What the one dish your family has to have on Holidays??

Not just one, but two at the least: pumpkin pie and celery stuffed with cream cheese. Olives, black and green, too, does that count?  

There is no general concensus on "favorite" dish in my family. It seem each person has their own favorite. DH and I have to have my homemade cranberry-ginger-apple sauce, my older sister has to have candied sweet potatoes swimming in brown sugar syrup and butter, my 27 yo nephew MUST have mashed potatoes (at ALL meals), my 80 year old father must have hot rolls no matter what else and homemade pecan pie, my 30 yo niece must have some deviled eggs, my 30 nephew must have a shrimp cocktail.....and on and on....so there is no to compromise on the "favorite"! Most all prefer white turkey meat, except for DH and me.

Too bad none of them know how to cook their favorites....hmmmm?

Happy Holidays.

jane b

It's combination of several dishes: turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes & homemade gravy, pumpkin pie, and a huge veggie tray with lots of ranch dip!!

 Cranberry sauce, the jelly kind ONLY. Heaven forbid someone finds a whole berry...

DH and I have almost all holidays on our own now though, since we're so far away, and we have different favorites. The one must have is my Million Dollar Fig and Chestnut stuffing. There are many other traditional dishes we like to have at our Yule, but the stuffing is the "must have."

Like some families, I think everyone has favorites.  My younger sister makes ambrosia that our Mom used to make, plus a pink molded salad that's traditional in her husband's family, and a strawberry pretzel salad, and on and on.  She makes both turkey and ham at holidays which satisfies everyone's appetites.

I like to make a molded lemon cheese ring sometime during the holiday season.  It is on the sweet side, but everyone loves it once they try it.  Originally, I learned to make it as a topper to homemade cranberry sauce, but a couple of times the layers split.....  Anyway, the lemon cheese goes very well with either turkey or ham. 

It's easy to go overboard on sweet sides this time of year.  I really like most vegetables plainly cooked, maybe one that has some sweet to it, either plain broccoli with lemon/butter or if sweet, a broccoli carbonera (sp?) salad, with the cheese and raisins, plain carrots or a carrot raisin salad if sweet. 

But I think what I really love is Waldorf Salad -- nice combo of fruit/veggies and a hint of sweetness. 

Now I need to go buy a few apples.....!

Steaming hot mashed potatoes with lots of butter melting on top

Green bean casserole (a cliche I know but so good!)

Pecan pie

Sand cookies (an old recipe from my great grandmother)

Those are mine at least, lots of people in my extended family would say the turkey and stuffing, I think plus sweet potatoes.

I love the green bean casserole, and I usually make it, but I'm the only one that eats it!! Unless of course, the inlaws are coming and then my MIL and I just chow down...we both love it!! lol

Well, on Christmas Eve, we always have tortellini in homemade turkey broth (made from the Thanksgiving turkey and frozen til needed.) This has been a tradition since the first Christmas Jeff and I were married and living in Italy while he was in the service. This is a dish that's very common on Christmas Eve in that region of Italy, and we love it. 

And then on Christmas morning, we always have a simple breakfast together of a pot of Constant Comment tea and slices of homemade stollen spread thick with real butter. I bake the stollen on Christmas Eve while we have holiday music playing and everyone is sipping spiced cider, before we all settle in for the tortellini and watch one of our favorite holiday movies.

Both the tortellini and the stollen wreak havoc with my blood sugar, and normally I no longer eat pasta or breads, but I make an exception for these two days. In fact, I could happily forego any Christmas gifts or other  "treats" just as long as I have that breakfast of stollen and tea with Jeff and Danny. We always have music playing quietly, and I decorate the table with candles, etc., and we enjoy that time together more than any other part of the holiday. Danny's never had a Christmas without the tortellini or the stollen, and I think they define Christmas for him.

Plus, he was never a kid who woke up at the crack of dawn even when he was little (he's 22 now) and I think sleeping in and then having a peaceful breakfast together before going into the whole gift exchange thing makes for a pleasant way for us all to start the day. 

Ours is similar to others - Dh has to have candied sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, Ds has to have stuffing and cranberry sauce, DiL wants green beans, but not casserole. I make a stir fry of bacon, chopped onion, and green beans. For me it's stuffing, and fresh rolls, and cranberry sauce. We always make way too much food. Edey