So this is the new year
Do we feel any different?
Congratulations, you did it! Survived January! I really must learn to become a person who welcomes the new year by vacationing because wow, does it get bleak here in the Midwest. Even with the embracing of hygge, there are days where you can’t deny the misery. (I warned you about the winter humbugs.) But alas, Mother Nature has rewarded us here with sunshine since Feb. 1 and as a result my personality has changed. But not too much. I know we’ll have a return of gray and cold soon enough so let’s talk about what worked this past month: simple rituals. I was reminded of them while reading Wintering. And while you’ll read below I didn’t love the book, there was some noteworthy wisdom, mainly on how to spend winter:
It's a time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order.
Reflection: I returned to the habit of writing down three things I’m grateful for everyday. I did this for years and I don’t remember consciously deciding not to anymore, but it was a habit I lost track of in 2023.
Recuperation: Giving myself permission to not feel guilty about sleeping later. (It’s okay if you find that super annoying, I recognize this is an immense privilege).
Replenishment: I share below that I cooked a lot of old favorite recipes, and one of my favorite winter rituals is making a big pot of overnight oats for the week on Sunday night. It’s weirdly soothing and cozy to replenish my supply each week and try different variations.
Putting your house in order: I’m still working my way through the January Cure list (putting off cleaning the oven as I type) but tasks like giving the floors a deep clean and a top to bottom pass of the fridge and freezer does make me feel better —a bit of a clean slate.
Answers in the pages
Purple Hibiscus
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s debut caught my eye at the library back in November as the only book of hers I hadn’t read. It was a slow one, with abuse and tragedy, and I stepped away from it in December before picking up and finishing this month. Overall, it’s a coming-of-age story through the eyes of a teenage girl learning her privileged upbringing is not all what it seems to be, or should be —questioning family, religion and what it means to be “good.” The ending was marked with an event that triggers significant character growth but much of that is not seen and I would have liked spending more time with the characters in the aftermath.
literary fiction / read if you’ve been meaning to read Adichie’s work /
The Rachel Incident
For me, storytelling magic happens when you share tales of friendship love. The characters finding each other, figuring out life, creating their own language, it’s not something we often focus on (but absolutely should). The writing was sharp, dry, in other words, right up my alley. Several lines have been playing on repeat in my head. Also right up my alley, the main characters meet in a bookstore—there’s no greater setting. Taking place in Ireland, the story unfolded in a compelling way while also making me feel nostalgic for that time of messy early twenties, meeting my people, making mistakes, and pretending you’re a proper adult. (For the record, I’m still pretending.)
contemporary fiction / read if you miss your college besties / pair with wine and fancy cheese
Wintering
Katherine May has beautiful prose, her lines about snow deserved to be framed. With threads of memoir, self-help and exploration of traditions, this tried to serve too many purposes and became disjointed. It really lost me when she recalled meeting a wolf consultant…I can’t. And that was before the cold plunging.
self-help memoir / read if you’re ready to embrace winter / pair with your favorite winter ritual
Games and Rituals
This short story collection felt very rooted in pandemic times —while only one mentioned it directly, it felt familiar of those early days with themes of outgrowing relationships, trying on new personalities, grieving and caregiving responsibilities. Like in Early Morning Riser, Heiny’s wry humor shines in stories of the everyday.
short stories / read if you need a series of quirky adult bedtime stories / pair with something chicken-flavored and lemon-scented
Answers in the kitchen
I’ve been making some cold weather favorites that I have from a time before Pinterest and Instagram. Chicken noodle soup from my mom, ribollita soup from a Sur la Table cooking class years ago, a sweet potato quinoa bowl torn from a magazine, and twice using up the last of the week’s spinach with quinoa breakfast bites.
A new recipe, however, wins the prize and will become a favorite (I’m making it again this week). Alison Roman’s squash soup with lentils was incredible. With simple, adjustable ingredients I did not think this was going to be such a knockout, but wow trust me on this.
Here’s the overnight oats recipe I use and I love trying out different variations, this one was great.
I made homemade tortillas for the first time and it was surprisingly easy and tasty —I’ll be making them again.
And more: Curried chickpea spinach baked potatoes. Stir-fry. Mac and cheese upgraded.
Answers in the music
Transitioned from Sufjan Stevens Christmas music to his lovely latest album.
Jalen Ngonda: This entire album is the perfect pick-me-up whether you want to bop your head while working or do a little side step while cooking or cleaning.
This song by Matt Pond PA feels the soundtrack to making our way to spring.
Answers elsewhere
Walking it out. I had to adjust my normal walking routine with the frigid temps and subbed in some indoor walking to keep moving.
Plants make people happy. This was the second January I hosted a plant swap, it’s nice to add something new and green when it’s so gray and cold. Consider this your nudge to buy a new plant or host your own swap.
That Calvin Klein ad (aka beefcake gravitas). You know. But for weeks I somehow missed there’s a video.