Holiday Helpers!

what to cook, watch, read, family travel advice...and the best eggnog ever!

Hello, it’s…Saturday! I’m deviating from my usual Friday newsletter because this is the time of year when I happily lose track of what day it is…

The next few days will be busy around here: we’ll bustle around running errands, finishing our gift-wrapping, and dressing up to celebrate Christmas with friends – and then we’ll stop! After that, I’m looking forward to a quiet week at home, getting lots of sleep, reading and watching TV by a roaring fire, cooking up a delicious feast or two, going for walks, and if I’m lucky, getting to the movie theater.     

What do you have planned? For this nearly-Christmas edition of Some Happy Scribbles, I’ve put together a (hopefully helpful) guide of pre-and-post holiday ideas: tips for families who are traveling, a fancy meal to make, and, of course, lots of good things to read and watch.

I’d love to know how you’re celebrating – and relaxing – over the coming days, especially when it comes to what you’re planning to cook, watch, and read – let me know in the comments below!

With lots of love, Amelia

Caro Chambers' festive dinner; Eggnog!

🍽️ What to Cook

Are you in charge of cooking a special meal and fantasizing about a menu that’s delicious, easy, and low-stress?

Look no further than

Caroline Chambers

detailed guide to making a festive dinner, which she describes as “for when you want to show off, but not have a panic attack!” including a grocery list and ideas for setting the table.

One of our beloved Christmas traditions is whipping up a batch of eggnog, using Jim’s great-grandfather’s recipe: you can have it “spiked” or alcohol-free, and in my opinion, unspiked is best. Try it and see what you think!

Some notes: we use an electric mixer for all the beating. Serve in small amounts! This batch will provide about 15-20 adults with small cups. We usually split one batch in two - with half spiked and half unspiked. Keep in the fridge! A sprinkle of nutmeg on top of each serving is nice.

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🎧 What to Listen To

At this time of year, I find there’s a very fine line between happily singing along to my favorite seasonal songs and the moment when one more rendition of All I Want For Christmas Is You or A Holly Jolly Christmas can tip me over the edge from festive to feral.

And so, when I’m pottering around the house, wrapping gifts, or cooking, I like to alternate my playlists, between full-on holiday mixes like this one or this one, followed by palate-cleansing, but still feel-good mixes, like this or this. And when people are coming over, this is one of my favorites.

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✈️ Family Travel Advice

If you happen to be traveling internationally with kids over this holiday break,

Claire Zulkey

has excellent advice on how to get the most out of it, including this gem: “Make plans ahead of time to do things without your kids/family when you return.”

Similarly, one of my top family travel tips is to have a yummy, easy meal waiting in the fridge or freezer for your first night back at home.

Oh, and Claire and I both recommend the same travel essential: Poo Pourri spray to help clear the air when sharing bathrooms…

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Rose Byrne & Seth Rogen in Platonic

📺 What to Watch

If you, like me, are planning some serious TV time over the next week, here are some ideas! Below I’ve listed some of my favorite shows from this year, plus here’s a list of festive TV sitcom episodes, and if you’re looking for a movie to watch, you’ll find my favorites here, sorted by mood, including Cozy…

Platonic: starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne may have been my favorite comedy of 2023. Byrne plays a married mother who gave up her legal career and has mixed feelings about it, while Rogen’s character is newly divorced and struggling to reconcile his youthful yearning to be hip with the reality of being in his 40’s. The two of them get into increasingly ridiculous situations as they grapple with the challenges of middle age, relationships, and work…

Love and Death: this limited series starring Elizabeth Olsen is the true story of Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife who evaded punishment for brutally murdering another woman with an axe. It sounds unbelievable because it is - but it really happened. The first few episodes are a little slow, as the scene is set, but the show becomes gripping after Candy is charged with murder and her trial gets underway. How on earth did a jury find her not guilty? is the question at the heart of the show. If you enjoy this and want more, watch Jessica Biel in Candy, another dramatization of the story.

Slow Horses: there are now three seasons of this darkly funny, and addictive British spy series, starring Gary Oldman as the alcoholic, curmudgeonly (yet brilliant) boss of a bunch of low-performing British MI5 agents, sparring with Kristin Scott-Thomas, his sometime-accomplice/sometime-nemesis…

A Murder At The End of the World: A gathering of the world’s elite at the secluded retreat of a mysterious and powerful tech billionaire is the primary setting for this Agatha Christie-inspired limited series. Emma Corrin plays the lead character, Darby, a Gen Z hacker and accomplished amateur sleuth, who’s initially out of place but soon immersed in catching a killer. My favorite part of the show is the secondary storyline which is revealed in flashbacks: it begins during Darby’s lonely adolescence and follows her dogged pursuit of a serial killer.

Beckham: This four-part documentary about David Beckham’s life and career is truly fascinating, particularly because I’ve been aware of him for my entire adult life, and I thought I already knew everything there was to know about his soccer career and marriage to former Posh Spice, Victoria. Both Beckhams come across as honest and down-to-earth, and I was transfixed by the footage of the early days of their relationship in the 90s: the hair, the clothes, the insane media attention. Another highlight: the interviews with Beckham’s parents, especially his father, whose passion for football and intense focus on training his son undoubtedly led to David’s extraordinary success on the field.

The Crowded Room: is a psychological thriller/crime drama starring Amanda Seyfried as a psychiatrist trying to unravel who was responsible for a violent crime on the streets of 1970s New York City. This limited series starts slow, but becomes gripping as Seyfried delves into the background and psyche of Tom Holland’s character…

All Creatures Great and Small: based on a series of memoirs about the life and times of a country vet in 1930s England, this television show feels like a warm hug and the Christmas episode at the end of Season Two is truly adorable.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: while I desperately miss the clever, wickedly talented, and hilarious Midge, the final season of this gorgeously costumed and filmed show was a satisfying end to her story.

Hijack: brace yourself for suspense and drama as Idris Elba races against the clock and a team of terrorists, to save a full flight of passengers from an untimely end…

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What to Read

Below you’ll find some of the books I most enjoyed reading this year, but if you, like many people at this time of year, are exhausted, distracted, and short of attention span,

Pandora Sykes

has a number of delightful recommendations for exactly this scenario, which she calls “dip in ‘n out books, that you can put up and put down ad infinitum.” 

📖 Novels

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld is a clever, funny, and heartwarming novel set at a SNL-inspired TV show which tells the story of a cynical writer who falls in love with a famous (and wildly handsome) musician.

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai, is a boarding school whodunnit, set now and in the 90’s, that poses questions about privilege, secrets, power, and race. My 17-year-old daughter loved it too.

Trust by Hernan Diaz is an engrossing Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about American capitalism, privilege, greed, and the myths and stories we tell about ourselves and others. I was initially hesitant to read this book, intimidated by its lofty accolades, and was been pleased (and relieved) to find that while thought-provoking, it’s both accessible and gripping.

Tom Lake is Ann Patchett’s latest novel. The story takes place on a cherry farm in Michigan, in 2020, where three grown-up daughters have returned to shelter with their parents during the pandemic. The real story takes place in the past: when Lara, the mother, had a youthful relationship with a very famous (and handsome) movie star. The daughters are fascinated with the romance and drama of their mother’s life before they were in it, and I am too. If you listen to your books, you’re in for a treat: Meryl Streep narrates the audiobook!

My Murder by Katie Williams: I read this addictive novel on the recommendation of the What To Read If newsletter, based on this description: “It’s narrated by Louise, a wife, mother, professional hugger and — in case that wasn’t weird enough — clone of a woman murdered by a serial killer…It’s darkly funny, wildly original and tightly plotted. But it also raises real questions about the ethics of cloning and offers sharp commentary on contemporary motherhood.”

📖 Nonfiction

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall: written by Bloomberg investigative reporter, Zeke Faux, this is an excellent (and at times hilarious) explainer of what cryptocurrencies are, how the blockchain works, what a crypto exchange does, plus an accounting of the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and his company, FTX. Faux, who is equal parts skeptical and curious about crypto, spent two years meeting with crypto bros, billionaires, and everyday people caught up in the frenzy, to get to the bottom of a question that nagged at him: is crypto simply a massive Ponzi scheme?

A Heart That Works: comedian and actor, Rob Delaney’s, memoir about the life and death of his toddler son, is honest and raw and impossible to put down. You will hug your loved ones after reading this.

Finally, for some cozy, comfy outfit inspo, here’s a helpful guide to elevated lounge pants (don’t call them sweatpants) which I personally think are perfect as travel clothes, too… As

Becky Malinsky

says,

“Sure, we all have our favorite throw on t-shirt and beat up lounge pants we wear when we get home from a long day…that will never see the outside world. But what to wear…when you might be staying with your brother-in-law…and making toast in your undies and favorite sleeping t-shirt will not do?”

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Thank you for reading and happy holidays! ❤️ If you liked this, click the ❤️ button at the top or bottom of this email so more people can discover it!