ft. The Expanse & 2020 Holiday Cookie Box

December 23, 2020 by Sydney Grant

We did it! We made it to the long weekend. Whether you’re spending the holiday with family or teaching your grandma how to work Zoom, I wish you all a safe and happy break! I’ve included some last-minute gifts below for all you procrastinators and a spiked eggnog recipe to make that aforementioned family Zoom a whole lot better.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what the students at Johns Hopkins and Cardi B want for Christmas, it’s for you to wear your mask!

However you’re planning on spending your (long) weekend, enjoy these quarantivities, and happy holidays!

Quarant-streams

‘12 Dates of Christmas’

Watch this if your family already grilled you about being single this holiday

I don’t know about you all, but my brain is officially OOO until New Year’s. After this millennium of a year, I’m mentally exhausted, which is why I’m not even going to try and watch anything with a plot more complicated than Love Actually (and even that’s pushing it) between now and then. Enter 12 Dates of Christmas.

Imagine HBO took all of your favorite holiday movies, added in The Bachelor, shook them all together in one massive, terribly cheesy snowglobe, and you’ll get this show. From the masterminds(?) that created Love Is Blind, this eight-part series follows three young singles as they embark on a festive quest to find love and someone to bring home for the holidays. Rather than the Bachelor “bubble,” the show takes place in a massive, snow-adorned castle which I’m convinced is the same place they used to shoot “The Princess Switch,” and is filled with more cringe-worthy Christmas puns than your aunt’s Facebook page. As awful as it sounds, I literally couldn’t tear myself away and after finding that even the holiday edition of The Great British Baking Show caused me more stress than entertainment (particularly the gingerbread house episode), 12 Dates of Christmas proved to be just the mind-numbing form of escapism I needed.

Give it a go this break to temporarily transport yourself to a place where the worst thing that can happen to someone is getting sent home via horse-drawn carriage while wearing a Santa costume. Plus, the reunion episode just hit HBO Max, so you can unwrap even more drama when you’re done!

Stream it via HBO Max.

‘The Expanse’

Watch this if you’ve had enough of holiday content:

Annnd here’s something for all you reality TV haters! If you’re, like, snow over all the holiday content I’ve been suggesting (sorry, I had to), try delving deep into The Expanse this long weekend instead. You may have already heard of this sci-fi favorite, as the first season was released back in 2015, which, for reference, is when “Hello” by Adele came out, so basically five lifetimes ago.

ICYMI though, The Expanse returned for its penultimate season last week and critics and fans are already calling it the best one yet. The show takes place in the distant future (in proper sci-fi fashion), where humans have colonized the solar system and the planets are essentially on the brink of a cold war. After a woman goes missing, the captain of a space ship and a police detective join forces to uncover what happened and accidentally stumble upon a far bigger conspiracy in the process. If you’re into Star Wars/Trek/Dune/anything sci-fi and need a break from rewatching Christmas movies this week, try this one instead. I, however, will be digging into the 12 Dates of Christmas reunion. To each their own.

Stream it via Amazon.

Quarant-reads

‘In a Holidaze’ by Christina Lauren

Read this if you prefer holiday reads over holiday streams:

Okay, I promise this is my LAST themed rec (for the year). If you’re looking for a wintry rom-com to cozy up with this weekend, look no further! In this heartwarming holiday novel, young Maelyn Jones is fed up. Fed up with living with her parents, fed up with her job, and fed up with her disastrous love life. So naturally, she does what everyone on Tik Tok and my hairdresser has been telling me to do lately: she manifests, asking the universe to “show me what will make me happy.” Next thing Mae knows, she’s living her Christmas vacation over and over again, forced to make different decisions she can only hope will lead her to happiness and a ~sultry~ kiss under the mistletoe. It’s Groundhog’s-Day-meets-Christmas in the best way possible and is sure to put a smile on even the Scroogiest of holiday haters.

Purchase now via Amazon.

Quarant-eats

Mark Bittman’s Tamales via NYT Cooking

Make these to tackle tamales like a pro:

INGREDIENTS

24 dried corn husks
3 ½ cups masa harina
2 ¼ cups chicken stock, approximately
1 cup lard, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ cups Shredded Red-Chile Meat (see recipe)

YIELD 24 tamales

TIME 1 ½ hours, plus soaking time for the husks

PREPARATION

Soak husks in warm water for at least 3 hours or overnight. Drain, separate the husks, then continue soaking.
Put the masa harina in a bowl, and add stock a little at a time until the mixture is crumbly.
With a mixer, beat the lard, salt and baking powder until light. Add the masa mixture, and continue to beat until the dough is fluffy, adding more stock if needed. The mixture is ready when a small ball of it floats in water.
Drain a husk, and pat dry. Spread 2 tablespoons of the masa dough in the center of the husk, then wet your fingers and pat into a 4-inch-by-3-inch rectangle along the right edge of the husk, leaving at least 2 inches on each side. Put 1 tablespoon of the shredded meat lengthwise down the center of the dough rectangle. Wrap by folding the rectangle in half and bringing the right side of the dough over the filling. Continue rolling tightly to the end of the husk, then secure one open end with string or strips of corn husk. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Prepare a large steamer by setting a steamer rack about 2 inches above gently boiling water. Stack the tamales, seam down, on the rack. Cover, and steam until the filling is firm and comes away easily from the husk, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

2020 Holiday Cookie Box via Half Baked Harvest:

Bake these for a last-minute present before you start panic Amazon-priming: