Food brings people together, and there are few times that is more true than celebrations and holidays such as Christmas.
That's definitely the case for Lindsey Vonn and P.K. Subban and their loved ones. With the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing changing countless people's holiday plans, Christmas and the holiday season are a good time to reflect on precious traditions and happy memories, even if the festive seasons looks a little different this year.
HELLO! Canada spoke with the Olympian and four-time World Cup championship skier and the Norris Trophy-winning NHL defenceman about their plans for the holidays, their favourite food memories and more.
HELLO! Canada: What are your holiday plans?
Lindsey: We're planning to spend Christmas together. Still undetermined where that will be exactly.
P.K.: [Laughs]
Lindsey: – Because we're waiting to see when P.K.'s season will start. I'm currently in Utah and P.K's up in Canada, so we're not together right now, so we'll figure out where we're gonna be for Christmas, and hopefully he gets going, and we'll be in Jersey for awhile. We're looking forward to spending the holidays together.
Whether a virtual or a "typical" holiday gathering, how do you normally incorporate food into your celebrations?
Lindsey: I will say that just as far as holiday celebrations go, I left the tree up from last year so –
P.K.: – Yup, we're a festive couple!
Lindsey: It looked really good in the living room, so I was like, "Why don't we just leave it here the whole year?" But I think this year, you know, we've obviously spent a lot of time together with COVID, so... and we had Thanksgiving together, which was amazing. I think this year, we'll probably play it a little bit low-key. Usually, I make a turkey.
One thing I've actually been making a lot lately – it's actually my sister's recipe – but I’ve been making a lot of chilli with Beyond Meat.
For me, I actually hate the cold. I'm from Minnesota originally, and I always need soups. I'm a big soup person when I come in from the cold. I need something to thaw me out.
P.K.: Snuggling. Snuggling helps.
Lindsey: And snuggling. Soup and snuggling, the two S's that are very important.
P.K.: [Nods in agreement] Yup.
Having fun in the kitchen! Photo: © Beyond Meat
When it comes to the holidays and cooking, do you have designated roles in the kitchen?
P.K.: [Raises hand] I’ll answer that. Lindsey is by far the best cook in the house. There's no question and I love when holiday time comes because she gets really excited to get into the kitchen. She's always about bringing people together. She loves to have family around, she loves to have her friends. She wants to make sure that everyone is happy, everyone feels loved, everyone is in the mood. So, I love this time of year because she goes all out.
I know that for Christmas – we spoke briefly about it – I think we're trying to figure out where we're going to be first, but there's no question I told Lindsey, on the menu has to be Beyond Sausage, without a question, it has to be on the menu somewhere. I don't care how we use it – I'll eat them straight up if I have to. We can make it into a sauce, put it in the chilli, put it in wherever. I want my Beyond Sausages this Christmas.
Is there a particular one that's your favourite?
P.K.: Spicy.
Lindsey: Or the Breakfast Sausages. I like the Breakfast Sausages. They’re really good.
P.K.: [Nods] The breakfast sausages.
Lindsey: As much as P.K. is giving me a lot of credit – and I'll totally take it – I am actually better at breakfasts. Breakfast is kinda my thing. Eggs and Beyond Sausage and toast. I also do make a mean French toast. I don’t know if P.K. has experienced my French toast –
P.K.: – Never have.
Lindsey: – Pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes. I'm pretty good at breakfast, but I think, you know, but for me, Thanksgiving is my number one holiday. And Christmas is a little bit different. I am getting going to lean on P.K. a bit more for Christmas. But, I think food is something that always brings our families together.
When I was racing, it was always difficult because I was never home for Christmas, so Thanksgiving was kind of always the time that we had together. The holidays are always important, like I said. Again, I think food brings us all together and P.K. eats a lot of it.
P.K.: [Smiles and nods]
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Do you have a memory of a time where food brought everyone together and it was lovely?
Lindsey: Pretty much every Thanksgiving that I've ever had. Honestly.
P.K.: Yeah.
Lindsey: Especially this year, I think we made enough food for about 25 people and I think we had eight, or six. Also, I just think we had to show up my brother because normally my brother is there for Thanksgiving. And unfortunately, my dad wasn't there either because of COVID. And of course, I had to show him up, so I made this extravagant meal with my two sisters, but I think that having meals as a family, I always remembered those two going hand in hand. There's always a good memory and a good connotation that I get from having these big meals over the holidays with family.
Do you have a favourite dish you like to cook? And do you have a favourite dish of each other's, if you had to choose?
P.K.: When I was playing in Nashville, and Lindsey was injured, she had come to do all of her rehab in Nashville.
Lindsey: But for Christmas, for the holidays.
P.K.: I'm just thinking that for Christmas, I could go back to my standard stir fry and try it with Beyond Meat Sausages – we haven't done that yet.
Lindsey: That's a good one.
P.K.: Because I do make a really good stir fry and Lindsey loved that stir fry I used to make. Remember?
Lindsey: That was very good.
P.K.: Exactly. But for Christmas, an addition I always like to make because pregame meal is always my favourite meal of the day, and I usually have pasta, and stuff, and my mom used to make it for me all the time. She would make me pasta, but she would put real sausages in it. So, I'm going back to the sausages we spoke about earlier. I want to put those Beyond Sausages into it. But, I don't know if Lindsey wants pasta for Christmas so….
Lindsey: I would much prefer chilli, I think that's really – again I don't like the cold, so I'll kinda refer back to that. Throughout all of winter, I refer back to the fact I'm always cold so anything that will warm me up is like what I want to do.
But, I will say that the one thing I always loved making in addition to chilli, with Beyond Meat, is my mom’s corn soufflé. My mom makes a mean corn soufflé. It's her family's recipe and it's really easy and it's like the best thing ever. It will go with anything. Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever it is. Corn soufflé.
P.K.: It’s so good that it doesn't make sense.
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