There's this moment that happens every year. Someone's pulling something out of the oven, and before you even see it, the smell hits you.

Suddenly you're seven years old again, or you're back in your grandmother's kitchen, or you're remembering the first time someone you loved taught your hands how to fold dough just right.

At Spicewalla, we talk a lot about "Spread Love. Cook Food."

And it's not just something we print on things. It's what happens when my mom calls to make sure I'm browning the onions juuust long enough. It's in the way recipes get scribbled on index cards with notes in the margins like "add more garlic" or "Pawpaw liked it sweet." It's how we've learned that the best way to tell someone you're thinking of them during the holidays is to show up with something warm that took time to make. 

This year, we asked our team to share the recipes that matter most to them. The ones that show up on their tables no matter what, the ones that carry stories worth keeping. And now, we're sharing them with you ❤️ Here are five of the recipes that bring us home, no matter where we are, or who we're with!

Sausage Balls from Phillip Bateman

Phillip, our Marketing Specialist who handles email, SMS, and photography, comes from Franklin, NC, deep in Appalachia, where sausage balls are a Christmas Eve staple.

His mom, Sherry Bateman, makes these every single year for their Christmas Eve dinner, and Phillip always makes sure she makes extra (because he needs them for breakfast on Christmas morning).

The recipe probably came from some magazine back in the 70s or 80s, but now? It's theirs. It's what Christmas tastes like in their house.

Three ingredients, ridiculously simple, and somehow they disappear faster than anything else on the table. They're savory, a little spicy from the sausage, cheesy, and perfect warm or at room temperature. The kind of thing you can pop in your mouth while you're cooking everything else, or pile on a plate the next morning with your coffee. Sometimes the best traditions start with a magazine clipping and turn into the thing you can't imagine the holidays without.

Sausage Balls

• 1 pound Hot Sausage (Phil swears that hot sausage gives them more flavour, but you can always go mild if you don't want any heat)
• 3 cups Bisquick Mix
• 3 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar

Mix ingredients together by hand.
Form into 1½ to 2-inch balls (the size of walnuts) & place on cookie sheet (with space between, the balls will grow while baking).
Bake at 350°F for 15 min.

Potato Casserole from Katie Gamble

Katie manages our Spicewalla retail store, and she'll be the first to tell you: this potato casserole is "the most 80's basic shit ever." But here's the thing...it's also her favorite holiday dish, the one she looks forward to every Thanksgiving, no question.

It came from her grandmother, Harriet Underwood, and it was printed in the Paw Creek Presbyterian Church cookbook in Charlotte, NC. You know the kind! Spiral-bound, community recipes, the good stuff.

Frozen hash browns, cream of chicken soup, and corn flakes on top. Is it fancy? Absolutely not. Is it the kind of comfort food that makes you feel like everything's going to be okay? Yes.

Sometimes the best recipes aren't trying to impress anyone. They're just trying to make you happy, and this one does exactly that.

Potato Casserole

• 2 lb. frozen hash brown potatoes
• 1 stick margarine
• 1 pt. sour cream
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 c. chopped onions
• 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. crushed corn flakes
• 1/2 c. melted margarine

Combine first 8 ingredients in large casserole. Toss cornflake crumbs with melted margarine and sprinkle over top. Bake at 350° 40-45 minutes. Yield: about 8 servings.

Classic Spritz Cookies from Madeline Swims

Maddy manages all our social media, and every year she pulls out this recipe. "Literally use this as my guide every year," she says. And I get it! When you find a spritz cookie recipe that works, you don't mess with it.

These are the cookies that look impressive but are actually super simple! You just need a cookie press and about an hour. They're buttery, they're delicate, they hold their shape perfectly, and they taste like Christmas should taste. The kind of thing you make a big batch of, pack some up for neighbors, keep some for yourself, and somehow still run out too soon. They're that good.

Classic Spritz Cookies

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon Wilton Pure Vanilla Extract
• ½ teaspoon Wilton Imitation Almond Extract

Preheat oven to 350° F. In medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and extracts. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing well until dough is smooth. Do not chill. Fill cookie press; press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet; remove to cooling grid and cool completely.

Makes 7-8 dozen cookies.

Chow Chow from Nathan Lowery

If you're not from the South, you might not know chow chow...but you should.

It's a tangy, pickled relish that shows up on tables across the region! Think of it as the condiment that makes everything better: spooned over beans, piled on hot dogs, sitting next to your turkey or ham, cutting through all that richness with a bright, vinegary punch.

Nathan, our Food Service Sales Manager, swears by this recipe. He got it directly from his grandmother, Nanny (yes, this is her sweet cursive). 

It's got all the good stuff (cabbage, peppers, tomatoes) and those warm spices like mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric that make it taste like something someone's grandmother has been making for decades. Because, well, Nathan's Nanny made this recipe regularly and handed it down to Nathan and his family when it was time to pass the torch. 

This is the kind of thing you jar up and keep in the fridge, pulling it out whenever you need to wake up a plate. This recipe makes enough to gift, so you can spread that chow chow love this season!

Once you try it, you'll get why it's a Southern staple.

Chow Chow

• 12 red onions
• 10 green tomatoes
• 1 med. cabbage
• 6 red peppers
• 12 green peppers
• 1/2 cup salt
• 6 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 2 teas. celery seeds
• 1/2 teas. turmeric
• 4 cups vinegar
• 2 cups water

Grind onions, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers; combine ingredients with salt & let stand overnight. Then, rinse well, drain, and place mixture in a large pot.
Stir in sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, vinegar and water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes, ladle into hot sterilized jars, seal according to manufacturer's directions.

Makes 8 pints

Potato Kugel from Cara Manning

Now, last but not least, my family recipe ✨ I help run marketing and oversee all e-commerce and brand for Spicewalla, and this is the recipe I pull out when I'm craving something comforting but don't have the energy to stand over a pan frying latkes. It's potato kugel, and it comes from my Aunt Shirley Prystowsky, who was famous for her cooking and baking in Charleston, SC.

Aunt Shirley knew what she was doing. This kugel is everything you want from a potato dish: crispy on top, soft in the middle, rich and savory with just enough onion to make it interesting. It shows up at Hanukkah and Passover in our family, and honestly, it could show up any time, and no one would complain. It's the kind of dish that makes you feel like you're part of something, like you're connected to everyone who's made it before you. And the best part? It's so much easier than latkes, but still delivers that crispy, golden, potato perfection we all crave.

Potato Kugel

• 6 med potatoes
• 1 lg. onion
• 1/4 C. matzo meal
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/4 C. oil

Grate potatoes - wash & ring out. Grate in onion, add the remaining ingredients + mix well. Pour into well-greased 1.5 qt baking dish & bake at 375°F about 1 hour or until brown + crisp.

A little spice, a whole lotta love.

Here's what I've learned from cooking family recipes year after year, and from watching our Spicewalla family share theirs: the magic isn't really in getting everything perfect. It's in the process. It's in calling someone to ask "wait, how much butter?" and laughing when they say "enough." It's in the way the kitchen smells like home, even when home is complicated.

Family isn't always the people you're born to...it's the ones who show up, the ones you choose, the ones who pull up a chair at their table so you can enjoy a warm meal together.

And food has this incredible way of creating that connection. It's how we say "I love you" without words. It's how we build traditions with people who become our people. Whether you're cooking your grandmother's recipe or trying something new with friends who feel like family, you're doing the same thing: creating moments that matter.

These five recipes have held us through hard seasons and joyful ones. They've been made by hands that are gone now and hands that are just learning. They've travelled across oceans and time zones and kitchen renovations. And now we're passing them to you. Not because they're fancy or perfect, but because they're real, and they've fed the people we love.

So here's my ask: make one of these, or make that thing your family (however you define it) always makes. Take a picture. And tell us the story! Tag @spicewalla and let us in on what's cooking in your kitchen this season.

Because spreading love and cooking food...that's something we do better together 🩷

Happy holidays, friends! Cara Manning