To Do 10.01.20

COOK: Sunday night dinner together

The tradition of Sunday dinner brings family members together. You might have a list of go-to meals; try something more complicated and out of your comfort zone to make it an all-hands-on-deck experience. Learn how to make a new recipe together, whether that be a hearty Italian ragu or a homemade Thai curry with handmade curry paste. Or learn a new skill like how to shuck an oyster, how to ferment food, or how to reverse sear a steak. Whatever it is, make it inclusive. Take cooking together a step further and learn from local chefs and restaurateurs like those at Happy Girl Kitchen or Big Sur Bakery, which both have cookbooks, and recreate your favorite meals and food products inside of your own home. No family nearby? Set up a time to cook virtually together and share your tasting notes.

SEND: Snail mail.

There’s nothing like receiving a letter or card that’s been created by a loved one. Ditch the email and text conversation and write a letter instead, or send a care package with a handwritten card. Putting ink to paper is a deliberate and conscious way to keep in touch. It’s a thoughtful way to communicate, slower than via screen.

HOST: a game night

Whether it’s on a game console, your phone or in-person, games are a great way to bond and engage with each other. Choose age-appropriate games like Apples to Apples or Pictionary for the kids; there’s a variety of kid-friendly games available at Thinker Toys. If you have a household of adult children, try Cards Against Humanity or the locally created Crabs Adjust Humidity, available at local big box stores like Target and Walmart. Dark and crude humor is not your thing? Challenge your family to Words with Friends and play throughout the day when you just need to prove who has a better vocabulary.

RECORD: memories

2020 is a challenging year to be apart, especially if the cause of that separation is a global pandemic. Stay connected and share your photos. No, we’re not talking about the occasional holiday card, but rather cellphone pictures of your kids at their first piano lesson, or the progress of grandma’s garden. With smartphones widely available, there’s no excuse to not track small events in real time. Android and Apple phones all have shared-album capabilities; set one up for a group of old friends, or for the family. Sharing photos of everyday life – your pets, your dinners, your SIP home office – may help far-apart people feel closer. At the end of the year, print out those photos and organize them in a special family album. It’ll be a record of a weird year, but also a record of how your family coped and adapted.