Christmas dinner is different in every household. Some make it a formal occasion, some may order in, some make a pizza, and some munch on snacks while watching “A Christmas Story.” In my house, my aunt Megan cooks a meal with several courses inspired by her favorite food finds throughout the year. This dinner takes weeks of brainstorming along with at least an entire day of cooking. These are my top 3 favorite dishes Megan has ever made for my family for Christmas which will hopefully inspire you for the future!

Soup

For starters, Megan always makes tomato basil soup topped with parmesan cheese. This dish is as simple as it sounds, and it is so great that it makes a yearly appearance. I personally look forward to this soup every year, yet I don’t eat it any other time before the holidays. While making the soup from scratch, she also uses fresh basil & shreds her own cheese.

Salad

A close second to the soup is a kale salad (pictured in the thumbnail photo). I absolutely loved this dish, and I avoid kale with a strong passion. This salad was full of cranberries, green apples, parmesan cheese, among other small ingredients. To follow the soup, this salad is a light appetizer dish that leads up to the main course without filling the family.

Dessert

The homemade mint chocolate chip gelato cookie sandwich (also pictured in the thumbnail) was recently added to the list. Megan is huge about going big or going home, so all portions of this dessert were made from scratch. She used her own chocolate from her company and created the gelato in her machine from sugar, cream, and mint. Although I wish I was exaggerating, I happily ate the left-over sandwiches for days after Christmas.

To prepare for this meal, Megan hits the ground running after New Years. She travels around the country trying new restaurants and ingredients to get a feel for what new things she likes. Even though Megan has a large food background, that is not necessary before you make the decision to try something new in the kitchen for your family. This has become a tradition in our household, but it had to start somewhere!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started!