gives me a big hug and holds on tight. Make your own list—and then be sure to indulge regularly
JANUARY 2
BASIC WHITE BREAD
Nothing beats the smell of bread baking. It creates such a feeling of home!
1¼ cups low-fat milk, scalded
1½ tablespoons honey
1¼ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons canola, corn, or safflower oil, plus a bit more
1¼ ounce package dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (105-115°)
3½ cups unbleached flour, approximately
Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Stir and let cool to lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and add to milk mixture. Add flour to the mixture, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough. Mix well after each addition. Turn onto lightly floured board and kneed until smooth and elastic. Grease a large bowl and add dough, turning to grease top. Cover with damp towel. Let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Punch down and let rest until it’s doubled again. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape into loaf and place in a greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch bread pan. Brush top with oil. Cover and let rise until it doubles in size. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake loaf until done, about 40 minutes. It should be brown on top and sound hollow when struck. Makes one loaf.
JANUARY 3
FRAYED-NERVES BATH
7 drops lavender essential oil
2 drops sweet marjoram essential oil
3 drops ylang-ylang essential oil
Fill tub with warm water, and then add oils. Swish the oils around in the water to evenly disperse them, then submerge yourself.
JANUARY 4
MAPLE CANDY
Heavy snowfalls are blessings for people who love maple candy The good news is that you don’t need an acre of sugar maples and a bucket of sap to make it: a bottle of maple syrup will do just fine.
½ cup maple syrup
1 baking pan full of packed, clean snow
Leave the pan of snow outside or in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Then heat the maple syrup in a pot to 270° (check with a candy thermometer). Carefully dribble the hot syrup in small patches over the snow. Each one of these patches will magically turn to maple candy. Yum!
JANUARY 5
PAINT WITH PASSION
Are you looking for an inexpensive way to jazz up your house? Add character to a room by painting the trim an unconventional color. If you are so inspired, consider the following: 1) Stay away from trendy colors—you’re going to be living with them probably for a long time. And you might just want something different from what everyone else has. 2) Don’t be afraid to mess up—you can always paint over it. 3) Think about the surrounding accent colors—will they mesh with the new color you’ve chosen?
JANUARY 6
CACTUS GARDEN
This makes a perfect gift for those who want plants but kill them by not watering them. Find a low ceramic pot or bowl and plant a few different varieties of cactus. You might want to add a pretty rock or dried flowers for color (red celosia is a wonderful choice). Handling a cactus doesn’t have to be painful if you wrap a towel around it several times and use the towel like a noose to lift it out of the old pot and into the new. Rather than using your fingers, use a spoon to pack dirt around roots.
JANUARY 7
PERSONALIZED REFRIGERATOR MAGNETS
Can you ever have enough kitchen magnets? With all the stuff I tack up on my fridge, I certainly can’t. Here’s an easy way to make your own (and they’re great gifts for Grandma that kids can make by themselves.) Save the metal lids from frozen drink cans. Find some favorite photos that will fit on the lids, and have color copies made of them. Cut the copies to fit, and using white glue or spray glue, affix the pictures to the lids, smoothing out any bubbles or wrinkles with your fingers. Glue a thin piece of ribbing around the edge and a magnet on the back. Presto!
JANUARY 8
CRANBERRY VINEGAR
You’ve heard of raspberry vinegar, but what about cranberry? It’s great for using on salads and chicken dishes. Wash and pick over the cranberries and dry well on paper towels. Use 1 cup of fresh cranberries per quart of vinegar. Pack the cranberries into clean bottles or jars with lids or corks and fill with white wine vinegar that has been heated just to the boiling point. Cork or cap the bottles. Stand the jars on a sunny windowsill for about two weeks (four weeks if it’s not very sunny). The warmth of the sun will infuse the vinegar with the cranberry flavor. Do a taste test; if the vinegar doesn’t seem flavorful enough, strain it and add more cranberries. When it suits you, label and decorate the jars with a beautiful ribbon. Store at room temperature.
JANUARY 9
INDOOR GARDENS
In the winter when my garden is dry and bare, nothing gives me more pleasure than to visit the local garden shop, where it always feels like sweet, balmy summer. I wander through the rows of brightly colored flowers and richly hued shiny leaves, and the aroma of blossoms and sweet rich earth make me forget, for a time, the gloom and doom outside. The plants and flowers are completely oblivious to the weather outside, and their verdant outbursts of energy restore mine. I take an inordinate amount of time picking out some ridiculously expensive and riotously colored plant that just screams warm weather, which I take home and place on my windowsill or bedside table in a beautiful basket or brightly colored cachepot. I kind of have a “brown thumb,” so my plants never last long, but I almost prefer that; it gives me a chance to go to the garden shop again that much sooner!
JANUARY 10
BRAENDENDE KAELIGHTED
This is Danish comfort food, designed to dispel the gloom of winter. Its name means “burning love.” Fat phobies, beware!
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
8 to 10 slices bacon, chopped
3 onions, chopped
½ stick butter
½ pint cream (can substitute milk or low-fat milk)
salt, pepper, and nutmeg
