Embracing & Bucking Holiday Traditions To Savor The Season Your Way… Plus Easy Homemade Spinach Gnocchi That’ll Knock Your Socks Off
We’ve arrived at December 2023!
Honestly, last December I wasn’t sure if I’d be here now. That’s how bad my experience of Long Covid was. At this point last year, we still didn’t know exactly what the cause of me being so unwell was (because I didn’t have the more typical presentation of lingering cold/flu symptoms) and every single day was a struggle for me, my husband and our daughter. So, this year, I’m here for the holidays!
But, you know, not too much. Just enough. Just the amount that brings me joy. Just the amount that leaves room for self care and space and time to savor sweet festivity and give up the obligations and pressure.
I’m currently enrolled in my own OmMade Holidays E-Course and loving it! I think it’s good for teachers to take their own classes whenever possible to make sure things are landing the way they’re intended to and also to experience what their students experience. I craved, but couldn’t find a course like this, so I made my own and now I’m engaging fully as both student and teacher and it’s working well to keep me on track with my intention for this season to remain joyfully calm.
Before the holiday season gets rolling like an out of control snowball down a hill that becomes the size of a boulder, I invite you to determine your intention.
How do you want to feel throughout this season?
What activities mean the most to you?
Which ones do you want to let go of?
Are there any traditions you feel done with for this year? Things that don’t actually bring you joy or things that cause you stress or anxiety? Can you strategize how to let those go gracefully?
How much festivity is enough? How much is too much?
Think about times when you feel most centered and calm. What is it about those times that give you that freedom? How can you embrace more of that even amidst the holiday hustle and bustle?
What self care practices that you love can you realistically keep up with this season? Baths, meditation, mindful checkins periodically each day, exercise, nature time, reading, journaling, etc.?
Set these things into motion first and then your holiday season will fall into place with more ease and joy!
This is what we’re exploring and experiencing in OmMade Holidays — setting up mindful self care practices, prioritizing joy and wellbeing, connecting to creativity and gifting/festivity with ease.
There are some things I’ve decided I just won’t be doing this year because they’re too much for my nervous system. There are other things I want to dive into because they bring me so much joy! And there are daily practices I’m committing to in order to stay as calm, centered, balanced, and present as possible.
Coming from Italian-American families, holiday traditions (and expectations) are a big deal to both me and my husband. It can feel hard to let some of them go. Especially things I’ve historically done throughout my daughter’s upbringing that she’s come to expect. Alas, a great lesson for my daughter is that life traverses seasons that can present themselves uniquely. Not everything has to get done. Not everything is important.
What is always important? Health. Wellbeing. Connection. Love. Peace. Ease.
That which doesn’t foster health, wellbeing, connection, love, peace, and ease can be let go of in order to make room for the true goodness of this season.
There is so much strife and separation in the world right now. So much violence and fear. So much suffering. I don’t want to do anything to contribute to any of that. That means I have to minimize my own suffering as much as I can. I have to keep my mindset and actions in alignment with the things that bring light to my life and the world. In order to do this, I may have to let go of some traditions that no longer serve my inner peace.
Let this post be the permission slip you need to let go of anything and everything that doesn’t serve your inner peace!
Embrace the things, activities, and people you adore and let the rest go!
One of the things I’m doing to embrace joy this year is cooking family favorites because it truly lights me up to do so. But, I’m doing this without pressure or obligation. I’ll be cooking what brings me joy, not what my inner critic says we “have to have for a holiday.” Pffffffft to that!
If what I want is the memory of decorating cookies with my favorite kiddos and not the backbreaking work of baking perfection and kitchen cleanup, I can buy the all natural, ready made cookie kits and simply decorate with my favorite kiddos! The holiday police will not be arresting me this year.
For some of us the hardest part about bucking some traditions and embracing ease will be making and sticking with the choice to do so, guilt-free.
It’s worth it, though and you can do it!
I’m focusing on the nostalgic, tasty, special recipes that feed my soul this year.
You know the ones. Those recipes that make you smile and feel warm and fuzzy when you think of them enjoyed during past holiday seasons.
My mother in law taught me how to make homemade spinach-ricotta gnocchi a number of years ago and it’s truly one of my sweetest memories in the kitchen with her. The recipe sounds intricate, but it’s really rustic and simple, plus it can be made ahead so I’m going to whip some up this weekend while I have lots of time to enjoy the process and cleanup the kitchen. I’ll freeze the gnocchi and we’ll have it on hand for any night we want something warm, special and delish or even for a holiday meal!
Won’t I feel ahead of the game?!
Not that I could ever be as ahead of the game as my 81 year old mother-in-law! She makes this often throughout the year to keep on hand for any time someone stops in for dinner. It’s amazing! You think she magically conjured up a meal you could only get at a restaurant in minutes, but it was all because she took a little time when she had it to infuse some love into ingredients and have the finished product at the ready.
I’m sharing this beloved recipe with you this year nice and early in the holiday season so you, too, can be UHmazing like my mother-in-law, Jacki. (And because you’re going to looooove this!)
We call this Gnocchi Tornado Biancchi, named after Jacki who we refer to as The White Tornado. She’s always on the go, running circles around people half her age and, at just about five feet tall with her white-blond puff of hair she’s like a little tornado spiraling by, keeping us all on our toes.
To make this a more wholesome dish, I use whole wheat flour, but it works exactly the same with white, all purpose flour.
Read the whole recipe before preparing — there’s an overnight preparatory step you need to take before you can make this.
Gnocchi Tornado Biancchi
1 lb Frozen Spinach
2 Cups Ricotta Cheese
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste
1-2 pinches Ground Nutmeg
2+ Cups Whole Wheat Flour
Rinse frozen spinach under cold water in a colander to defrost. Squeeze the water out of the defrosted spinach as much as you can with your hands. Then place the spinach back into the colander and set the colander in a bowl and place that in the refrigerator overnight.
Place ricotta into a cheese cloth, nut milk bag, or colander set into a bowl. Set this in the refrigerator overnight to strain off the liquid.
When you’re ready to prepare the gnocchi, discard the liquid from the spinach and ricotta.
To prepare gnocchi, first beat eggs in a bowl with a fork. Add the strained spinach and ricotta, as well as as the salt, pepper and nutmeg to the beaten eggs. Mix together incorporating fully.
Whisk flour in a bowl to remove clumps and then pour 2 cups of the whisked flour out onto a large board (such as a cutting board or pastry board). Make a circle with the flour, creating a well in the center surrounded by short walls.
Scoop the egg mixture into the center of the flour circle. Using your hands, slowly work flour bit by bit into the egg mixture by scraping some toward the center of the circle and pressing it into the egg mixture. As you go around the circle a dough will begin to form. If it’s rather sticky, add a bit more flour until the consistency is that of a soft pie pastry.
Knead the dough a few times by hand until it can come together to form a ball.
Use a heavy chef’s knife to slice the dough ball into approximately 3 inch wide disks. Then slice those disks into 2 inch wide strips.
Roll each strip out into a “snake” shape by resting the flats of your fingers on the strip and pushing forward and backward. Once your “snake” is rolled out to about 2 inches thick, press pointy short ends of each strip in toward the center gently with your fingertips, to sort of square the ends off.
Then, using the heavy chef’s knife again, slice the “snake” into 2-3 inch long pieces that look like little pillows. It’s best to cut the gnocchi by pressing the knife straight down as opposed to sawing back and forth with the knife. If the knife sticks at all, add a little flour to the blade.
I recommend preparing the gnocchi ahead of time and keeping it stored in the freezer at the ready for whenever you want to cook and enjoy it.
To freeze gnocchi, flash freeze the pieces on cookie sheets in one layer until frozen solid. Remove the frozen pieces and store them in a baggie or container until you’re ready to eat your amazing homemade gnocchi.
That said, the gnocchi can be cooked immediately after it’s prepared.
To cook the gnocchi, boil at least 4-6 quarts of water in a pot. Once the water is boiling, drop in the amount of gnocchi you wish to serve. Allow to boil for 5-7 minutes, until each piece is cooked through and floating on the top of the water.
Strain off the water and serve immediately topped with your favorite sauce.
Sauce suggestions:
A simple aioli — fresh extra virgin olive oil with a little salt and crushed garlic, maybe add a sprinkling of good Parmesan/Romano cheese
A simple tomato marinara or ragu
The Jacki way — a gorgonzola cream sauce prepared by cooking a bit of cream and butter together on the stove over medium heat until the butter melts and then crumbling in gorgonzola cheese, fresh chopped sage leaf, and salt and pepper to taste (use whatever amounts of each ingredients looks and tastes good to you)
Happy, easy, joyfully calm holidays to you and yours!
XO, Maggie
