Cozy Fall Vibes

Summary

Podcast Summary: Feminist Survival Project – "Cozy Fall Vibes"

Episode Overview In the September 25, 2025 episode of Feminist Survival Project, hosts Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski dive deep into creating moments of joy, comfort, and coziness — or “ventral” feelings, per polyvagal theory — as a means of surviving the tough autumn and winter months, especially for those who live with depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or chronic fatigue. The conversation is overflowing with practical advice, personal anecdotes, and an abundance of permission to indulge in the sensory pleasures of fall, all anchored in feminist resistance and collective care.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Emotional Landscape of Autumn

• Many people, including both hosts, experience worsening depression in fall — especially October through March. (00:12-01:41)
  • “For a lot of people… October is one of the worst months of the year for depression.” — Amelia (00:12)
  • Emily shares traditions, like getting a Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving, as buffers against looming seasonal depression.

2. Polyvagal Theory & "Ventral" States

• Explanation of polyvagal theory: sympathetic (fight/flight), dorsal (shutdown), and ventral (connected/calm). Pleasurable, cozy experiences help achieve ventral states, crucial for resilience and immune health. (02:49-03:34, 10:28-12:44)
  • “Feeling good inside your body is the foundation of being stronger than the fire.” — Emily (09:24)
  • “Your immune system functions better when you’re in a ventral state.” — Emily (11:02)

3. Permission To Be Cozy (and Basic!)

• Challenging the idea that loving pumpkin spice, candles, or soft sweaters is “basic” or frivolous. Pleasure is not a waste—resisting puritanical messaging is radical self- and community-care. (08:04–10:27)
  • “My goal is to separate it from this, like, capitalist aesthetic part and have it be, like, really centered on, like, how my body feels.” — Emily (08:12)
  • “Life is hard enough… do what you need to do to feel good inside your body.” — Emily (10:20)

4. The Bubble of Love: Collective Care Against Burnout

• Building a support network (“bubble of love”) helps resist the cultural pressure to deprioritize comfort and pleasure. Rest is a communal project.
  • “The cure for burnout’s not self-care. It’s all of us caring for each other.” — Amelia (14:31)

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Cozy Fall Practices: A Sensory Checklist

Light, warmth, sound, scent, and physical comfort are recurring themes throughout the episode.

Light and Atmosphere

• Candles: Bath-time candles, strategically placed with mirrors to amplify light for coziness. (17:05–18:59)
• Fires: Real fireplaces, candles in fireplaces, or even looping videos/sounds of fires for those without. (21:14–24:43)
• Dimmers and lighting choices: Simple ways to adjust ambiance for comfort.

Scents and Sounds

• Simmer Pots: Simmering spices on the stove to scent the home. (24:10–26:13)
• Soundscapes: Crackling fire, autumn winds, or even the act of sweeping leaves.

Seasonal Decor & Activities

• Decorating rituals: Halloween/Thanksgiving/pumpkin themes, outdoor and indoor decor, thrifted or handmade when possible. (30:01–34:37)
• Blanket & Linen Rotation: Changing to cozier, autumn-themed blankets — especially Snoopy-themed ones! (29:01–29:47)
• Puzzles: Seasonal (Halloween/Christmas) puzzles, sometimes split into “advent” pieces for daily joy. (31:32–33:30)
• Sweeping Leaves: Turning daily chores, like sweeping leaves, into grounding seasonal rituals. (26:23–28:42)

Clothing and Home Comfort

• Wool or Seasonal Socks, Slippers, Bathrobes, and Fuzzy Hats: Comfort and insulation are celebrated (50:33–59:12). Even colors and themed outfits are assigned to different months for visual joy.
  • “Warm, thick, fluffy, soft is ventral, but also things perfectly matching.” — Emily (59:46)
• Pajamas: Prioritizing cozy pajamas so even an emergency room visit won’t disrupt comfort. (61:21–63:10)

Food: The Ultimate Hygge

• Hot/Wet Foods: Soups, noodle soups, stews, slurpy and “wet food” (even joked as a “wet food cat” experience). (64:56–65:30)
• Pumpkin Spice & Spiced Drinks: Homemade pumpkin spice, mulled cider or wine (with a star anise tip for depth), homemade eggnog for the holidays. (66:43–81:08)
• Cheese: Special cheeses, like Manchego or Vermont Creamery double cream, as a deeply satisfying seasonal treat. (70:33–76:05)
• Farm Shares & Preserving: Canning, freezing, and storing end-of-season abundance to extend warm, sun-grown flavors into winter. (41:42–45:29)
  • Reflects themes of preparedness, abundance, and “squirreling away” joy.

Organization as Comfort

• For some (Amelia), the feeling of ease comes more from tidy organization and “the container concept” rather than surplus. (46:42-48:19)
  • “Full, abundant, but I would much prefer empty space to having to put an extra can of tomatoes on a different shelf, because the tomato shelf doesn’t have room…” — Amelia (48:07)

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Memorable Moments and Quotes

• “You're going to get judged. There's probably a part of you that will judge you… Do what you need to do to feel good inside your body.” — Emily (12:14, 10:20)
• “Candles.” — Emily, kicking off the “cozy list” (17:07)
• “Halloween decor and puzzles and Halloween countdown… I have a hundred day Halloween countdown in my house.” — Emily (29:47, 30:01)
• “For me, abundance does not feel as good as fastidious organization.” — Amelia (46:42)
• “This is gonna be like the Vermont Creamery long episode of us just listing things that make us feel good and like, hopefully people can relate…” — Emily (75:52)
• “Permission and encouragement to notice. To notice. What are things that feel this kind of good and then allow yourself to have that.” — Emily (83:26)

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Resources and Recommendations

• The Nap Ministry (Tricia Hersey): Social media/inspiration for resisting grind culture and prioritizing rest. (14:46–15:41)
• Nothing Much Happens: Recommended sleep podcast with “cozy story” vibes, including Halloween-themed episodes featuring a coven. (43:35)
• Tasting History (YouTube): For homemade eggnog recipes and other historical foods. (80:55–81:08)

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Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Seasonal Mood Changes & Traditions: 00:12–02:37
• Polyvagal Theory & Ventral States: 02:49–03:34, 10:28–12:44
• Capitalism, "Basic" Stereotypes & Permission: 08:04–10:27
• Bubble of Love & Collective Care: 13:35–14:31
• Cozy Sensory Tricks (Candles, Decor, Clothes, Food): 17:05–73:12
• Organizational Comfort vs. Abundance: 46:42–49:06
• Cheese Rhapsody: 70:33–76:05
• Final Thoughts & Permission: 83:26–84:24

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Takeaway Message & Episode Vibe

The episode is a rich, multi-sensory ode to permission — not just to light more candles or buy better slippers, but to collectively resist burnout through joy, comfort, and connection. The hosts model how customizing your own “seasonal buffer” — whether through food, light, fabric, or organization — is both a survival skill and a feminist act. This episode is a cozy, laughing encouragement to indulge in what feels good, exactly as you are.

“What in your life makes you feel the way I sound when I say Manchego?” — Emily (83:34)

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Cue the ukulele

Transcript

[Amelia]

This is an important thing about the full ventrals is that for a lot of people, for me, and it turns out for a lot of people, October is one of the worst months of the year for depression.

[Host 1]

Is it?

[Host 2]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Amelia]

I always get a seasonal in October.

[Host 1]

Sure. For me, October is when it starts.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And it sort of different years. It goes at different paces sometimes. So we began our tradition in 2012, the year we got married. We began our tradition of always buying our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Because the day after Thanksgiving, I was in bad shape with seasonal affective stuff. And I was like, we gotta do something to spark a little motherfucking joy. This is before Konmari. And so we bought our tree that day. And every year, no matter what, even if there's literally like knee high snow, which sometimes in Massachusetts, on the day after Thanksgiving, there's knee high snow. You march through the field and you pick your tree. And so.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

But some years doing pretty good.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And it's not until after Christmas and into January that it gets really terrible.

[Amelia]

However, considering external factors, it might be a bad year. Yeah. It's likely to be. Not awesome, not great.

[Host 1]

And I have been preparing for months.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Like literally when we get past the summer solstice.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

It's June 21st.

[Host 1]

I notice the day's getting shorter and I. I'm like a squirrel. But instead of like hoarding nuts, I am hoarding opportunities for joy, opportunities for pleasure.

[Amelia]

Yellow fuzzy crocs.

[Host 1]

Literally. I have assigned those crocs to the month of January. Good for me. January, February, March is the hardest time. And man, in 2024. My book came out at the end of January, and I had to book tour through the hardest months. For me, it's.

[Amelia]

For me, the worst month is March. But October is also notorious. So we're talking about how to make the autumn more ventral.

[Host 1]

Build a buffer.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

In terms of polyvagal theory, there's the sympathetic, which is the kind of fight or flight protective state. And then there's dorsal, which is the, you know, rest and digest sympathetic state. And then in the middle of the. Of the. Everything is the. Is the connected state called ventral. And we're. We're talking about things that evoke the feeling of ventralness.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

As opposed to if you feel stressed out, overwhelmed. That's fight or flight. Sympathetic depression is dorsal shutdown protective state. Curl up in a ball and hide under the covers. Hope whatever's happening ends or that someone comes to help you before you die. Yeah, that's depression.

[Amelia]

And Happily, the autumn is already associated with kind of the warm fuzzies of, like, soft, fluffy sweaters and boots and.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

And pumpkin spice.

[Host 1]

Back in, like, the 2015-2019 era, there was, like, this influx of scandinav.

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Comfy culture.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

That, like, one of the ways that showed up was. Was Hygge, which is. It's spelled H, Y, G, G, E.

[Amelia]

Did you know that in the stage version of Frozen, there's a whole song about Hygge?

[Host 1]

I didn't.

[Amelia]

It goes. I don't know the tunes, but I know they say the word the whole chorus.

[Host 1]

That's amazing because that. That. That word deserves it.

[Amelia]

It deserves it.

[Host 2]

It is hilarious.

[Amelia]

And it makes. It's like the word. Okay, so I have the synesthesia where I can, like, taste words. And Hygge has this, like, sour fish kind of flavor to it.

[Host 1]

Of course it does.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

But like, in a kind of meaty, sort of sardine way.

[Host 1]

That makes sense.

[Amelia]

And just the singing. Higa, higa, higa over and over just tastes like, you know, smoked fish to me.

[Host 2]

That's funny.

[Host 1]

So, yeah. Like, cozy, cozy vibes. Cozy fall vibes is what we're going for. Let's acknowledge that this is very, like, Northern hemisphere centric. Not even just Northern hemisphere centric, but like the north half of the Northern hemisphere.

[Amelia]

So if you live places with four seasons.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

If you live in a place and like, with the timing. Four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Because if you live in Australia, you're like, we are coming out of winter and moving toward the spring.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Amelia]

In which case, listen to this. In six months.

[Host 1]

Right, Exactly.

[Amelia]

And not even. Because it's not like you have, like, changing color fall leaves. Right. Maple trees shedding their.

[Host 1]

We're going to be talking about, like, European centric, North Eastern America centric fall vibes.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Although. Because the weather here in New England is a lot like it was in England. England.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

There is a kind of universal perception of fall.

[Host 1]

Sure. Because of colonialism. This is like colonial colonized colonialism.

[Amelia]

Exactly.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

So this is colonialist fall Hygge vibes. But, like, there's a reason that this is so overwhelmingly popular. It is cozy. It is it the whole back to school, like, you know, storing your nuts and seeds or buying pencils and new pencil cases and binders and folders, like, it feels very nice. And so we, you know, even if you live in Arizona, you've probably got, you know, multicolored mask leaves decorating the bulletin board in your third grade classroom because Colonialism. Because colonialism. And also because genuinely cozy. Genuinely ventral. Come on. Who doesn't love a soft sweater? I'm sure there are people who hate a soft sweater.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Like this.

[Host 1]

The thing is, this is all enormously variable. For some people, winter is their absolute favorite time of year. For some people, the fall is 100% glorious. They just love it.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So, like, we're, like, lots of space for people to have different experiences.

[Amelia]

This is.

[Host 1]

I mean, like, you can generalize this to, like, if you are approaching a season in your life, whatever it might be that you're anticipating, things might get a little tougher from a mental state point of view. Here are the things we do, and I literally, in 2018, I made a list of Hygge stuff. Like, when I thought cozy. What are the things that. That just, like, activate cozy in my nervous system.

[Amelia]

I do want to point out that this is such a common perspective on autumn that it's literally identified as basic.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Like, it's so common that it's derided as being a too common thing that people like.

[Host 1]

So, like, my goal is to separate it from this, like, capitalist aesthetic part and have it be, like, really centered on, like, how my body feels.

[Host 2]

Yeah, exactly.

[Amelia]

So if people are having feelings about, like, they're gonna talk about pumpkin spice, and, like, that's so basic.

[Host 1]

Pumpkin spice isn't actually on my list.

[Amelia]

Yeah, but it is a kind of a stereotype.

[Host 2]

It is.

[Amelia]

Yes, yes, yes. And I also love. People get confused. They think pumpkin spice is pumpkin. It's not any more pumpkin than Italian spice is Italian.

[Host 1]

No, it's mostly. It's cinnamon and nutmeg and stuff.

[Amelia]

Yeah, it's just warm spices. It's warm spices which feel really good to smell and consume for a lot of people. Not everyone. Some people are allergic. Some people don't like it. I'm just saying it's so common that it's literally identified as basic.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

That is as mainstream as mainstream gets. So much so you can be made fun of for not being hipster enough to have contempt for pumpkin spice.

[Amelia]

So before we even go into, like, a list of things, let's just give people permission to do the things that feel right in their bodies. That's part of being stronger than the fire.

[Host 1]

Yes. Feeling good inside your body is the foundation of being stronger than the fire.

[Amelia]

And doing so against the approval of.

[Host 1]

You know, coolness, social media. Coolness.

[Amelia]

Hipness. Exactly.

[Host 1]

The sentence I have been saying over and over lately is, life is hard enough. Life is hard enough. We got an autocracy to stop. We've got a democracy to save. Fascism to prevent an economy that is failing people. Kind of on purpose.

[Amelia]

Not kind of. Definitely. Literally on purpose for sure.

[Host 2]

Absolutely.

[Host 1]

Totally. Like, yeah, it's real bad out there. And if it feels like it's harder than it should be or it's harder than it was, that's because it 100% is harder.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Than it was.

[Host 2]

But.

[Host 1]

And it's harder than it should be and life is hard enough. Do what you need to do to feel good inside your body.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And there are the.

[Amelia]

And the autumn is a. Is a time when. When it's autumn, it's. When it's autumn, it could be real easy as long as you, you know, ignore the voices that tell you that you're not allowed to like it.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Do we want to start with tips for how to ignore the voices that tell you're not allowed to like it or that pleasure is a waste of time and energy. And how dare you spend time feeling coz comfortable in your body and your home when gestures broadly.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

How not to care that people believe it's selfish or self absorbed to prioritize your comfort, rest, well being, ease, pleasure. Pleasure. I mean here we are literally my career is made of granting people permission to feel pleasure. I am telling you like the whole. The foundation of this whole Stronger than the Fire grounded in polyvagal theory, prioritizing ventral experiences in your home and in your body and in your life is because your immune system functions better when you're in a ventral state. So yeah, if you want to prevent getting sick and losing 10 days to a disease, spending more time in a ventral state is going to help your immune system stay strong. Your digestive system functions best when you spend a lot of time in a ventral state. The more access you have to a feeling of peace and connection and ease and calm. I don't mean shut down, I mean genuine.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Your body will be healthier, which means you will be stronger and more able to activate a sympathetic fight response when you need to. Physiologically, it is essential that every single one of us have adequate access to a ventral state in our bodies and central nervous systems so that we can be strong enough to do all the very hard things we have to do. Are you convinced? Is everyone convinced? You're convinced, right?

[Amelia]

How to do that though? Like just in practical terms, remembering that this sort of punishing, puritanical underlying uber culture force that says that pleasure is sinful and selfish and like that, that's a big deep wide Flowing river of messages that you are surrounded by all day, every day. And if you were going to go stand in that river, you're going to get knocked over. But if you and all your favorite people stand together holding each other up, it is much more possible to survive and not to get, you know, overwhelmed. And that's what the bubble of love is for. The bubble of love is the way to.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Feel and really internalize the permission. So.

[Host 1]

And we're.

[Amelia]

One of the reasons we're doing this.

[Host 1]

Is to be bubble for people. Yeah. We are a virtual part of your bubble.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

And.

[Host 1]

And to be like, it's real helpful if you have actual real life, day to day people for sure. Who agree with, like you talk about it and you all agree it is important that each of our bodies has access to a feeling of right now, I'm okay right now. I have enough in this moment. This is enough. That that is important so that when that tide of how fucking dare you Comes along, you hold each other up.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

That's such a good metaphor and such a. And like, I. I was like, here's the thing you tell yourself. And you were like, you all have to be telling it to each other.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Because the cure for burnout's not self care. It's all of us caring for each other.

[Host 1]

Exactly. Just so do people feel.

[Amelia]

In case we haven't said that. Literally every episode.

[Host 1]

Literally every episode. You need to set that one to music for sure.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

Just very. So, yeah. You're going to get judged. There's probably a part of you that will judge you. Tricia Hersey, the NAP bishop who runs the NAP Ministry, has devoted herself to being a voice contrary to the mainstream. And a lot of her social media posts are like, y' all are really trying to buy into a system that says you can't, that says you're too broke to rest, that says you have to grind in order to have enough. And rest is truly not accessible to you. And I'm telling you, you have 15 minutes to close your eyes. So if you don't. If you don't yet follow the NAP Ministry. If you contact social media, which I don't recommend.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Make sure the Nap Ministry is part of your social media feed. If you have not yet read Trisha Hersey's book Restless Resistance and we will rest, read those books. The second one is basically poetry and beautiful art illustrations. Highly recommend. Also recommend the audiobooks for those ones. Okay, so those are. Those are going to help you be able to prioritize Amelia Spending a lot of time messing with a curl.

[Amelia]

I have this big loopy curl and I can't see it, but I'm looking at my. And it's just like it's sticking up. It won't go anywhere.

[Host 2]

Anyway.

[Amelia]

Sorry.

[Host 1]

Yeah, it's perimenopause. Changes hair texture, turns out.

[Host 2]

Yeah. My.

[Amelia]

Is it. But you have these like, kind of like curlies, whereas I have these big, wavy, floopy waves.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Yeah. Anyway.

[Host 1]

Okay, so are you ready to get into, like, this is just brainstorm Y. These are the things we want you to think about. What activates inside your body at this time of year. That sense of, like, right now is good. This moment right now, just a spark, just a little flame of like, ah. Warmth, satisfaction, contentment, ease.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Are you ready?

[Amelia]

I'm ready.

[Host 1]

The first one's gonna shock you. Candles.

[Amelia]

I think that might be more powerful for you than typical people just based on the value you monetarily place on them. But I also enjoy candles. I light a candle in the bath almost every time I take a bath.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

I light a candle in the bath every single time I take a bath. I often light two.

[Amelia]

Two candles. La de da.

[Host 1]

And they're most important as days get dark in the time of my bath, like, it's dark. And I can have minimal lights on in the bathroom and have most of the light in my bathroom be from candlelight.

[Amelia]

Yeah, I have. Look, we've told the story about my house and the mold and the fact that we had to gut two bathrooms in the whole kitchen in order to remediate the mold.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Host 1]

So we.

[Amelia]

I built a bathroom from scratch for the first time in my life. And one of the things we included was a slider to adjust the lights. So you can have a bright bathroom for, you know, dyeing your hair. And you can have like a dim, cozy, you know, barely lit bathroom for taking a bath.

[Host 1]

Us too.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

It is an indulgence.

[Host 1]

Absolutely.

[Amelia]

But it is nice.

[Host 1]

But there is a cheaper, free way to do it, which is to turn off the lights. Turn off the lights and lights and just light a large number of candles or really big candles. Make sure the candle is against the mirror. This is the old trick from pre electricity days. You put the candle in front of a mirror and it reflects the light. And you get much more light out of a candle when it's in front of a mirror.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Or any kind of, you know, shiny surface.

[Host 1]

Shiny surface. Yeah. We. I chose high gloss tiles. High gloss tiles are great white tiles. So, you know, if you're renovating your bathroom. These are some tips. High gloss white tiles. And put your lights with a dimmer switch.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I also.

[Host 1]

Candles.

[Amelia]

Can I also say that the other thing that we did in both our bathrooms is put the vent, you know, the air circulator vent on a motion sensor so that it turns on every time somebody goes in, no matter what. Because like you can't count on guests turning on the vent.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

You can't count on your, you know, 20 something stepchildren.

[Host 1]

And the vent isn't just for odor management. It is for moisture management, moisture management.

[Amelia]

And also for ventilation. It's a small room where, you know, particles go. So anyway, that's the other electrical decision we made. Lights on a dimmer and, and, and, and, and ventilation on a motion sensor. And yes, I did have a guest who came and was like the vent just turned on when I came in.

[Host 1]

I mean, what makes you think I.

[Amelia]

Was going to do something stinky in there? And I was like, that's not what it is. Don't be offended by a motion sensor.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

It's about moisture management and ventilation. So that's a thing that makes me happy all the time. But it has nothing to do with fall and Hygge. So.

[Host 1]

Yeah, in 2020, a lot of us learned about aerosol plumes out of toilets.

[Host 2]

Yo.

[Amelia]

Yes, we did.

[Host 1]

And we noticed that public toilets just don't have lids.

[Amelia]

Don't have lids. You need to wear a mask in a public bathroom. Yes, you do.

[Host 2]

You really do.

[Host 1]

And we should have all along. Who knew?

[Host 2]

Who knew?

[Host 1]

Anyway, we are off topic. We are outside of hashtag relatable. We're giving like renovation advice.

[Amelia]

Look, you don't have to do a major renovation to change a light switch.

[Host 1]

We started with candles. All you have to do is take a candle, turn off the lights and put the candles in front of a mirror and you'll have plenty of light to see by Hygge. For most people it's hella Hygge.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Okay, Are you ready for my next thing?

[Host 2]

Mm.

[Amelia]

Fires, which is like big candles.

[Host 1]

Yeah, it's just like a giant long lasting candle. We have a wood burning fireplace, which is extraordinarily wonderful and I love it. And we burn fires through the winter almost every day. It's one of the ways we heat our house. One of the things that's my favorite Hygge thing is that we now have three fuel sources. We have, of course, the electricity, we have the wood burning fire and we got a propane griddle for outside. So we have three different fuel sources. So no matter what systems go down, we will be able to boil water. And that feels hygge to me. It feels very like safe and secure. I feel like, ah, I have enough. I'm gonna be okay. I am safe. Having that third fuel source in particular, it just is like abundance feeling for me.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So fire.

[Amelia]

There are three fireplaces in my house, but two of them are 300 years old. So we technically could use them. But they are some. Okay. And not great. They're very shallow from back when you.

[Host 1]

Could probably get like a little wood burning stove or something and insert it in.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

But I put candles in the fireplace. I put like that's very things in the fireplace to take the place of fire. But we also have. The third fireplace is in the bedroom which is in the new part of the house. So it's a 40 year old fireplace. It works great. It's not smoky. So we have, we have a fireplace.

[Host 1]

Bedroom that is, that is also again, not hashtag relatable. I know, I know you are not really providing options that are available to people.

[Amelia]

I'm just saying what my situation is.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I have a fireplace that doesn't. That I can't use for safety. Not even for safety reasons. Just for like, you know, it's just not the greatest. I have a fireplace and it's not the greatest. So I. So I make do and I use it in a different way.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I just, I put another fire thing inside the fireplace where it's safe to burn fire, but maybe not great for actually a whole ass fire.

[Host 1]

And you know what? TV with a video of a fire.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

That's not nothing.

[Amelia]

Also effective.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Gives you a thing to stare into. A lot of people treat fish tanks like that. Like a thing to stare into and allow your brain to drift.

[Amelia]

One of the things that's an improvement over candles is that a fire makes that like crackly noise.

[Host 2]

Oh yeah.

[Amelia]

And has like the scent of burning wood. That's really. That's nice.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Along the same lines of like the smell simmer pots.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Host 1]

Are another thing that is way more accessible than the other things we've been talking about where you just put a pot of literally simmering like 205 degree water somewhere between 200 and 212 with things that smell good in it. Like those warm spices we were talking about.

[Host 2]

Hold on.

[Amelia]

I'm feeling bad about the fact that I'm like, yeah, I got three fireplaces. I don't live in some big Crazy house. I have a 1300 square foot original Cape Cod that was built in the 1720s.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

The reason it has two fireplaces is because it was built.

[Amelia]

That's why there's two fireplaces in the two front rooms, is because those rooms are 300 years old before gas or.

[Host 1]

Electric or any other form of heating was available.

[Amelia]

So I'm not being like, I have three fireplaces. I live in a very, very old house.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

Okay, yes.

[Amelia]

Do you feel I didn't want to be like, I live three fur. Like, I don't have a big ass crazy house. I have a very normal sized.

[Host 1]

It just so happens that it's ancient.

[Amelia]

It's ancient. And so it's got fireplaces. Okay.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Amelia]

I feel better now. I just don't want to be like, wow, what kind of house does Amelia live in?

[Host 1]

And in fact, your house with its floor plan, because it's an older home design, the kitchen is separated from other spaces. So a simmer pot is going to be less effective for a house like mine, which is mid 20th century, where the kitchen flows into almost every space in the home. When I put a simmer pot on, the whole house is going to smell nice.

[Host 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Host 1]

Whereas for a home with an older floor plan, where the kitchen is closed off, the simmer pot's really just going to make the kitchen smell. Smell nice.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Which is why you get a candle warmer in your living room, because it does the same thing as a simmer pot, but it's a, you know, different source of smell. Em goodness.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So so far we've talked about light and scents and a little bit sound because of the sound of the fire.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

I really enjoy every day in the fall, I sweep our deck. We have a very large, very old maple tree right next to our house in the backyard. And between April and August, it provides excellent home cooling shade. Part of the way we manage the temperature in our house is with the shade of this tree. And then usually, like right on September 1st, it starts to drop leaves, and they drop right onto the deck. So this huge ancient tree full of leaves over the course of six weeks, dumps all these leaves.

[Amelia]

When you talk about how big it is, like, you couldn't.

[Host 2]

You.

[Amelia]

You couldn't put your arms around it.

[Host 1]

Oh, yeah, it's.

[Amelia]

It's huge.

[Host 1]

Easily eight or maybe even 10ft around.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And it is definitely close to 100ft tall.

[Amelia]

Yeah, it's huge.

[Host 1]

Yeah, it is glorious. It's a part of the architecture of our house. It's part of why we Chose this house is because we had these beautiful old trees. So many, like new neighborhoods. All their trees got planted at the same time because they just like clear cut the lots and they planted trees and they were trees with short lifespan. So if Your house is 50 years old, all your trees are dying now because they were trees with a 50 year lifespan, not this. I think this tree was here when the house was built. Yeah, yeah, absolutely it was.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Host 1]

So anyway, it dumps. Over the course of six weeks, it dumps all of these leaves, many of them, right onto the deck. So I have this daily task I give myself of sweeping those leaves off of the deck. And I find that very hygge. It feels cozy to take something that's like cluttered and clear it off. And every day it's a little different. And every day the leaves are a slightly different shade. They go into this really bright yellow color and gradually become more like brown, dead, brittle things. And it makes me feel connected with the change of the season. And like there is this one small part of it that I can control.

[Amelia]

Nice.

[Host 1]

Do you have a thing you do that connects you with the change of the season and the maintaining your home feeling confident and cozy?

[Amelia]

No, I change our look. We got two dogs and they have full access to furniture. Except our bed.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

So I have a lot of fleece blankets.

[Host 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Amelia]

And I change out. I have. I have a collection of seasonal blankets.

[Host 1]

Yeah, me too. I have seasonal.

[Amelia]

So I change out the blankets for the seasonal blankets.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

We're now in fall blankets.

[Amelia]

Like, basically they're all Snoopy blankets. And I changed from the baseball playing Snoopy to the football playing Snoopy.

[Host 1]

I have scarecrow Snoopy blankets and Halloween Snoopy blankets. They're.

[Amelia]

See, I refuse to distinguish Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm very strict about just autumn, so pumpkins, leaves, Snoopy sports, seasonal things. But I won't do skeletons and black cats and stuff because.

[Host 1]

So you are not gonna relate to the next thing on my list, which is because Halloween decor and puzzles and Halloween countdown. I have a hundred day Halloween countdown in my house.

[Amelia]

I think you are influenced by the Disney version of Halloween, which is like 100 days. Like they start Halloween in August at Disney World.

[Host 1]

I bought maybe. Could be. But because I feel fall coming in late July.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Okay.

[Host 1]

I need to build in landmarks to look forward to and increasing my sense of anticipation of Halloween, which is followed immediately by Thanksgiving, which is followed immediately by Christmas, which is followed immediately by New Year's. Like, there's a bunch of landmarks. The hard Part is that stretch in January where you have to get to the landmark of Valentine's Day.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So I use that series of holidays as, like, ventral landmarks.

[Amelia]

Sure, sure.

[Host 1]

And I extend my celebration of each of them as far as it will go. And because my descent into fall vibes starts in as literally as soon as we get past the summer solstice, I feel the days get shorter. I'm very aware of what time the sun goes down. I need to begin looking forward instead of dreading that far out.

[Host 2]

Yeah, okay.

[Amelia]

That seems fair.

[Host 1]

And the more I have embraced that and not, like, set a clock on when I'm allowed to put Halloween stuff out, the more I, like, feel buoyed by it.

[Amelia]

Buoyed.

[Host 1]

Yeah, buoyed.

[Amelia]

Boyd. Boo boo to you.

[Host 2]

And.

[Host 1]

Yes, I feel boo boo.

[Amelia]

Eat. Oh, boy.

[Host 2]

Oh, boy.

[Amelia]

It only took me five minutes to explain it, which made it much funnier.

[Host 1]

I also have Halloween puzzle. So my Halloween puzzle is. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

[Amelia]

Of course it is.

[Host 1]

It's so fun. But the thing is, it's like a scene at night. So the pumpkin patch is really easy to put together, but then there's all this night sky that's literally just identical black pieces, and there's a silhouette of Snoopy against a full moon. So there's all these identical white pieces, and it is just an absurdly hard puzzle, given that it is. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. So what I did over the summer, as I was decluttering puzzles, I put together my Halloween puzzle, and then I broke it up into 31 chunks, 31 sections. So I can do 31 approximately. Like, 30 or 40 piece puzzles. I do one per day. It's so much easier than trying to do, like, the whole puzzle at a time, because even if it's 30 black pieces, it's only 30 black pieces. So I have, like, puzzle a day that will ultimately end up with, like, the whole puzzle being done with none of that, like, getting trapped in a thousand pieces. That just takes forever. Where, like, you're just, like, sorting identical pieces.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Yeah. So I feel it's. It's like a Halloween advent, basically.

[Host 2]

Yep. Yep.

[Host 1]

I did the same thing with my Charlie Brown Christmas puzzle.

[Host 2]

Yeah, that's.

[Host 1]

That's just 24 chunks. Anyway, so I have that, and I have started putting our Halloween decor outside. We have a tree in our front yard. And, like, let me recognize, like, I've got a house with a yard. And if you live in an apartment building, you don't have a yard. You can Decorate. But you can decorate your home. And a lot of the like home decor stuff can be free or cheap. A lot of it's available using a Goodwill. If you have family members, they probably have holiday decor that they do not use and would be glad to give away so you don't have to spend money. And I find putting out the Halloween decor makes me feel like this is fun and not a sense of like the end of the world, which the darkening into winter feels like. Can for me feel like, like the closing in of the walls and I need to find a way to celebrate the darkness. And so I do that with my Halloween decor.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

There's. I have two other. So I have it divided into activities or items. Clothes and food.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So I have two more activities or items and they're activities. One is reading. Reading. Hella Hygge.

[Host 2]

Hella Hygge.

[Amelia]

Any reading or do you read like seasonal things?

[Host 1]

I do read seasonal things. Witchy romance.

[Host 2]

Okay. Yeah.

[Host 1]

Is a thing that I will absolutely read. Those are great library books. Like I don't need to own.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Pretty much any of the like witchy romances. Seasonal romances.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

I do have a collection of Christmas romances that I pull out and reread every year. That is a thing that I do.

[Amelia]

That's the thing I've discovered since I got a library card is how much seasonal romance there is.

[Host 1]

So much. Especially like winter holiday. There's less Halloween. But like witchy stuff is fun.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Magic is fun.

[Amelia]

I love a wizard detective.

[Host 1]

Right.

[Host 2]

Who. Yeah.

[Host 1]

But is there Halloween themed wizard detective novel?

[Amelia]

Of course there is.

[Host 1]

Like there is New England set. October fall leaves gourds.

[Amelia]

Like I don't really do cozy mystery. That's not really my bag.

[Host 2]

Oh.

[Amelia]

But I'm sure I'm completely 100% certain that there is such a thing.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Because I mean there's Halloween.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

Which is a like considered a kind of a magical holiday.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Of like the supernatural and stuff. So like, of course there's wizard detective books about the significance of Halloween.

[Host 2]

Surely there are.

[Host 1]

So if you're not into romance. Other genre.

[Amelia]

I know that there are. I'm just saying, I don't know. Like I don't go in for the cozy ones. So I'm sure there's also cozy ones in additional. In addition to the ones that I know.

[Host 1]

Then we get to my last activity, which is farm related stuff. And that's sort of in two parts. One is going to the farm where we buy our seasonal gourds, our decorative gourds the pumpkins we're gonna carve into jack O lanterns. And when I say we, I really just mean me. Like, we both go. But we acknowledge that I'm the one who's gonna be doing the pumpkin carving because I'm the one who, like, I need a thing to do that feels like a celebration of the encroaching darkness.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Because when you have a jack o Lantern, you put a candle in it and you can make it glow.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So it's a way to, like, have a light shining in the darkness, which is 100 hygge.

[Host 2]

Mm.

[Host 1]

It has slight nostalgia vibes because we carve pumpkins as kids. And I stopped carving pumpkins in grad school and when I lived alone. And I only started carving them again the second year we were married when I realized, like, I need to build in some buffer for myself because, like, I can't be this depressed and live with another human. Human being who's going to be really worried about me.

[Amelia]

I feel like I need to insert here that one of the reasons I don't do all of this stuff is because it's physically not accessible to me. I. I don't have the capacity to carve a pumpkin like that.

[Host 1]

Just.

[Amelia]

That's too hard for my, you know, chronic fatigue. You know, going to hang up decorations outside and walk around my yard, and I don't have the energy for that.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Which is why we're offering so very many opportunities for what feels right. And, like, do you feel sad about that?

[Amelia]

I mean, yes, I feel. I feel completely miserable that my life has become this tiny, itsy bitsy little nothing of a world where I can't do any goddamn thing because long Covid has me limited. Yes, I feel terrible about it, but on the other hand, I'm much better than I was. And honestly, would I do that stuff?

[Host 2]

Did you do that? Yep.

[Amelia]

I would totally do it. I would totally be doing it.

[Host 2]

Yep.

[Amelia]

I would totally be doing it if I had the energy, But I don't.

[Host 1]

So if you had the energy, I mean, you could just buy a pumpkin at the grocery store, put it on your, like, delivery list.

[Amelia]

That is what I've been doing is I just buy a pumpkin. And you know, what I did actually, is I bought a metal pumpkin to hang on my door, so I don't even have to buy a pumpkin every year.

[Host 1]

That's fun because I have a metal.

[Amelia]

Pumpkin with our initial on it that.

[Host 1]

I hang from the door on Etsy. Got some metal outdoor pumpkins that I put into as part of our yard decor. And the great thing about pumpkins is they outlive Halloween and are fully Thanksgiving appropriate.

[Amelia]

Fully Thanksgiving, also. No, I'm. I'm a big fan of pumpkins. Like, for. So for Thanksgiving is my holiday. That's my, like, big. Bigger than Christmas for me is Thanksgiving, like. And yes, I live in New England, and I am coming to you.

[Host 1]

Literal turkeys marching in hordes across your yard.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

But there is also, like, I live on Wampanoag land where we are descended from two Mayflower passengers.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

Like, we are. You and I personally. You and I personally.

[Host 2]

It's us.

[Amelia]

Yeah, it's us.

[Host 1]

I'm the problem. It's me.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

And I now live in a house that was literally built on Wampanoag land barely 100 years after the. The Mayflower landed.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

So, like, I am very, very aware of the problematic nature of the history of Thanksgiving. Sure. And yet it's this awesome holiday where it's not commercial. It's not about buying stuff and giving gifts or, you know, there's not this, like, big. It's the holiday.

[Host 2]

It's the.

[Amelia]

My. When my step kids were young, they would be with their mother on Christmas because my husband, their dad worked, was a church musician and worked on Christmas, and so was I. And so did I. So, like, Christmas was fully a work day for us. So, like, Thanksgiving was the holiday. So, like, in just in my life, it has turned out that that's. That's the holiday. And so all my stuff that's like ventral decoration stuff is Thanksgiving, Autumn, rather than Halloween. And that's the reason.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And I do all three in waves because I just need, like, booster rockets to launch me through the winter. So the last activity or item that. It's the second half of my farm situation, and that is that September and into October marks the end of our farm share. So we participate in community invested siza. It's a farm share. We pay a chunk of money. And then over the weeks from June through September and often into October, we get a bunch of produce for like, $25 a week for the two of us. And it's more than we can ever eat. And I process a lot of it and put it in the freezer so that. And this is. This is my, like, liter rule. Squirreling away. I have squirreled away so much tomato that I have, like, pureed and then concentrated and have frozen to be ready for soups and stews in the fall and winter. I have squirreled away onions that you Dice and freeze in half cup portions, ready for the fall and winter. Carrots like just so every week when especially as we come closer to the end of it, it's very much not just like, what produce are we going to eat this week, it's how am I going to take this produce, taking as much as I'm entitled to with my weekly share, eating as much as we can of it, and everything else gets processed and prepared and stored so that we can continue to enjoy tomatoes that were grown under the August sun in November and December and January and February because there's so much of it.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's.

[Host 1]

There's a joke in my sleep podcast. So I listen to Nothing Much Happens, which if you're looking for a sleep podcast, may I recommend Nothing Much Happens. We're about to enter spooky season. So the, the new episodes in October are the Halloween episodes. And I really, really enjoy the Nothing Much Happens because it turns out the little village of has a coven and they talk about like the cozy spells that the coven casts in order to make Halloween great. It's so wonderful. But one of the jokes is that in the summer, if you leave your car unlocked in a parking lot, you'll come back to a back seat full of zucchini. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's sort of how it is in Massachusetts, is there's so much tomato and zucchini, people are.

[Amelia]

Just trying to get rid of it.

[Host 1]

And yeah, just like somebody please take this produce off my hands that I grew in my backyard and I thought it was a good idea. I don't have the energy to grow my own garden, which is one of the reasons why the farm share is so important. But I find the experience, the hours I spend in the kitchen processing that produce to be super wicked hookah. It makes me feel safe and like I have enough. And like, just to be real frank about it, part of the reason why it can feel so good is we do have a chest freezer and we do have a generator so that all of that frozen produce is protected when, if the power goes out, you're not going to lose it whenever it snows. So I have systems in place to protect the work that I am doing now, which is part of why I can feel so ventral. I can feel so safe and so at ease when I feel am going through the process of like building this nest for us for the fall and winter.

[Amelia]

That's another thing that's out of reach for me in terms of my energy levels.

[Host 2]

Sure yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

But it's a long list of things, and I have access to candle lighting in the bathtub.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And you can also.

[Amelia]

And a fire.

[Host 1]

You can do the same thing with, like, cans. It's not. It's not like, going in, like, I have a food mill, and I food mill the tomatoes, and it takes time and stuff, but you can be like, I want to make sure. Sure we have canned tomatoes in the pantry for when we get to a dark time. And I need a stew or a.

[Amelia]

Soup can of tomatoes just like.

[Host 1]

But, like, full pantry is one of those things that, like, when I open the cabinets and the pantry is full, I just like. It feels. It feels like grocery day every day.

[Amelia]

Abundance.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

You know how when we were growing up, the only day the pantry was full was grocery day. Grocery day.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

And then we would just, like, tear through food because we're children, right?

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

And we ate all the most delicious stuff immediately.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So to have delicious stuff and abundance in the cabinets, like, it just. I just. It feels so good, and I like it.

[Amelia]

For me, abundance does not feel as good as fastidious organization.

[Host 1]

There you go.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So tell me about the fastidious organization and its relationship to your sense of ease and.

[Amelia]

Well, it's the Dana K. White situation where it just, what feels. But it's not so much Dana K. White, I guess, as the, like, clutterbug thing where I'm a cricket and it just feels like I want to have everything in its place. I want to have little places for everything. Hidden micro organization.

[Host 2]

Yeah, that.

[Amelia]

That's. That's it.

[Host 1]

So that when you open a drawer, just everything. When you open that drawer, what you see in that drawer is just perfection.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

And I don't need to be like, all the spoons are stacked together, you know, into, like, you know, big spoon uniformity. I just mean that all the spoons are in the same compartment.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Everybody has their level of, like, the degree of organization and the kind of organization that when they look at it, they're like, oh, yeah, I'm nailing this.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Amelia]

And I like it when there's not too much food in the pantry so that it can't be organized. I like it when there's just enough food in the pantry that everything fits in the places where it belongs.

[Host 1]

Oh, yeah.

[Amelia]

It's the container concept. Like.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I live when my container is the right size for the stuff in it and the stuff in it does not overflow.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

So, like, full, abundant, but I would much prefer empty space to having to put an extra can of tomatoes on a different shelf, because the tomato shelf doesn't have room for an additional.

[Host 1]

But for your assigned allocated tomato shelf to be full. It's not about how much tomatoes you have. It's about, like, you have assigned a certain amount of space to tomatoes.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And that space is as full as it can be and still be functional.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Which I really enjoy having, like, two cans of tomatoes so that when I use one, I have one left still.

[Host 1]

And then go get another one.

[Amelia]

And then when I use the second one, I need to get tomatoes now. I don't know. It feels good to use things up and then replace them.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

That's fine. We're talking about the things that feel good.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And the thing is, it's gonna be the little stuff.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And, like, noticing that little stuff amplifies your ability to notice.

[Amelia]

In early November, I pointedly use. I stop buying and replacing things to make sure that I, like, use up stuff so that there is more room in the house for specifically the Thanksgiving foods.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I need to make room for up turkey and all of the vegetables.

[Host 1]

And, like, so, like, emptying space in your freezer, using up stuff in your freezer is part of your preparation for and therefore celebration of Thanksgiving.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

That counts as hookah.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Does feels very hookah.

[Host 1]

I made a meal that cleaned up. Rich and I now talk about using the food in our freezer as decluttering.

[Amelia]

It 100% is 100% decluttering. I even got Malin on board. He's like, I finished a container. I emptied a container.

[Host 1]

Empty container.

[Amelia]

Now I'm putting it in the dishwasher. And I was like, oh, yeah.

[Host 2]

It feels good, right? Yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

No, it does. It feels good.

[Host 2]

Good.

[Host 1]

Okay. Those are my items and activities.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

I've got. My clothes list is really short. My food list is astonishingly long. We won't go into everything in any kind of detail, but. Okay, close. It's really just three things.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Wool socks.

[Host 2]

Yeah. I.

[Host 1]

My feet get cold.

[Amelia]

I have a friend who's allergic to wool. I don't know how I would survive.

[Host 1]

So there are. It's not as good, obviously. It's worse for the environment. But acrylic socks can take the place of a lot of wool.

[Amelia]

They can be very soft.

[Host 1]

Very soft, cozy and warm.

[Amelia]

Not that they're not as.

[Host 1]

They're not as warm, but.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Then you wear two pair, and it's fine.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

So socks and also seasonal socks. A lot of people have Seasonal socks for all around the year.

[Host 1]

But, like, sure, I have a pair of Halloween socks.

[Amelia]

Autumn is a magnificent time for seasonal socks because you start if you live in a warm climate that's suddenly getting colder. Now is sock time. Like, I don't think I've worn socks in months. Oh, I don't generally wear socks in the summer.

[Host 1]

I wear flip flops or even when you sleep.

[Host 2]

Yeah, even when I sleep.

[Host 1]

I have to wear socks when I sleep. One of my first ever, like, book related travel. I was, like, very novice at traveling and I forgot to pack socks. I could not sleep the whole first night because I had forgotten to pack warm sleeping socks. I had to go buy socks.

[Amelia]

Nope, I don't need socks to sleep in.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So socks are essential for me. The circulation to my feet is not awesome. So wool socks.

[Amelia]

I should be wearing compression socks a lot more. I could probably have more energy for standing up and canning tomatoes if I wore compression socks to do it. I know for a fact that I would. But then I have to put compression socks on and that's hard work.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

All right.

[Amelia]

Anyway, that's not a universal feeling. I know compression socks going along with sock slippers. I have a lot of slippers. I love my slippers.

[Host 1]

Do they. Are they seasonally assigned or do you just really.

[Amelia]

They are seasonally assigned.

[Host 1]

So are mine.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I have Christmas slippers.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Amelia]

That I only wear sort of like from December to January. December to mid January, Thanksgiving to New.

[Host 1]

Year's is my Christmas slipper situation.

[Amelia]

See, the thing is, the 12 days of Christmas start on Christmas Day.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

And so, like, you definitely can celebrate Christmas loud and proud until at least Three Kings Day. And I think the middle of January is when Christmas really ends. People are like, December 26th, Christmas is gone. But, like, that's not according to the church celebration of Christmas, Christmas goes into January, well into January. So anyway, that's a kind of a thing for me. But, like, I definitely feel like into mid January you can still be doing Christmas and be liturgically sound. Look, not that I'm Christian.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

Not that I'm like, celebrating the birth of Christ or anything, but.

[Host 1]

You're a church musician.

[Amelia]

But I've been a church musician. I have a doctorate in music and the history of the western music is the history of the church. So I have feelings about the way Christmas has been altered by the commercialism, by the fact that our society has turned Christmas into the preparation of Christmas into, like, the thing that Christmas is. And that's just wrong. I mean, if you're claiming to celebrate Christmas for Christ reasons. Like then the weeks preceding Christmas are a penitential season. Advent is a season for penitence that ends on the big holiday. Like you're not supposed to be having all of the abundance in the time of preparation. You're supposed to have it after the holiday. So I mean, so admin the whole, you know, starts with.

[Host 1]

You started this because I said that I wear my. Thanks. My Christmas slippers from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

And you can wear your Christmas slippers well into January and still be technically Christmas.

[Host 1]

Well, the thing is, when you get to January and your past New Year's, I am getting deeper into the depths of the darkness and I need something new and more cheerful, which is what the orange fuzzy slippers are for.

[Host 2]

Uh huh huh.

[Amelia]

Can I say my favorite slippers because.

[Host 1]

Sure.

[Amelia]

They're truly magnificent. They're the best slippers I've ever owned by a long shot. And they are the slippers made by Allbirds, which they are so soft. They're made of recycled materials and they're so soft that you don't have to wear socks with them. And they are so machine washable that you can like. I put them on right out of the bath, like with dripping wet feet. And they don't get stinky. They're. You can get.

[Host 1]

They have.

[Amelia]

Albert's has a secondhand store or like a returns or whatever. So you can get them for half the price there, which is what I did. And they are. They're the best slippers I've ever owned by a long shot. And I love them. I also enjoy Kraxus slippers, the fuzzy lined ones. But I have found those get Stanker. They're much harder to wash than the Allbirds.

[Host 1]

I used to wear very crunchy granola happy wool slippers. And then I developed an aroma. And now literally the only shoes I can wear that do not hurt the Nerolma, which is in my fourth toe on my right foot. Literally. It's only Crocs. The reason I started wearing Crocs and stayed wearing Crocs is because they have this squishy sole that is the only kind of sole that doesn't bother Matteo. So while I wish my choices were more sustainable.

[Amelia]

I wear Crocs slippers.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

They're also fun and cute.

[Host 1]

Super ventral, super wicked fun. And I have bright yellow ones.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

And I very much envy your Christmas Jibbitz Peanuts. Christmas Jibbitz.

[Host 2]

Yep.

[Amelia]

They're adorable.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

You can just buy those anywhere, though.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I Know, But I'm not gonna.

[Host 1]

No, you're not. The last thing in my clothes is fuzzy hats.

[Amelia]

Yes. Absolutely. 100% fuzzy hats.

[Host 1]

Again, we grew up in a. If you're cold, put on socks, put on a sweater and a sweater.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And if you're still cold, put on a hat.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Indoors, I slept in a hat for. It was a long time. I had a sleeping hat.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I had a night cap that I wore.

[Host 1]

And so I find fuzzy hats, especially when they have, like, a. A fuzzy blob ball on the top.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host 1]

If they have a pom pom. Love it.

[Amelia]

Bathrobes. Bathrobes and pajamas. But for me, mostly bathrobes. Like, I own multiple bathrobes because when I get out of the bathtub, I don't have the orthostatic tolerance to dry myself with a towel. When I get out of the bathtub, I have to lay down immediately because of orthostatic intolerance. So I wear a bathrobe, and I go lay down. So I have multiple bathrobes because I basically don't use towels. I kind of air dry in my bathrobe.

[Host 1]

Like, so I have.

[Amelia]

I have bathrobes instead of towels, but I have soft, fuzzy fleece ones.

[Host 1]

And then I have like.

[Amelia]

Like long, sleek, ultra warm, dense fleece ones. And then I have a couple of just, like, cotton cozy ones. And for the summer, I have a linen one. But bathrobes are so. For me, they're so ventral. They're just like bathrobes. Robes.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And finding just the right bathrobe is a.

[Amelia]

It's a project.

[Host 1]

You go through some things.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

But when you find the right. The right fit for your lifestyle.

[Host 1]

Man.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

And that's one of the reasons I have several, is because depending on the season, your needs are different. And one of the things that's really awesome is that you gave me a pair of croc sandals that are lined with, like, a red and white sort of Fair Isle sort of print fleece.

[Host 1]

They're sort of holiday.

[Amelia]

They're sort of holiday. But when you have your feet in them, you can't see the red fleece lining. All you see is the kind of cream color on the outside that perfectly matches. Like my ultra soft LL Bean fuzzy fleece robe. That is. So it's warmer than some jackets I own. I, on the regular, wear it outside to, you know, keep an eye on the dogs in the dead of winter instead of a coat, because it's so warm, so thick, so fluffy, so soft.

[Host 1]

Warm, thick, fluffy, soft Is ventral, but also things. Perfectly matching.

[Amelia]

Perfectly matching.

[Host 1]

Super, super hookah.

[Host 2]

Yeah. It's got a hood.

[Amelia]

It's the best.

[Host 2]

Yeah, that's a.

[Host 1]

That's a reason to look forward to it being cold and dark.

[Amelia]

That's a reason to look forward to being cold. Because I can wear my ultra soft fleece robe. It's so nice. Like, it is truly too warm to wear, except on, you know, when it's pretty cold days.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

Most people don't keep their homes cold enough to be able to wear a robe like that indoors. You and I. I do. We keep our homes.

[Amelia]

Yes, I do, very much.

[Host 1]

Because it's ecologically sustainable. It has nothing to do with having grown up in a socks, put on a sweater, put on a hat, put on a robe over your sweater.

[Amelia]

So my. My summer robe, my linen robe is genuinely too light to wear during any but the warmest part of the year. So I have. I have a wardrobe of bathrobes.

[Host 1]

Yeah, Seasonal wardrobe of bathrobes.

[Amelia]

Because there I. I wear a bathroom.

[Host 1]

Considering how rarely you put on real clothes and leave the house. Oh, I think it absolutely makes sense to, like, prioritize. Really, truly prioritize. One day we will tell the story of, like, how my pajamas became my highest priority in my wardrobe. Look, it's.

[Amelia]

It's not a long story. It's. You're dressing for the job you want. That's the beginning and end of the story.

[Host 1]

No. Well, I mean, it can be, but mine is fairly early in the pandemic, I was awake all night with what no physician would have diagnosed as a heart attack, but felt like a heart attack because there was, like, pain and stiffness in my arm just on one side. There was a sense of panic. There was tight. There's. I had. It was. I was unwell. I couldn't sleep all night. And I thought, if I have to go to the emergency room.

[Host 2]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

If I get admitted from the emergency room and I send Rich home to bring me something to wear, there are no pajamas that I would be glad to see he chose. So I aspire to a pajama wardrobe where Rich could pick anything out of my pajama drawer. And when I saw it, having just been admitted to the hospital, I'd be like, oh, that's going to make my day easier. That's going to make this a little bit less awful.

[Amelia]

Yeah, pajamas you can wear to the er. I have the same feeling.

[Host 1]

So from that point, I have really prioritized and, like, the one way so far that I have been directly and immediately impacted by the tariffs. The kind of nightgown I wear most often, I order from New Zealand. And there's a hole. There's a hole. And you and I agreed that, look, when clothes get holes in them more than they had when you bought them, it's okay to replace them.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I do maintain that you can repair one hole and then the second hole is when. Yeah, is when it start. Time to start thinking, should I replace this?

[Host 1]

It's really hard to repair a hole in knit silk.

[Amelia]

Yeah, it sure is. It sure is.

[Host 1]

So I went to the website to see about replacing this, my favorite and most often worn nightgown. And there was a big red warning. We are unable to ship anything to the United States or accept any orders from the United States until we figure out this tariff situation.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So that's the only way. I mean, like, how fortunate am I that that's like the biggest impact on my life is I have to, like, continue wearing a night shirt with a hole in it?

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Like, I think that's okay.

[Amelia]

I got a hole in a linen tank top that I wear, like, all the goddamn time.

[Host 2]

And I am.

[Amelia]

I'm wrestling with replacing it. I'm like, I just. I feel like I can just keep wearing it. Like, it's got one hole. Surely I can just keep wearing it.

[Host 1]

How expensive is.

[Amelia]

Wasn't expensive. But I don't want to replace it because I. I have one. Whatever. This is not related.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

So foods, Hygge foods. Everybody has to eat. Everybody has to eat almost every day.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Are there food choices we can be making that will increase our sense of Hygge and be a celebration of the encroaching darkness? So I'm going to start with the funniest one, which is foods that slurp.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Wet food.

[Host 1]

Soup, tea, Stew. Stew. Stew doesn't slurp as much as soup. Especially like noodly soup. Noodly soup.

[Amelia]

Noodle soup is very Slurpee.

[Host 1]

High slurp content.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

My friend Allegra has a stated direct preference for what she calls wet food. She's a wet food cat.

[Host 2]

That's great. Yeah. Yeah.

[Host 1]

Another wet food is chia pudding made of coconut milk with some sort of fruit topping.

[Amelia]

Yeah, that's a.

[Host 1]

That's a cold temperature one which is less of.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Most of these are not cold, warm.

[Amelia]

Food with warming spices.

[Host 1]

Cacao nibs.

[Amelia]

Oh, they're like chocolatey but bitter.

[Host 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Host 1]

They have an interesting chew texture. You buy them when they're on Sale.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And you don't use very much at a time. It is a topping.

[Amelia]

Sure.

[Host 1]

You don't, like, eat handfuls of plain cacao nibs. Right.

[Amelia]

I'm just.

[Host 1]

But it said, like, you. So you get your coconut milk chia pudding.

[Amelia]

I remember the things that are. You know, let's. Let's just be honest about the accessibility of everything that we're recommending.

[Host 1]

It is a joyful topping. You got your coconut milk isn't a lot.

[Amelia]

No.

[Host 1]

Chia seeds are cheap, almost free. And then you sprinkle some cacao nibs, and it adds this texture and this flavor and is like. And some of the things I'm gonna say are, like, truly absurd.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

I feel like cacao nibs is, like, medium silly.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Amelia]

Okay.

[Host 1]

For example, like, the thing I'm. Here's. Here's the just utterly not relatable but, like, profoundly Hugo thing for me.

[Amelia]

You ready?

[Host 2]

Mm.

[Host 1]

Smoked salt.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host 1]

It's dumb to pay that much for salt.

[Amelia]

It's totally dumb. But it's so tasty.

[Host 1]

But it's man. As a. Like a. Just like a finishing topping. I know a lot of the things that can take, like, regular food and turn it super hygge is like the little thing you sprinkle on it at the end right as you're about to eat it.

[Amelia]

100%.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Cacao nibs and smoked salt.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Are that bacon?

[Amelia]

I want to say that the number one most delicious thing about pumpkin spice.

[Host 1]

Things is the sugar.

[Amelia]

People think, like, pumpkin spice lattes are delicious because of the pumpkin spice. No, it's mostly that it has so much yummy, yummy, yummy sugar.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

For me, starchy things are much more satisfying than sugary things. They give me the, like.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Pass out too full, profoundly, deeply satisfied feeling that. That I consider hygge.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

It's not so much the sugar, it's the starch. So, like.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Baked potato.

[Amelia]

I. I have had the experience, and I know other people have too.

[Host 1]

Mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes.

[Amelia]

I know multiple people who. Including me, who've had the experience of trying to, like, make a pumpkin spice delicious thing at home. And the end, like, the appalling amount of sugar it takes to make the pumpkin spice thing as satisfying as the Starbucks. Pumping a spice latte is astonishing when you're the one adding the sugar and you're like, oh, God, yeah. But then it tastes so good.

[Host 2]

Yeah, it does.

[Host 1]

It tastes good. No judgment.

[Amelia]

No. I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing. I'M just saying.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

If you're like, I don't want to spend $6 on a pumpkin spice latte, and you want to make a pumpkin spice thing, it's very affordable to just be, like, your cinnamon and your nutmeg and your cardamom and your cloves and.

[Host 1]

Your, you know, like.

[Host 2]

Yeah, you know. Yeah, do that.

[Host 1]

Turns out that works without sugar when it's a simmer pot.

[Amelia]

Yeah, it does. Or the thing I love most. The thing I love most is mulled wine. Mulled apple cider. Mulled cider is also amazing and very, very sugary.

[Host 1]

But, like, how do you mull something?

[Host 2]

You.

[Amelia]

It's like a simmer pot, but you drink the thing that it's simmering, and.

[Host 1]

You'Re simmering wine with spices.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

I mean, a lot of people add sugar also to the wine, but I find mulled wine, especially if it has star anise, like, that's the thing that kicks it over the top into being from, like, spicy wine to being, like, ugh, mulled wine.

[Host 1]

So star anise as an ingredient.

[Amelia]

Star anise as one of the spices in the spice of your mulling. Spice.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Oh, so good. And it makes the whole house smell amazing while you're cooking it, and then you drink it, and it's like, this is. This is the warming spices and the complexity of the flavors. It's like a scene from Ratatouille, basically.

[Host 1]

Can I talk about dairy?

[Amelia]

Oh, please do. If you're gonna talk about cheese, I may have to write a song.

[Host 1]

Maybe you should. But for me, specifically, glorious cheese I truly like. The reason I've never done Whole 30 is because I. Cheese is part of what makes life worth living 100%. And I know there are some people for whom cheese is not something that works for their body. And if that's you, you can skip over the next 30 seconds, but I.

[Amelia]

Just want to express my condolences that you cannot have cheese as part of your life. Like my friend who's allergic to wool, I am so sorry that that's how it's worked out for you, because it's. It's a true pleasure.

[Host 1]

But people find alternatives. They go. They find other things that provide the same experience. And the point of this is not like, here are the things that work. It's. Here are things that work for us, and we're going for a feeling. We're not. We're not. We're not. We're not talking about. And what I'm going to say. Manchego. It's not about the Manchego itself. It's about the feeling the Manchego gives me, which is like, this is a special moment in my life.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Having this nutty, crystally aged, delicious Manchego. In particular, cheeses that are goat or sheep derived. Many people don't agree with me about this. It's sour and tangy. It's got the funky tastes, a little bit like dirt. But I. Sheep cheeses and goat cheeses are so, so good.

[Amelia]

So good.

[Host 1]

Buffalo mozzarella is different and special compared to cow milk mozzarella.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

They are just extra hygge. While I'm at it, I'm just gonna, like, name check, sour cream and heavy cream. Especially because I mentioned baked potatoes. Part of what makes a baked potato or a mashed potato an extraordinary food experience is you take the potato and you cover it in a stick of butter and a lot of heavy cream and then some sour cream.

[Host 2]

And it's.

[Host 1]

And it's just like the most satisfying food you can put in your mouth when you're like, I need to make it through today because tomorrow I'm gonna feel better, but today I just need to make it through. So I'm gonna make some mashed potatoes.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And they're gonna be 50% dairy by weight.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Part of our Thanksgiving tradition is that the kids each make a dish. We also do this when we're on vacation, is that when the kids are here for vacation, they each provide a meal. And this has been going. This is a long standing tradition for. For multiple decades now. And the boy is the one who makes the mashed potatoes. And he's at the point where, you know, I'm like, I email or text in advance, like, let me know what.

[Host 1]

You need to make your thing if.

[Amelia]

You want a new recipe or whatever. And the boy's just like, just make sure you got heavy cream. Butter and heavy cream. He has no compunction about just like a whole stick of butter. You know, a quart of. Not a quart, but like a pint of heavy cream.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Amelia]

That's how you make potatoes on mar.

[Host 1]

Why?

[Amelia]

Dairy and potatoes.

[Host 1]

And I like smashed potatoes where you leave the skin on and you, like, kind of barely smash it.

[Amelia]

He does that because he's lazy. But I also think it's more delicious to have the skins in. Yeah.

[Host 1]

The texture is just wonderful.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

I only have a couple other things.

[Amelia]

I also want to talk about another cheese, a very specific cheese. That is the cheese that makes me go. Which is from Vermont. Creamery is the Company their double cream cremel or crement cheese, which is cow and goat combined cheeses. And it's like, it's gonna rind and it's gooey. And then as you get into the center, it's less gooey because the aging hasn't quite reached the center yet. It is like, I buy one of these at Thanksgiving because the kids also love cheese. The boy won a cheese tasting competition in high school. He went to, like, an agricultural high school, and they had, like, you know, farming stuff and dairy tasting training. Anyway, so they really love cheese. And this cheese is $2.40 a ounce. Like, $2 and 40 cents an ounce at Whole Foods. Currently. The Whole Foods on Cape Cod, which is probably more than regular whole Foods. But even so, this is. This is very expensive, very crazy, unrelatable cheese. But like, this is a cheese where one year the boy came before the girls did, to the house for Thanksgiving, and I had, you know, cheese played out. And the boy ate most. I'm calling him the boy. He's 30, but a few years ago, he ate most of this, like, quarter pound of cheese. And to this day, the girls are like, do you have that cheese, Amelia? The cheese that the boy ate most of, That's. That's how they remember that cheese. That's how they remember that cheese.

[Host 1]

This is gonna be like the Vermont Creamery long episode of us just listing things that. That make us feel good and like, hopefully people can relate to some of them.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

No.

[Amelia]

And I also think, like, one of the things that the purpose of this episode will serve is like, here's an episode that feels good.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Just.

[Amelia]

Cause this is the vibes.

[Host 1]

This is the vibes.

[Amelia]

Go get yourself some of this feel good.

[Host 1]

Cause there's a lot of things that are terrible. And if you can't.

[Amelia]

If you don't have time or energy to go get some feel good, here's a free podcast episode to listen to.

[Host 1]

To listen to. That's good.

[Amelia]

It's about things that are pleasurable.

[Host 1]

That is. That's why, like, nothing much happens as a podcast is because almost all the episodes are just feels good. There's an episode that's just. We took our dog for a walk after the rain and then we washed the muddy paws.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And it's like.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

And I'm telling you, if you have $12 to blow on a quarter pound.

[Host 1]

Of cheese, which people don't.

[Amelia]

People don't. But on Thanksgiving, as a special treat.

[Host 1]

Yeah. That's the thing is it's like special occasion treat.

[Host 2]

Things. Yeah.

[Amelia]

Like this. If you like just a little bit of funk and a little bit of ooze and a lot of creamy. Creamy fermenty ness. It's Vermont Creamery double cream Krimo.

[Host 1]

Coconut milk features in. In Hygge foods for me, mostly Chia pudding. And then also green coconut curry. Specifically green coconut curry. Generally with chicken and a buttload of.

[Amelia]

Vegetables, especially onions for me.

[Host 1]

Onions and bell peppers.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Green vegetables go in a green curry. So there's something about that that's just, like, super wicked. Hygge makes the house smell amazing.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Yeah. Y.

[Host 1]

And it's so easy to make something that tastes so wonderful.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

More time consuming, but also super wicked. Hygge vibes stew. I, for the first time, made boeuf four guignon. It took four hours.

[Amelia]

Was it worth. Was worth.

[Host 2]

It.

[Host 1]

Is three. It's basically a bottle of wine, two cups of chicken stock, and a quarter cup of brandy, essentially, which all reduces down to like a cup and a.

[Amelia]

Half of sauce, along with meat juices.

[Host 1]

Along with, like, all the rendered juices from the meat and the flavors that get extracted from the vegetables. And it was. I will be doing that again. I mean, it's. It's expensive because it uses three pounds of meat, three pounds of beef booze, and a bottle of wine. A bottle of wine that has to be so drinkable that even when you reduce it down to its constituent parts and cook it, it still tastes delicious. So it can't be like cooking wine. It has to be a real drinkable wine.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

It can't be trash.

[Host 1]

Trash, plus all the vegetables and the amount of time that it takes. But I'm gonna do it again because that's just how good it was. It's not the kind of thing I have the time, energy, or, let's face it, I'm not gonna. That's a $50 meal.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

There's a lot of eating. I mean, and it was. Both of us ate at least three meals, so it's like six servings.

[Host 2]

But.

[Host 1]

That'S $50 for six servings. And it took four hours. But you know what? Like, on the days when, like, I just need to get through today. I need. Because I know tomorrow's gonna be better, but I need to get through today. What am I gonna do? I'm going to start a boeuf bourguignon, and I'm gonna sit in the kitchen, at the kitchen table and do a puzzle while it cooks, and I'm gonna get through today. And today was an expensive one. But tomorrow, I'm gonna do something that's right next door to free. And, yeah, I'm gonna freeze half of this before Guignol so that, like, someday when I'm having a hard day and I just need to get through it, all I have to do is take.

[Host 2]

It out of the freezer. Yeah.

[Amelia]

And it's just occurring to me now that one of the things I need to do quite soon is make eggnog in preparation for holiday. Eggnog?

[Host 1]

You make eggnog from scratch?

[Amelia]

Yeah, I started a year or two ago after I saw the recipe on Tasting History. Homemade eggnog that's, like, been in your fridge for a couple of months is so good.

[Host 1]

Can you send Rich the link to the Tasting History episode so that people can include it in the show notes?

[Amelia]

I mean, you just googled Tasting History eggnognog, and there you go.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Amelia]

It's not hard.

[Host 1]

How hard is it and how expensive is it?

[Amelia]

It's like half Brandy. So as much as you want to spend.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Amelia]

Is when you mentioned Brandy, that I was like, oh, eggnog. I forgot I got to do that. It's September already.

[Host 1]

It involves raw egg, right?

[Amelia]

It does involve raw egg. If raw egg's not a thing for you, this is not your thing.

[Host 1]

Well, I mean, it's raw, but it's kind of cooked in the alcohol.

[Amelia]

It's kind of process.

[Host 1]

It's a little bit preserved.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

Like, my. My stepson is allergic to egg whites, but he's okay with this.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Amelia]

Whatever transformation takes place, he's not that allergic. You know what I mean?

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

For some people, using pourable in a carton egg can be a safer alternative sometimes.

[Amelia]

Yeah. Like, that's pasteurized often.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

Here is. Here's a very not accessible, not relatable strategy that I use because. Because I am who I am. Like, raw eggs is not a thing I'm going to use. But if you have a hot water circulator for sous vide, you set your sous vide to 135 degrees. You put your eggs in there for an hour and a half. You can look up the instructions online. The eggs will be pasteurized but not cooked.

[Host 2]

The.

[Host 1]

The yolks will be cloudy, but they will cook, like, raw.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

But they'll be pasteurized. So you can pass. Pasteurize your eggs at home. All you have to do is buy a 200.

[Amelia]

Or you could buy a carton. Or you could buy a carton.

[Host 1]

Pasteurized egg.

[Amelia]

Pre scrambled eggs.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

Definitely the more efficient way to do that.

[Host 2]

As.

[Host 1]

As the black forager says, don't die.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

And on that note, here is close to an hour and a half of cozy vibes. Cozy Fall vibes. Because, Hygge. Because, like, we need to get through it. It'd be great if we could, like, get through it and not at the end of it, just be torn to pieces and have to devote ourselves to healing from the damage that was done. Let's try and prevent some damage. Let's try and heal as we go.

[Amelia]

Here's some things that feel good and also, more importantly, permission and encouragement to notice. To notice.

[Host 1]

What are things that feel this kind of good and then allow yourself to have that. What in your life makes you feel the way I sound when I say Manchego.

[Amelia]

What's. What's the thing that you want to eat all of before your siblings arrive for Thanksgiving? That's right.

[Host 1]

That even when you're really full, you're like, I can take.

[Amelia]

I really want just more of that. Just.

[Host 2]

Just. Yeah. Yeah.

[Amelia]

So I think we accomplished Cozy Fall vibes.

[Host 1]

We did the thing. I hope this was helpful. I hope whatever you were doing while you were listening to it was a little more pleasurable, because you got to listen to us think about our favorite.

[Amelia]

Fall vibes, wax rhapsodic about our autumnal cozy vibes.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Candles and pumpkins and cheese. Oh, my.

[Host 2]

That's it.

[Host 1]

I have no idea what we're going to talk about the week after this, but I do. That'll do for now.

[Host 2]

Oh, okay.

[Host 1]

Well, don't spoil it. Cue the ukulele.

[Amelia]

It goes. I don't know the tunes, but I know they say the word the whole chorus.