Downloaded from YTS.LT
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.LT
Ooh, Merry Christmas, Saint Nick
Christmas comes this time each year
Ooh…
Once a year, you get to do the tree thing.
Where's Ruth? She's the expert.
-Hi. -Meghan!
-How are you? -Good.
-So good to see you. -You are the tree spotter.
So I need like an eight-to-nine-foot tree.
We'll have to wander here and see what we can find.
-I'll follow your lead. -All right.
It's the little Saint Nick…
Right. See, I like this.
That's a beautiful tree, but I think that's a little too tall for you, girl.
Too tall.
That one's not bad.
It's sold.
-Yes. -It's already been taken.
-Well, there's a tree for everyone. -This is true.
Take one last look over this way, see if there's--
This one's kind of pretty.
When Santa hits the gas Man, just watch her peel…
It has a great shape.
It's the little Saint Nick…
I think this is the one. It's a great tree.
-Okay. All yours. -Thank you, thank you.
You're welcome.
Run, run, reindeer
-Run, run, reindeer -Whoa
Run, run, reindeer…
When I string the lights on a tree,
I do inside, so it's lit from within,
and on the border, right on the outside.
The same with ornaments.
You want to find the placement where they're going to find their light.
I just love having a tree up.
There's just something about it that in one area in your house,
you're able to really encapsulate your family story,
really feel the passage of time, and the different chapters of your life
through the ornaments.
For me, a tree is part of my memory and love of the holiday season.
I love it.
Merry Christmas, Saint Nick
Christmas comes this time each year
Ah-ah-ah
Merry Christmas, Saint Nick
A blanket of snow
That warm winter glow
A seven-foot evergreen tree…
I love the idea of an advent calendar,
so I wanted to do it for my own kids.
You could get small ones that have a small chocolate each day,
get them pre-made.
And all it's really about is having a surprise and delight
every single day for 24 days until you get to Christmas.
They're not supposed to be big things. They're supposed to be small gestures.
Carols and bells
Incredible smells…
I'm writing, "I love you because you are so kind."
"I love you because you're so brave."
Little findings.
Trying to really embrace and lean into making every day of that month special
as you're wrapping up a year.
But don't feel like you have to do it all.
Just embrace the special touches that bring you joy.
Hopefully, we'll have these for quite a long time.
A tradition has to have a beginning.
What Christmas means to me
Let the festivities commence.
I am so excited for my first guest.
Will Guidara is coming by.
I met him years ago
at the award-winning restaurant Eleven Madison Park.
And he's also a dad of two and an author.
He wrote this book that I felt was so inspiring,
called Unreasonable Hospitality.
I thought, "Well, if he's coming, we have to be unreasonable in our hospitality."
So I did a little sneaky squirrel work and I spoke to his wife, Christina Tosi,
who we've had on the show, and found out that he loves cacio e pepe.
I'm not gonna greet him with a bowl of cacio e pepe. That's a bit much.
But what if we did some gougères,
gorgeous little puffed delight,
but with a cacio e pepe flavor. So that's what we're gonna prep for him.
And then I'm going to pick his brain a little bit and say,
"How do you translate these fine dining principles of hospitality
and exceeding expectations and bring them into your home?"
So, let's get started on these gougères.
First we're going to make the dough.
Gougères are a fun holiday appetizer that seem fancy, but they're fairly simple.
Milk and a whole stick of butter.
I'm going to put this in cubes.
And some salt and pepper…
This is that great cacio e pepe flavor. I love cacio e pepe pasta. Oh my gosh.
It is a cozy pasta dish featuring lots of cheese and black pepper.
Give this a little simmer.
I'm just going to start to add our flour.
This feels like fondue.
You've never heard anyone say fon-don't.
Oh, it smells so good!
I mean, it is thick.
I think she's good to pull.
See how it formed? You weren't expecting that.
Bloop! We're gonna give that a little whip on its own to take some of the heat out.
Tossing on an apron.
It's showing very good shape there.
We're adding some pecorino and some Parmesan.
And then we go into piping.
It's a very strong scent. I love it.
If you don't like pepper, this is not your dish.
If you don't like cheese, not your dish. If you don't like goodness, not your dish.
If you are a fan of those things, this is probably gonna be your dish.
Yeah, round, classic gougère shape.
See, we're just going to gently tap those down with a wet finger.
Little egg wash on all of them.
Dab the gougère.
It's what kids are saying this season.
Dab that gougère.
Yeah.
Oh no, she dabbed that gougère.
Mm-mm-mm.
Dabbed it good.
425 for 15 to 20 minutes.
Watch these little beauties puff right up.
Get those all snug in there.
And I'm going to tidy this up, and we will make some--
The sweet treat, reindeer chow.
Let's do that.
So let's do a throwback,
'cause we want to talk about what happens as you grow up and elevate what you eat,
but also the things, especially around the holidays,
that become sentimental that always stay with you.
So, let's get a couple things we need.
My little scavenger hunt.
This is just going to take a little twirl in the microwave.
Okay, I think about a third a cup of peanut butter, a splash of vanilla.
This, when I was growing up, was called puppy chow,
and it's just a simple snack made with cereal.
But for this season, we will be calling it reindeer chow.
And this is gonna be just the perfect gift for Will to take home to his wife,
who loves sweet nostalgic treats.
My elementary school math teacher, Miss Linda, she loved this!
And I felt so excited that she loved something that I made.
Oh, my gosh.
Two cups of powdered sugar.
Wow. That is a lot of sugar!
Holy…
It looks so innocent when it's done.
Look, the good news is, it's delicious.
We are now into the Christmas spirit.
Powdery, delicious,
chocolate peanut butter
reindeer chow.
We're gonna tidy up a bit, let that cool, put that in a beautiful vessel.
Our gougères have been in there for about 15-20 minutes.
Let's see how they are looking.
Beauties.
Mm-mm-mm.
They look so good.
Get those on a plate so they don't keep cooking.
Darling!
Let's get this reindeer chow.
Let's have a little bit to nibble on. The rest I want to send home with him.
He's gonna bring this back to his wife.
Okay, now it's time.
Take the apron off.
Get ready
to greet our guest.
-Hello! -Hi!
-Oh my God, it's been a minute! -It's been a really, really long time.
-So good to see you. -Nice to see you too.
-Thanks for coming. -Thanks for having me.
Did your wife tell you that I am, it's not even low-key,
obsessed with your book? I am obsessed.
-I have given it out to so many people. -Thank you.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
Today is like the first time I've felt the Christmas spirit this year.
Oh, it's pretty jolly around here.
It's like, over the top jolly, but look, I heard from someone who knows you well,
that lovely wife of yours, that you love cacio e pepe.
I love cacio e pepe.
-So I did cacio e pepe gougères. -Dude.
-Thought that'd be good. -Thank you.
And then I went old school. I used to make puppy chow.
It's a good season, so you can take that home for her.
-We can nibble on that. -These I have an inability to not eat.
-Great! Get involved. -I'll start by eating one of these.
-Yes, can I give you a beverage as well? -Okay.
We could do a Barolo. You like that with your cacio e pepe.
-Yeah. -Or a glass of bubbles.
-Let's have some Barolo. -Okay!
-There we go! -I love it!
-Let's do it! -This is great.
One thing that's super important to me…
There's a trash here.
…about hosting at home…
This is where I think people get it wrong.
I think that sometimes
people are working so hard to impress the people that they're inviting over,
that they forget about the actual reason that people are there,
which is to connect and spend time with the people that have invited them.
Yeah.
There's nothing more stressful than watching a stressed out hostess.
I would rather just order Chinese food and actually bond.
Hang out and have a… Yeah, I agree with that.
Cheers.
When I think about great dinner parties I've been to over the years,
I don't remember what I ate.
I just remember whether or not I left with my heart feeling full.
-Feeling full. -Yeah.
Yeah, and that's, I mean, the holidays, I think,
are the best example when people lean in so hard to that,
as opposed to remembering you can do that practice every day in some small way.
I get so fussed about everything being perfect,
that you lose the magic that even happens in the mistakes.
Yeah. The perfect imperfection that comes from human connection.
-Yes! -But--
You see why he's here?
-Aah! Exactly! -That's why we got along in the beginning.
I feel like we both understand this, at least organically.
Mm-hmm.
I think you can do certain things that make people feel a little more seen.
-More seen. -More of a sense of belonging. See?
-Oh my gosh, we said it at the same time. -It's gonna be great.
We're going to make some holiday "I Love Christmas" crackers.
-The toy, not the kind you eat. -Cool.
And I thought filling them with things as opposed to just random tchotchkes.
-Think about who's getting them. -I love that.
What do you want inside? Even a sweet little love letter.
A little note tucked in. So we're going to make those.
Fantastic. Shall I take your glass? You got it.
Here, you take the glass because I'm taking these.
I love it.Let's do it
It's all kitted out.
-I mean… -Isn't it so sweet?
It's awesome.
-So, Christmas crackers. -Been doing them for a long time?
Living in the UK, it's such a part of--
A big part of the culture over there?
For Christmas holidays, for sure.
-Oh, that's cool. -Typically, people cross arms and do it.
-No way. -So they sit around the table.
-So you're doing it with the other person. -They pull at the same time.
-So the crack-- -That's awesome.
-It does feel really connected. -Like a moment of community.
The way that I started to know them was,
they'd always have almost a fortune cookie size joke or riddle.
And something sweet.
-Teach me how. -Okay.
You can buy these pre-made,
or you could cut your own templates out of any kind of wrapping paper.
There's a couple of each of these different designs,
so as you think about the person you want to have enjoying it, what they'd like.
Before we have you start, 'cause we're out of workspace,
maybe take one last bite and then just move it to the-- behind you.
Oh, that's our director. The Brooklyn bummer strikes again.
-Right there in arm's reach. -How conveniently placed.
Right there, indeed.
-Right over there on Camera B. -Mm-hmm. Hm?
I don't know what you're talking about.
Place the gougères closer to the crew.
Exactly.
So, this is a bit of rolled-up card stock.
We're gonna glue that down 'cause you want to anchor it.
I'm feeling really good about this now.
-I'm glad you're feeling so good. -I'm just feeling really confident.
And then this little cracker, that's the mechanism that's gonna create that--
Yeah. Oh!
-Hey-o! -Yeah, okay.
Okay? That's just going to sit right there in the middle.
-Like that. -Let's think about what we'd fill it with.
If you start with your daughter… candies, chocolate.
-We always want confetti inside. -Yes, lots of confetti here.
Right? And there's also some dried flowers,
little chocolates.
Come inside and don't be shy
'Cause now it's time to have some fun
-Do you know why I love this? -Why?
This idea of just doing something fun that's orchestrated and intentional
at the beginning of the meal, I think, is really cool.
Yeah, and also then when they enjoy the experience of it,
but then they open theirs and they realize it was made for you specifically.
You can go and buy Christmas crackers.
No, but you can tell people invested time into it.
Yeah. And I think that's the--
That's when you talk about the memory of the best dinner parties
versus the meal of the best dinner parties.
-That's it. That's what we're after. -Yes.
Ring-a-ding-ding, Santa's on his way…
A seal so it stays together, and then really what's going to attach it
is the bow you put at the end. you could do a whole ribbon,
but I think just a tie is also great.
What's gonna attach it is the love we feel for the people we're making them for.
There it is, Will!
That's what's gonna attach it. What's really gonna connect it.
Merry Christmas
In the snowy moonlight It's a wonderful sight to see
Lili really likes trying to be a grown-up lady at the moment.
This is like a lavender roller ball. I thought a little something like that.
You know when you make a pancake, the first one's always bad?
-Of course. -This is my bad pancake.
I'm getting rid of this one and start again.
My husband's has a little love letter, a chocolate, a little hat.
Now I have a rhythm going.
-Exactly. Got into the groove. -Now I feel good.
-I think that's kind of beautiful. -It's great.
Think how great that'd look on a table setting.
Ring-a-ding-a-ding It's Christmastime…
I'm onto Archie's. I'm doing burgers. He loves the color red.
Ring-a-ding-a-ding There's fun and joy to share…
I'll make one for my wife. I'll write "I love you" on this hat.
Ring-a-ding-a-ding It's Christmastime…
Let me try Christina.
Let me fix my hair before my wife picks up.
We're waiting for him today
Hi.
-Hey. -How are you?
-Hi, friend. -Hi, Mama. Oh, my gosh.
Look at what we're doing.
Your husband's knocking it out of the park. Inspiring.
Okay. We're doing the-- You know these things, the crackers?
-Yes! -Okay, so here's the deal.
I've already made one for you. Not gonna tell you what's in it.
I need one for Sonny.
You have something he can turn into a vehicle that he pushes across the floor?
In the cracker? In the actual cracker?
Do you have… Do you have any Matchbox cars?
I made something for you. It's both sweet and I made it in the microwave.
Girl, you're a girl after my own heart. You're speaking my language.
You guys are so cute. Have fun.
-Bye, Meghan! Have fun! -Bye. Bye.
-Oh. -I mean…
Dude! Okay.
They found a car?
The magic of television.
-That is unreasonably… -Hey.
-Unreasonable hospitality. -Thank you.
It's like we were soothsayers.
-Thank you, gals. -Hey. That's really cool.
-Thank you. That's awesome. -Well done, team.
Let's make one for ourselves we actually…
-Open. -I like that idea.
-Can we look at the handwriting alone? -How cool your handwriting is.
What are you talking about?
It's a great style.
The holidays are about putting the world on pause for long enough
to genuinely pursue the relationships that matter to you.
Yeah. For me, one of the key tenets of being a hostess or a host,
it's about grace.
Because to me, grace is making people feel comfortable.
I love it.
-Happy holidays. -Happy holidays to you.
-This is awesome. -To you and yours. So happy.
-Should we see if this works? -Yes, please.
-Here we go. -One, two, three.
-Oh! There we go! -Woo!
Yeah!
Oh, Santa Claus, is to believe
Just grant a little wish for me
Good morning.
Well, she's wearing pajamas today, gang.
This is how much I love my friend.
Why am I wearing pajamas on a television show?
Because my dear friend, Lindsay-- We've been friends since we were 17.
Linds has a tradition with her family
of always wearing matching pajamas for the holidays.
So, for the love of Linds, they forced me to wear pajamas
for this brunch to honor her tradition.
We're doing the matching pajamas.
And then Kelly's back, my nearest and dearest.
Also, one of my best friends.
And no celebration is complete without Kel.
I love the tradition of a Christmas morning brunch.
I do it every year with my family. I've already gotten a head start.
Something sweet, something savory,
so let's get started making our festive cinnamon star.
So we have three layers of dough that I prepped earlier.
Essentially, what we're going to do is layer this with brown sugar, butter,
and then some cinnamon.
Since we all love cinnamon.
And then they're going to twist and become this really gorgeous snowflake shape.
We have the three layers, and we're gonna divvy this up between all three of them.
This is all just going to melt down as it's baking.
Okay, so you see we have that second layer.
So let's put a little glass in the middle there.
Now this is going to be a good anchor for us.
So you're going to cut through all of the layers.
We're just going to twist…
that way.
And the one that's going to kiss it, twist in the other direction.
And just pinch it so it comes together.
And that's what we're going to do all the way around.
So again, twist, twist a tiny bit.
She has been bathed.
So she's looking great. So are you, my darling Guy.
Guy smells something yummy.
I prepped these ingredients ahead of time for the quiche cups.
We have our onions that have caramelized. Some bacon to go into our quiche Lorraine.
And then our sautéed spinach for our quiche Florentine.
And these are our quiche cups.
I also have some gluten-free ones for my dear Lindsay.
Let's get a cup of half-and-half.
Rich, creamy, delicious.
And we'll do two blends of different cheeses
so that we have a nice egg mixture.
I love Gruyère cheese.
So excited that The day has finally come…
Salt and a little bit of nutmeg.
Oh, Lorraine.
Good old quiche Lorraine.
There's Flo and then there's Lorraine.
I love spinach.
Now I'm gonna add a little bit of Parmesan so we have a different flavor profile.
Bacon double cheese.
So indulgent.
Yum.
Here we go.
Cinnamon star.
Quiche babies.
And then we'll bake some pears.
Should we tidy up a little bit before we jump to that?
One of the easiest sweet treats of all time.
Baked apples, baked pears.
I'll tell you, when I was in college, I used to take an apple, core it,
sit it on a small plate, pour honey and cinnamon in it,
and put a bowl on top and put it in the microwave for a few minutes,
and it'd come out like a baked apple.
And you just put ice cream on, and it felt very festive.
So this is the more grown-up way to do it.
But by the way, there are, uh, many ways
to achieve that same goal.
This is so easy.
We're going to fill these with some basic goodies, some butter.
A little bit of ginger would be nice. Super quick and easy to do.
By the way, a tiny bit of lemon zest would be great too.
So, you're thinking on your feet,
looking at what you have, and saying,
"How can I give this a little bit of extra brightness and the warmth?"
That balance of flavor is fantastic.
Now we just need something sweet in there.
We know the bees have worked hard. We appreciate you, bees.
So we're going to put them in there, 375 for about 20 minutes.
Ooh!
Yes, please.
Little baby quiches.
A couple of the gluten-free ones.
So hard to come by
I think the girls are going to love this.
Oh, gosh. Oh, dear.
-Oh, dear. -Hi!
She's feeling festive.
God, I love it.
Oh, my gosh, it smells so good. Knock, knock.
-She's here. Hi. -Hello. Hi.
God. Oh, my gosh, you're blonder!
Very blonde.
Thank you.
-Beautiful. Bubbles? -Yes, please.
I'm so glad you're both here.
This is a bit of pomegranate syrup.
Pretty.
-Gosh. It matches our jammies. -Cheers.
Cheers, ladies.
Okay.
Happy New Year to my folk…
Ooh!So good
Children singing All together, young and old
That looks beautiful.
Apple pie on the stove
Get the cocoa…
-That does look gorgeous. -Mm.
…blanket for the cold Come on tell me…
Okay, get napkins. Please dig in.
Do you want a bit of yogurt with it? To cut the sweetness?
-Ooh! -Now try it with a bite of the pear.
So easy.
This is delicious. That's so good.
When she likes something, she starts dancing, so here we go.
It's funny 'cause it's true.
One's Florentine, one's Lorraine.
-Want some cinnamon bun? -I do.
-I feel so sad to take it apart. -Here it goes, guys.
I mean, it even comes out perfectly.
Mm! Mm-hmm.
So I've got plans for us after brunch.
We're going to make holiday wreaths.
I've always wanted to, I've never done it. I thought we all have a different style.
-Uh-huh. -So I'm cur-- It is not a competition.
I'm curious to see how they all look different.
Let's get changed and head to the barn.
Oh my gosh.
This is our bevy of options for wreath making.
I love it.
-Can I just show you? -Yes, please.
Like a little show and tell? The base can either be twigs or the wire,
and there's different sizes.
And if we just go over to this table…
I thought that when you're putting a wreath together,
somehow you might lay out the entire thing and attach it.
But instead, you're making little mini bunches,
and you start to wire them together.
This goes around…
-Mm. Yep. -Right? You get secure. There's one.
The second one will probably come in here.
Covering the ends, and you just keep building, building.
Turning as you go.
All the bells and whistles, literally, can get added later on.
-Okay. -Go, team, go.
Let's do it!
-Ooh. I'm taking this very seriously. -Yes, I see that.
-I just need you to know I'm very focused. -Okay.
How, like, rogue do you go? How tall?
-Depends on how big you want it. -Okay.
-That's pretty. -Big.
Go big or go home.
-Feel good already? -Ooh, it's in water.
-Surprise. -Plot twist.
That's why it smells so fresh.
I actually really like a seasonal wreath. I think they're just such a nice touch.
It's just festive, and it's so nice when you walk up to someone's front door
to just have a little something special.
-I agree. -I've never done it.
Oh, gosh. Well, maybe we're starting a new tradition.
What a nice thing to do to bring to someone, too, if you're…
-Well, that's-- Talk about a hostess gift. -Yeah.
And to be able to say, "Oh, I made it." "What?"
I forgot about my tea. It was covered in branches.
Oh!
I like how loose yours is. That looks great.
-It's just the beginning. -Yeah, but it's fun.
I feel like I'm making one giant flower crown is what's happening.
Oh, my God.
I love it.
-Almost there. -Yeah.
I have grand ribbon visions that are not happening.
I need bow. Bow action. Aren't bow's in right now?
That's what you told me.
That is a high-quality wreath.
-Thank you so much. -She is trucking along.
Nice work.
-Thank you. -That's a real wreath.
-You'd purchase it? Ding! -Look at her.
It also goes to show that you don't need some expert to do it.
-This is the first time. -Yeah.
And they're coming together.
-Oh, my gosh. -Wow. Gorgeous.
-Yeah? Let me see yours. -Yes.
-I added a little bell. -So good.
-Oh, the bell makes it. -Oh, I love that, too.
-It's perfect. -Well done, ladies.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
I'm proud of our wreaths.
-So good. -Thanks, guys.
I had the best day. I had the best day.
You're welcome.
It's time to go
'Tis the season to wrap gifts.
Roll up our sleeves.
I love having tone-on-tone as well as a wax seal.
One of the best hacks, you can make them all in advance.
And if you use a wax stick and a hot glue gun on the day,
instead of having to put a wax seal on the gift,
you have them pre-done,
and you're able to stick it down with either a bit of double-stick tape
or a little tiny squirt of hot glue.
It's the tiniest detail that suddenly feels elevated.
One technique that's really fun
is the different way in which you're folding the paper.
If you fold it outwardly instead of inwardly,
it creates a different world there.
Nice and sealed.
First side folded down.
And then that second piece will fold on top.
You're layering the folds on the front for a beautiful decorative touch.
And then the other side will also fold on top.
It's a little bit more unexpected.
Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh…
You can put a bow on it. You could put a bell on it.
You could put a sprig of anything.
If you wanted to tuck something in, you could do that too.
This is just rosemary.
Tie it around with a little bit of wire so you create its own mini wreath.
Something like that would be nice, but you lose this gorgeous effect.
A little bow right there could be awfully darling.
Take that off, 'cause it's just for a double-sided tape,
and tie this beautiful mini wreath on.
We've all been there where you go,
"The only possible option is to put this thing in a gift bag."
Alas, there is another option.
Jingle bells, jingle bells…
Let's say, okay, we know that it's going to need to be this long,
and we know roughly where his little legs end.
So you're gonna cut your paper down to something like that.
Now, at that center point, you're going to lay it flat
and crease it right there, and we're going to fold it in half.
…ride in a one-horse open sleigh…
So that's where we're going to fold to. Fold it in.
Bye!
And all you're gonna do at that point is tie a ribbon right there on each side.
Then we could do a little dimple here…
Almost like your Christmas cracker.
How sweet!
Another anomaly for people at the holidays is how on earth you wrap a wine bottle.
I love the Japanese wrapping method called furoshiki.
You could just go to one of the vintage stores
that have the bins of scarves that are a few dollars each.
That's going to lift up.
Same thing on this side.
So you've made this bit of a blossom at the top.
Wrap one side around this way.
You should have this little bloom.
Tie your knot… Oh wait, here, hold on.
If you have little details sticking around the house, put 'em in.
Just so easy and elegant.
Sweet!
It's Christmastime
Tonight, I have a new friend stopping by.
She's an athlete, always training,
so I thought, "Let's reimagine one of my favorite go-tos, a crudité platter."
People associate wreaths with the holiday,
and this is a great way of modernizing something that is traditional.
Just sticking with green vegetables.
You could go all the way around, put your dip in the middle,
or you can anchor it with your dip here at the bottom,
almost as though that would be where your bow moment is.
So I'm just layering greens with different textures.
Broccolini, asparagus.
We know I like to open the pods of the peas, which adds an extra detail.
I'm gonna give out Give out all my Christmas love
I'm gonna give out…
Naomi Osaka's coming.
She's such an incredible athlete, and she also became a mom.
So I'm thrilled to connect with her on that level, see how it's going,
and just be able to-- to get to know her a little bit better.
So I want to have something great to greet her with.
You could, if you wanted, create some sort of motif
that feels like ornaments throughout.
Small radishes, pomegranate dotted around.
Oh, sweet!
So this is a store-bought tahini dip.
I think she likes heat. I'm going to be a little conservative, just in case.
That's me being conservative.
And just to balance out all that heat, put a drizzle of good honey.
We have some cider bubbling.
Mm. And it's just store-bought cider,
but I've added in some citrus peel, vanilla bean, and warm spices.
Okay, let's get ready for our guest.
I'm gonna give out All my Christmas love
I'm gonna give out, give out, give out All my Christmas love…
Hi! Oh, welcome.
Happy holidays.
I made you a rendition of a crudité as a wreath.
Cheers. It's pretty warm.
Cheers.
And this is just sort of a tahini dip. I put a little chili oil in it.
Super spicy?
-Do you like heat? -Yeah.
Oh, yeah, get involved. You'll like it then.
I wasn't sure. I tried to keep it in the middle.
Right? And…
You were right, it is spicy.
It tastes good, though.
What's your favorite thing about the holiday?
Honestly, I think family.
Um, I travel so much, so I don't get to see my family as often,
but I feel like the holidays is a time where you can focus on family,
and for me, just take a break and kind of enjoy life.
In the moments in between training, can you just…
I do relax, but I'm also chasing after my daughter, so, um…
Exactly. But that's the good kind of non-relaxation.
-Yeah. -That's the stuff that is so soul-filling.
-And amazing. -Yeah.
Right? Well, I have a fun project for us that I hope your daughter is gonna love.
-Shall we go craft? -Yes.
Let's go craft.
Here's the idea.
We have two mugs and these,
and we are going to decorate our Santa's cookie plate and the mugs.
Mm, that's cute.
And we can use whatever you want. We have these paints, brushes, paint pens.
All right, let's get into this.
Got to start somewhere. Okay, I'm gonna practice.
I don't even know how to draw holly.
Nope.
That is not it.
I'm trying to, like, figure out what decoration I can draw on this.
Oh, that's sweet. Is it pronounced "Shai" or "Shay"?
-Shai. -Oh, sweet.
Shai, but she's not shy.
I think that looks good. Am I crazy?
You're not crazy, this much I know, but you are very kind.
My plate looks like it's covered with bats.
Please don't look over here.
I think it's important to always try things that we're not so great at,
which I should remind myself when I try to draw or get on a tennis court.
I am so painfully bad.
Now I need to see this because the way that you…
No one needs to see it. It's so bad.
It can't be, like, the worst I've ever seen.
It-- I believe it would be. My mom found an old report card of mine,
and on the report card in the physical education part,
"Ability to throw or catch a ball."
"Not applicable."
They couldn't even give me a grade.
Do you like to draw?
Well, I would call them attempts at, like, fashion designing.
Oh, that's cool. Do you love fashion?
Yeah. I just love that you can kind of
express yourself a lot without even saying anything.
Yes.
Nike lets me design my clothes,
so I've been wearing my designs.
I don't know if, like, all these different colors are doing too much.
Looks like Christmas lights.
And Mama made it. Shai's going to love it.
Okay, well, I'm committing to it.
It's here.
Okay, you've committed. It's time for me to commit.
Starting fresh, maybe a ribbon.
That's a good idea.
This is gonna become chocolate chip cookies and carrots.
Cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.
I'm feeling more content.
What's that?
It's Osaka in Japanese.
Oh, that's cool.
Well, I might just have to go back to my handwriting game here.
Oh, you've just, like, gone to town.
It's so good.
I think just winging it is pretty good.
-I like the brush strokes too. -Thank you.
Oh, we're writing again.
You've gotta stick with what you know.
It's so pretty. It is kind of, like, cheating, though, huh?
I like yours.
Cheers to Christmas.
I'll seal these, and I'll send them to you.
Oh, wow. Thank you.
I think the kids are gonna love them.
La-la-la-la-la-la la-la-la
Snow is falling And I wanna go outside…
Decorating cookies can be such a fun family activity
and equally a very fun kids-have-gone-to-bed…
…quiet, calm, meditative moment.
This is just a little bit of edible food coloring,
and then you just want to put something like almond extract in it
to give you different levels of color saturation, but some flavor too.
I love the texture in the brush 'cause it gives it some dimension.
This is such a sweet watercolor technique because I'm not an artist,
but it doesn't require artistry.
You're just playing a little bit.
And at the end of the day, it's a cookie.
Not a lot can go wrong.
It might seem counterintuitive, but these small moments in between
are the things that are actually going to create the energy that you want
for all the holiday entertaining.
Take care of yourself, and you'll be able to take care of everybody else.
A tiny smidge of the icing, and whatever your moving meditation looks like.
A little wreath.
It's a spirit of no judgment.
With whichever spirit you choose, gang.
I can't wait for our last guest.
Welcoming Tom Colicchio.
I know him from television, and I know his book, and I am a fan.
So I'm excited, but I'm gonna play it cool, you know.
When Top Chef first started, it was one of my favorite shows,
and Tom's been their head judge for more than 20 seasons.
He's just such an incredible chef and restaurateur,
and he's won five James Beard Awards.
Also, Tom Colicchio wrote a book called Think Like a Chef.
It changed how I moved through a kitchen.
His ideology changed how I thought like a chef.
As opposed to, "Here's a recipe, buy the ingredients, make the thing,"
it was, "What do I have? What can I make? Okay, let's do that."
Okay, so welcome cocktail for Tom Colicchio.
A little birdie told me that he loves candied gingers.
And I thought that instead of a typical French 75,
we're gonna spice it up a little.
This is a great gin cocktail, easy, but feels a little bit festive
because I made this pear and ginger syrup to accompany it.
Let's put our three ingredients in there.
What's the ratio?
Two, one, three, which was my first area code.
Two ounces of gin
This is also being topped with some bubbles,
so easy on the gin, folks, easy on the gin.
One ounce of lemon juice.
Another one.
An ounce of our, mm, pear and ginger syrup.
So chic.
So we are going to talk about family recipes and traditions.
Uh, for him, Italian-American family,
I know he has some things that he absolutely loves to make,
like his grandfather's beet salad, salted cod…
I mean, just really things that are sentimental for him.
Elegant.
So about three ounces of champagne here.
And then my mom has been making gumbo for Christmas Eve for years now.
It's a once-a-year thing that she does, and so we're going to make some gumbo.
It's going to be a great day.
I'm going to garnish with candied rosemary, berries,
and Tom's favorite, candied ginger.
I think it looks festive.
It's an effervescent afternoon.
I've been waiting patienly for…
Hello.
And what a fan I am of you.
-Hi. -How are you?
So happy you're here. Thank you.
-Look at all the yummy stuff. -Feeling the vibe.
Okay, I know you like ginger and candied ginger.
-I do. -I'll tidy up this surface.
But so that's just a little twist on a French 75.
Okay, great. Cheers. Thanks for coming.
Mm. I'm very excited you're here.
We're gonna have some fun today.
I want to hear about some of your family recipes, traditions, all that jazz.
Uh, being an Italian-American,
we always celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes,
although nowadays, it's about 13 or 14.
-Oh, really? -Um, sure, we've added a few.
But there was always this beet salad.
There was beets, and then it was a mixture
of red onion, celery, artichoke hearts, cherry peppers.
I added fennel to it.
Um, there was always cured black olives, uh, lots of parsley, garlic, anchovies.
-There was giardiniera. -The giardiniera.
Can I tell you why I'm chuckling?
I'm so excited to eat this because
you don't cook the things as regularly that your partner doesn't love to eat.
Right.
If I gave you the top things my husband hates to eat…
-Beet's one of them? -Beets.
He would call them beetroot, as they say in England.
-Of course. Mm-hmm. -Black olives.
-Okay. -Fennel.
Really?
So he hates this-- hates this dish.
-So, so… -And pickled vegetables.
Please make it, and you'll change his mind on all of these things.
He hates all those flavors.
So I have not gotten to enjoy them,
certainly not in a medley like that for a long time.
So yummy.
All right, where do we start on our beet salad or fish?
Let's start with the beets first. So maybe just get some cutting boards out.
Beets, beets, beets. Drop that beet.
Fennel.
Yeah, let's get the fennel out. The beets are out.
-Fennel out. Let's grab those. -I'll grab some red onions.
And we'll need some parsley.
-I'll keep your candied ginger. -Perfect.
-I heard that's a thing. -It-- You know, it's-- it is a thing.
On our set, on Top Chef, there's always a jar of candied ginger in the pantry.
No one has ever used it, but I eat from it.
-It's my snack. -That's a lot of years of candied ginger.
-Yeah, so we need a pot filled with water. -You got it.
Cold water.
The salad calls for a lot more beets than this,
but this will be a small one.
I'm feeding 20 people on Christmas Eve, so it's a little--
-You're feeding 20? -Yeah.
Oh, wow. That's ambitious.
So, Christmas Eve with my grandparents was just, it was a flyby.
You'd come, you'd sit down, you'd grab a plate of food, that was it.
When my grandfather passed away, my grandmother was older,
and I took over the holiday, and I made a much bigger deal of it.
That was your time.
Okay, so, important when we cook these, you want to start these in cold water
and cook them very, very slowly.
It's so dense that if you-- If you boil it fast,
the outside cooks and the inside's still raw.
Okay, great.
When I start cooking Christmas Eve, that's when I feel it's the holiday.
Into the vibe. Do people get intimidated when you go to their house to eat?
No-- You know, yes and no. I don't get a lot of invites.
-Because of that. -Because-- exactly.
-I'm sure. -No, but some--
They are, but I'm, believe it or not,
one of the least judgmental people when it comes to food.
I really don't care. I'm not that picky.
I have to play that role on the show. I'm not--
-Home cooking is a different thing. -Exactly, I don't-- I don't--
Not that I don't care, but I'm not that picky.
I wish it's gonna be Christmas today
When folks come together And chase those blues away…
So these are done. Good.
So, these are beautifully cooked.
You see the skin just comes right off.
Especially if they're cooked slowly, they'll just slide right off.
I don't want them thinly sliced. I want a little chunky.
Hearty. And you also put-- Like one tin of anchovies in there?
-Yes. -I love it.
So where does this dish come from?
So my grandfather cooked Christmas Eve.
-This was one dish that he always did. -Hm.
And this was like one of these things, as a kid,
you're not supposed to like this stuff, but we absolutely loved it.
My family now, they come to my house for Christmas Eve and…
Your boys like it?
My older boy just goes nuts over it.
In fact, I usually make a very large portion of this
because everyone wants to take it home.
Do you think that they love it purely from the flavor or because of the--
-How sentimental it is? -A combination of nostalgia and flavor.
But it's-- It's really quite flavorful.
-Okay, so a little bit of garlic. -Yep, in the pantry.
-This looks like red wine vinegar. -Vinegar? It'll stay on the bottom.
So I tried to fancy this up once, probably about ten years ago.
"I'm gonna fancy this up. Roast the beets. I'm going to use balsamic vinegar."
-That didn't go very well. -Terrible?
"What did you do to the beet salad?" Terrible. Not terrible, but different.
-Yeah. -No. I gave up on that.
This is where some traditions can be modernized and some…
-Yeah. -Just keep it classic.
Yeah, yeah.
Mmm.
We do need salt and some pepper would be great.
That's not pepper.
-Oh. Here. -Here we go.
Chia seeds? You don't want seeds in that?
-No. -That's really good-- Your family…
No. My grandfather did not cook with chia seeds.
-I love to cook. -What do you love about it?
When I was a kid, I had ADHD, undiagnosed ADHD.
I found cooking, I found that it would-- It came very easy to me.
I loved doing it.
But I realized that the frenetic pace of the kitchen worked for me.
It actually slowed me down.
It's hard to explain. When I went through it, I didn't think about it.
Wow. You just knew it was anchoring for you.
I knew it worked for me. Yeah.
This looks like a good mixture of things.
Now, the great thing about this dish is you can eat it now and it's fine.
It's better the next day and everything turns red.
-It's so festive. -Yeah.
-So that's pretty much it. -It's gorgeous. I love the color on it.
-Great. We'll put this to the side. -That just sits.
-Awfully pretty. -We're going to do the salt cod.
Those two things work together really well.
-What time? -Cod time.
Cod time.
-We're gonna set up a steamer. -You got it.
So here is the salt cod. This has been soaking for 36 hours or so.
Woo! And the cod's been preserved with the salt.
And then we bring this back to life with that water to rehydrate the fish
and give us that soft texture. Is that right?
Yeah. If you use it without soaking, it's way too salty.
And then we just take the pieces. You don't want to do this in one layer.
-You don't want to stack them up. -Stack.
It's just so wild to think about preserving techniques and--
Yeah. Preserving fish, I mean, it's as old as the hills.
In fact, salt at one point was used as currency.
Because if you had salt, you can preserve fish.
-I didn't know. Love things like that. -It was actually used as a currency.
So I'll let that go, and that'll just sit.
How did you get into cooking?
I always had a fascination with it,
but I always liked the idea of hostessing and entertaining.
-Mm-hmm. -Then just kept experimenting.
And then read your book.
And it demystified that it didn't have to be that complicated.
And I've just cooked ever since, and I love it.
So, this is gonna be your sauce that's going on? Parsley, some garlic.
It's just parsley and garlic, and lemon juice, and olive oil.
-Wow. Look at how-- -It's not done yet.
It won't be able to flake. This is gonna start flaking.
This is smaller. This is what you're looking for.
Yeah, this one's done.
Put these guys in there too, while we're at it.
I love cod.
Cod be nostalgic.
Yeah, it is. This is Christmas. Salt cod is…
I can't have Christmas without it.
It smells good just from the heat, gotta say. Yum.
There's no timing or anything. I just keep touching it, and if it flakes…
Yep. Party down.
…that's good.
We're gonna add lemon juice.
Mm. Yum.
And this is one where you really want to get your best olive oil for this.
-That's pretty much it. -That's great.
Your grandfather would be so proud.
These are very festive colors for the holiday, I must say.
-Yeah, this is, um… -Mm. Very good.
These two work really nicely.
I think the texture of the salt cod with the beets work really, really nice.
Oh, you're right. The balance is so good. With all the acid, with how salty it is.
-Mm-hmm. -It's delicious. Fantastic.
Okay, so can I show you one of my family favorites now?
-We're making gumbo. -Yes, indeed.
Get some good chicken stock, some chicken thighs, and sausage.
We'll do the shrimp later. Thank you.
-Start with our roux, though. -All right.
So my mom's family is from Tennessee. Like around Chattanooga.
And I don't know, like, I love soul food.
I know there's different versions of gumbo.
This is the one that I know.
I'm gonna put the chicken thighs in here so they get a little bit of love.
Just like paprika and cayenne, oregano, some salt.
Let that do its thing while we start cooking our roux.
We are going to put in a lot of olive oil.
-I'm going to add some flour. -Do you make this for Christmas?
-Christmas Eve. -Oh, okay.
Okay, so it's gone blonde. We're getting medium brown.
-Like changing your hair color. -Like caramel. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, I don't-- I don't have that. I don't, I don't do that. Yeah.
Let's just get our pot and start doing all the good stuff.
Good andouille sausage. Yeah, they're beautiful.
So good.
And then we'll put the chicken in. We're just browning this, browning that,
and then we'll start putting all our other goodies in.
Now you have me-- I want to go home and make this.
-Gonna make homemade gumbo? -Haven't made it in a while.
Nice. I love that you make gumbo sometimes.
I do.
All right, that's good. That'll get us going.
So, I'm just going to add in some onions, peppers, and celery.
-So, we let those soften. -Yep.
-We add in a little bit of our garlic. -I have a theory about cooking.
When something looks good, like you look in there,
and the oil is colored because of the andouille.
Yeah.
-When it looks good, it's gonna be good. -It can't-- It can't be bad.
That's good food right there. It's not like precious.
-It's just nicely cooking and it's… -Yeah.
-You can also hear it. -Smell it, it's…
-Right. -It becomes a full sensory experience.
-Yes, yes. -Smell it. Taste it. All the goodness.
Add in some of our roux, which is now very dark.
-Mm-hmm. -And let's get our broth.
And de-glaze this darling little gal.
Looks good there.
Stir in some of the gumbo filé right before we eat.
Mmm.
We'll put back our sausage and our chicken.
Nice.
Smells like Christmas now.
Hi, guys.
I smelled gumbo.
-I was like, "Someone's buzzin' around." -I smell gumbo.
-Tom Colicchio. How are you? -Hi, Tom, hi. Nice to meet you.
-Making my mom's gumbo. -That's what I smell.
Guess what else is in this salad.
-Literally your favorite salad. -Ooh.
-Beets, black olives, fennel… -Mm-hmm.
Yeah…
Anchovies.
-Oh, wow. That's like, the anti-salad. -Like, everything you don't--
-Everything you hate. -Everything you-- And pickled vegetables.
-You must have known that I was coming. -Exactly, yeah.
And, and gumbo for me is like one of my favorites.
Especially her mom's, but before the fish goes in.
She always saves a portion on the side--
-Got it. -But this is my favorite.
Sausage and chicken.
Okay, let me add the filé, salt and pepper, and get you some rice.
-A little spicy? Not too spicy? -It's an andouille sausage.
My mom does the turkey sausage for you, so this one has more kick to it.
-I'll give you a towel. He's gonna sweat. -Wonderful.
-And this, Tom? -Salt cod.
-This is delicious. -Just salt cod steamed.
-But this is-- This is your traditional… -Two of the dishes I do Christmas Eve.
We do the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
-That salad, we're having this eye off. -It's good. It's good.
It's amazing how there's not many things in the world that I don't like.
-And they're all in that salad. -They're all in one bowl.
-Every single one. -I don't know what would happen to me.
About to eat the sausage. Let's see what happens.
I can feel it… …puncturing through the top of my head right now.
When food makes you sweat, that's good. That's a good thing, yeah.
It is delicious.
I'm not so sure it's as good as your mom's, but it's certainly close.
Wow.
What!?
Oh my gosh!
My mom will love you. What a good thing to say for your mother-in-law.
Exactly.
-Delicious. -It's really good.
You should make it more often. Really good.
Oh, thanks.
Thank you for coming. Oh my gosh, what a treat.
-Yeah. -I really appreciate it.
This was a lot of fun.
Ooh, I just got cayenne in my eye, or I'm just winking at ya.
Woo! It's all good.
-Thank you for coming. Amazing. -Thank you for having me.
I'm dreaming
My Christmas Day dreaming
When snow begins to fall
There's joy for one and all
There's magic in believing
I'm dreaming
My Christmas Day dreaming
I know my Christmas dreams Will come true
If I spend it with you
Lovely.
The big day is almost here.
And we have really felt the warmth of the holiday season
in just so many ways the past couple weeks.
In the incredible food we've made.
It's better the next day, and everything turns red.
-It's so festive. -Yeah.
The super sweet crafts we've made.
-Oh! -Woo!
But most of all, honestly, just with the memories we've made.
This is great.
Common mark.
But I cannot say goodbye
without raising a glass to the people behind the scenes
who make all of this magic possible.
Whoop!
Here we go.
Cheers, my friend.
And nice clinking glasses.
Oh, yes, indeed.
Cheers.
Cheers!
Thanks, everybody! Well done!
-That's a wrap! -Woo-hoo!
They'll send you socks And scarves and sweaters
Like it's snowing up a storm
But I've got something so much better
That'll keep you warm
But if my Christmas wish comes true
And all I'm wishing for is you
How very merry I will be
When you get me for Christmas
But if my Christmas wish comes true
And all I'm wishing for is you
How very merry I will be
When you get me for Christmas