Writer / Matt Keating
Chef Suzanne Rockwell, owner of Chef Suzanne Catering, is ready for the holidays, and is ready to share some favorite holiday recipes to help you plan a festive Christmas gathering.
Chef Suzanne has been working in the food industry as a private chef, executive chef, and general manager for years. She started Chef Suzanne Catering in 2009.
We talked with her recently about how special the holidays are for her, and her favorite Christmas memories.
“It is impossible to choose between two favorite Christmas memories,” Rockwell said. “My first would be arriving at my grandparents’ farm the day before Christmas, and seeing all the homemade noodles spread out all over the dining room table drying.” She and her siblings would fight over who got to be the “noodle testers” as the noodles simmered on the stove.
“My Grandma did not use a recipe, so to this day I can not duplicate those noodles,” Rockwell recalled. “The second favorite memory would have to be the trees my late father always picked out. They would always look fine in the lot, and by the time we got home the trunk was always crooked. One year it was so bad he had to tie the trunk to the lock on the window to keep it from falling over.”
Chef Suzanne’s favorite dishes are still noodles and mashed potatoes. “It’s an ‘Ohio thing,’ and a starch fest!”
Chef Suzanne always closes her catering kitchen December 24 to 26 so the team can enjoy time with their families.
“We will have all our family over to our house, kids, grandkids, friends with families who are out of town,” she said. “The best part is my husband cooks!”
This is Chef Suzanne’s favorite recipe for a holiday appetizer and her most popular best 
seller:
Sundried Tomato Basil Pesto Torte
1 cup sundried tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
8 oz. softened cream cheese
½ cup basil pesto
Dice sundried tomatoes and add garlic. Spray small container with non-stick spray. Line with clear plastic wrap. Place sundried tomatoes in the bottom and pat to fit. Press softened cream cheese into shape of your container and place over sundried tomatoes. Layer basil pesto. Add remaining layer of cream cheese.
