Holiday Non-Dessert Food Picks
Green Bean Casserole
Don’t try and make your own Onion Straws, used the French’s kind that comes in the plastic box. Don’t cut corners with the green beans—use fresh one and cut them up. Eat it microwaved with Sririacha when you come home late on Christmas after drinking with your friends. Eat it microwaved in front of Santa Clause is Coming to Town right from the big Pyrex with the lid and leave it somewhere close to the sink. When you wake up on Boxing Day, you’ll have something to clean while your breakfast pie comes to room temperature. –Nathaniel Berry
My Grandmother’s Lasagna
My grandmother used to make lasagna with her homemade sauce. We still make it now and bring out her poinsettia tablecloth to complete the tradition. –Michael Colbert
Gauraa’s Special Vegan Wellington
Look, I don’t think it’s fair that everybody has a carefully-preserved family recipe and I don’t, so I’m just going to pretend that my vegan wellingtons will outlive me one day. Portobello mushrooms are my favorite meat-substitute and they’re absolutely perfect in this delicious and flaky puff pastry. —Gauraa Shekhar
Pasta alla Vodka
I have always heard of pasta alla vodka (who hasn’t?), but I have only recently tried it this month. After making it for the first time, I absolutely fell in love with it. I can’t resist the rich creaminess of the heavy cream made sweet by red onions and vodka. I advocate to always use your pasta water when making any sauce, the emulsion is what melds it all together and gives your dish that authentic taste. –Giulia Di Stravola
Chinese buffet
So, there’s the one Hanukkah food everyone knows about — potato latkes — and then there’s the other, less-celebrated hero of Jewish Christmas. On a day where nothing else is open, there’s something magical about meeting up with all the other lazy Jews. No small talk- this isn’t a holiday, after all- but still, it’s hard not to feel a hint of community there. —Elliot Alpern
Potato Latkes
Being whatever half-Jewish is, the best part of the eight nights in my family was going to the local deli and picking up a container of these that we savored for a week as each candle got lit. My mom liked them with applesauce and my stepdad with sour cream, but I'll take these crispy delights all by themselves...or, you know, with a glass of good wine. —Rachel A.G. Gilman
Pillsbury Grand Rolls
They’re called Butter Tastin’—they don’t in any way claim to be made with butter. When you’re a kid, it’s fun to break the cardboard seal, it’s like a bomb going off. Later, maybe that stops being fun, and is just one more thing that can go wrong. Roll them tight and don’t look back, eat them when they’re hot enough to burn your tongue. —Nathaniel Berry
Vegan Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Christmas morning in my house always starts out by making this fluffy cake, crafted in layers of tangy batter and cinnamon crunch, which I turned into a vegan-friendly delight with a little applesauce. It's also been made by people in my family when hunting down marriage proposals, but I'd much prefer taking a fork to it in my pajamas all by myself. —Rachel A.G. Gilman
All The Wine
–Jemimah Wei
