Holiday Cooking: Controlled Chaos Edition

Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?

We’re not a family with a long list of sacred holiday recipes. There’s no legendary dish that only appears once a year, no ancient cookbook with pages stuck together, and definitely no competitive baking. Our approach is closer to: “make something warm, make something tasty, and make sure it doesn’t turn into a survival scenario.”

Most years, it ends up being simple comfort food — the kind you can put together without needing a flow chart, a timer, or divine intervention. It’s about feeding people without stress, not impressing the neighbours with a five-course meal that requires a respec halfway through.

Sometimes it’s a proper sit-down dinner. Other times it’s whatever we can pull together between work, life, and keeping the general chaos at bay. But there’s always one constant: something warm, filling, and familiar. The sort of food that gives you a breather before the next round of yearly madness.

Nothing fancy. Nothing dramatic. Just quiet, reliable meals that make the day feel calm for a moment — which honestly is the best holiday tradition we’ve ever managed to keep.