No other month on the calendar tops December when it comes to food and beverage consumption. While every community, family and congregation has its singular traditions, each is wrapped around social gatherings that call for some sort of culinary activity.

Despite claims that the average American puts on five to 10 pounds in the weeks leading up to New Year’s, which the National Institutes of Health shot down to only one pound after a recent study, few will pass up the joys of indulging this month. From hors d’ oeuvres and cookies to full meals and cocktails, there is always something new to sample that will dazzle our palates, or perhaps send us running back to those glazed hams and crumbly fruit cakes.

We asked various chefs working in popular restaurants about the culinary food trends they see descending on this year’s holiday season, what they like and what they’re serving in the coming weeks. For home entertainers wrestling over food ideas, their answers may serve as enlightening guideposts.

“Holidays are all about people getting together with their friends and family and cooking food that means something to them. On the personal level, I’ll focus this year on aged spirits and liquors such as tawny ports (for drinking and making sauces) and McCallen single malt scotch. I also like making whole roasts that might take up to three hours – stuff you can feed a lot of people with, like a rack of lamb or crown roast of pork. Here in San Diego, you should seek out local produce vendors to get persimmons, figs, locally smoked bacon and some great apples out of Julian.”

“I see holiday foods going back to simplicity, as opposed to five years ago when everyone was jumping off the deep end and experimenting with too many flavors. I like to use pumpkin and many of the squashes for soups, which I top with cranberry coulis. Pomegranates are in too, and they go well in salads with goat cheese and wintery greens. I’m also seeing a lot of red meat coming in strong, whether it’s prime rib or rib eye. Gingered sweet potatoes go good with the holiday meal. So do persimmons, which match well to roasted quail. The trend is to let the food taste like what it should by using farm-fresh ingredients and fairly simple recipes.”

“I definitely see pumpkin and apple pies going out the door, as they’re now giving way to pumpkin or bananas foster cheesecakes. Nobody wants to stray too far from the norm, but a twist on the old favorites is a good thing. For instance, lamb racks are replacing turkey, which also goes with cranberry sauce. And those green bean casseroles are over with, as more baby root vegetables are showing up on menus and in people’s homes.”

“I think a lot of people are returning to the comfort foods they had on their tables while growing up. What I’ll be cooking at home reverts back to the fond memories of my childhood in the South – things like cornbread pudding with creamed corn, which we also have at the restaurant. And whole cranberries with pecans and orange zest for our relish, as well as chow chow, a sweet-and-hot relish popular in the South that’s made with pickles, peppers and chilies. Also, my partner, Karen, and I are trying a deep-fried turkey over Christmas for something new and different.”

“Right now we’re looking at a lot of champagnes for the holidays, some lovely rose-colored ones that go particularly well with baked salmon or turkey. The recently released 1996 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is especially good for social gatherings. And we’re encouraging people not to forget their dessert wines, such as Saint-Croix du Mont and Inspiration by Villiera, a late harvest South African dessert wine. Zinfandels and meritage reds are also popular to pair with your holiday dinner courses, although I always prefer a white wine to start the dinner, such as a pinot noir.”

“Aside from the traditional foods like glazed ham, turkey and pot roast, people are asking for a lot of non-traditional dishes that weren’t so common in the past, such as Creole gumbo with spiced sausage, and heavy things like stuffed pork loin. One of the side dishes that I personally like, and also put on the menu, is sweet mashed potatoes with maple syrup, butter and a little bit of heavy cream. It isn’t traditional, but it’s very tasty. Also, portabella mushrooms or grilled zucchini seasoned with Italian herbs are getting real popular in holiday meals.”

“I’ve noticed that people are going more for rustic, comfort-food dishes such as slow-roasted pork rack with cheddar potato croquet or lobster mac-and-cheese, which are new items on our menu this holiday season. But the turkeys and hams are always in, too, and I don’t feel they’ll ever go out of style. For me, I do a traditional Thanksgiving meal for Christmas because I’m always working on Thanksgiving Day. But I add a non-traditional appetizer to the meal, which is prosciutto-and-asparagus-wrapped grilled shrimp with a champagne butter sauce. My friends and family always request it.”

“I think a lot of us are creating new dishes from the basics and then coming up with new variations of them. I’m doing that this year without getting too eccentric. For stuffing, we’re using cornbread, chestnuts, linguica sausage and caramelized apples. Also, we’re taking leg of lamb and marinating it in an Argentinean spice rub called chimichurri. Home cooks can rub it on their meat and roast it off the next day at a high temperature. It’s okay to venture out and implement new ingredients while still sticking to what fits your tradition.”