December 21, 2023

Winter List 2023

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”

— Hamilton Wright Mabie

I love that the first day of the winter is in the same week as Christmas, I always seem to forget that it is and it’s the nicest surprise every year. Here’s what I’d love to do this season.

Go skiing.
Eat ramen for the first time (I know, it’s insane this hasn’t happened).
Make some Christmas-y appetizers (cranberry grilled cheese, charcuterie wreath, etc.)
Get the lobster bisque from The Soupman (the Seinfeld soup nazi) near Central Park (I haven’t eaten it in years and it’s incredible).
Find a snowmobile and ride it. This one will be hard to do because I don’t know anyone with a snowmobile (mental note: make a resolution to befriend snowmobile types).

I’ll also watch some of these movies, obviously. And I hope you write a winter list of your own because no one is going to enjoy your life for you.

And if you’re stuck on ideas, you can see my past winter lists below: Winter List 2022, Winter List 2021, Winter List 2020, Winter List 2019, Winter List 2018, Winter List 2017 and Winter List 2015.

December 20, 2023

Autumn List 2023 Revisited

by Liz Heather in Personal

Autumn has ended! Welcome to the coziest time of year. Here’s how my autumn list went.

1. Make an apple flavoured dessert.

I made my favourite apple fritter cake for Thanksgiving. Might be my favourite apple dessert of all time? I also made apple cider doughnut cookies that were pretty great, too

2. Taste a turnip.

For some reason, every time I saw one at the grocery I winced and kept moving. Maybe I need someone to cook me a turnip? I don’t ask for much from my friends.

3. Make a homemade pumpkin syrup for iced coffee.

Did it! And I might do this every year from now on. Homemade syrup tastes eons better than any bottled one.

4. Wear bolder lipsticks.

I did! Mostly in October, but still.

5. Watch at least ten horror movies I haven’t seen before.

Sabrina The Teenage Witch (the movie) - not horror but spooky themed so I’m counting it. As well as Knock At the Cabin, Prom Night, Blades, Trick R Treat, Coherence, The Fog, Night Beast, Tourist Trap, The Black Phone and Child’s Play 2.

4/5! Okay, that’s pretty good. Winter list coming tomorrow!

December 9, 2023

Navigating November 2023

by Liz Heather in Advice, Best of NYC, Food, Ideas, Movies, Personal, Recipes

Can someone please make me a Nordstrom flagship store ambassador?

I truly love autumn weather, there’s just so much vest action. I couldn’t be happier. Here’s what went down last month!

The best tweets of the month can be found over here.
I finished up the Fall Fridays series because autumn ends in my brain November 1st.
I have friends who are kind of a big deal and I make appearances on their TikToks.

@thingsmyhusbandlikes These are so fun and easy to make! #holidaycocktail #holidayhostingtips #gincocktailrecipes ♬ original sound - Paul + Richard

Finally bought new nonstick pots and pans and IS THIS HOW EVERYONE IS LIVING? Had no idea this kind of kitchen ease was possible. My eggs are gliding in these babies, it’s almost sensual.
Loved Kaia Wine Bar on the Upper East Side. $8 martinis in 2023 is so unbelievable, I really should shut my mouth about it. I also tried birria tacos for the first time and lord almighty. Who wouldn’t want to dunk something delicious in something else delicious? Duck tacos were incredible, too.

I think these took off in popularity because someone smart decided not to call them “wet tacos”

I heard a great baking tip: make whipped cream fast in a food processor. So smart.
Experienced the awfulness that is Rolf’s German (Christmas) restaurant in the city. DO NOT GO. I let loose on a Google review and maybe that’s cold, but I had to, man.

A place this pretty has to be absolute trash.

Nathan was featured again in the New York Times recommending his Gramercy show (which he’s going to tape on February 5th), so that was huge. I’m becoming a regular at the framing place near my house and it’s wonderful.

So in love with the new Wegman’s in the city. I wish I could go back in time and tell kid Liz how much time she’d spend in grocery stores as an adult - she’d lose her little mind. There are just too many good deals at different grocers! I’ll never be above a good deal.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know how much I loved The Shark is Broken on Broadway. Best play I’ve seen in years. The Times critic Jesse Green is absolutely out of his mind for his review of it. (A deep dive of this man showed that he loved Shucked, so now I know he’s not the brightest.)
I made a pumpkin pie rice krispies fake pie because my dear friend Casey wanted one for Thanksgiving and it was cute as hell.

Vowing to get the Baskin-Robbins ice cream turkey cake next fake Thanksgiving. I did sample their Turkey Day Fixin’s flavour of the month and you know what? I respect it.
I saw too many outfit reels on Instagram and it altered my brain in thinking that I needed that one boring black, basic, long, “evening” coat that every white woman under 40 owns for every winter outfit so I bought the $50 one at Zara and returned it within two days. I’M NOT THAT WOMAN! Also that coat has the worst material, every single piece of lint in the air is attracted to it. Remember when Zara was good quality?
If you’ve ever used a Half Baked Harvest recipe, you might find this article interesting. The blogger apparently responded to the piece on Martha Stewart’s podcast, but I haven’t heard it yet.
Absolutely gutted that Duck Season is permanently closed! It had the only good poutine in this entire country. I’m not being dramatic.
So I’ve been doing this morning routine for about three weeks now and it’s wild how much happier it has made me. I wake up, make a spinach smoothie, walk Baby Dog, come home and eat an omelet and then open my email/look at my phone, etc. It’s been incredible. Also, not to overshare but I’ve also been drinking three liters of water each day and I don’t necessarily see a difference yet, but I do have an underlying better-than-you vibe that has been hard to shake off.
I don’t want to get you too excited but I am in possession of THE GLOOM ROOM. My overly generous friend Yassir got it for us and my life might now be complete? Words can’t express the beauty of this piece. (I couldn’t stop saying how “coveted” it is in the “miniature community” at fake Thanksgiving and I think it might have ended the party early?)
My wonderful friend Richard made stuffing as a main entree for a dinner at home and CAN WE MAKE THIS A THING? Genius idea.

You’re already Christmas shopping so just a gentle reminder: get the gift receipt.
The snow is coming and you will slip and possibly fall. Act accordingly.
I saw Priscilla in theatres and loved it. It was a little slow, but still great. I also bought the book it was based on, so that review is coming soon.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: of course I’ll be lighting my bayberry candles on Christmas Eve as well as New Year’s Eve, December is always the most expensive month but it doesn’t have to be, don’t forget to buy your mistletoe, I’ll definitely watch some of these, I’ll absolutely watch The Snowman yet again and once again I’m begging you not to give lottery tickets as gifts.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went on in October over here. And my autumn highlights on Instagram can be found here.

November 30, 2023

The Best Tweets of November 2023

by Liz Heather in Links

The best tweets of November 2023.

November 24, 2023

Fall Fridays Vol. 9

by Liz Heather in Fall Fridays

Welcome to the final Fall Fridays! I know that autumn technically ends on December 20th, but I refuse to acknowledge that. If I see a Santa display then that means it’s Christmas. The seasons (as I know them) are: spring, hell, autumn, Christmas, winter - I don’t make the rules.

BAKING/COOKING

I made a rice krispies pumpkin pie for American Thanksgiving and it turned out pretty well! Kind of a perfect dessert for a kids table.

CRAVING

The duck confit poutine from Duck Season at the Union Square Holiday Market that reopened this week.

DRINKING

Spinach smoothies in the morning as soon as I wake up. I never thought I’d get into it, but it’s annoying how good it makes me feel.

EATING

I’ve started making omelets with caramelized onions and goat cheese daily and I have to tell you: it really makes you think you’re better than other people. It’s so fast and easy and delicious that I’m a little mad I didn’t start doing this sooner.

EXPERIENCING

I went to see the miniature train exhibit at the New York Transit Museum (in Grand Central Station). I don’t know when my passion for miniatures began, but it’s deepening at an alarming pace.

Miniature trains display at Grand Central Station, NYC

LISTENING

It’s Black Friday, so the Christmas playlist is officially playing.

LOVING

Family Matters Christmas episodes. I should probably do a post on other sitcom Christmas episodes, I can sense how much you want that.

SHOPPING

Got some gingerbread whipped cream from Target for the rice krispies and whoa. It would be heavenly in a mug of hot chocolate.

WATCHING

I watched the new episodes of The Crown and this show is just sick. Showing conversations between two dead people that no one can corroborate? Get a life.

WEARING

Sometimes I wear all one colour and it tricks me into thinking I’m stylish. Sometimes it works and then sometimes I look like a farmer.

“She could be a farmer in those clothes.”

These weekly roundups have been really fun to do, so don’t be surprised if Winter Wednesdays turn up in a few weeks…

November 17, 2023

Fall Fridays Vol. 8

by Liz Heather in Fall Fridays

BAKING/COOKING

It’s almost American Thanksgiving so that means I’m gonna make my s’mores pie, which is truly the easiest pie recipe of all time.

CRAVING

A hot chocolate with a smidge of toffee syrup in it. I’ve only thought about it in theory, so as soon as the temperature drops below zero I’ll go get one.

DRINKING

Blonde flat whites for life. I’m a creature of habit.

EATING

So I finally went to the new Wegman’s in the city and the best deals? Three pounds of family pack ground chicken for $12. I’m sorry, but that’s wild. Also their $9 frozen wild blueberries family pack, get out of here. Deals for days in there.

EXPERIENCING

I’ve started arranging my saved reels into categories (makeup, funny stuff, etc.) and it’s made my life so much easier. Didn’t even know that was an option.

LISTENING

90s Disney soundtracks. They’re so soothing. Aladdin especially.

LOVING

Nathan did the Gramercy Theatre for the New York Comedy Festival and it was so phenomenal. I understand how you could think I’m biased but I truly don’t see him on stage that much, so when I do I’m usually pretty excited for it. And this tech stuff was so good. He works incredibly hard and I’m so happy that it was such a success.

SHOPPING

I DO NOT NEED MORE CANDLES. So obviously I bought the new chocolate croissant one from Trader Joe’s.

WATCHING

We saw The Shark is Broken on Broadway and it’s hard to accurately express how wonderful it was. It closes this Sunday and I’m grateful that we got to see it. Every single element (acting, script, set) was overwhelmingly good.

WEARING

I’m currently going through my entire closet and trying to arrange full outfits so that I don’t have to think too much about what I’ll wear each day. I’d just love to be a little bit more put together next year - or at least give more of a shit about that stuff. I only started thinking more about this when I realized how much I love putting together my vacation outfits and how happy that makes me, so here we are. Let’s see what happens.

November 10, 2023

Fall Fridays Vol. 7

by Liz Heather in Fall Fridays

BAKING/COOKING

I’ve been making this perfect egg salad on repeat. Also, can we please start doing deviled eggs at parties again?

CRAVING

I’m absolutely in love with this winter blue Le Creuset Snowflake brasier.

DRINKING

$8 happy hour martinis at Kaia Wine Bar on the Upper East Side.

EATING

I finally had a birria taco (I know, I’m never on time with food trends) with Paul and wow. Insanely good. Obviously everything is better with an au jus sauce.

Birria and duck tacos at Kaia Wine Bar, NYC

EXPERIENCING

The awfulness of Rolf’s Christmas-decorated restaurant in the city. I made a reservation six weeks ago and yes the place is beautiful, but that’s literally the only pro. Cons include: not being told ahead of time that every person is required to order an entree, cocktails were outrageously priced ($26 for basically anything alcoholic and $6 for seltzer), service was super rushed/rude, drink glasses had lipstick on them, space is so cramped and the menu was basic as hell.

Rolf’s (it has to be this beautiful to offset the insane prices), NYC

LISTENING

I’ve started playing my old iPod shuffle on my stereo when I get ready to go out and why the hell did I ever stop this ritual? Everyone should be doing this.

LOVING

Nathan’s show at Gramercy Theatre tomorrow was featured in the New York Times as one of the top four shows to see at the New York Comedy Festival, which is so wild and great.

SHOPPING

I found a12 Days of Christmas Bonne Maman jam assortment at Costco for $15.99 that I had to buy immediately. I’m not even that into jam (??) and yet my first reflex was to grab one.

WATCHING

I saw Priscilla and loved it.

WEARING

Wore my green feathered coat for the second time and I feel so indestructible in this piece of clothing, is this why famous people have such confidence on red carpets? Good clothing makes you think you’re better than everyone? I think I just cracked the code. Or wait, did everyone but me already know this… oh no.

And I’ve created an autumn highlight reel on my Instagram incase you care!

November 8, 2023

October Occurrences 2023

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Family, Food, Halloween, Links, Movies, Personal, Recipes

That was one of the longest Octobers I’ve ever experienced and it couldn’t have been better. Here’s everything that went down last month:

The best tweets of October can be found over here, and I also did a post about the best Halloween tweets.
Our costume!
I started doing weekly Fall Fridays recaps because I can’t shut the hell up.
Made Halloween cake pops with Maya with meltable chocolate from Michaels (the funfetti vanilla is the best one) and I think these might be among my favourite desserts now. Nothing says ‘I’m almost 40’ like discovering how good cake pops are 15 years after they became popular?

Got a drink at Beetle House (the Beetlejuice-esque bar in the East Village) and that place is a party. Cocktails with dry ice should be mandatory at all bars for the prices we’re paying these days (I’d run on this platform alone if I were up for mayor).

I used a few of the single packets of the Dennis Gross triple eye serum and I could really see slight results in only a couple days. So annoying when expensive skincare products actually work well.
This chicken marsala remains one of my favourite top three dinners to make.

It’s a tall order, but please serve this chicken marsala at my funeral

TIP: if a recipe calls for softened butter but you forgot to soften it in advance, you should just brown the butter instead. This works for me literally every time. Browned butter is incredible.
Finally went to the Oscar Wilde bar and it was beautifully decorated for Halloween. It also had one of the best lighted washrooms I’ve ever seen in NYC.

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It’s one week into November so have I already had the Thanksgiving dumplings from Mimi Cheng’s as well as the Bobbie (Thanksgiving) sandwich from Capriotti’s? We both know the answer, don’t make me say it.
Made pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but they were only okay. I think I’ll steer clear of the baking recipes from Bon Appétit for awhile. Independent bloggers almost always have better dessert recipes.

Underwhelming pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Okay, the flagship Nordstrom in Manhattan? New favourite place to shop for dresses. There’s also a great happy hour bar on the fifth floor with this incredible locker that charges your phone while you walk around.
I’ve made the Chrissy Teigen jalapeno corn pudding for the past few years as part of our Thanksgiving meal and I might finally be sick of it? Looking for new corn recipes.

My favourite freezable meal right now is this short rib bolognese.
Walked through a section of Central Park that I’d never seen before (the north woods) and it felt like an entirely different park.

Made apple cider doughnut cookies that turned out great. I thought the cinnamon sugar topping sounded a bit boring, but it was perfect.

It is both a blessing and a curse that I learned of Nuts Factory existence (it’s basically American Bulk Barn).
Made this coconut chicken tikka masala in the slow cooker and it was pretty good. I doubt I’ll make it again though because I never cook rice anymore and this is a recipe begging for rice. (Why don’t I like to cook rice? Um, it takes forever? And I threw out my rice cooker because I hate having useless appliances that I’ll use once a year.)
The focaccia ready-made sandwiches at Eataly? Holy shit. Unbelievably good.

Went to Canada for Thanksgiving and it was so lovely, as always.

Some things I watched:
- Sabrina The Teenage Witch (the movie): I had no idea it was a movie before it was a show. I’ll always love Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina, so this was a great find.
- Urban Legend: totally forgot about how good this movie was. With the exception of the dog-in-a-microwave scene, obviously.
- Knock At The Cabin: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are always so hit or miss and this one? STUNK. I really hate that he insists on making cameos in them, too.
- Prom Night: Great! Jamie Lee Curtis is a phenomenal dancer. Nobody talks about that.
- Blades: it’s literally just a Jaws parody but with a lawnmower instead of a shark. So what I’m saying is that it was fantastic.
- Trick R Treat: so terrible.
- Halloween (the Rob Zombie one): UGH! Awful! Nathan claims that I hated it because apparently I don’t like “dysfunction or reality.” WHO DOES.
- Coherence: so good! Everyone should see it.
- The Fog: loved it! So fun when the villain is weather. And I LOVE the fact that when it was first released, they installed fog machines in some movie theatres where the movie was showing. God, that’s great.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: Nathan’s big Gramercy show this weekend, buying new cookware finally because our pots specifically are pretty toxic, might make these salted chocolate pecan pie bars for (fake) Thanksgiving later this month and I can’t wait to finally eat at the Christmas restaurant in the city Rolf’s.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went on in September over here. And my autumn highlights on Instagram can be found here.

November 3, 2023

Fall Fridays Vol. 6

by Liz Heather in Fall Fridays

BAKING/COOKING

I physically cannot stop making chicken marsala. This recipe is restaurant quality.

Incredible chicken marsala recipe from Once Upon A Chef

CRAVING

It’s November so my radar is set on the Thanksgiving dumplings from Mimi Cheng’s as well as the Bobbie (Thanksgiving) sandwich from Capriotti’s.

DRINKING

So many blonde flat whites. There is no better hot beverage.

EATING

The heavenly duck croquettes at Satis Bistro in Jersey City.

EXPERIENCING

My dear friends Paul & Richard got me the (TikTok famous) bloody shower mat and it is great, if only slightly jarring. Nathan had a strong reaction to it, so we used it exclusively on Halloween and then I delicately packed it away for next year.

LISTENING

So I can’t stop listening to bad Christmas movies in the background while I wrap gifts. My logic: I don’t want good ones on in the background because I’ll want to watch those. If I have bad ones, then I can focus on what I’m doing but still have a Christmas vibe happening. And I can’t just put on Christmas music, it’s only November 3rd, I’m not a full psycho.

LOVING

All of the wildly nice messages about our costume this year.

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SHOPPING

I found these perfect (not expensive) high-end-looking gift tags for Christmas from Target. Sixteen of them for $5 is perfect.

WATCHING

God, so many horror movies - I’m 2% grateful October has come to a close. The last one I saw was Chucky 2 and it was actually pretty great.

WEARING

I tried on this Top Shop coat that I’m absolutely in love with. $170 isn’t insane, is it? I’m gonna wait for Black Friday.

My tombstone might say, “She took a lot of dressing room selfies”

And I’ve created an autumn highlight reel on my Instagram incase you care!

October 31, 2023

Happy Halloween!

by Liz Heather in Halloween, Personal

I can’t be stopped! Hope you had a great Halloween!

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