Dishes you can make during the holidays

The State Hornet Features staff dished out their favorite holiday recipes. Here's what they are and how to make them:

Hummus is a staple in my house and has been my entire life. Hummus is a great alternative to mayonnaise or butter and is fun to spread on toast or dip anything in. This simple taste of smashed garbanzo beans brings me back to memories of sitting at the kitchen table with my brother for a midday or midnight snack. Recipe: In a food processor, put in two to four cloves of garlic. Start the processor. After the garlic is in small pieces, add a can of garbanzo beans, a tablespoon of Tahini, and a teaspoon to a tablespoon of olive oil. After the ingredients are blended well, add between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of Saracha, depending on how spicy you want the hummus to be. With the Saracha, squeeze about half of a lemon and add a half teaspoon of cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. After you put the hummus in a bowl, garnish the dish with a sprinkle of paprika and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve the hummus with chips, sliced carrots, or spread on toast.

Ingredients: 1 can of garbanzo beans 1 tablespoon Tahini 1/2 a lemon 2-4 cloves of garlic 1/2 teaspoon of cumin Olive oil Saracha Paprika for garnish

My mom has made green bean casserole every year for Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, and every year I never ate it. It was my least favorite dish. However, four years ago, I said to myself, "Just give it a try. You never know, you might like it." So I tried the dish, loved it, and I've been eating it ever since. Recipe: Fry six pieces of bacon on a frying pan until crispy. Add 22 ounces of cut, frozen green beans to the bacon fat for flavoring, mix well. Add one large cut clove of garlic. Add 1 1/2 can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup. Add a tablespoon of butter, mix well. Add three-fourths cup of heavy cream. Add pepper for seasoning. Add two-thirds cup of French's french onion topping. Transfer everything to a casserole dish and put it into the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot. Top the dish with the remaining onions and bake for another five minutes. Ingredients: 6 pieces of bacon 22 ounces of frozen cut green beans 3/4 cup heavy cream 2/3 cup of French's French onion topping 1 1/2 can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup 1 tablespoon of butter Pepper

Arroz caldo is Filipino rice porridge and is basically equivalent to chicken soup. My mom makes it during cold mornings, especially during the holidays. Why? Because it's comforting, warm, and keeps you healthy during the holiday flu season. These are the ingredients and recipe for my mom's basic arroz caldo. Recipe:

Put the chicken into an oven pot and cover it with chicken broth. Add grated ginger and black pepper to the broth. Bring the broth to a low simmer (do not boil) until the chicken is cooked. This should take about 20-30 minutes. Add the cooked rice. The rice will turn into porridge. Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and shred it with two forks. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. You can also use whole chicken legs if you don't want shredded chicken. Taste and adjust the seasonings as you're cooking. The porridge is done when it thickens.

Ingredients:

3 bone-in skinless chicken breasts or four bone-in skinless chicken thighs (or shredded rotisserie chicken if you're taking a shortcut) 2 containers of Pacific organic chicken broth 1 large can of chicken broth Water 4 cups of cooked rice Ginger for taste Soy sauce Fresh ground black pepper

Spicy pumpkin soup has recently become a tradition in the Tupper family's Thanksgiving feast. It is fairly simple to make and it holds over the hungry relatives while the 26-pound turkey cooks, which takes far too long in my opinion. Recipe: Take one large can of chicken broth and combine it with two leeks and five to seven carrots. Wait until the leeks and carrots are softened and then blend the mixture together. Add a can of pumpkin filling, a quart of whipping cream and one cup of water and blend those contents into the soup for approximately two minutes. Place the contents into a crockpot to warm and add cayenne pepper and curry powder. There are no exact measurements for the spices - just season to taste. I personally add five or six more dashes of cayenne pepper to my personal bowl but not everyone can handle that.

Ingredients: 1 can of chicken broth 2 leeks 5 to 7 carrots 1 can of pumpkin filling 1 quart of whipping cream Water Cayenne pepper Curry powder

I have always loved to bake and decorate Christmas cookies with family and friends. This particular recipe for sugar cookies is one I cherish from my first cookbook, "William Sonoma Kids Cooking." These sugar cookies are the perfect treat for all holiday gatherings.

Recipe: To create the dough, place one and a half cups of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat one half cup unsalted butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add one egg and one and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Gradually add the flour mixture until it forms a doughy texture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour. Before rolling out the cookie dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease several baking sheets. Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle a light coating of flour over a flat work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large circle that is about a half inch thick. Use your favorite festive cookie cutters and place the cookies on the baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Frost and enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour 1 teaspoon of baking powder 1/4 teaspoon of salt 1/2 cup of unsalted butter 3/4 cup of granulated sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Pumpkin pie has been a staple in my household for years. It is often accompanied by other various pies, but pumpkin is always a tradition that my mother makes. Recently, however, my girlfriend introduced a recipe that uses vodka in the pie crust. By using vodka, the taste of the crust is improved and the finished dough is flakier. Recipe for the vodka pie crust: Combine one and a half cups of flour and sugar into a food processor. Add cold shortening butter and the rest of the flour. Pulse six times. Turn out. Then add vodka and water. Shape into discs and chill. For an unfilled pie (i.e. apple or cherry), bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe for the pumpkin filling:

Mix all of the ingredients from below and fill in the pie. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Let the pie cool, and enjoy!

Vodka pie crust ingredients: 2 1/2 cups of flour 12 tablespoons of butter 1/2 cup of Crisco 1 teaspoon of salt 1 tablespoon of sugar 1/4 cup of vodka 1/4 cup of water

Pumpkin filling ingredients: 1 can of pumpkin 2 cans of evaporated milk 1 tablespoon of pie spice 1/4 teaspoon of cloves and cinnamon 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups of sugar Vanilla to taste

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