Our Models Share Their Favorite Holiday Food Traditions

The holidays are about many things: gift-giving (and gift-receiving), getting together with friends and family, and taking time off. But, most importantly, they're about the food. From cookies and pie to ham and roast beef, there are countless festive dishes to enjoy. Of course, everyone has a favorite must-have on the dinner table each year. We asked some SI Swimsuit models to share their favorite holiday food traditions.

Jasmine Sanders Helps Make Her Mom's Mac n Cheese

"The one dish I always have during the holidays is my mom's mac and cheese! It's a must for every holiday. For as long as I can remember, I've had to help my mom prepare the cheese for the mac and cheese and help cut the greens. Every holiday I expect to be woken up early to help prepare dinner. For the last few years, I've been in charge of the banana pudding. Everything I knowI learned from my mom."

Tanaye White Can't Resist Sweet Potato Pie

"More often than not, my family hosts Thanksgiving each year. My mother cooks dozens of dishes, family and friends bring their signature dishes, and we host between 20 to 30 people. My mother has been cooking her sweet potato pie since before I can remember. She usually cooks 10 pies -- everyone loves to take home a sweet potato pie in addition to the slice or slices they've already eaten. I've never had a sweet potato pie that could compare to my mom's."

Kathy Jacobs Loves Baking Cookies

"I love to bake and decorate cookies and cakes for the holidays. I even invented the Snow Globe Cookie kit years ago that was featured on Food Network and ABC's American Inventor. This year I had some girls over to make reindeer cakes."

Lorena Duran Has a Spanish Feast

"Christmas in Spain and more in the south, where I am from, is an intense couple of weeks. It is time to eat as if it were the end of the world! Apart from the fact that we eat many prawns, stuffed chickens and meats with several sauces, we also drink good Spanish wines. And do not forget about our incredible jamón (ham) serrano. Then we have the typical Spanish desserts -- mantecados and polvorones -- and on New Year's Eve, for each of the 12 minutes before midnight, we ring a bell, and we eat a grape because they are said to bring luck. And on our last day of Christmas celebrations, we eat the roscón de reyes. Hidden inside is a figurine of a king and a bean. Whoever finds the king gets a crown, and whoever gets the bean has to buy the roscón the following year. As you can see, our Christmas is very long, very funny and above all very caloric."