SOME GOOD WORDS: A Whole Host Of Feel-Good Holiday Hits
Healthy recipes! Helpful gadgets! Hilarious games! And more!
Happy weekend, WANT fam!
We’re back with SOME GOOD WORDS: our monthly column dedicated specifically to things I love and think you’ll love too.
Since this week kicks off The Holiday Season™️ here in the States, I thought I’d throw together a big SGW post for you of all the tools, tips, and things I’ve personally used to help make my holiday seasons a bit brighter year after year. Eats, treats, gadgets, games, random thingies, the works!
Making this post paywall-free for everyone — but if you’d like to upgrade your subscription for $5/month, you’ll get all the goods ALL the time. Plus you’ll be helping WANT stay alive and ad-free!
Alright, all recs below. Let’s do this…
RECIPES
Amy’s Cranberry Bread
I have two “signature family dishes” I look forward to throughout the year: my mom’s charoset during Passover, and my mom’s cranberry bread during Thanksgiving (and beyond). And, good news for you: her recipe is a bit like Phoebe Buffay’s storied family recipe for chocolate chip cookies…
Yep, it’s the recipe on the back of the Ocean Spray cranberry bag. But wait! With twists to make it her own!! So I’ve twisted it to make it my own, too:
To satisfy sensitive my/Jeremy’s sensitive systems, I sub the flour for an all-purpose GF flour (Cup4Cup makes a great one free of all the top 9 allergens, and no need to adjust measurements) and omit the nuts.
I also am a cinnamon FIEND so I add some in to my own taste preferences.
I prefer a more savory sweetness when it comes to sugar, so for the past few years I’ve subbed coconut sugar for standard sugar and it’s been a hit. 1:1 ratio for this substitution as well.
When I make this for vegan friends, I sub the egg for a flax egg.
If you’re like me and my family, you love a more moist cranberry bread — a great way to accomplish this is simply to add more cranberries than the recipe calls for! I usually add a half to a full cup more — just be sure to keep your loaf pan’s dimensions in mind, as you’ll end up with a bulkier mix than the as-written recipe plans for. I like filling my loaf pan, then using the extra batter in muffin tins :)
Phoebe’s Delicata Squash + Arugula Salad
My friend Phoebe has a treasure trove of recipes on her website Feed Me Phoebe and in her weekly newsletters. If you’re looking for something delicious to add to your table this holiday season, she’s your gal.
I love a bigass salad. And I’m a big fan of having some kind of salad available at every holiday gathering — one that’s tasty enough to want to add to your plate, but subtle enough to not overpower the inevitable plethora of sides, sweets, etc on your table. I think of the perfect holiday salad not as a palate cleanser, but a palate ANCHOR.
This salad is my dream “palate anchor” holiday salad and so easy to throw together. This will be my fifth year making it and honestly one of the dishes I look forward to most!
Sarah’s Friendsgiving Cacao Mousse
I created my own holiday traditions for the first time in my life when I was 30. We’d just moved to NYC, so up til then, all of my holidays were spent with family. Traditions decided and predetermined, and no need to deviate. Upon moving, we were faced with two questions: Which holidays did we want to/could we travel for? And, for the holidays we didn’t travel for…what new traditions did we want to create for ourselves?
And thus began one of my favorite traditions ever: Friendsgiving Thanksgiving.
Our first Friendsgiving was hosted by our dear friend Sarah in her garden-level Brooklyn brownstone. I will never forget how special it felt to be hosted and nurtured by and amongst friends, both old and new. Sarah has since moved and Jeremy and I have continued the Friendsgiving-on-Thanksgiving tradition, now in our 9th year.
A memory I love from one of those early Sarah Friendsgivings is opening up her fridge to find the sweetest mini individual glass pots of cacao mousse for dessert. I loved that it was exactly the touch of sweetness and decadence we all craved after a hearty meal, and was perfect for our small group of about 4 people. I found a recipe online by Nisha at Rainbow Plant Life that reminds me of the memory I have of that thoughtful dessert. This recipe uses Dutch process cocoa powder, but if you prefer a less “chocolatey” taste like Sarah created, you can use raw cacao powder. If you’re hosting a smaller group and don’t want to go overboard with desserts — and want something you can make ahead of time! — this is a winner. Top with cacao nibs and raspberries for an extra fancy look :)
KITCHEN GADGETS, SERVINGTHINGS, + SPICES
This Cuisinart mini food processor for small spaces (like a NYC apartment kitchen!)
The best Everyday Seasoning that also happens to be low-FODMAP for my non garlic/onions pals!
This NordicWare harvest-themed loaf pan I’ve used every year for my mom’s cranberry bread recipe…which I now see comes with a cleaning tool I wish I’d known about way sooner than this very second…
This or ANY spice set from Ottolenghi — Jeremy and I recently visited London, and as a LONG-time Ottolenghi fan (#throwback to my days in early-2010s wellness lifestyle editorial) a spice set from their shop was a must-bring-home!
Vintage crystal bowls and ceramics for appetizers! I have a couple old crystal bowl from my parents (maybe grandparents?) that I use for things like nuts, crackers, wasabi peas (I LOVE WASABI PEAS), etc and it instantly adds both an elevated look and a little quirk to the appetizer table. I also love using a couple gorgeous and vibrant ceramic coffee cups we got on our honeymoon. Get yours at your local thrift store, flea market, eBay or Etsy — OR, ask yourself: what random nice things do I have that I never use? I bet you have at least one or two. Then USE THEM! Don’t worry about matching perfectly. Go off feel and create a mix that feels fun and YOU.
GAMES THAT DON’T SUCK
FRIENDS Trivia Quiz Game if you’re superfans like Jeremy and I are
Awkward Family Photos if you want an easy way to be the funniest person in your group (without having to actually think of the jokes yourself)
Business Walrus if you’re like us and your whole household/friend group is in some kind of strategy-based/entrepreneurship-type line of work
MONIKERS for a game similar to Fishbowl or Celebrity, but with extra rounds
We’re Not Really Strangers aka what my friend Michael refers to as “Who Cries First” if you don’t like games and would rather just have deep conversations
STUFF TO STAY HEALTHY
LMNT Chocolate Salt Electrolytes JUST TRUST ME pour 1/3-1/2 a packet into your morning coffee (latte, black, whatever!) for an elecrolyte boost
Manuka Honey x Peppermint Drops for when your winter cough won’t let up
FODZYME Enzyme Packets can you tell we’re a household of sensitive tummies?
MyPuremist Cordless Steamer I got this when I was preparing for my first cabaret last year and it has been a game changer — not just for my singing, but for my allergies and during cold season
Erewhon Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer the best smelling hand sanitizer imo!
HEALTH INSURANCE! Ok this is the one. Remember that Open Enrollment in the US ends on December 15th. Please make sure you’re covered now, and get on the phone with an advisor in your state if it all feels confusing (I found a number to call on the NY marketplace site, for example). I’m also looking to schedule as many of my appointments, vaccination updates, lab work, etc before the end of January as possible, given the uncertain future of healthcare here. Encourage your family members to as well, especially if there are children in your family who will need accurate family medical history records in their charts as the continue to grow and develop. (this includes mental health evaluations, as many mental health conditions such as ADHD, OCD, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, etc are either proven or thought to be genetic. oh how i WISH i’d had my family’s mental health history growing up, and how i WISH i had more than i have currently, which is very little. knowledge is power! be the change! be the accurate health records your kid or niece or nephew or grandchild will be so glad they have!)
~
That’s it for this week. I cannot believe we’re wrapping up the year. I wish you so much ease in these final few weeks of 2024. We’ll talk soon — this isn’t the last you’re hearing from me before the year is up — but wanted to send this wish of nourishing energy out to you before things feel like they’re full-speed-ahead.
Loving you tons this holiday season and beyond,
That salad!! Cranberry bread sounds really good too, except I have a (probably) weird question. Do the cranberries end up gooey like in cranberry sauce? Not sure if I’ve even tried it, but that stuff just looks gross to me…likely due to the texture. It seems like they wouldn’t end up all mushy since you use dried/frozen, but you never know?