You always try to distinguish yourself, so you can’t go wrong with a homemade gift perfect for spirits enthusiasts. The recipe is incredibly simple: just put pieces of pineapple and clementines in a container, and add a vanilla bean, a bit of sugar and white rum. Since the flavours of this original recipe from Réunion island improve with time, you must let the rum macerate at least two weeks before giving it away. So, make it well in advance. Present the gift in a one-litre bottle decorated with a small wreath made from a twisted sprig of rosemary.

Bark gets unanimous approval as a great treat. This recipe is from our colleague Elaine, executive assistant and office manager, who makes this classic once a year. Put the saltines on a baking sheet, then cover them with homemade caramel and bake them in the oven. Then just add melted chocolate and almonds for a sweet and salty treat reminiscent of childhood sweets. Put a few pieces of bark in a metal container, then wrap it in a pretty cloth.

Potatoes steal the show in this side dish that we make at Café RICARDO restaurants for special events. Give some style to your plate with this noble vegetable by layering it with garlic cream. Its “millefeuille” look will impress everyone at the Christmas Eve table.

This year, let’s reinvent a tradition: stuffing! Skip the step that consists of stuffing the turkey by making ultra moist and fragrant stuffing meatballs instead. Plus, you can make them in advance! The ingredients may be surprising, but go wonderfully together: Pork is combined with shallot, garam masala and Parmesan. A creamy mushroom sauce coats the dish, for festive and familiar aromas wafting through the house. The perfect accompaniment to the poultry.

The classic red sauce served with shrimp cocktail is replaced here with a happy mixture of mayo, sour cream, horseradish and tarragon. Super easy to make, this white sauce can be prepared up to five days in advance, which leaves you plenty of time to take care of other things for your Christmas Eve feast. As for the shrimp, they’ll remain nicely tender once poached in water, a proven method to ensure perfect cooking. This makes us wonder why we never thought of this combo before!

Every self-respecting holiday table has its “little green salad.” But forget any memory of that heavy dressing on delicate leaves with this recipe that favours finesse and texture. Mix crunchy veggies with a light marinade made with cider vinegar, dill and mustard. Present the salad in a flat serving dish highlighting lettuce and radicchio leaves on which the marinated vegetables will never get soft or drenched.

When you can’t choose between mashed and baked potatoes, choose a dish that’s in between! These stuffed vegetables are garnished with an exquisite velvety mixture of aromatics—garlic, shallots, Gruyère and diced bacon—combined with mashed potatoes. This way, you’ll get the best of both worlds in terms of carbs: the baked skin, whole, and the generous flesh, full of flavour.

The real gift, of course, is the time you spend with your loved ones, so offer them crackers that will be a big hit once unwrapped. First, mix melted butter with sage and pecans, then cook it until the butter becomes nutty brown. Add it to your food processor with the other ingredients, making dough that’ll be cut into various shapes and baked. The resulting 30 crackers make lovely gift packages with a jar of rillettes or chutney, or some cheese.

Raspberry Jam

This variation on the crusty pies of the holidays takes you away from the ordinary. Stuff these turnovers with a mixture of ground pork, thyme and fennel seeds, adding blue cheese and fig jam before closing the little packages and baking them in the oven. This refined dish is perfect for this occasion and its original flavours will make an impact.