By Melanie Delfosse
With libraries crowded due to upcoming prelims, earlier sunsets, and colder weather, it can be hard to remember that the holiday season is coming up! But with Thanksgiving Break in a week and Winter Break soon after, it’s good to keep those in mind – and even start thinking of how we want to play a part in holiday dinners. From dinner rolls to pies, easy store-bought sides to time-consuming homemade spectacles, there’s a variety of ways to help contribute this winter.
Dinner Rolls
Dinner rolls are a new addition to my family’s holiday dinners, but have become an instant classic. Depending on how much time you have (and effort you feel like putting in), there are three levels to making dinner rolls. The easiest is buying some sort of premade dough and simply following the instructions on the label.
If you want to go a level above, finding a 30-minute recipe online where you have to make the dough from scratch will probably taste better – but you’ll probably need a lot of ingredients like flour, yeast, oil, sugar, and potentially eggs and other spices.
Finally, if you want to make an amazing roll I recommend Tasty 101’s Ultimate Dinner Rolls. They require 1.5 hours of rest, half an hour of cooking, and even more time just making the dough, but if you’re sitting around or just want to destress for a bit, they are so amazingly delicious. My sister started making them a few years ago and now they’re one of my favorite side dishes.
Mac n’ cheese
In my family, mac n’ cheese is my Grandmother’s dish, so I haven’t had much experience with it beyond trying (and failing) to copy her recipe. What I did learn was that grating your cheese by hand is super important as pre-shredded cheese tends to have some sort of flour-y coating on it, preventing it from melting the same way fresh cheese would.
For an easy mac n’ cheese, a boxed mix will be super easy. To take it up a notch, find a 30-minute recipe online, which will usually be some sort of stove-top, ‘one bowl’ style mac n’ cheese. To go to my grandma’s level, you’d have to use the stove to boil the macaroni and the oven to form a cheesy crust on the top.
Mashed potatoes
Easy mashed potatoes can also come together with a simple boxed mix. If you add in some sort of dairy, like half and half or even a cream cheese as some online chefs suggest, it can make it taste just a bit better. If you’re able to boil the potatoes yourself, you can generally better control the quality and texture.
For the best mashed potatoes, I would follow instructions from America’s Test Kitchen. From specific chopping techniques to using a specific masher or food mill to get specific textures, going the extra mile will result in an amazing side sure to impress.
Vegetable side dish
My personal favorites include green beans, carrots, and onions, but it can be easily altered to follow your preference. For the easiest side, you can use frozen vegetables and cook according to the bag, and perhaps add a topping or sauce to your liking.
To up the ante, use fresh vegetables, perhaps boiling green beans and roasting carrots, which might require more steps. And for an amazing veggie side dish, I recommend a butter sauce and some nicer toppings: bacon or nuts tend to be popular and delicious.
Deviled eggs
Deviled eggs are a super simple appetizer: all you need are eggs, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, and paprika. After boiling the eggs, cutting them in half and scooping out the yolks is repetitive but simple and easy to do, and if you want to add some extra flair, pipe out the new filling as opposed to just scooping them back in. Either way, they’re sure to be delicious.
Pie
I was always more of a baker, so over several years I worked on improving my apple pie, and despite various bumps along the way (especially it burning the first year…), there are definitely a few things that elevate holiday pies.
For a simple pie at any level, you can of course buy the crust ahead of time from a grocery store. In this case, you still generally get to control the quality of the filling, which is most of the fun.
When baking apple pie, focus on tart apples (like the classic granny smith) and getting a good mix of spices. For pumpkin, choose a good quality puree (or even go crazy and make it from scratch) and again, focus on the spices to get some great flavors.
And for pecan, my personal favorite, I would definitely recommend using corn syrup for the filling, giving a super sweet taste and sticky, syrupy consistency. If you truly have the time, or just want to try your hand at it, make the crust from scratch: it’ll be a lot of waiting or resting time, but it’ll also probably taste ten times better than one from the store.
With midterms coming to an end and prep for finals starting, it’s important to spend some time relaxing with loved ones. One amazing way to destress and take your mind off school is with cooking. Hopefully, one of these side dishes sounds appealing and you’re able to have some fun trying your hand at cooking and potentially start a new tradition. Happy holidays!
Melanie Delfosse is a freshman in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at [email protected].