Amy Morris & Anna Polonsky’s holiday survival tips

Founder, The Anchor Council; US Director, LeFooding
Good friends and collaborators, Amy Morris from The Anchor Council, a new Brooklyn-based interior and event design firm, and Anna Polonsky of Le Fooding, shared a few of their holiday entertaining and survival tips.

1

Homemade Cookie Dough: Make your favorite cookie dough and keep it in the fridge. It’s an easy treat and always delights—cookies in 10 minutes!
2

Holiday Decor Sources: Go to Authentiques in Chelsea, New York: During the year they sell everything from vintage scotch tumblers to Murano glass ashtrays, but at Christmas they specialize in vintage ornaments. For those who haven’t been it’s a must-visit Christmas destination, and a great way to get into the spirit of the holiday.

The bright colors and super heroes plastered everywhere can be a little overwhelming, but Party City also carries plain red and white hanging snowflake-like fans and fluffy decorations. Hang them together at different heights and suddenly you’ve got a holiday wonderland for just $30.
3

Create Happy Little Routines: The tradition of the tree lends itself to happy little routines that continue to give year after year.
- Buy your partner a new ornament for when you dress the tree. —Anna
- The Australians have Pims on Christmas morning—something we’ve adopted when opening our gifts. —Amy
4

Restorative Yoga: It’s just what your body needs this time of year and it’s good for digestion. If you can’t make it to class, do a few minutes of downward facing dogs.
5

Non-Traditional Menu: We go to restaurants a lot so when we’re home, we love to savor simple, stress-free meals. When entertaining, replace the holiday tradition with any family-style dish that you can make in advance. Think curry, fish stews, roast. Ask your guests to bring nibbles. Shameful confession: Talenti sorbets (easily found in delis) will do perfectly for dessert.
6

A Holiday with Friends: As an expat, I’m usually far from my family during the holidays. We now gather, along with other “holiday orphans,” share the menu execution, and orchestrate a Secret Santa. Keep the gifts within a reasonable budget and people get creative.

Last year, I was lucky enough to receive the best gift, a custom-made hat to be made by the wonderful Satya Twena. I love to offer handmade soaps and candles from Apotheke or the latest issue of Le Fooding.
7

Breakfast for The Crowd: Bacon Egg Cups. We cooked these for the sous chefs at Estela, and the 20 others helping set-up at Anna’s farm wedding and they were a huge hit.
1. Pre-heat your oven to 375°F.
2. Put pastry dough at the base of each cup in a cupcake tin. If you can’t find dough at local grocer, in the freezer, just put a piece of toast in its place.
3. Wrap a piece of almost cooked bacon around the inside of the cups.
4. Crack an egg in the middle.
5. Grate some cheese over the top.
6. Cook for 20 minutes.
You can add chives and veggies to the eggs as well but we like to keep it simple.