US Students’ Favorite Holiday Meals

Christina+Kelly+18+cooks+pumpkin+bread+with+her+family+every+year+for+Thanksgiving.+

Christina Kelly '18

Christina Kelly ’18 cooks pumpkin bread with her family every year for Thanksgiving.

Nadeen Malik, News and Perspectives Editor

Beef Tenderloin:

“Every year my family makes our special beef tenderloin for Christmas,” Helen Holloway ’18 said.

Beef tenderloin makes the perfect recipe for a holiday main course.

Ingredients-

  • 3-4 lb. beef tenderloin
  • 1 cup of red wine
  • 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 juiced lemons
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ a cup of butter

Horseradish sauce-

  • ¼ cup of drained, prepared horseradish
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of sour cream

Directions:

Combine wine, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and pepper. Soak the tenderloin at room temperature in the mixture for several hours. Heat up ½ a cup of butter in a skillet and brown the tenderloin on each side. Remove shallow roasting pan and insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part. Place in a 350° oven, uncovered and cook to desired degree of doneness.

Horseradish sauce:

Combine the ingredients, cover, and chill until ready. Yields 6 to 8 servings, for 20 people double the recipe.

Serving:

Serve the beef at room temperature and slice thinly. For 20 people, double the recipe.

 

Pumpkin bread:

Pumpkin bread, one of the most popular holiday treats, makes a delicious dessert or something to snack on with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

“My family and I love to make our homemade pumpkin bread especially for thanksgiving and when the weather is cold,” Christina Kelly ’18 said.

Kelly has been making this pumpkin bread for as long as she can remember. The recipe was handed down to her family from her grandmother. Kelly finds the pumpkin bread to taste the best in the morning for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs
  • 3 cups of sugar
  • ½ teaspoon of baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons of baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of cloves
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 2/3 cup of water
  • 1 cup of Wesson oil
  • 3 ½ cups of flour
  • 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° and butter or spray vegetable oil on two loaf pans. Mix all of the ingredients together and split the batter into the two loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Once they have cooled slice the loaves and serve.

 

Chocolate Fudge:

Year round my family makes chocolate fudge for dessert at dinner parties and for thanksgiving. Chocolate fudge makes a great dessert for the chocolate lover in the family and for holiday gifts.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (14 oz) can of sweet condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 2 drops of vanilla extract
  • 1 (11 oz) bag of milk chocolate chips
  • ½  (5.5 oz) bag of dark chocolate chips
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix condensed milk with butter and heat in microwave for 1 ½ minutes. Add the vanilla, salt, and all of the chocolate chips. Mix well and spread on a cookie sheet. Put in the fridge for 1-2 hours and cut into pieces.