Welcome to Sunday Reset, where we share how we're unwinding and what we have planned for the week ahead. This time, our editor Julia is thinking about holiday menus.
Good morning! I'm deep in holiday menu planning—probably attempting too many dishes, but that's half the fun. In my family, our group has gotten smaller over the years. Some people moved abroad, others chase the Florida sunshine, so we don't always need a whole ham or prime rib anymore.
I know a lot of people are in the same spot: You still want the day to feel special, just without cooking for a crowd. So I've been thinking about the dishes that feel celebratory—things I'd happily spend a little extra time on if I were cooking for one or two. Here's what I'd make:
Last year, Cesar made the most incredible Cornish Game Hen Tagine—Moroccan-inspired, packed with spices, herbs, and preserved-lemon-harissa notes. I still think about it.
I'd shake up a few of these lemon meringue martinis and make sure to do the bruléed lemon garnish.
"A vegetable lasagna because it's universal and customizable. I'd layer ricotta, zucchini, eggplant, and onions and try a vodka sauce. Add a nice bottle of wine, a mini baguette for dipping, and a side salad."
"A bolognese because it tastes restaurant-level but is so easy. It just sits and simmers and becomes deeply flavorful."
We hosted two cookie swaps in the office this week—nearly 200 guests—and I also ended up at two more outside of work, so I've seen a shocking amount of cookies. The ones that always disappear first? Sandwich cookies (these ginger–salted butter ones look lovely) and anything deeply chocolatey (people were flocking to these double chocolate espresso ones).
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We’re entering peak cooking-for-crowds season, so here is a (thorough!) behind-the-scenes look at how our kitchen layout came together—Part One. Prepare for extremely detailed sketches, hand-written notes on sketches, and labels for every inch of storage. Plus, a hot chocolate recipe from my friend’s excellent new cookbook that hits all the right flavor notes. And if you’re still searching for a thoughtful gift (for yourself or a loved one), click this special link and receive 20% off an annual subscription to Homeward.
Our Ojai kitchen in full construction mode.
I’ve designed or collaborated on the design of more than 10 kitchens, but have never worked on a from-the-ground-up layout of my own. As soon as it became clear that I was going to have the chance to design exactly what I wanted in our Ojai kitchen, a feeling of paralysis seeped in. Dreaming up kitchens for other people or test kitchens for my business was much easier than designing one, with a free hand, that I’d be using all the time. There was no excuse if it turned out poorly. This kitchen, I realized, would hold up a mirror to myself—I’d see all of my wrinkles and blemishes and have to confront them.
The kitchen is the most dynamic room in the house. It’s the place of solitude where you can hunch over a bowl of cereal while scrolling the news; the locus of mundane scheduling conversations; the spot where guests congregate; and, yes, the juncture of all cooking. Designing a space that can support all of these functions while also looking inviting and beautiful is like prepping a turducken. Each part may be great on its own, but you have to layer it all together, then stick it in the oven and pray that it turns out.
One of six zones (outlined below) where I mapped out the “flow” of different activities.
For the Ojai house, I worked closely with Bestor and Reath. After we all figured out the layout of the house, they collaborated on the general disposition of the kitchen, pantry, and eating areas—for which there are several. Just off the kitchen, opposite the pantry, is an oval table with banquette seating and a few chairs. On the east side of the house is a patio with two chairs and ottomans for Tad and me to have breakfast or an evening drink. This patio is flanked by a long planter, where many of the herbs and vegetables will grow. On the south side of the house, there will be a covered upper terrace with a dining table and an open lower terrace with an outdoor cooking area. These peripheral features influenced the design of the kitchen itself.
Next it was time to drill down into how the kitchen would be used and how it would function best. You’ll make yourself crazy if you try to think of every scenario, so I aimed for a handful of our most common uses and identified the areas, or “zones,” where they’d take place. ...
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