Celeb chefs share the foods they absolutely must have for the holidays each year

Carla Hall: Pound cake

“Christmas is the time when everyone makes an effort to come together from all over the country, so dinners always last longer, with everyone sharing memories around the table. I know I will make a lot of the things Granny made: pound cake, boiled custard, things we always had growing up, along with turkey, dressing and green bean casserole. I love how the food sparks the conversation, the stories about us growing up and the younger generations hearing those stories for the first time.”  

Carla Hall, co-host of ABC’s The Chew and owner of the new Brooklyn restaurant Carla Hall’s Southern Kitchen

Gail Simmons: Latkes

“The must-have holiday dish for me and my family every year are my mother’s latkes. I make them just the way she does and they are perfect every time — small, crispy, savory and delicious. I use a food processor to shred them instead of grating them more traditionally on a cheese grater. This cuts down on prep time and also ensures they are light and airy. My secret ingredient is a little dill tossed into the potato batter right before lightly pan-frying. I love to serve them with smoked salmon and crème fraîche and more fresh dill or chives, or simply dipped in my dad’s famous applesauce. To make them extra luxurious if I am entertaining over the holidays, I may even dollop a little caviar on top!”

Gail Simmons of Bravo’s Top Chef

Elettra Wiedemann: Smoked and cured fish

“If I am spending Christmas with my father, there will no doubt be a smoked turkey on the table, as well as my Icelandic step-mother’s incredible homemade gravlax. If I am spending Christmas with my mother, we are usually feasting Swedish-style — various kinds of smoked fish, flat breads, Swedish meatballs and of course, Akvavit!”

Elettra Wiedemann, author of the blog Impatient Foodie and upcoming cookbook The Impatient Foodie: 100 Recipes for a Hectic, Time-Starved World (June 2017)

Haylie Duff: Caviar

“We started our ‘caviar Christmas’ tradition a few years ago and it quickly has become a family favorite. It sounds fancy, but it really isn’t. Everyone brings over a small tin of caviar, any price point that you wish, and we remove all the lids. We all sample them and pick our favorite. We usually end up picking one of the more inexpensive ones too! Goes to show you that you don’t always have to spend a lot to find a great product.”

Haylie Duff, actress/singer/songwriter and host of Cooking Channel’s Real Girl’s Kitchen and Haylie’s America

Elizabeth Chambers Hammer: Sea salt bars

Elizabeth Chambers, co-owner of Bird Bakery and guest judge on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars makes these sea salt peanut butter bars.

Sunny Anderson: Just a simple meal

“I consider the holiday season ‘eating season,’ which means I’m busy developing new holiday recipes and getting to share them. So when the actual date rolls around, I’m all holiday-ed out! I usually look forward to a simple meal at home with no real typical holiday spread and a day of binge-watching TV, not binge-eating”

Sunny Anderson, host of the Food Network’s Cooking for Real and Home Made in America and author of Sunny’s Kitchen: Easy Food for Real Life