casserole. A beautiful thing about it is that this dish is so versatile. It can be a meat, fish, or veggie dish. It can have breadcrumbs, homemade pasta, cheese, cream, rice, and more, yet it is still one dish, the casserole. How is it possible? Frankly, we don’t know, but, nevertheless, it’s true.
A good casserole can truly unite a whole family over the dinner table. Every relative can have their own recipe, and no one needs to compete for bringing a casserole to a family dinner. There can be more than one as long as they are different. Overall, it is a beautiful, homey dish that speaks of love and family more than any other food.
Dinner Rolls
Let’s not ignore the essential element of any holiday dinner, the dinner rolls. Indeed, these are the most important and yet undervalued foods on the list. It’s one of those cases where you never appreciate it being there but immediately notice when they are missing. No holiday dinner can be the same without homemade dinner rolls. Fortunately, we all mastered at least one trick during the pandemic, and it is bread-making. Which one of us hasn’t at least tried to bake bread over the past two years? Probably we all had, just different levels of success.
Hot Cocoa
Let’s just say this. There is nothing better than hot cocoa on a cold winter evening. Imagine this. It’s already past 6 pm. It’s snowing outside. You are in a warm house, covered with a cozy blanket, getting ready to watch a nice Christmas movie. So, is there anything missing in this picture? Of course, there is! Hot cocoa is an absolute must in this scenario. In fact, it is a winter must-have for most scenarios. For instance, it is surely the way on how to enjoy study from home during winter holidays. Hot cocoa will make everything better.
About the Author
Twigs cafe staff is comprised of editors, writers, food & drink experts, nutritionists, and researchers to create informative and helpful content for health-conscious people.
