Happy New Year Foodie in Miami People!

While most of us were hoping for a much more “normal” year of 2021, so far at least, it doesn’t seem to be in the stars. I am somewhat exhausted from end-of-the-year activities, including cooking and cleaning. While by November, with cooking fatigue, I could barely muster grilling a hunk of meat and making a salad for dinner, along came the rolling Food Festivals of Thanksgiving, Christmas Cookie Baking, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to cook for. All successful, but time to take a deep breath.

I think it’s important to pause before a New Year and think of things we are grateful for from the year before. Although 2020 didn’t go as anybody planned, most of us got to spend lots of quality time with family and do lots and lots of cooking. As far as items I bought or received last year, I would name my Apple Watch, the Calm meditation app and my Weighted Blanket as three things I have definitely enjoyed using. One’s for fitness, one’s for meditation and one’s for a good night’s sleep. The weighted blanket is like a deep hug embracing you each night and it’s definitely improved my sleep, which we all know is vitally important for health, sanity and productivity.

Also, my friend Martha gave me Ina Garten’s new book, Modern Comfort Food, which as Jennifer Garner said on Instagram “Is exactly the kind of food we want to be eating right now.” If there ever was a need for comfort food, it’s now, so Ina’s timing (the book came out last year) is perfect. In this book Ina says:

You can be sad before you eat a cookie and you can be sad after you eat a cookie, but you can’t be sad while you’re eating a cookie.

Ina Garten

One of my favorite comfort foods is a chocolate chip cookie, warm out of the oven. Sort of like my yoga teacher told us last night: “The mind may wander all over the place, but if we bring ourselves back to our breath, it places us in the present.”

I’m still walking (tracked now by my Apple Watch) and listening to some new Podcasts. I’ve loved This American Life, Just B with Bethenny Frankel (short episodes) and Literally! with Rob Lowe. I’m still listening to My Favorite Murder (although the episodes are getting longer and longer), Desert Island Discs and have also listened to Sibling Revelry with Kate and Oliver Hudson. In the latter, they interview siblings, usually famous ones, and talk about their lives.

Each new year, I usually resolve to lose 10 pounds, learn Spanish and travel. If 2020’s taught us anything, it’s the old adage that we make plans and God laughs. So one of my New Year’s resolution in 2021 is to remember friends and family’s birthdays and send them a card. It’s a small goal, but achievable and rewarding. Also, to do more yoga, celebrate events enthusiastically (small and large), oh, and eat more cookies!

“Whatever gets you through the night.”

John Lennon

Up Next: Best Meals Made at Home in 2020