December 10, 2025

NYC Gift Ideas

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Ideas

The best NYC gift ideas under $30 can be found in this week’s newsletter.

January 1, 2024

December Dalliances 2023

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Family, Food, Movies, Personal, Products, Recipes, Television

Welcome to the last monthly post of the year! I would say that this felt like a fast year but truthfully it still feels like 2012 to me so my opinions might not be reality-based. Here’s what went down last month!

Here are the best tweets of the month.
The best Christmas tweets can be found over here.
I recapped how I did on my autumn list.
I wrote my winter list of things that I want to do.
I got drinks at The Peninsula, which was fun and Christmas-y but wildly overpriced.

Some of the department store windows in NYC this year were fantastic.

The New York Public Library, December 2023

I made these espresso martini cookies and they were really good.
Nathan’s special was named Best YouTube Special of 2023 by The New York Times (!!!!!!!)
Finally got dinner at Mel’s (in the old Del Posto space) and it was good! But I never need to go again.
We’ve needed new pots and pans for over a decade, so it was immensely satisfying to buy this set from Wayfair.
I made this apple crumb cake over Christmas break and I didn’t try it (!), but it wasn’t a big hit since it was only half eaten by the time I left for New York so I should remember not to make this one again. (Also I never want to become the type of person who doesn’t eat the things she makes for others, it goes against everything I stand for??)
Speaking of Christmas food, so much was made!
- Still obsessed with making homemade pizza with sausage and fennel.
- Two charcuterie boards: I will forever add candy to these boards going forward. And I finally made the ricotta jam jar and it was a a big hit. Absolutely should be on all charcuterie boards at all times. (The tip I use to make this faster: make the tomato jam yourself, but absolutely buy jarred pesto.)
- The mushroom loaf (that I learned about from this tweet) that I will absolutely make again, it was so good.
- The leftover turkey sandwich: always a winner.
- The Nutella cookies: always my favourite. Next year I won’t be so stingy with the amount of Nutella.
- Made the spinach & artichoke puff pastry Christmas tree for the second time and I absolutely love this recipe. It’s delicious, beautiful and actually not difficult to make.
- Not every recipe can be a winner, so the losers this year? The Christmas lunch roast beef sandwiches. The meat was overcooked and tough enough that it made me instantly decide to try a new lunch recipe next year. Also I’ve messed up shortbread on TWO different recipes this month. The Alison Roman ones I always make during the holidays AND a new recipe of chocolate pistachio shortbread cookies. Both doughs were beyond crumbly, and they just didn’t taste right. So I’ll need to take a long shortbread break.

I’m still learning how to create a good board

Spinach & artichoke puff pastry Christmas tree

Obsessed with the Mighty Patch nose patches.
Some things I watched:
- I started Office Christmas Party and stopped it after twenty minutes, it was so bad.
- I finished The Crown. Oof. Other than the fact that this was, by far, the worst season of all - it really made me focus on what a terrible show it truly is and how thankful I am that it has ended. I hate that it was based on all of these real people, but so much of it is fiction. If the writers/creators would have just committed to either being fully truthful or fully fictitious then I wouldn’t be left with this feeling of disgust. There’s so much to complain about, but I’ll let it go because let’s just be glad it’s done. But really… the ghost of Diana? God, this series was sick.
The egg nog flavoured Greek yogurt at Trader Joe’s is spectacular.

We didn’t have the whole family together this Christmas (which never feels right), but we made the most of it.

Did my annual skating night with some close friends that truly heals us all, haha.

Buying skates at age 38 was the smartest decision I’ve made in my adult life

Nathan and I spent the past few days near Baltimore in Maryland and went to The B&O Railroad Museum (yes the B&O Railroad from Monopoly), which is a must-visit attraction if you’re nearby and then I had a great crab cake from Alexander’s Tavern.

Fun clouds make a photo a thousand times cooler

I told Nathan that one of his resolutions will (not “should”) be “take more photos of Liz.”

Train museums are the best museums, fight me

Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: looking forward to seeing the Restaurant Week menus (it starts on January 16th), I’m going to start using this first-of-the-month checklist again and I’ll recap my resolutions from last year as well as make new 2024 ones.

If you have any interest in the other monthly roundups of 2023, they can be found here: November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January. And you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.

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January 7, 2023

December Dalliances 2022

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

christmas at home view Liz Heather December 2022 — Christmas Eve view, December 2022

You can find my favourite tweets of the month over here and here. (I also made a list of my very favourite Christmas tweets.)
I recapped my autumn list of things to do and made a new seasonal list of things I’d like to do this winter.
I compiled my favourite photos of 2022.
I finally wrote about my trip to Las Vegas from back in September.
I read and reviewed Dave Grohl’s memoir.
I went to the newly opened (and fantastic) Museum of Broadway.
I got a seasonal latte at Elevenses Cafe in Astoria and it was very cute, I’d go again.
I have fallen in love with The Body Shop’s new scent Wild Pine. I’m fearful that it may be a seasonal scent, so I’ve already stocked up.
I ate at Soothr and it was so, so good. Love a new thai place.

soothr nyc thai food Liz Heather — Paul at Soothr, NYC

Some things I watched this month:
- The Santa Clauses (the new Tim Allen show): Ugh, it was terrible. Maybe I’m not the audience it’s supposed to be for, but still - just a stinkfest.
- Jack Frost: I love Michael Keaton, but I just couldn’t get past the first half hour. It’s way too sad.
- The Crown (seasons 3-5): Loved the season three Wales episode. The moon landing one was also perfect. It’s a great show, but extremely depressing if you’re binging it over a short period of time.
- Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?: God, I hated it. Netflix has this annoying habit of making documentary series out of things that could easily be 40 minutes long and it is obnoxious as hell. You do not need to watch this. Read the Wikipedia page about it instead, you’ll save yourself so much wasted time.
I was looking up trivia for the movie Scrooged and learned that the childhood house in the movie is a real place in Queens! So obviously I walked over to see it in person. Insanity that it hasn’t changed after all of this time.

frank cross childhood home Queens New York Scrooged film set film location Liz Heather — Frank Cross’ childhood home from Scrooged (1988) in Queens, New York

I won a lottery ticket to see A Christmas Carol on Broadway and… YIKES. I can’t describe how bad it was. First of all, IT WAS A ONE MAN SHOW. And I didn’t know that beforehand, so yes that’s my fault. But oh my god, it was agony.

a christmas carol broadway new york city december 2022 Liz Heather — A Christmas Carol on Broadway in New York, December 2022

Are we all aware of how garbage the brand Silani is? I tried it for the first time and lord was it bad. Never again. Spend the extra dollar and eat something edible.
I watched the final World Cup game with my parents and I’m glad France lost, give others a chance to win too, ya know?

world cup final game 2022 Liz Heather — World Cup final with my parents, December 2022

I will never be above latte art.

santa claus christmas latte at san remos etobicoke ontario Liz Heather — Latte art from San Remo’s in Etobicoke, Ontario

I went to Bell, Book & Candle for some Christmas themed drinks and it was great. Love a divey, but good bar.

bell book and candle christmas theme drinks nyc Liz Heather — With Irene at Bell, Book & Candle, NYC

Is it even Christmas if I don’t make Nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies? I also made a few batches of Alison Roman’s amazing chocolate chunk shortbread cookies that were a big hit.

nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies Liz Heather Christmas cookies — The Nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies from Ambitious Kitchen

Obviously I went to my parent’s house for Christmas and it was exactly what I wanted & needed.

nephews christmas tree december 2022 Liz Heather — My nephews watching Jingle All The Way, December 2022

holiday christmas lights home christmas 2022 Liz Heather pretty lights — My mom’s Christmas window can’t be beat

Christmas Morning family photo December 2022 Liz Heather presents gifts — Christmas Day, December 2022

Christmas tree gifts presents Liz Heather December 2022 — Our Christmas tree

snow falling hedges christmas winter Canada Liz Heather December 2022 — Snowfall before Christmas is everything to me

Went ice skating for the first time in twenty years and it was great. Think I’m gonna buy some skates and make this a yearly thing.

ice skating Mississauga ontario celebration square Liz Heather Gary Heather winter activity — Ice skating at Celebration Square in Mississauga, Ontario

Jackbox and Nintendo Switch games remain the perfect family activity around the holidays.

nintendo switch family game Liz Heather Phantom of the Opera funny — The game Use Your Words on Nintendo Switch

nintendo switch family games funny Liz Heather — The game Use Your Words on Nintendo Switch

My mom and I saw a wild fox in her backyard and it. was. incredible. It was just playing in the snow and I can’t believe we got to see him/her.
Winter skies might be the best skies.

winter sky Mississauga ontario canada Liz Heather December 2022 — December 2022

winter sky Mississauga ontario Canada Liz Heather deep blue sky December 2022 — If only I could bottle this kind of blue and keep it in my pocket

I made the Christmas tree spinach and artichoke dip and it was a hit. It did not look pretty, but the flavours were great.

I also made a leftover turkey sandwich with STUFFING WAFFLES and it was so, so good. Again it photographed rough, but tasted incredible. I used this recipe to make the waffles. Definitely have to do this again.
The main reason to go to the Union Square Holiday Market? Duck confit poutine at Duck Season. It’s honestly a better poutine than some Canadian places.

duck poutine new york city union square holiday market Liz Heather — Duck confit poutine at Duck Season in NYC

I fell absolutely in love with the newest Bob’s Burgers Christmas episode, The Plight Before Christmas.
Crate & Barrel continues to have the cutest fabric Christmas ornaments.

crate and barrel christmas tree fabric decorations Liz Heather — Harry Potter-looking cat ornament at Crate & Barrel

Trader Joe’s had Christmas wreaths this year, so I got one and it was perfect. It makes me feel so together to have a wreath on my door. I still have it up. I don’t want to say goodbye.

trader joe's christmas wreath new york city Liz Heather — Christmas wreath from Trader Joe’s

I went to see Noah Baumbach talk about his new movie White Noise at a NYPL event and it was very all right. I wish he’d talked more about older movies of his that I’ve loved, but I guess it makes sense that he didn’t since he was promoting this one.

noah baumbach nypl white noise — Noah Baumbach speaking at an NYPL event promoting White Noise, December 2022

The candy cane cold brew from Blank Street? Unparalleled.
One of my favourite things to do in December in New York is to walk around the city looking at the holiday lights and listen to that Darlene Love song on repeat.

christmas tree rockefeller center Liz Heather December 2022 — The Rockefeller Christmas Tree, December 2022

saks christmas decorations holiday lights new york city Liz Heather December 2022 — Saks holiday lights, December 2022

macys holiday display new york city december 2022 — Macy’s holiday decorations, December 2022

new york city christmas decorations fifth avenue Liz Heather December 2022 — Holiday taxi display on Fifth Avenue, December 2022

I went to Essex Market to see their Gingerbread Village display, which was cute but I wish it was bigger. And since I was there, I took a look at the sandwich menu at Shopsin’s and holy christ I need to go back.

gingerbread house village essex market new york city Liz Heather December 2022 — Gingerbread Village at Essex Market in NYC, December 2022

Nothing better than a Boxing Day puzzle.

boxing day Canada family puzzle december 2022 Liz Heather — Boxing Day, December 2022

Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: I’m going to get real dressed up and go see Moulin Rouge on Broadway with my friend Diana, I’m excited about seeing the Restaurant Week menus for this season, I’m going to start using this first-of-the-month checklist again, Classpass is doing a free monthly promotion right now so I’ll keep doing that until it starts charging again, and I really can’t wait to make this lasagna soup.

the heathers christmas family photo December 2022 — The Heathers 2022

If you have any interest in the other monthly roundups of 2022, they can be found here: November 2022, October 2022, September 2022, August 2022, July 2022, June 2022, May 2022, April 2022, March 2022, February 2022 & January 2022.

You can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.