The holiday season is many students favorite time of the year and for good reason: the cold weather to cozy up in, the festivities and of course the food. I asked three Lynx what their favorite holiday dish was and I got the perfect holiday meal! Over break, I made each dish and rated them one out of five snowflakes, 5 being the best and 1 being the worst.
Sweet potato casserole: 3.5/5
To start off, Claire Swihart (‘25) said her favorite dish was sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. “It’s a fun dish to make and fun with the marshmallows,” Swihart explained. “It’s an excuse to eat dessert for dinner.”
The sweet potato casserole was the easiest to make, because it has 5 ingredients and even fewer steps. You just have to boil sweet potatoes, mash them up then throw cinnamon, sugar and butter in and then toss some marshmallows on top.
I used to really dislike sweet potato casserole but this was a lot better than I remembered. The sweet potatoes themselves lacked flavor but the pecans added a really good crunch to an otherwise slightly mushy dish.
Shepherd’s pie: 4/5
Moving on to the main course, Jack Conway (‘26) said shepherd’s pie was his favorite. Shepherd’s pie is a staple winter comfort dish for many because it helps warm you up on a cold day
Simplicity is true for the shepherd’s pie as well; you throw meat and veggies in a pot, make mash potato’s and then bake it all together. I also added mushrooms which isn’t traditional but it is delicious.
Although it’s a heartwarming winter classic it doesn’t bring the wind of flavor to make it the bomb. It can feel slightly one noted at times.
Frozen cranberry salad: 3.25/5
Finally for desert, straight out of the Midwest is frozen cranberry salad. This is a Midwest salad through and through: cool whip, canned pineapples and all. Even though it’s not common in Seattle, it is the favorite of CJ Steffensmeier (‘27).
The cranberry salad on the other hand had lots of steps and took two days but it was still fun and not difficult at all. I started by covering the cranberries in sugar and putting them the fridge overnight. On day two I added crushed pineapples, cool whip and of course, mini marshmallows. Then I folded it all together and chilled it in the fridge until dessert.
I’m not going to lie, I fully expected to hate this. Midwest salads are questionable at best but this was actually really good, my family even gave it a 4/5. I gave it slightly less because it was just a little too tart and crunchy for me with the cranberries and pineapples.
In conclusion, my favorite winter dish I made was the shepherd’s pie because it’s a classic comforting dish on a cold day. Although I was pleasantly surprised by the other two dishes and will most likely make them again, shepherd’s pie was closest to being the best.