This weekend reading post is arriving a little late. But does it really matter in this period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when nobody can say which day of the week it is?
There have been years when the fuzziness of this week felt murky and disorienting. This year, it feels delightful.
I always say that I want to embrace the twelve days of Christmas in their entirety, from December 25th through January 6th.
Yet I usually succumb to a more conventional, contemporary timeline. I try and fail to squeeze in all of my festivities by December 25th.
This year, I let the arbitrary holiday deadlines drop away. There was really no other choice, as it was a busy month.
But how nice it has been to celebrate Christmas on my own terms.
My mom and I spent Christmas Eve together, as we usually do, and we had an annual Christmas Day lunch with friends. I’ve kept the holiday spirit strong since then, in ways that are subtle but important to me.
I’ve kept listening to Christmas Carols as I organize my space and catch up on computer work at home.
On Boxing Day, I wrapped gifts for my best friend and her family. The following day, I went upstate to spend some nights with them.
There was still snow on the ground when I arrived, and the Christmas decorations were still up.
A single, illuminated wreath hung on the barn door when I arrived; it was such a simple decoration, but its imprint of light in the night sky was beautiful.
Once I got there, I opened presents with Chloe’s kids. Their excitement certainly hadn’t been bounded by arbitrary calendar dates. We had a nice supper together, then the adults stayed up for a while to catch up and make merry.
Yesterday, we went into Hudson, NY, where small yellow lights were still strung up everywhere and garlands wrapped around lamp poles.
The stores were still selling ornaments and other holiday trinkets, some discounted, yet still shiny and bright.
Now I’m home. My pine-scented holiday candle is still burning, the streaming services are still promoting holiday movies, and tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, which is also worth celebrating.
I’m not ready to let the warm, twinkly energy of this time of year go. Work will be ramping up again later this week, but who knows how long my observation of Christmas will last?
I guess it’s up to me.
Happy Monday, friends. Here are some recipes and reads.
1. I’m excited to make this super simple squash toast recipe with vegan butter.
2. I love citrus-driven salads for the deep winter months. This orange, arugula, and avocado salad looks so good.
3. For all of the many overnight oat recipes that I’ve whipped up, I haven’t yet made a version with cherries.
4. My mom loves puréed soups, and I’ve been making more of them for her lately. She’ll love this creamy squash soup with herbes de Provençe.
5. I might have to whip up some of these pecan pie truffles as a late treat for NYE.
1. I liked reading the nine stories that gave NPR staffers joy in 2024.
2. Being a meal prep enthusiast means that I’m also a huge proponent of freezing. I love this quick look at how regular use of the freezer can reduce food waste and promote food safety at home.
3. Years ago, when I was a premedical post-bacc student, I worked in a GI practice that almost exclusively treated IBD. That was my first introduction to TPN, or total parenteral nutrition, in which nutrients are supplied to a person intravenously, bypassing the gut entirely. Several years later, I’d get firsthand experience with TPN during my dietetic internship. I still encounter it periodically in my client population.
I thought that Andrew Chapman’s essay on longing for the experience of eating while on TPN (for Crohn’s disease) was fascinating and hard to read. I hope that oral intake will become a steady reality for him.
4. I loved reading Saveur Magazine’s profile of Jody Eddy’s new book, Elysian Kitchens, which describes the role of food and cooking in eleven sacred spaces around the world.
5. While there are real, imminent threats to healthcare, health research, and health literacy, 2024 was a year that saw positive breakthroughs in mental health. This article highlights them, along with a few other standout advances from the past year.
In kitchen dispatches this week, I made my tandoori spiced sweet potatoes and chickpeas on Friday for dinner. So good, and not a big lift in terms of effort. The tahini lime drizzle is next level.
I’m planning to make a batch of the seitan sausages from The Vegan Week in the coming days.
And I’ve got a beans & greens recipe to share with you later this week—not black eyed peas and collards, but I’ll call it a good luck dish for the new year, anyway.
On that note, 2024 was a challenging year for me, and it brought a lot of hardship to the world.
At the same time, I felt myself grow stronger and more resolved, especially in these past several months. I’m grateful for the fortitude and determination that I found myself capable of, and I’m hopeful about the twelve months ahead.
As I always write before one year gives way to another, may all beings living be happy and free!
xo
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