Ready or not, here they come… (yup, now I have this song stuck in my head…). But really, Christmas week is here, and I hope that among all the long to-do lists, you make time to care for yourself as well. The holidays are often stressful for various reasons, and especially these days we need to practice caring for ourselves just as much as we do it for others.

I truly hope you’re enjoying this season [safely]. If you need help with that, holiday movies never fail to put me in a good mood, and, of course, there’s Christmas music (I love listening to this online radio that plays music from all around the world). Also, you can reference this simple list I put together last year with ideas on how to enjoy the holidays.

For us, our Christmas Day will still look very much the same as our last (we’ve made it our tradition), and the menu similar. I’m roasting a turkey breast with fingerling potatoes (we don’t eat pork and/or red meat) and roasted green beans. I’m also making stuffing with shitake mushrooms (it’s my favorite holiday dish), my absolute favorite garlic potatoes, and a green salad. For dessert, we will be having a “Tiramisu torte” that we bought from Trader Joe’s, and I’m debating if I’ll be making a pie, as well. As usual, the best part about the holidays for me is the leftovers. I’m looking forward to not having to cook for a few days, and instead, focus on other things, especially as the weather so far, appears to be perfect for the rest of the year here. Speaking of, for New Year’s Eve, I’ve made an all-seafood menu, and I’m very much looking forward to that — I love seafood!

This will be yet another quiet, just-the-two-of-us holiday season at home, thanks to this unrelenting pandemic.

From the bottom of my heart, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

-Em