Happy 2025!!! I hope everyone is relieved, with hearts still full from holidays with loved ones. January is an intense time - the start of the year often heralds things that are quite complex. This is part of why I am not a fan of New Year's Resolutions. I think that part of the reason they fail so often is that they are taken up during this complex time. It is no good to start anew on New Year's Day, when things are closed and everyone is hungover and tired. This is why I am instead doing “Easy January,” in which I do nothing but rest and think about what I would like to change. This allows me to start the year on a calm and thoughtful note, instead of being vigorously active, but with a high chance of failure.
The other part of why I am anti-New Year's Resolutions is that December is a high stress time, and there needs to be recovery for that, both mentally and physically. I thought that this would be an easy December for me because I did not go home for the holidays, but I had a lot of work and too much food to eat. I didn’t want to feel the pressure of January first; instead, I wanted to be able to spend time searching, looking inward, and finding equilibrium before starting to change things. Obviously, it hasn’t been a full month, but I already feel rested and relaxed, and instead of lazing around, I have been exercising a lot, cooking a lot, and writing more than usual. My brain is functioning at a higher level - I feel inspired and excited about the potential of the year. I know what I would like to change, but I am doing it gently, with infinite grace.
I had a New Years party that I took exactly zero pictures of, but I had a lovely time. Before a party, or really any event, I feel stress that warrants a flood of activity. The party on New Years involved standing for an hour frying a large batch of latkes, which I did well in advance. Latkes are always at their best 1-2 minutes after being fried, but the inevitable sog of keeping them warm in the oven was mild and worth the time I gave myself for two reasons - I was able to air out the apartment so it didn’t reek of frying oil right before guests arrived, and I was able to give myself a lot of time for showering and getting ready so that I would smell of vetiver, lemons, pine, and eucalyptus instead of frying oil.
When my mom was in school and they still taught the girls home economics, she was given advice that became an often repeated joke as I grew up: “If your husband is almost home and dinner isn’t ready yet, start sauteing onions.” The delicious smell of cooking onions was promised to ameliorate your husband’s anger at not finding dinner already on the table at his arrival. As a generous gift before they were married, my father bought my mother a Le Creuset set. This made her furious, as she believed it was less of a gift and more of a command that she cook him dinner every night, forever. This fight always makes me laugh; it's a beautiful gift, but with an implicit chain, but in fact, my mom always cooked dinner, and still does.
Here are some things that I love lately:
Cooking ripped oyster mushrooms in coconut oil, and finishing with soy sauce for adding to salads.
This NYT Chicken Shawarma Recipe that once started a grease fire in my friend Emma’s oven.
Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, which I just finished and am in awe of. I had heard of them for years, but for some reason feel often dismissive of “new” novels. I regret that it took me so long to pick them up, but maybe these things find you at the perfect time.
My Pearl Necklace
Black Honey as my only makeup
Mittens! These were knit by an artisan in Estonia and though a bit childlike, they do keep your hands warmer than gloves, with the added bonus that you have to put a bit more thought into pulling out your phone.
My Commonplace Book - I have started keeping a notebook close to me at all times. I think that annotating a book is disrespectful, but once you have stopped your reading flow, it is more difficult to find the part that moved you. I also often have ideas while I am out walkin, and forget most of the details if they aren’t written down immediately.
Ambient music for doing work - My boyfriend swears by Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, and I will usually listen to Brian Eno on Youtube in my big headphones while I type.
Food52 for recipes - This feels like the only recipe site that doesn’t inundate you with enough ads that it makes the recipes unusable.
Zevia - I like the Ginger Root Beer the best, but all of them (except Cherry Cola) are good.
The New Yorker Crossword - the archive is free online and they are really fun.
I recently switched to bar soap on the bathroom sink after being a long time purchaser of the Aesop bottles. My favorite right now is this Swedish Sea Salt Soap.
I am continuing my month of rest and relaxation and encourage everyone to allow January to be a time for being gentle on yourself, as it is so often harsh. I currently have dried chiles soaking for Chili Colorado. I am going to make a cherry pie this weekend to honor David Lynch, and next week have a layer cake to make for a very important birthday party. It will be vanilla hurry up cake with raspberry preserves, creme anglaise, and lemon swiss meringue buttercream. I want to buy an asparagus fern, ideally quite big and very fluffy. I want to start learning to play chess, and make my 2025 resolutions concrete. I like to move in silence though. My heart is with Los Angeles during this time. I leave you with this Rebecca West quote and I will post a recipe next week. :)
“Only part of us is sane: only part of us loves pleasure and the longer day of happiness, wants to live to our nineties and die in peace, in a house that we built, that shall shelter those who come after us. The other half of us is nearly mad. It prefers the disagreeable to the agreeable, loves pain and its darker night despair, and wants to die in a catastrophe that will set back life to its beginnings and leave nothing of our house save its blackened foundations.”