80 Years of Yankee Holiday Favorites | Holiday Recipes

No other time of year is as festive or as rich in food traditions as November and December, from the turkey and sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving to the roasts and cookies that anchor the Christmas table. Looking back over nine decades’ worth of recipes, we sought out classic flavors: chocolate and spice, pumpkin and sage, citrus and cranberry. Our menu had to feature distinctly New England dishes, calling on traditional fare such as hearty soups and richly delicious pies. But we also wanted to tailor each one to appeal to modern sensibilities (and time restrictions). And so we bring you 21 fresh-but- familiar recipes from our kitchen, each a reason to celebrate the season.

HOLIDAY RECIPES

Breakfasts & Breads

Cinnamon Buns
Baked Eggs & Mushrooms in Toast Cups
Maine Potato Doughnuts

Soups, Salads & Starters

Vermont Cheddar Soup
Mushroom, Leek & Potato Soup
Holiday Cheese Puffs
Watercress-Currant Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Vegetable Sides

Maple & Cider-Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Kale with Fried Lemon & Garlic
Buttermilk-Blue Cheese Potato Gratin

Meat & Seafood Entrees

Tourtière (French Canadian Pork Pie)
Lobster Pie
Brined Bourbon-Pecan Turkey & Gravy
Bourbon-Pecan Dressing

Desserts

Eggnog-Chiffon Pie
Brown-Sugar Shortbread
Cranberry-Apple Cobbler
Creamy Pumpkin Pie with Hazelnut Crust
Gingerbread Icebox Cheesecake

Sauces & Drinks

Cranberry-Onion Jam
Witches’ Brew

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee and cohost of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with GBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

More by Amy Traverso