Monica Comas Novelist
Journalist
Avid Cook

It’s the 745^th day of January.

This month is never-ending. It’s both too frigid and too fiery. It’s biting. It’s cranky. And we’re feeling it all.

I don’t have to list the reasons why. We know why. We’re all living this year’s difficult, and in some ways, heartbreaking, start. On top of that, each of us is shouldering the weight of our own lives. Some are carrying more than they ever imagined possible. Like a year, life has seasons to it…and this season is proving to be trying.

Perhaps you’re turning to small comforts. I hope you are. Tiny delights are what sustain us, I think. Taking a beat to appreciate a breathtaking view or savor something delicious can steady us when the sledding is rough. Those glimmery moments that catch the light just so, the ones we’re lucky hold, even briefly, it’s there where meaning grows discernable. Hope feels reachable.

Nature is an enormous source of comfort for me in winter, as it is for so many. But my goodness, it’s been painfully cold of late—so cold that my usual walk through the park has become a trek of endurance rather than a stroll of wonder.

Another reliable place of comfort is the kitchen. Life, by and large, I truly have no control over (as much as I endeavor to exert my will otherwise). But in the kitchen, there’s a calming sense that I’m steering my own ship.

After some (read: entirely too much) indulgent eating over the holidays, I find myself being more intentional about what I’m cooking and baking. In these frigid days I’m striving for tasty delights, yes, but also true nourishment. Among my favorites this month: Warm kale salad with sautéed shallots, baked tofu, dried cranberries, and walnuts with a light balsamic vinaigrette. Braised sea bass in a velvety tomato broth with vegetables served over brown rice. Whipped chocolate chia seed pudding for dessert. Overnight oats with the lightest notes of vanilla and maple syrup for breakfast. Stewp (stew and soup’s stovetop lovechild) brimming with carrots, potatoes, kale, farro, and beans. Orzo with spinach, peas, dill, and feta with a bright squeeze of lemon over top. And finally, Chex mix…because if you’re looking for culinary comfort that’s endured decades, you make Chex mix.

In whatever way this little blog finds you on Monday, January 745^th, I hope comfort is close at hand. And as we carry on through these wintry days together, may that sweet ease return to you again and again.