Holiday Spirit
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
Happy December! I hope you are enjoying this month as much as I am! I love the hubbub of the holidays! It can get a little hectic, but I try to keep in mind that I can step back if it gets to be too much.
This month we tend to have lots of plans with family and friends, and sometimes that can be overwhelming. Some of us may have recently suffered losses of those friends or family, and this time of year kind of spotlights that and we get sad. Whatever the holidays look like for you, I hope that you are able to find some time and space that is comforting and happy for you. I personally love to bake cookies with my children, it’s absolutely chaotic and wonderful. We also love to go look at Christmas lights wherever. The lights downtown are pretty great and with this weather, it’s a nice little walk, too!
With the days getting shorter (Winter Solstice is Dec 21-the shortest night of the year), it’s really important to make sure that we take care of our mental health. The short days and the hustle and bustle of the holidays can really take a lot out of us. I really loved this article about how to manage mental wellness during the holidays after a loss. https://www.strong4life.com/en/emotional-wellness/coping/coping-with-grief-during-holidays-and-celebrations
We have a selection of wonderful produce for you this week! Pecans are from Cardinal Ridge Farms! And Loy and Mr. Porter have lots of wonderful fruits and veggies available among them are: plums, mangoes, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, apples, oranges, cucumbers, broccoli, collards, turnips, and cabbage.
This week’s recipe is in deference to it being so warm currently. It has been established how very much I love collards. This recipe has them served raw, like you would eat kale in a salad. I prefer the flavor and texture of collards over kale any day of the week, plus they are so full of wonderful vitamins and minerals and dietary fiber! I suggest toasting some pecans to throw on this salad! If you’re allergic to tree nuts, I suggest toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas). There is feta on this salad, but I know that not everyone is a fan, so there is a recipe for vegan feta as well. This is a really adaptable recipe! In case you haven’t noticed, I like recipes that are adaptable, because we do not always have these specific ingredients on hand.
Using firm tofu makes it crumbly like feta.