Question of the day, Friday Nov 9th

With the holidays quickly approaching I'm making up menus and figuring out what I need to cook for different occasions. Some things are "must have" as it is now practically a tradition to have certain things.

So given that, today's question of the day is was there ever any dish that is or was a tradition for you to have at a particular holiday or event? It doesn't have to be something you make, it can be anything that is served.





For me it is now expected that I will make chocolate chip cookies for any family event at all. The funny thing is the first time I made them I was in a rush, picked up a ghiradelli boxed chocolate chip cookie mix. They were a huge hit and I was asked to make them repeatedly after that. The problem was that ghiradelli discontinued their mix. :lol3: I found a good recipe on their website, made a few adjustments to it and that's what I use now.

For Thanksgiving I always have to make my Portuguese chourico stuffing.

At work I would always have to bring my taco dip and chocolate cream cheese brownies to a potluck.

At my clubs Christmas party I always make my from scratch chocolate chip cookies.

Spinach dip. 

My mom always gets roped into making the mashed potatoes for any family event. Even cookouts. . .our family just likes mashed potatoes, I guess! :tongue2:. She puts a block of cream cheese in so I suppose that's why they're so good. At work they always want her to bring chocolate chip cookies.

As for me, I've carefully worked to develop a reputation as Someone Who Can't Cook, so I never get asked to bring anything :lol3:. Sometimes I'll try out an adventurous recipe but my mom and I always arrive together so I think everyone assumes she made it. I won't tell!

Olive cheese balls - I get requests to bring them to parties and we always have them on Christmas Eve. Now that we've discovered my husband's dairy allergies I'm afraid they will have to be discontinued at our house.

It's such a simple recipe and SO GOOD! I use both green and black olives and both are a hit. I always use butter, never margarine. Make sure you chill them before baking or you'll have "olive cheese disks" like in this picture:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/olive-cheese-balls/1a335df0-4d11-47ac-ad81-a810a626e6d9

p.s. If I make them with both types of olives, I used white cheddar outside with black olives, and yellow cheddar with green olives so people know what they are getting. Mild or sharp cheddars are both equally delicious.

Southern Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• Lettuce leaves
• 1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained

Directions

• In a medium saucepan, cook sweet potatoes in boiling salted water just until tender, about 5-8 minutes (do not overcook). Drain; toss with the lemon juice.
• In a large bowl, combine, mayonnaise, orange juice, honey, orange peel, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Add the warm potatoes, celery and dates. Toss to coat well. Cover and chill.
• Before serving, gently stir in pecans. Spoon salad onto a lettuce-lined platter. Arrange oranges around salad.  Yield: 6-8 servings.

I always make broccoli puff.  It's basically just a Bisquick, egg, cheese and chopped broccoli dish.  But one of my favs.  It's easy too; so I like that.

My Mom has gotten herself stuck making pumpkin rolls for everything.  Those aren't quite as quick to make!  Sometimes my step-dad helps and they get a good system going.  I think it's also easier now that they have no kids in the house!  But family, especially my step-family, look for her to bring them when they go visit (they live a few hours away).  My step-gram expects one roll to herself!

Standing Rib Roast for Christmas Eve.  My family has been doing it since before I was born.  Fresh made horseradish sauce goes with.  Side dishes will vary from year to year but there is always bread pudding
 

I'm the cookie baker in the family and no matter what we have for dinner, a tray of assorted cookies is expected as part of the dessert.

Since I've started making Ina's Sagaponek Corn Pudding, my family requests it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I even asked Rick if I could ditch the corn this year and make macaroni and cheese instead and he was appalled. Oh, and the Crock Pot Stuffing is expected, too. I can make a different stuffing throughout the year, but not for the holidays. A bowl of creamed onions is always on both the Thanksgiving and the Christmas table.

Oh, and several years ago, I wanted to try a crown roast of pork for Christmas dinner. It was such a hit that our son always asks for that now for Christmas. 

For work potlucks, I'm always asked to bring Crock Pot Beans. Everybody really seems to like them.