START WITH FAMILY, season well with good friends, fold in great food, and pour into a home. Drinks optional. That’s my recipe for real holiday happiness—and by now, it’s been rigorously test ed. After all, this time last year we were realizing the many things we couldn’t do thanks to the pandemic, and the places we shouldn’t go, and the people we probably wouldn’t see. But despite that dismal approach to December, I had my key ingredients (family, friends, food, and home), and the holidays were still super-special. This year, we may be doing more out in the world, but I’m keeping the focus on my formula, no substitutions, please.
With that in mind, we devoted our December issue to bringing you and yours both comfort and joy all month. You supply the family (yours by choice or by blood) and the backdrop, and we have a sleighful of ideas to get your home feeling festive, your gift list checked off and wrapped in style, and your menus planned. Stop by Kevin Sharkey’s place to see how he truly decks the halls (page 88). Consider Martha’s exquisite past a dinner for an extraordinary evening (page 13). And don’t miss “Gather ’Round”: Deputy food editor Greg Lofts offers delicious suggest ions for any size gathering, whether you want to host friends for drinks around the firepit or have a sitdown dinner with just kin (page 74). All of us at Living wish you a truly happy and healthy holiday, and a brilliant new year!

Elizabeth Graves, Editor in Chief
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NitroFlare

• New Scientist – November 13, 2021
• The New York Times Style Magazine – 14 November 2021