By: Judah Gregory

With the holiday season wrapping up and us going back to the regular non-seasonal food, it would be a good idea to go over my personal top Christmas/Thanksgiving foods of this year.

7. Twice baked potatoes

With my number seven spot I chose twice baked potatoes because they are first off, my favorite form of potatoes other than French fries, but also that it is basically an oven stuffed potato but more crispy with the extra stuff that is usually put into it like bacon, chives, sour cream, and other things. It’s definitely one of my favorite Christmas foods.

6. Ham

Ham would be higher on my list if it was made honey glazed, typically but usually, the ham is smoked so it isn’t really the sweet flavor that I prefer on ham that’s made during Thanksgiving. I also liked smoked ham because of the salty flavor that’s already in it when it gets smoked.

5. Yams

One of my favorite sweet things over both the holidays are yams. Candied usually is how they are made, but this year we used lemon juice, orange juice and the zest for the yams that made them really good. We also make brown sugar bark that goes onto the yams to add another texture to them.

4. BBQ ribs

Usually, I wouldn’t put ribs on this list but since I had them for the first time this year, and they were really good, I decided to put these on my list. I don’t know how they were made specifically but ribs are just good in general.

3. Oxtails

Oxtails are definitely a top three on this list because of how they are made. Depending on how they are made they can come out way different, but marinating them for at least a day makes sure that they hold all the flavor, because you braise them in beef broth and water for at least an hour and a half before they are tender enough.

2. Lobster mac ‘n cheese

This is an easy second choice for me here because I like lobster and adding it to baked mac ‘n cheese is already going to make it better. Overall, it’s just easy to make and tastes great so it’s an easy two.

1. Brisket

For my number one it’s brisket since it can be used in so many different foods after it’s cooked. Usually, it’s made smoked but you can also grill a brisket as well. It takes a long time to cook so the meat comes out really tender and it has a good bark to it that adds a different, almost a little burnt, smokey flavor but isn’t bad.