As I promised on my social media feeds, here are some of the successful recipes I tried this holiday season. I hope all of you had or are having a restorative, peaceful and joy-filled Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and end-of-year season.

First up: Love and Lemons Broccoli Cheddar Soup (with homemade croutons)
Notes: If your kids are like mine and detest cooked carrots (Raw is fine, but cooked? Blasphemy!), you may want to blend your soup in the blender like I did to hide the fact that there are, indeed, cooked carrots in this soup. And guess what? It was a hit with the 13-year-old cooked carrot hater. That’s a big win.,

Next up: Alexandra’s Kitchen’s No-Knead Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls
Notes: I am a total fan girl of Alexandra’s Kitchen. I’ve also been known to add items from her holiday gift guides to my own Santa list. Her advice, recipes, and gift ideas never fail. So, if you are like me and have been scared to death to do ANYTHING whatsoever with yeast, dough, and the rising of anything– have NO fear. These rolls are super easy (and not in the “I’ve done this a thousand times and say its easy” kind of way). I promise you can do it. Try it and let me know how it goes, but be sure to watch her tutorial because it is super helpful.

Next up: Hailee Catalano’s Chewy Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies
Notes: I bought a huge bag of dates from Costco around Thanksgiving for a feta-filled walnut-topped date appetizer for our main meal. Unfortunately, we all got the stomach flu, so the dates didn’t happen and I’ve been staring at the bag for weeks. I mentioned this to someone at a crochet class last week and she suggested looking for a Toffee Pudding Recipe and because AI, Siri, Internet Overseer, and whatever else is listening to all of our conversations, THIS recipe appeared in my Instagram algorithm.
Confession: I didn’t have molasses or caramels. I plan to make them again (they were that good), but I won’t skip the molasses and caramel next time. Neither should you!

Next up: The Preppy Kitchen’s Peanut Butter Blossoms
Notes: A few years ago, I asked for cookie recommendations from friends on social media. My friend, Robyn, introduced me to Peanut Butter Blossoms and since then we’ve made them every single year. As my 13-year-old said the other night, ” I love that these are our holiday tradition!” Me too. Thanks, Robyn.

Next up: Ambitious Kitchen’s Death by Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Notes: Listen, these are — in fact — ambitious. They are also — in fact– worth every single step. These are probably some of the best cookies I’ve ever made and will be on rotation in the years to come. A word of warning: Be sure to get high quality white chocolate because if you use cheap white chocolate chips on the first try, it will turn to paste. If you splurge and use high-quality white chocolate, you will get the smooth, spreadable kind of chocolate needed for this recipe. Just be sure to put down parchment paper once you start drizzling and dipping!

Next up: Alexandra Kitchen’s Classic Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies
Notes: I did it! I did it! I made the dough in advance. Then I rolled it out. I even bought cookie cutters. Who am I? Very pleased with the way these cookies came out and especially love the tang and richness of the cream cheese.
Confession: I don’t do the rolling and cutting of the cookies — ever. So, these are a bit thicker than hers because… well, I’m me. And I’m sure if you had fancier sprinkles (no offense, Publix), I think they’d look more festive (see her sprinkles in the link above). But are we really judging sprinkles over here? No way!

Finally, our Christmas Day Brunch Menu
Notes: Each year, I opt to make Christmas brunch for our family. I prefer it to a big, holiday meal. Selfishly, I love breakfast and I mean, who doesn’t? Plus, I try to stay in my pajamas all day, so there’s nothing better than pairing those pajamas with breakfast. Everyone can have a decadent breakfast/brunch menu paired with hot chocolates, coffees with specialty creamers, orange juice, and whatever else your heart desires. This year’s menu consisted of:

Southern Living’s Sausage Balls:
Notes: I know that there are many variations to sausage balls like cream cheese, peppers, scallions, etc. I wanted simple. I wanted biscuit-y. This recipe delivered. It uses three ingredients: bisquik, cheddar cheese, and sausage. You may want more ingredients and that is absolutely acceptable! Do you!

Love and Lemon’s French Toast Bake
Confession: I am not a french toast fan. At all. Something about the egg-y (and sometimes soggy) experience grosses me out. This recipe, however, has changed me. I am now a french toast bake fan.
Notes: I followed the recipe exactly as is, but doubled it. I substituted blueberries for pomegranates and didn’t incorporate any nuts (we have a nut allergy in our family). I think this might have been my favorite recipe this year (also, hat tip to Love and Lemons because I tried three of their recipes this year and all were fantastic).

I didn’t take photos of the rest of the dishes, but I also made:
Love and Lemon’s Crustless Quiche (we needed a vegetable vessel and this was perfect)
Bacon (baked in the oven)
Grits (yes, they were instant grits BUT I added fancy gruyere cheese and some whipping cream at the end of the cooking process to trick everyone)
Hash Browns (I air fried the frozen patties because I’m fancy like that)

And… I decided to treat all of us to some specialty baked items by our friends at Bandit Patisserie. We had an assortment of their croissants AND this incredible gingerbread cake. I gave full credit where the credit was due and was happy to support small businesses that make our holidays so special. Thank you, Bandit.

Speaking of small businesses, I also want to shout out Tina’s Market for her incredible Little T’s Specialty Cakes, Big Spoon Creamery for their Christmas Cookie Dough Choco Tacos, Linay Smith with Steel City Pilates for the gifts of strength, consistency, listening, and intention, Emily with Thrive Physical Therapy & Wellness for the gift of healing, Lemar Storey with Life Touch Massage for the gift of comfort and care, and Emily and The Breakup Cookie for delicious treats we look forward to making at home ourselves and knowing they will be perfect every single time. There are so many others to thank as I know I’m leaving so many people out (my restaurant friends, bookstores, specialty shops, and more), but these folks listed here have helped make this year (and this holiday) special for me.

Sending lots of love to all of you!