When celebrating the holiday season, we often get together with our loved ones - whether in-person or virtually.
And often, that celebration can happen around food.
Whether you’re entertaining your young, school-age kids on Christmas break, enjoying intentional time with a spouse, or are spending time reflecting in the solitude of a quiet apartment, you can find activities to do and recipes to enjoy.
8 Ways to Enjoy Holiday Cooking at Home
We’ve found that cooking and enjoying great recipes can be a relaxing and enjoyable way to celebrate special occasions. Here we share just a few fun, food-inspired ideas for you to try this holiday.
1. Host a Holiday Cooking Competition
Put your cooking skills to the test in a friendly competition with your spouse or friends and family. You can even get your kids involved as participants, depending on age and the difficulty of your recipe or dish.
Start with a dish in mind and see who can make the best-tasting and accurate dish - with or without a recipe! Or, start with a list of ingredients and see who can come up with the most creative holiday-themed dish. Not only is it an engaging activity that inspires creativity; it also may result in some new, favorite creations.
2. Festive Taste-Testing
Put your tastebuds to the test this holiday. Invite your kids at home or just with another person to see how well you can identify favorite holiday scents and tastes. You can play with different kinds of holiday cookies, flavors of hot chocolate or even just common holiday flavors like peppermint or vanilla. 
3. Practice Your Cooking Skills
Try out a new cooking technique or practice your knife cuts to be more efficient or experienced in the kitchen. If cooking or baking is a skill you’ve always wanted to grow, the holiday season can be a great time to get in some practice. Watch recipe videos or other how-tos online and follow along in your own kitchen.
4. Treat Yourself
Take time to treat yourself. Bake up your favorite holiday dessert you make every year. Revamp an existing recipe to align better with your taste preferences. Try out all the different kinds of hot chocolate. Then, enjoy. Calories don’t count during the holidays, right?
5. Holiday Parties
Gather your friends and family together for games, gift exchanges and other fun times to catch-up, whether in-person or virtual. There are several resources that let you host games and other activities to share in the holiday cheer. If you're going virtual, send any supplies or gifts to attendees ahead of time and open the boxes or bags when you’re all together.
6. Make Your Family Favorites
Do you have recipes that you used to make with your family growing up? Those cookie assortments you’d swap with neighbors. The salty snack mix you’d eat while playing games. The peppermint mocha mug you savor each Christmas morning. Whatever recipe brings you back to those positive memories, give it a shot. Doing so may just bring a little bit of your family to you.
7. Experiment with New Flavors
Have you ever wanted to try to make a fruitcake but were afraid of having it not turn out right for your holiday work party? Now’s the time to try them out for yourself. Do your kids have a unique idea to combine flavors that seem like they don’t go well together? Why not give them a shot at cooking it up? With more flexibility for holiday menus, you may find a delicious recipe and flavor combination you never thought possible.
Looking for new recipes to try? Here are some fun flavors to get you started:
Cinnamon Pear Eggnog - Add an extra pop of flavor with this eggnog recipe that uses Cinnamon Pear balsamic vinegar.
Cranberry Apple Fus-tinis - Combine these two fruity flavors for an easy cocktail for one. Leave out the vodka to make it a kid-friendly festive drink.
Apple Donuts with Peanut Butter Bourbon Glaze - This donut recipe uses a hidden ingredient - tofu - to get that rich and flavorful bite. The bourbon glaze also adds a sweet finish on a not-so-traditional treat.
Maple Cheddar Bacon Biscuits - With a combination like this, you can’t help but have one - or three.
Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Vanilla Anglaise and Vanilla Balsamic Syrup - Delight your taste buds with this complex dessert that can be fun to make.
Be Intentional About Finding Joy This Season
Whether it’s through a Christmas cookie that reminds you of your childhood or a get-together that reminds you how much you appreciate your friends and family, there’s joy in this holiday season. Find a new way to celebrate at home or away this year and share the cheer.