Welcome to Biscuits and Jam from Southern Living.

I'm Sid Evans, editor-in-chief of Southern Living magazine.

And if you've ever watched a holiday film on the Hallmark channel, you've almost certainly seen my guest today,

who's known as the Queen of Hallmark Christmas Movies. Lacey Chabair was born in the small

town of Purvis, Mississippi, and started acting at a very young age, playing Claudia

Salinger on the long-running hit show, Party of Five. In 2004, she landed the breakout role of Gretchen Weeners and Mean Girls,

which is now considered a cult classic.

But for more than a decade now,

her starring roles have increasingly been on the Hallmark Channel,

where she just wrapped up her 33rd film.

Today on the show,

Lacey talks about the holiday traditions from her

childhood, her father's Cajun cooking, the cornbread dressing recipe that brings her back to her

grandmother's kitchen, and how she takes elf on the shelf to a whole other level. Plus, Lacey shares

her favorite Christmas albums and talks about her latest film, a comedy called Hall Out the Holly.

All that and more this week on Biscuits and Jam.

Well, Lacey Shabair, welcome to Biscuits and Jam.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here.

So I want to start out by asking you about your last name, which is so cool. What's the story behind that?

That is from my daddy, and he is Cajun French. He's from Louisiana, grew up in the bayou. And I was born in Hattisburg, Mississippi. He met my mom in

Mississippi. They met in high school. He was the quarterback and my mom was the high school cheerleader

and also the yearbook photographer. So we have all of these amazing pictures of my dad running on the

...