Doesn't it seem like everyone -- whether gourmet chef or microwave dinner aficionado -- has a favorite holiday recipe? You know, the dish that we bust out once a year to serve to family or friends. Maybe it's a recipe handed down from generation to generation, maybe it's a meal we saw on the Food Network.

In this festive season, here are a few recipes that our editorial staff cooks up with holiday cheer. Add your own using the Talkback feature below.

Molly Snyder Edler
Staff Writer
Broccoli casserole
My favorite holiday recipe is, believe it or not, broccoli casserole. Next to Tater Tot casserole it is, in my book, the best comfort food dish of all time. (It's becoming apparent that I have a trailer park palate, but oh well.) There are many variations of this recipe, but my favorite is something like this:

Ingredients:

2 10-oz. packages frozen chopped broccoli
2 10.75-oz. cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups instant rice
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1 16-oz. jar process cheese sauce
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook rice as directed on box.
2. Saute onions in butter until done.
3. Cook broccoli as directed on package and drain.
4. Mix together broccoli, soup, rice, onion, butter or margarine and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in a 9 by 13 dish.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Julie Lawrence
Staff Writer
Brown sugar-glazed sweet potatoes with marshmallows
The holidays are a time of giving, but when it comes to food, they are a time of gluttony. We all get together and nosh on rich, decadent dishes for a month and spend the first half of the new year regretting it and / or working it off.

This is the only time of the year when I allow myself to indulge in meals that involve marshmallows before dessert is served. They are a bit over the top and should probably only be consumed in moderation, but to whoever invented candied sweet potatoes, I salute you.

Ingredients:

4 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup packed golden brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange potatoes in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Combine sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger in heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour over potatoes; toss to coat. Cover dish tightly with foil.

Bake potatoes 50 minutes. Uncover; bake until potatoes are tender and syrup thickens slightly, basting occasionally, about 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 500°F. Top potatoes with marshmallows and nuts. Return to oven; bake until marshmallows begin to melt and nuts begin to brown, about 3 minutes.

Drew Olson
Senior Editor
Hot cider
Whether in a baseball press box or the OMC office, I'm a bit of a freak because I don't drink coffee. I just never liked the taste/smell and I'm not a fan of hot drinks in general. I make one exception, though, and it is for the holiday cider below. It wouldn't feel like Christmas without it.

Ingredients:

2 quarts apple cider
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 oranges, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
(Optional: 1 cup Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum or Jack Daniel's or other dark liquor in a pinch.)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and bring it close to a boil. Simmer about 10 minutes. Strain and serve. May be garnished with fresh orange or lemon slice, or a cinnamon stick in each mug.

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