Welcome to the holiday season!

Grub:

• Restaurants:
  • First he swooped in to help those in Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria.  Now he’s serving food to those affected by the wildfires in California.  José Andrés is a model citizen, and I will definitely place his restaurants high on my list (not that they weren’t there already).
  • I’m digging this concept of “fast-fine dining”.  I can think of a couple restaurants in NYC that operate this (Made Nice comes to mind) and I think it’s a great hybrid.  There’s no need to sacrifice chill guide (and your whole paycheck) to enjoy nicer food.
• Cooking:
  • I’m looking forward to trying this 20-minute, no bacon, heavy-on-the-greens carbonara.  It’s still pasta, so it’s not necessarily healthy, but it seems much better for you than the standard recipe.  Served as the side dish to a simple protein like salmon and we’re in business!
  • I first saw this dessert hummus on an episode of Shark Tank and need to try it asap.  I love that the company offers ideas on how to serve it up.
  • I recently discovered how easy and great it is to make skillet pizza (see here and here) and can’t wait to try out some of these fun pizza combos.

Gazing down a Brooklyn street

Food for Thought:

• If you’re looking for a gift for your favorite bookworm, this eyeglass necklace is an adorable, subtle nod to her love of reading.
• Yes, I’m a fan of YA.  I don’t read all of it, but a great YA book is a great book, period.  This roundup of The 17 Best YA Novels of 2017 is great because the books look awesome, but also because it shows how diversity is – and needs to be – front and center.

A very fun tree in the Oculus

Bits and Bites:

• We don’t really have room to do much decorating this holiday season, but I intend to try this out next year.  For an interfaith household, like ours, it can be nice to decorate in a way that’s purely festive rather than denominational.  Even if we wind up going traditional for the holidays, I still think I’ll try this decor look out for a party sometime soon.
• I’m so bummed I don’t live in LA because it means I can’t go to the Pan Am Experience.  How cool would it be to step back in time like this?!
• I love learning about Meskerem Gebreyohannes’ African spin on Chanukah.  It’s always cool to see the traditions different families uphold.

A fun way to hang lights