Holidays are a time to relax and celebrate with the family, but most importantly, they’re a time to eat well (especially if you’re a broke college student surviving on ramen and leftover refrigerated pizza). It’s a known fact that we Americans love food; we’ve made more than 175 national food holidays (the runner-up has just eight).
No one knows many of those though, and the holidays we look forward to the most don’t specifically have a food in the name of them. You might be partial to the dressing up of Halloween or the presents of Christmas, but the only measure of holidays that actually matters is how good the food is. Here is the comprehensive ranking of the major holidays by their foods so you know which to look forward to the most.
7. Easter
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Easter food is kinda meh compared to the other holidays. Ham’s not bad, and neither are carrot cake or hot cross buns. But overall, when you think of Easter, you think more about Easter egg hunting (check out this ranking of the best candies to find on Easter) or decorating, and the days you’ll get off school.
6. Valentines Day
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Valentine’s Day has a couple things going for it: if you’re in a relationship, you get chocolate. If you’re not, well, chocolate will still always be there for you. This devotion to chocolate is what pushes Valentine’s Day over Easter. If you want to try something new next Valentine’s Day, try making these dark chocolate avocado truffles.
5. Halloween
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If just chocolate is good, lots of chocolate in all different forms is even better. Halloween is like Easter but takes out the effort by just having people give you the candy instead of making you go look for it. The sole reason this holiday gets creds is the massive amounts of candy you get. Oh, and $3 Chipotle.
4. St. Patrick’s Day
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God bless the Irish for their pubs and somehow making a full day in March a universal day of celebration. Fun fact: St. Patrick’s Day’s other name is Feast of St. Patrick so it’s already about food. The classics are corned beef and soda bread (try this great recipe) but I think you know what really makes this holiday so awesome.
3. 4th of July
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Nothing is better than relaxing on a Summer day with the smell of burgers in the air while celebrating how great this country is. Pretty much anything you can either stick on the grill or make red, white and blue works. And for that reason, this day is great. Here are some BBQ tips to make sure you do it right. America.
2. Thanksgiving
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Thanksgiving… You were almost number one. Even though you are pretty much known just for the food, I kinda feel like dying every year after the feast, aka probably the single most anticipated (and feared) meal of the year. Where do I even start? Turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, apple pie, dinner rolls… I WANT IT ALL. Here’s a comprehensive list of the essentials you’ll need to cook your own feast.
1. Christmas
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Just imagining laying in my pajamas in front of the fireplace sipping rich hot chocolate and eating chewy ginger-molasses cookies while it’s snowing outside makes me wish I was already home. You can make your own epic cookie with all your holiday favorites with this recipe.
Top it off with some beef tenderloin or brown sugar-glazed ham and I’m already drooling. The classy and gourmet dishes are what makes Christmas the best. Take this quiz to see what you should make.