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Photo: Getty / Ariel Skelley
How to Make the Holidays More Exciting at Home
Organize a Cookie Swap
One of the greatest joys of the holidays is the sheer abundance of snacks and treats: theelaborate cheese boardsat Christmas parties, the thermoses of cocoa and cider at skating parties, the many kinds of cookies set out in seasonal tins.
To recreate this feeling of abundance, plan a distanced cookie swap with a handful of your friends. Each person only has to make one type of cookie, but you’ll all get to nibble on a variety of treats throughout the season. Alternatively, if you prefer the savory side of the season, you could organize a snack swap and drop spiced nuts or cheese straws on your friends' doorsteps.
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Dress Up for the Theater
Get Ambitious with an Elaborate Gingerbread House
Books filled with gingerbread house patterns offer the most elaborate options, such as Victorian mansions and churches with tall steeples (We lovethis book from Amazon). Or you can take your inspiration from the cookie chandeliers in season nine ofThe Great British Bake Offand hang stars and whimsical shapes from the ceiling.
Get Out an Old Family Recipe
This year, when you plan your holiday meals, pull out old family recipe boxes. The old-fashioned flavors of your great-aunt’s sherry-soaked stollen or your grandmother’s cabbage and chestnut dressing are perfect for this time of year. Moreover, because your senses of smell and taste are linked to the parts of your brain that store memories, these recipes might even stir up some forgotten stories about past family celebrations that you can share with the next generation.
Take the Celebration Outside
Just because you might not be able to go caroling or ice-skating with friends this year doesn’t mean you need to keep all of your holiday festivities indoors. If you get plenty of snow, you can build an entire party of snow people in your yard or spend a few days building elaborate snow cities or replicas of some of the world’s most famous sites.
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Splurge on Extravagant Ingredients
Only planning to have a handful of family members around the table this season? There’s no better time to treat yourself to ingredients that are usually too expensive for big holiday meals. Start your Thanksgiving with a New Orleans-style creamyoyster stewor shave a bit of truffle onto your mashed potatoes orgnocchi; splurge on lobster or dry-aged steaks for Christmas; or ring in the New Year with caviar and vodka and pretend you’re celebrating at the Russian Tea Room in New York.
Turn Your Holiday Movie Night into a Singalong
EvenElf(which counts as a “classic” if you’re a certain age) is full of excellent Christmas songs. Just download the music ahead of time so you can get a little practice while you’re making cookies, then print out the lyrics before showtime so everyone can sing along. Now all you need is some popcorn andcocoato enjoy when you’re not singing.
Try Out New Holiday Traditions
This is a great year to start new traditions. Do some research and find ideas that make sense for your family. Whether you order in takeout from a local Thai restaurant instead of cooking your traditional feast, have a virtual cocktail party with friends or do a doorstep-drop Secret Santa gift exchange, you’ll be making new holiday memories for years to come.
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