The Holiday Issue 2022

Blythe Barger and her daughter,

family cabin

at

in Bear Valley,

Home & Garden

The Ark, one of Bear Valley’s

family chalets, was an

of the West

in

’70s-inspired

Planted

& Drink

Travel & Escapes

Chasing the Northern Lights

In Canada’s Yukon

photographing the aurora borealis is only half the

diversions

secret travel

from local experts.

Voices of the West

Viet Pham reconnects

his love of

We do holiday food better in the West. That is the wholly unscientific, entirely biased, thoroughly questionable, but incredibly deli cious conclusion of a recent random polling of a few Sunset staffers.

In one editor’s family, a pan-Asian potluck routinely features egg rolls, shumai, and two kinds of Filipino noodles (pancit and “the kind of spaghetti they serve at Jollibee”). Yet another cooks a truncated version of the Italian feast of the seven fishes (“clam pasta, grilled Scottish langoustines, whole branzino stuffed with thyme and Meyer lemons from our yard”) then makes “a big roast—typically with Korean vibes like go chujang and a bunch of banchan we buy in Koreatown.” One family’s weeklong cookie-baking mara thon culminates with a “frosting day” where friends and neighbors vie for invitations to help deco rate the groaning board of sweets. The traditions are sometimes in line with the families’ heritage and sometimes not. One staffer’s feast is perhaps the most multicultural and multiculinary: “We have tamales from an instructor at my brother’s Brazilian jiujitsu studio, strawberry rugelach, and some kind of beef roast, but always cooked on the rotisserie outside.” Many families have an aunt or uncle’s variation on green beans. There is sometimes a ham. Everybody at some point makes a ton of Mexican food. It’s diverse, freewheeling, celebratory, indulgent, yet unpretentious, indooroutdoor, and all very Sunset.

The staff poll is a version of what we have collected in this issue, which is a snapshot of how we holiday in the West. There’s a classic Christmas feast from Five Marys Ranch in Northern Califor nia, complete with a show-stopping roast beef; designer Jenni Kayne’s Santa Ynez Ranch is the setting for a casual gathering with seasonal tartines and zippy blood orange spritzes; we’ve got Seattle soul-food impresario Kristi Brown’s Vietnamese-inspired “pho-like situation,” guaranteed to warm you up when the temperature drops below 72. And beautiful citrus pies with stunning naturally dyed crusts in shades of pink, lime green, and turmeric from the Bay Area baking entre preneur Jaynelle St. Jean to finish on a surprising yet sweet note. I’m sure you’ll find something to add to your holiday table and make it a new tradition in your home.

TRAVEL

Krista

CONTRIBUTING

Christine

CONTRIBUTING

DIGITAL

Deanna

Nicole

LIFESTYLE

Camille

—Hugh Garvey, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DISCOVER L.A.’S

MARINA

Where living in the moment means paddle boarding to breakfast. Seizing the day can be a mid-morning sailing lesson, lunch in a poolside cabana, or an afternoon spent bike riding. Embracing an evening is laughing with friends under a colorful sunset on a harbor cruise.

What will your Marina adventure be?

A pebble is a symbol of constant creation, shaped by the forces of water and wind. Our sustainable surfaces now feature five pebble-inspired colors that nurture comfort and calm, bringing the blessings of sunlight and rain to the heart of your home.

BEST OF THE

Spirit of the

There’s perhaps no spirit more synonymous with the Western frontier than whiskey. But in fact, most of the hooch consumed by cowboys and trappers in the 1800s was watered down by trad ers along its journey to Western saloons, leaving it with little resemblance to the nuanced spirit we’ve grown to love today. Thankfully, local distillers have come a long way since those early days, tapping into the bounty of the West to craft spirits that sing of the surrounding landscapes.

With their signature notes of toasty baking spices, citrus, vanilla, leather, and caramel, these modern craft whiskeys are particularly tasty during the winter months. And experiences for trav elers have leveled up beyond the gunslinging saloon, too. Turn the page for some of the most unique ways to savor the spirit this season.

HIGH WEST WHISKEY

Utah may not be the first place you’d go looking for whiskey, but High West’s historic distillery crafts serious blends inspired by the Wasatch Range where they’re headquartered. Their ski-in gastro-distillery known as the Saloon is located at the bottom of Park City Mountain’s Quit’N Time run. highwest.com

SKI-IN WHISKEY BAR AT MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN

The aforementioned gastro-distillery was so popular that High West decid ed to do a pop-up location on Mam moth Mountain at The Outpost. Situat ed on the backside of the mountain, this ski-in cocktail bar offers Old Fash ioneds and hot toddies to warm you up during your day out on the slopes. highwest.com

WHISKEY SAUNA AT MOTOLODGE

Soak up some history at this brandnew Oregon motor hotel in Pendleton, a town known for rodeos, wool, and, of course, whiskey. The 1950s-era Moto Lodge just got a major refresh, com plete with a whiskey-barrel-shaped sauna made from repurposed staves that seats six. With a glass of locally bottled Pendleton whiskey in hand, it’s the ultimate wintry respite, and the perfect way to recuperate your tired bod after a day of hiking or horseback riding. motolodge.com

FREY RANCH

Located on what’s known as the Lone liest Road in America, just outside Reno, Nevada, Frey Ranch is an oasis for those seeking wide open spaces and world-class whiskey. The family has been farming grains in the Sierra Nevada watershed for five genera tions, and on Saturdays guests can book a tour of both the farm and the distillery, gaining a better understand ing of the production from the ground up. Be sure to bring home a bottle of highly sought-after Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey if it’s on of fer; it is sold exclusively at the tasting room. It’s the embodiment of the fami ly’s deep dedication to land steward ship in the West. freyranch.com

BRECKENRIDGE DISTILLERY

Breckenridge Distillery—which sits at 9,600 feet in elevation—proudly wears

its claim to fame as the world’s highest distillery. Its bespoke blending-lab ex periences allow guests to play cellar master, crafting their own American whiskey made from Rocky Mountain snowmelt. To really splash out at alti tude, book an Ultimate Upgrade, which includes a private tasting of a flight of the brand’s bottlings, each paired with a delicious course. Think braised Kobe beef with bourbon fig jam or old-fash ioned bourbon-glazed pecans. breck enridgedistillery.com

CRATER LAKE SPIRITS

Bend, Oregon-based Crater Lake Spir its offers a backdrop of the

snow-capped Cascade Mountain Range at its Tumalo distillery, and that connection to nature goes well beyond the views. The packaging and bottling processes put an emphasis on recy cled and plant-based materials, and the team utilizes closed-loop water systems to minimize waste, embracing the spirit of adventure and sustain ability while helping to preserve the natural beauty that makes Central Or egon so special. A fan favorite is their Black Butte Whiskey, a collaboration with Deschutes Brewery aged in porter barrels. It lends rich malted chocolate flavors—a perfect holiday gift to bring home. craterlakespirits.com

Tasteful

Holiday Succulent Tree

Craving something more inspired than a pine-treeboughs-stuck-in-water centerpiece? Put this DIY on your to-do list.

MULHOLLAND

STEP 1

Cut squares of chicken wire and layer them, then roll pieces together to make a snow-cone shape. For a 10-inch pot, we used two lay ers to create a cone that was 16 inches tall. Cut an extra square of chicken wire and shape it into a dome. Lightly stuff the base and cone with rein deer moss. Place your base in the pot with the cone on top.

STEP 2

Carefully remove each succulent from the 2-inch pot it came in and shake off the dirt to expose the roots. Remove a few of the bottom leaves to expose the stem and gently use a upin to tuck it into place. Work in rows from the bottom up, turning the pot as you go, and be sure to al ternate your varieties so you have a nice mix of hues.

STEP 3

As you reach the top, take steps back to make sure your de sign is pointy enough to resemble a tree. If your tree appears too rounded, remove a few succulents, pinch the top into a sharper shape, and tuck them back in.

STEP 4

Now that your tree is complete, spray it lightly with water from the hose. Water it lightly every other week—just enough to get the reindeer moss inside damp, and prepare yourself for gasps of “OMG, is that real?” Then beam and say, “As a matter of fact, it is.”

—Deanna Kizis

STEP 1: Assemble Your Mix-Ins

Fill three small bowls with hot chocolate mix, sugar, and shaved white chocolate. Space them out at ran dom across your board or tray.

STEP 2:

Fill Empty Spaces with Sweets

Add unique toppings for your hot chocolate, or desserts for dipping. The Luxe Bites team uses rolled wafer cookies, which come in seasonal flavors like chocolate peppermint.

STEP 3: Make Room for Marshmallows

Create sections on

and

for your hot choc olate will go. Fill in the remainder with marshmallows.

STEP 4: Finish It Off

Add salted caramel chocolates, peppermint bark, stroopwafels, peppermints, Oreos, or whatever sweets grab your attention. Tuck them into any open space until you’re left with a bountiful board. While these treats might not be mixed into hot chocolate, they make for a great dunking or snacking opportunity alongside mugs of warm cocoa.

Unbox the West

The Sunset Subscription Box delivers the Best of the West straight to your door!

Every three months, you’ll get a box full of home, design, food, and gardening products curated by Sunset editors to help you make the most of every season.

You can choose the box that fits your style and price point, then get ready to be surprised and delighted by what you find inside!

Our latest box is devoted to the holidays and is full of products perfect for entertaining, gifting, and filling the season with cheer.

It’s the perfect way to give the gift of the West to family or friends.

Sign up now at

The Premium Edition of our holiday box includes festive and iconic enamelware mugs from Northern California-based Crow Canyon, as well as other seasonal products made in the West and beyond.

THE PEAK OF WINTER.

In Montana, we don’t wait out winter, we wait all year for it. Experience the true nature of the season in Yellowstone Country, with swoon-worthy snow, world-renowned skiing, and dreamy mountain towns that will warm your spirit even when it’s cold outside. Because the point of life is to reach the height of happiness.

Start discovering now. Get your FREE Travel Packet by calling 1.800.736.5276 or going to VisitYellowstoneCountry.com

WINTER IS WAITING IN MONTANA.

It’s time to zoom out just north of Yellowstone National Park where winter is wide open. Choose your own snow venture in a captivating winter landscape and explore the friendliest mountain towns you’ll ever meet. Yellowstone Country’s basecamp communities bustle with world-class lodging, restaurants, shops, galleries, breweries and distilleries, plus local vibes and western allure.

When the snow flies, America’s first national park is transformed into a wintry wonderland. Take a snowcoach or guided snowmobile tour, or explore by snowshoe or Nordic ski.

DOWNHILL SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

With more than 400 inches of snow annually and three of the state’s largest downhill ski areas—Big Sky Resort, Bridger Bowl and Red Lodge Mountain— Yellowstone Country is the place to be for a big mountain experience without big mountain prices and lift lines.

HOT SPRINGS

Natural hot springs are Yellowstone Country’s hottest hot spots. There’s nothing more relaxing than soaking in the healing mineral waters of nature’s hot tub, especially after a long day in the snow. Stay at a hot springs resort or hike to an undeveloped pool, immersing yourself in the great outdoors.

Holiday

We

LARQ’s

The

New

SELF-CARE

Create

INTO

WELLNESS ROUTINE.

Jumbo Time Wines Bath Time

How adorable are these “Lil’ Jumbos” of Grenache? Artist Aidan Romick designs all the labels for Los Angeles–based founders Jonathan Yadegar and Omar Koukaz. $30 FOR 2-PACK; JUMBOTIMEWINES.COM

Las Jaras Wines Superbloom

Red and white Rhône varieties meet in this “California table wine” from the popular brand by Joel Burt and Eric Wareheim, with psy chedelic art by artist Jade Roche. $28; LASJARASWINES.COM

Nomadica Red Blend

We trust founder Kristin Olszewski to tell us what to drink, and the Jonathan Todryk art that wraps these 100% Barbera cans means we can do it in style.

$54 FOR 8-PACK; EXPLORENOMADICA.COM

Scotty-Boy! Blush

Scott Sampler’s natural wines are in demand for many reasons.

Here’s one: a “funky fresh” Santa Barbara County vino made as a sort of “antidote” to early days of the pandemic. $24; SCOTTYBOY.WINE

Tinto Amorio Monje

Founder Anish Patel was inspired by young monks to create a “calm but playful” label for this “relaxed but experimental” skincontact orange wine made from Paso Robles grapes. $77 FOR BUNDLE; DRINKTINTO.COM

Habit Red Wine

Chill this red blend from Jeff Fischer (yes, the character on American Dad). It’s an homage to the Califor nia winemaker’s favorite artist and writer, William S. Burroughs. $32; HABITWINE.COM

VIVID VINO THEY SAY YOU SHOULDN’T PICK WINE BY THE LABEL, BUT WE’RE PRETTY IMPRESSED WITH THESE STATEMENTMAKING BRANDS.

STOCKING STUFFERS

Two to four people can gather for a picnic on Mata dor’s Pocket Blanket, which now comes in a waterproof nylon. $30; matadorup. com

Microsend’s tiny Magnetic Route Setting Kit is perfect for the rock climber in your life to map out a trek on their fridge. $20; doyouevenmi crosend.com

Oru’s Lake is the lightweight, fold able kayak you didn’t know you needed. It can be assembled in under two min utes—one, with practice—and weighs just 18 lbs. $699; ORUKAYAK.COM

ARTFULLY ACTIVE ELEVATE YOUR EXPLORATIONS, NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE IN THE WEST.

Thanks to our friends at Dia mondback, we’re pushing pedals on the Division 2, a nine-speed alumi num commuter that’s light enough to lift up stairs. $740; DIAMONDBACK.COM

Hormigas chicatanas, or chicatana ants, are a delicacy in Mexico. The Masienda team sources theirs from Oaxaca; serve in salsa or alongside mezcal. $28; MASIENDA.COM

WESTERN BOUNTY LEAN ON LOCAL MAKERS TO PUT TOGETHER A BETTER HOLIDAY SPREAD.

Handmade on Washington’s Orcas Island, a jar of Girl Meets Dirt’s Salted Apple Cara mel Spoon Preserves is as much a treat off the spoon as it is with pork chops or gouda. $14; GIRL MEETSDIRT.COM

Popular Oregon salt company Jacob sen Salt Co. also harvests singleorigin Raw Wildflower Honey from the desert. $11; JACOBSENSALT.COM

Who knew frozen food could be so delicious? Xiao Chi Jie’s mouth watering BBQ Skewers, Xiao Long Bao, and XCJ Crafted Sauces bring cumin, five spice, and peppercorn to the party. $40 SKEWERS; $20 SAUCES; THEXCJ.COM

Brightland’s dou ble-fermented vinegars come straight from Cali fornia farms in two flavors, Rapture Balsamic and Parasol Champagne $44 FOR PAIR; BRIGHTLAND.CO

COOKING

Compact inno vation meets nontoxic ceramic in Our Place’s Mini Always Pan and Mini Perfect Pot, the tinier versions of its best-sell ing wares. $115–$125; FROMOURPLACE. COM

FINISHING TOUCHES

For Sunset ’s next Idea House, good design is in the details. Here’s how designer-homeowner Camille Styles is using Emtek door hardware to elevate the everyday.

In the journey of designing our homes, it’s easy to overlook the beauty of those small, utilitarian features that bring a space together. These are the hardworking pieces, humble in size but brilliant in execution, that bring function and flow to everyday life. For Camille Styles, the designer and owner of our next Sunset Idea House, paying careful attention to such design nuances includes choosing door handles that fit her aesthetic and needs—which is why she worked with lauded door hardware brand Emtek when designing her Malibu home.

Styles is known for spotlighting the beauty in the day-to-day, which she does as founder and editor-in-chief of her lifestyle platform Camille Styles. No detail goes unnoticed in her world, particularly when it comes to home design. She viewed the handles, knobs, and pulls in the Emtek collection as essential pieces that will elevate even the simplest moments in her Malibu home. Here Styles breaks down the beautiful functionality behind her design decisions.

Elevated Function

“Door handles are like that perfect, subtle piece of jewelry you wear every day, adding a certain something that you might not be able to instantly put your finger on,” explains Styles. “Just as your favorite gold bracelet can make an outfit, the right door handles can add the finishing touch that pulls a home together.

Her Emtek hardware makes for a “touch point” that brings consistency and essence throughout the home, Styles adds. This interconnection is a goal of the brand. “Door and even cabinet hardware is something you touch more than most other things in your home—it should be something you love interacting with and using,” says Amy Biller Switzer, Senior Marketing Communications Manager for Emtek. “It is the first thing you touch when coming home and the last thing you touch when leaving.”

Vivid Variety

is something you touch more than most other things in your home—it should be something

Emtek offers seemingly endless options to allow customers to create tailored hardware looks for their homes. Biller Switzer highlights a few of the many ways hardware comes into play. An Emtek doorknob can complement the polished nickel of a bathroom faucet. Or a glass knob can elevate a room, same as a sleek Satin Brass lever. “You can select your preferred rosette or back plate style, your favorite knob or lever style, and each in any combination of finishes you like,” adds Biller Switzer.

The Personal Touch

For her Malibu home, Styles chose the Lariat Lever with #6 Bronze Rosette in the medium bronze patina finish, a part of Emtek’s Rustic Modern series.

A slightly beveled rosette and lever with a contemporary profile, the #6 Bronze Rosette Medium Bronze Patina is meant to be a “living finish” where the bronze will gracefully age over time. “I’m drawn to the juxtaposition between modern clean lines, and timeless materials—and these have both,” says Styles. “We’re using other living finishes, like unlacquered brass, throughout the house, so the patina that these will develop over the years will lend the same, soulful quality.”

Investing in a product that feels intentional and solid, particularly one that works tirelessly, can make a world of difference in a home’s overall aesthetic. As Styles points out, her Emtek hardware is neither loud nor brash but lends quiet confidence and beauty. “It all makes a quiet statement that feels aligned with the rest of our home’s design.”

HOME & GARDEN

Snow Bound

Bear Valley, a sleepy ski resort in the Stanislaus National Forest, is California’s under-the-radar winter wonderland. The Ark, one of the first family chalets built there in the late ’60s by a pioneering architect, was an early prototype of the Western mountain cabin.

the winter of 1969, 12 feet of snow blanketed the High Sierra mountains in Alpine County, a sparsely populat ed corner of California wedged be tween the eastern edge of Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. Canadian architect Donald MacDonald had just complet ed his first mountain house in the area, which he called The Ark, with the help of a crew of Norwegian ship builders who made the trek from Marin County. The home’s unique structure was intended to function like a tree whose sloping branches al low gravity to shed the snow load be fore they break under its weight.

MacDonald was teaching architec ture at the University of California, Berkeley when he was hired to design a handful of the first homes in a na scent resort community, Bear Valley, near the Ebbetts Pass on a remote section of the Pacific Crest Trail. A local ranching family, the Orvises, had purchased hundreds of acres in the area for cattle grazing and later built a family summer ranch on the land. They had a vision to transform 400 of those acres into a resort com munity with a ski mountain, Mount Reba, and a small, private lake. About 20 houses were commissioned in that initial phase of development, many of them built with the flat roof lines that were popular at the time. The stag gering snowfall would be a dramatic, and definitive, first test for MacDon ald’s vision—and for The Ark.

“My friend David McTaggart, who went on to run Greenpeace, made the introduction. I grew up in Edmonton, so maybe I was the only guy they could find who had any experience building a house in the snow,” says MacDonald, who at 87 is still a practicing architect in San Francisco, and is best known for his work on long-span bridges, in cluding the design for the $6 billion Bay Bridge rehabilitation. “The snow

was so high that season that you could walk onto the second-floor deck.”

Those flat-roof structures didn’t fare so well.

“They collapsed, but The Ark was fine,” MacDonald says. “That house was the first of its kind in the West.”

MacDonald built another home in the community, called The Snow flake, that had a five-point roof with an equally steep pitch, plus a few oth ers. He was so fond of The Ark that he wanted to keep it for himself. But an other interested family, the Bargers, came in and “made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” says MacDonald. “I must have built 500 more ski houses after that, around Taos, Mammoth, Red River, and Crested Butte.”

Made from local materials like white fir siding and cedar shingles, and nestled among the trees with lit tle disruption to the natural

landscape, it was sustainable before sustainability was a consideration. The house was sited to take full ad vantage of the views and place the entrance at the sunniest spot. The warm afternoon rays melted away the snow pack and cleared the path to the door. The utilities were posi tioned indoors, to protect them from the elements. And the layout was in verted, so the four bedrooms with rough-hewn bunks were on the lower levels and the main living area and kitchen, with its large windows and two decks, were on the top floor, and felt perched in the treetops.

MacDonald was pleased to hear that the house was still standing, still in the Barger family, and so well pre served that it’s barely changed at all.

“The house is like a time capsule,” says Blythe Barger, who, with her sis ters Sarah Jane and Molly, is

Blythe Barger is now shepherding The Ark into its sixth decade. While she and her sisters replaced the roof and up graded some of the systems, they kept the decor and board games exactly the same.

shepherding the family house into its sixth decade. “We replaced the shin gled roof with metal and upgraded some of the systems, but the decor, the board games, and the kitchen are exactly the same.”

Barger regularly makes the fourhour trip from her home in Marin to reconnect with her sisters and their children, who have grown attached to the place in the best way. “The best part was that you could ski right back to the house at the end of the day,” Barger says. “My brother and sisters were several years older than me, so I always remember that they were able to take this challenging, black dia mond run back to the house. It gave me something to strive for, to learn to ski well enough to do it with them. And now my daughter Teddy, who’s 8, is working on it, too.”

The architectural vernacular of the

modern Western American ski house can be traced to the work of a couple of architects. While traditional winter hamlets like Telluride leaned Victori an, and Vail adopted the Alpine, or Tyrolean style, buildings, Califor nians were interested in something new. Henrik Bull, a New York archi tect with Norwegian heritage, is cred ited with creating the rough-hewn aesthetic of Lake Tahoe’s early build ings. A couple of Bull’s houses ended up on the cover of Sunset in the late ’50s and early ’60s. And MacDonald got his start here, in Bear Valley, a low-key family enclave, population 91, that’s tucked away in the Stanislaus National Forest.

What’s unique about Bear Valley is that it’s one of a handful of snowbound communities in North America, mean ing its unplowed roads make the doz ens of houses in the community acces sible only by snowmobile or Sno-Cat for several weeks a year. With only nine chairlifts and 75 trails on the mountain, covering close to 1,700 ski able acres, it’s large enough to provide some adventure but small enough to keep away the intense crowds. For a few years in the late ’60s and early ’70s, it was an exclusive hideaway for wellto-do families, including actor Lloyd

The snowbound community of Bear Valley is only accessible by snowmobile or Sno-Cat for sever al weeks a year.

Bridges and his wife, Annie, looking for a quiet escape.

“I remember going down to the lake in the summer when I was very little and seeing [Lloyd’s children] Jeff and Beau Bridges there,” says Barger. “But I still didn’t understand why it was so special until I was much older. Every Friday, when we would pile into the car and start that long, winding drive on Highway 4 to the middle of nowhere, I would be carsick and wondering why my parents didn’t buy a house in Tahoe.”

Its remoteness, and the desire of its residents to keep development to a minimum and lake access restricted to homeowners, have helped maintain its relative secrecy. When Barger vis ited the house in the summer of 2021, there were more people swimming in the lake, mountain biking, and ex ploring the hiking trails than she’d ever seen, thanks to a coronavirus-re lated spike in vacation rentals. Even today, services are minimal. There’s a single market with basic provisions, two restaurants with bars, and a pizza parlor operating with limited hours for residents and guests at the rustic resort lodge. People hungry for a live ly après-ski scene will not find it here. In the summer, mountain biking, a

small music festival, and 15 glamping tents are the draw. Tahoe, it is not. Now that Barger, a film producer and a busy single mother, has introduced the mountain to Teddy, she under stands the appeal of the community, and the house, completely.

“I remember that I could only in vite my most intrepid friends with me to the house for the weekend. We never knew if the pipes would be fro zen, and there was this whole pro cess of getting there, unloading all of our provisions onto the Sno-Cat, and making the trek up the hill,” she says. “But once you’re there, you make a big meal together, you ski all day and come home to snuggle in front of the fire and make s’mores.”

There have been plans to build an additional lift that connects the resi dences to the base lodge for years, though they’ve never taken hold. One gets the sense that the people who know and love the community are hesitant to invite larger crowds to their hideaway, through modernized accommodations or even a Sunset magazine story. Some secrets are just too good to be kept.

“It’s simple and unspoiled,” Barger says. “None of that has changed. I don’t think it ever will.”

BUILDING

LEGACY

Amir and Treci Smith combined their similar vintage aesthetics in a ’70s-inspired California home built as much for comfort as style. We’re thrilled to excerpt their story, as told by the husband-and-wife team behind the beautiful new design and history book Aphrochic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family.

A vintage walnut re cord cabinet sits in the back of the living room, which was de signed with functional comfort in mind.

reci Smith and her husband, Amir, live in a Southern California home that was never in tended to be owned by Black people. When it was first built, the original deed to the land was written with a racial covenant: a then–legally binding addendum stipulating that the home and the land it’s situated on could only be bought or sold by someone white. That they’ve spent the last 13 years frustrat ing the racist intent of the original landown er is only one of the many things that they enjoy about their home. Another is imagining that person’s face if they could see what they’ve done with it.

The Smith estate is vast, with area enough to encom pass a 2,300-square-foot main house, a 1,100-square-foot guesthouse, and an 800-square-foot studio office—with plenty of room to spare. Adding atmosphere to the home’s several structures is an expansive outdoor area, including a full lounge space, a garden (complete with chicken coop), and a pool. “And there’s still part of the yard that we haven’t even done anything with,” Amir says with a laugh.

Though they grew up in Southern California, both Treci and Amir originally hail from the Midwest. Their families arrived in the region in the 1920s and 1930s, having left the South during the early days of the Great Migration.

Treci comes from a traveling family. The youngest daughter of a Navy master chief, her family followed her fa ther’s career to several stations before settling finally in San Diego. Yet her earliest memories are of a home in India napolis that they bought when she was 7.

“It was our first single-family home,” she remembers. And while the experience remains foundational for her, it’s one that she remembers more in essence than in detail. “I really only remember two things about that home,” she ex plains. “One was helping my dad build a deck out back. The other was that my mom had drawn Charlie Brown figures on the walls in the bedroom I shared with my sister. That’s it. It’s funny, but I can’t remember anything else.”

What did stick with Treci was the feeling of the home. “There was just this sense of security, having all of us in that home together. I have three siblings. It was the four of us growing up together, playing cards, listening to music. We moved a lot but that was my first memory, feeling safe at home.” It was a sensation that her mother carried to ev ery home they had throughout her father’s career and that ignited Treci’s own interest in design.

“My mom taught me at an early age that different homes require a different design, different style,” she says, “which I think is how I inherited the design gene.” It was a lesson that would be repeated as the family left Indianapolis to make stops in the Bay Area and Virginia Beach. Then came San Diego and high school, where she would meet Amir.

Originally from St. Louis, Amir arrived in California with his mother following his parents’ separation. Prior to that, he lived in an apartment with his parents. His most vivid memo ries of home, however, are of the houses his grandparents owned, one of which his paternal grandmother still owns. “I

remember the basement of that house was the music room. There were drums and a bar and, of course, a record player with a serious collection of jazz.”

After moving to California, homeown ership would remain a distant dream for Amir’s mother, owing in part to rampant interest rates at the time. “We lived in apartments and in low-income housing,” he recalls. “Even though my mother was a working professional with a degree in ac counting, we still couldn’t afford to buy a place.” It was an experience that would stay with him, shaping what would be come a longtime interest in real estate.

Though the couple met in high school, they didn’t date initially. They exchanged numbers when they connected again years

later, but both were in relationships. It wasn’t until both court ships had run their course that they found themselves gravitating toward each other. “It just felt right,” Treci says with a smile. “I knew that he would be my husband.”

Like their relationship, the design of Treci and Amir’s home is a seamless blend of their personal aesthetics that just feels right. Admittedly, it’s not a hard combination to achieve. “Our styles are pretty similar at this point,” Treci observes. “For one, we married so young that we kind of grew up together. It also helps that I like to design the interior while his aesthetic is more the outdoors.” It’s a dynamic that reminds her of her own parents, whose styles enjoyed a similar dichotomy.

The Smith family aesthetic is a blend of vintage and midcentury with a heavy nod towards the 1970s. Warm wood floors cover the whole of the interior, joined in the family’s open-plan dining and family room by a wood-paneled ceiling

Warm wood floors cover the entire interi or of the home; in the family room, they’re joined by a wood-pan eled ceiling.

and a brick feature wall painted in a deep blue. Patterned chairs, long-necked vases, wicker baskets, and hanging plants all do their part in the room to complete the throwback feel. For both Treci and Amir, it’s a style that draws directly from the homes they grew up in. “Home always felt very warm,” Treci reminisces. “Lots of warm colors and furniture and texture that makes you feel like you want to just climb on the couch and nest.”

Even the wall decor carries a ’70s vibe. The back wall of the dining room boasts a brass sunburst piece, populated by small birds. Just beneath it sits the most impor tant art piece in the house: a framed por trait of the couple on their wedding day.

Before they got married, Treci worked

in finance and for an airline, while Amir took a job with a lo cal utility company—a company he still works for today. Two years after the wedding, the couple marked the arrival of their first child, Zuri, who was followed by Zoe, Zamira, and finally Nicholas. For most of the time since their first arrival Treci has worked at home, caring for the children and craft ing their environment.

Like the family room, the living room is built for comfort as much as for style. “With four kids, we can’t have a home that doesn’t function,” Treci says, laughing. “It’s one of the reasons

A brass sunburst hangs above the most important piece of art in the house: a framed portrait of the couple on their wedding day.

I like mid-century so much. Everything’s so comfortable.” For Amir, the real focus of the room sits in the back: a vintage wal nut record cabinet that holds a lot of memories. “My father had a room full of albums, a player, and a big pillow,” he recalls. “Of course there was Coltrane in there and Miles Davis, Theloni ous Monk, and Cole Porter. So in this room we kind of re-cre ated that.”

In owning a home, Amir had captured something that had eluded his parents for some time. He saw the potential in real estate to provide not only a home for his family but a future. It was the coming to fruition of an idea that had been planted in him when he was a teenager. “I was 18 years old,” he begins, “and I was going to this barber, Mr. Gentry, who was like a grandfa ther to me. He had his shop, and he would buy houses here and there. He had 16 or 20 rental houses, and he would always tell me that real estate was the way to get my money working. And that really stuck in my head. I was just soaking it up.”

It started in the mid-’90s with Amir partnering with a co worker to purchase one house in Temecula, California. From there real estate became an ongoing part of their lives. Eventu ally, Amir and Treci began buying other properties in Califor nia and Indiana on their own. It was a process that opened new doors for Treci as well. “When we got ready to sell the first house, Treci staged it. It sold quickly, and we did well,” Amir says. “So that was like the aha moment for all of us.”

“I feel like it was something I always did,” Treci reflects, “but now it had a title.” It didn’t take long for people to ask if “stager” could also mean “designer.” “Suddenly I had friends and neighbors who would ask about what I could help them do in their homes.” Her dream has turned into a new profession, complete with an office space she had built in the backyard.

The business of home has been good to the Smiths, be it the

Adding “lots of warm colors” and texture can make you “feel like you want to just climb on the couch and nest,” Treci says.

home that they live in, the ones they’ve purchased, or the ones that Treci designs. The couple even transformed their de tached garage into a guesthouse, which they run as a bed-andbreakfast. It’s also provided an ideal environment for their children to grow, learn, and find paths of their own. The group has pursued majors in anthropology, mechanical engineering, public health, and business, with Nicholas already looking to make his own entrée into the family business of buying and selling homes.

“He’s picked up a lot from both of us,” Treci says. “He likes design more than the girls, and he’s already trying to find a place for them to invest in together.” Seeing the story move into its next generation reinforces what Amir has always be lieved about the importance of owning a home.

“Anything’s possible,” he reflects. “Even if it’s a little condo or a little apartment or a little house, you can make it your own. If you can get this, it can change the direction of your family.”

he best home stories usually origi nate with far-fetched what-ifs, questions that are often the catalysts for massive changes that push people into new fron tiers. The tale of this charming, twobedroom waterfront cabin on Bain bridge Island is a perfect example.

The owners are the founders of a small wallpaper outfit called Abnormals Anon ymous based in Poulsbo, a quaint water side village northwest of Seattle known as the area’s Little Norway. The “anony mous” factor began as a whim, so their designs could speak for themselves and the couple could work quietly behind the scenes and continue their careers in production and design for television, film, and commercials. To keep the ruse alive, we’ll call them Henrietta and Paco.

The pair met when they were in Nashville working on separate design gigs. Henrietta was working with a client through her job at Donghia Showrooms in Atlanta and Paco was on a Bon Jovi music video. They quickly bonded over their shared love of flea marketing and vintage patterns. Sparks flew. Eventually, Hen rietta moved to Venice, California, to be with Paco. A couple of months a year, they’d head north to Bainbridge to spend time at the shingled cottage Paco bought as a vacation home, and was renting out on Airbnb.

“I’m an avid boater,” says Paco. “I would spend as much time up here on Bain bridge as I could. I was looking for a rental when I found this quirky little house, which the owners wanted to sell. The house needed a lot of work, but it was the dock that was the real diamond. We had some fun for a while when we rented it out. We decorated it with a real vintage nautical style. We filled it with really fun accessories in that theme.”

“People loved coming here. We had a guest book and people would tell us that they got engaged on the deck, or celebrated a milestone,” says Henrietta. “But it wasn’t the kind of place where you’d want to live full time.”

When their first son was an infant, they were spending a typical weekend day browsing the (now shuttered) Santa Monica Flea when they stumbled on a salty fisherman who sold illustrations from vintage nautical books.

“This guy was a live-aboard commercial fisherman in Long Beach who collected beautiful, rare books with draw ings from the sea, before photography was available,” says Henrietta. “He would carefully remove the pages from the book and put them in plastic sleeves, and then sell them individually. We couldn’t believe how great they were.”

This is when the first what-ifs began to bubble to the surface.

What if they transformed some of the motifs from vin tage etchings, like an adorable blowfish, into beautifully crafted wallpaper?

What if Paco tapped into the local printers he knew through his set-design experience to make it?

What if they pulled together a box of sample swatches and took them to Walnut Wallpaper in West Hollywood, the iconic shop on Beverly that helped re-establish the trend of putting bold patterns on stylish walls?

What if they were actually onto something?

“To our surprise, Walnut really took us under their wing,” says Henrietta. “We worked on putting together samples for about two years, and then just walked in with a box we bought at Staples. They were our first showroom. Then we took it to New York and did the same thing. We walked in kind of cold and said, ‘Here’s our stuff!’ It just started to jell.”

The business and their family grew in tandem. They had a second son, and a handful of showrooms and designer representatives began selling Abnormals paper, and later textiles, across the country. Then the next round of inspira tion struck.

What if they ditched their city lives and moved the whole operation to Bainbridge—full-time?

What if they bucked the tear-down trend and turned their weird little rental into a snug family home with vin tage charm instead?

“We’d had some conversations about leaving Los Ange les. We loved our little Venice bungalow, but the backyard was covered in concrete. We wanted our boys to have a dif ferent kind of childhood,” Henrietta says. “I was reluctant to leave, but he was ready for a change.”

The lure of a simpler life on the water, where the boys could grow up riding bikes on the island with a fishing net in hand, was strong. And the house, despite its quirks, had serious potential.

“It’s a tight layout, about 1,400 square feet,” says Paco, “and the renovations have been slow. When we first moved in, we painted it and replaced the floors. Over the past 10 years, we’ve been finding our stride and letting our person ality shine through.”

The marble coffee table is vintage; sideboard from Conservatory Coastal Home.

Vintage Cesca chairs; Target rug; Ikea pendant; ta ble from Craigslist

Abnormals Anon ymous shower curtain in Mr. Blow pattern; vin tage tub painted in Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal

Abnormals Anon ymous Block Par ty wallpaper in color Night Shift; Ikea bedding

Their priorities were to maximize the light, and to fur nish it just enough so it didn’t feel crowded. They built a set of bunk beds in the boys’ room, and installed an Enviro wood stove that keeps the whole cottage toasty on chilly, drizzly days. They whittled down their flea market finds to the essentials, including a set of four Cesca chairs around a table they found on Craigslist, to keep the decor warm but spare. After a few failed attempts to brighten up the pri mary bedroom, which sits at the front of the house away from the large windows and the water views, they embraced the dim light and went for a deep, flinty gray paint.

“It’s Washington state, so you have to embrace that eight months out of the year, it’s pretty gray,” says Henrietta. “The other four months are perfect, and we live outside on the deck and the dock.”

The last design element to fall into place, perhaps unsur prisingly, was the wallpaper.

“It took forever for us to commit to a pattern,” says Hen rietta. “We’re always designing new collections, moving onto the next thing, and I hate to admit it, but it was hard to make that decision.”

“Once it was up, we were so glad we did it,” says Paco. “Now we have firsthand experience of how absolutely transformative wallpaper can be. It changed everything.”

The best part is that inspiration for their Pacific North west patterns, like fishing flies and fun, lake-house-ready water-ski toile, is all around them.

“There are so many outdoor adventures to experience,” says Paco, who spends most of his free time on the water or exploring coves and hiking trails along the many hundreds of miles of coastline that trace the islands. As they’d hoped, their boys have grown to love island life. And the local cre ative community is growing.

“Whenever we meet someone on the island, and we start talking about what we do, they’ll say ‘Oh, you’re the wallpa per people.’” says Henrietta. “It’s definitely a small town.”

Bainbridge Island

An influx of creatives and others have livened up the island scene with new sophistication. Fortunately, the community has retained its charm. “It’s still the kind of place where you can buy a dozen eggs at the end of someone’s driveway and stick a five-dollar bill in the jar,” say the Abnormals Anonymous founders. Here, some favorite spots on and near the island.

THE INN AT PLEASANT BEACH

With rustic stone fireplaces and crisp blue and white textiles in every room, the inn plays against those musty island tropes. Perched on a hill with sweeping water views, the newer rooms were built around a market, a couple of restaurants, and a Tudor-style manor house that’s an event venue.

PLUM

PLEASANTBEACHVILLAGE.COM/THE-INN

Filled with unique Asian-inspired gifts and one-of-a-kind finds, including stationery and jewelry, this Winslow Way staple is easily spotted thanks to the string of color ful lanterns out front.

PLUMBAINBRIDGE.COM

SLUYS’ POULSBO BAKERY

The line in front of Sluys’ often snakes around the block, even on the drizzliest day. Home of the beloved Poulsbo loaf, and a special-order 3-lb. doughnut called the King Olaf, this favorite local bakery has been a Front Street Institution since the early 1960s.

SLUYSPOULSBOBAKERY.COM

ALEXANDER & NYE SHOP

This new shop in Pleasant Beach Village offers coastal home-decor staples like linen pillows, clean-smelling candles, comfy upholstered pieces, and chic ceramics, all with PNW-meets-Japandi appeal.

@ALEXANDERANDNYE on INSTAGRAM

HEYDAY FARMSTORE AND FARMHOUSE

Heyday is a multi-hyphenate locavore experience, offering farm-to-table dining, a CSA box, a retreat center, a wedding venue, a vegetable stand, and a bakery on a 25-acre historic property. Guest rooms are in the works to add farmstay to the list.

HEYDAYFARM.COM

BRUCIATO

The rustic-casual atmosphere, and the seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers, fisherman, and foragers, plus per fectly blistered, wood-fired Napolitano pizza make this spot “worth the ferry ride,” according to The Seattle Times

PIZZERIABRUCIATO.COM

BAY HAY & FEED

Housed in a landmark building in Rolling Bay, this could be the old-fashioned farmstore prototype. Beloved by locals for its well-stocked nursery, pet supplies, chicken feed, and gifts, it’s been a Kitsap must-stop since 1979.

BAYHAYANDFEED.COM

CAFÉ HITCHCOCK

The more sophisticated sister restaurant to Bruciato, part of Brendan McGill’s Hitch cock Restaurant Group, this is the place to go if you’re looking for a plate of briny oys ters freshly plucked from the sea and a bottle of Washington wine.

CAFEHITCHCOCK.COM

GARDEN

HARVEST

Collect cornhusks, pinecones, rose hips, and seed pods from flowers such as poppies or scabi osa to create holiday centerpiec es. Group specimens together in a shallow bowl, or use one for each place setting at the holiday table.

PLANT

To dispel winter gloom, grow potted fancy-leafed scented ge raniums in a sunny window. They are available in a wide range of flower and leaf colors, sizes, and fragrances.

PROTECT

When frost is predicted, protect avocado and citrus trees, espe cially young ones, by wrapping their trunks and covering their canopies with cloth overnight. (Burlap placed over a removable wood frame works well for small trees; it keeps cold cloth from touching leaves.) If a hard frost is

Gardener Gifts

THE CLOGS

French Garden Clogs from Gardenheir

Made with 100% recycled plastic and hemp, these chic garden clogs will make weeding feel like fashion, darling. In fact, they’re so in style, why not wipe them down and take them out on the town? $58; GARDENHEIR.COM

THE SPLURGE Lomi

We road-tested the Lomi electric com poster that sits on your countertop to see if it was worth the hefty price. The verdict? It cut down on garbage waste and turned it into beautiful compost. $499; PELA.COM

THE CANDLE

Roma Tomato Candle from Flamingo Estate

Bring the scent of sum mer into your home with this heirloom-tomatoscented candle that smells good enough to eat. $50; FLAMINGOESTATE.COM

THE CRAFT

Terrain Preserved Botanicals Wreath-Making Kit

This DIY wreath kit will certainly grant you bragging rights. It comes with a posy of dried flowers and branches, and an adorable rope hoop that’s rus tic and charming at the same time. $78; SHOPTERRAIN.COM

THE BOOK

The Houseplant Book

Turn to a popular home and lifestyle brand for an expansive page-turner with stunning photographs of “unusual, interesting, covetable plants,” from living sculptures to unfussy friends. It’s the perfect addition to a coffee table. $35; SHOPTERRAIN.COM

THE PLANT

The Christmas Cactus Give poinsettias a rest and pick up this celebratory succulent from your local nursery. The appeal of the Christmas (a.k.a. holiday) cactus is that it will be covered in fuchsia blooms even though it’s the dead of winter. PRICE VARIES

’TIS THE SEASON NOT TO GARDEN BUT TO GIVE PASSIONATE GARDENERS GREAT GIFTS. OF COURSE, GOOD IDEAS DON’T GROW ON TREES, SO WE’VE DONE THE LEGWORK FOR YOU.

Must-Have Tool

A HORI HORI KNIFE IS VERSATILE AND STYLISH YET STILL AFFORDABLE.

Meet your new favorite garden tool: a Japanese hori hori knife, the best garden tool for potting, weeding, digging, sawing, and transplanting. I’ve developed a covetous ob session for Japanese garden tools; not only are they be yond beautiful, they’re so well-designed and purpose-built that they tend to make other garden tools look clunky and awkward. There’s no instrument that I reach for more often than my $25 hori hori knife, by far the most versatile piece of gear in my shed due to its ability to help me tackle numer ous tasks. You could call it the Swiss Army knife of gardening except for the fact that it’s, well, Japanese. Keep it on you wherever you are in your yard and you’ll be shocked at what you can do with it without having to grab anything else. You can use it for all the following:

Planting bulbs

The svelte blade is not only custommade for the task but many models have a ruler etched into them so you can plant your bulbs with consistency and precision.

Transferring starts into pots

This is super easy as you can slide the slim blade right into the tray. The root ball will handily balance on the flat side of the blade.

Repotting plants

Again the blade is scaled to slide just inside even the smallest of pots, deftly and delicately detaching roots.

Weeding with precision

The pointy tip makes it easy to dig down and remove weeds, roots and all.

Impromptu sawing

If you come across a small branch or sucker growing out of a tree, you can saw it off in no time.

Checking soil moisture

Easily dig into soil to check the mois ture level throughout your garden in discrete spots without making it look like it was ravaged by gophers.

Making small trenches for seeds

Drag the tip of the blade through soil to make tidy trenches.

Cutting open bags of soil mulch and fertilizers

No more struggling with those plastic bags when you can slice right into them.

TWO TO TRY

Traditional Japanese hori hori knives have a roughly 2-inch-wide blade about 6 inches long, with one straight edge and one serrated edge, a tapered tip, and a slightly concave surface to better scoop dirt, but you can’t go wrong with even the most basic model. Here are two of our favorite styles:

1. CARBON STEEL HORI HORI

The platonic ideal of a hori hori knife, com plete with a sheath that boldly states the purpose of this tool. $25; HIDATOOL.COM

2. BAREBONES HORI HORI CLASSIC AND SHEATH

The contoured walnut handle makes this model super comfortable while the twine cutter doubles as a bottle opener. $40; BAREBONESLIVING.COM

L

P TL EA DN

A LOS ANGELES RESTAURATEUR KNOWN TO PATRONS ONLY AS “YUKO” HAS BECOME WELLREGARDED NOT JUST FOR HER JAPANESE FOOD BUT ALSO FOR HER INCREDIBLY GREEN THUMB.

Boston ferns and devil’s ivy hang from the ceiling, and fiddle-leaf figs stand sentry while customers dine amid a dizzying array of prayer plants. Mean while, the walls are adorned with hand-painted Technicolor murals in swirls of turquoise, tangerine, flamin go pink, and lemon yellow.

It’s all the handiwork of Wata nabe—a bundle of indefatigable ener gy. She’s a Japanese chef and a plant savant of sorts who grew up in Hiro shima, on the west side of Japan’s Hon shu island. “It was the most beautiful place—like a dream,” Watanabe says. “Kids can go to the beach or to the mountains in 15 minutes, and it was totally safe to be in abundant nature.”

She credits being surrounded by plants when she was young for her fascination with them now. When she opened Yuko Kitchen: Miracle Mile— there’s also Yuko Kitchen: DTLA— she didn’t have the money to spend on restaurant decor. The answer? Plants. Meanwhile, the walls were “ugly,” she says, so she painted them herself in a manner that’s more than pleasing to the eye.

And yet, when told she’s talented, she demurs. “I’m not like my artist friends—they are talented,” she says. “I am just a free person. If I feel like I want to make something or decorate something, I just do it. But it always involves fun, color, and texture. And plants. And food.”

Although Yuko sold plants out of her restaurant pre-pandemic, it was the coronavirus that turned her houseplant business up a notch. “Peo ple started calling me and saying, ‘Hey, do you still have plants to sell? Because no plant stores are open.’ The

TO ENTER ONE OF YUKO WATANABE’S LOS ANGELES JAPANESE RESTAURANTS IS TO ENTER A VIBRANT JUNGLE OF HOUSEPLANTS AND COLOR THAT’S BOUND TO MAKE YOU SMILE.

customers were very happy—a lot of people were telling me they started decorating their house more, and buy ing plants was the fun part of quaran tine life.”

Now let’s talk about a plant tunnel she made from scratch. For those who don’t know the Last Bookstore in downtown L.A., it’s Instagram-fa mous for its book tunnel (as in, a tun nel made of books that visitors can

walk through). So, when the owners decided to open a sec ond location in Montrose, called the Lost Bookstore, they knew they had to do something special. “I knew that I wanted the feeling of Yuko Kitchen [at the store],” says coowner Jenna Spencer. “I reached out and said, ‘Hey, Yuko, would you want to do everything you did at Yuko Kitchen here?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’”

Now, when you enter the Lost Bookstore you feel a little like Alice stepping into a green Wonderland—the tunnel is a canal of Swedish ivy, sea grape vine, moss, and spider plants. One particularly special feature: the fairy lights

Yuko sprinkled throughout, which re mind her of the fireflies she saw as a child. “I always wanted to create something that’s like light in the darkness,” Watanabe says.

Considering that now tourists have a route in which they go first to the Last Bookstore, then to Yuko Kitchen: DTLA, and finally to the Lost Book store to see the sights (and Instagram them), it’s safe to say that she has.

YUKO’S PHILOSOPHY OF HOW TO KEEP PLANTS ALIVE IS DECIDEDLY LESS IS MORE.

“A NURSERY GUY TOLD ME NOBODY WANTS TO BE IN THE WATER ALL DAY LONG, SO YOU SHOULD LET PLANTS SEARCH FOR WATER IN THE SOIL,” SHE SAYS. “I JUST KNOW THAT, AND THAT THEY ARE LIVING THINGS AND THEY NEED WATER, SUN, AND SOMETIMES FOOD.” HERE ARE PLANTS THAT ARE THRIVING AT YUKO KITCHEN: DTLA.

PACHIRA AQUATICA

Also known as the money tree, Pachira aquatica is easy to care for—especially because it can take low light conditions. Fun fact: In feng shui, the money tree is said to bring prosperity. Be sure not to overwater, especially in the winter.

IRESINE HERBSTII

Iresine herbstii, or bloodleaf plant, is known for its bright red leaves and fuchsia veins. Originally from Brazil, this tropical plant does well indoors. It needs warm, humid conditions and bright, indirect sunlight to thrive.

MARANTA LEUCONEURA

Maranta leuconeura is called the prayer plant because the flat and splayed leaves fold up at night as though they are “praying.” Also from Brazil, this plant’s showy leaves with pink veins are as popular as they are pretty. It needs partial sun and well-drained soil.

TRADESCANTIA ZEBRINA

Whereas it once also went by an offensive name, this plant is now often called the much more light-hearted “Wandering Dude” thanks to its trailing vines. It needs indirect light to keep its stripes; pinch back leggy stems for a bushier look.

PLECTRANTHUS AUSTRALIS

Plectranthus australis, aka Swedish ivy, is known for its fuzzy leaves. Prince himself would have approved of this particular plant—it has a purple stem and underside. It needs bright, indirect sunlight and dislikes temps below 55°F.

Small, Serene, and Green

A COMPACT, NEGLECTED SIDE YARD IS TRANSFORMED INTO A GARDENER’S MULTI-USE RETREAT.

When my wife and I finally got around to re-landscaping our 1922 Spanish-style bungalow in Los Angeles, we did what many space-challenged Angelenos do: reimagined the unused back half of our driveway. It’s a classic SoCal bun galow move. Why park in your driveway when you can play in it? Over the years, it has served our family well, as a toy and tricycle repository when the kids were little, an out door weight room when the kids were bigger, and a spot for random acts of improvisational wood-fired cooking. Occa sionally, we would even park a car in it. But with the kids grown and the functional-if-a-bit-meh swath of concrete not getting much use, we wanted the driveway to become a multipurpose space where we could garden, grill, dine, and just hang out.

Working with David Godshall of landscape architecture firm Terremoto, David Newsom of The Wild Yards Project, and paint consultant Teresa Grow of Madison and Grow,

we collectively arrived at a revived space where we can cook, snip branches for arrangements, read, sip wine, and just do that indoor-outdoor thing we all love so much here in the West. This little corner of our yard is one small part of a bigger transformation I’ll be writing about in a future issue, but suffice to say it’s become a favorite unexpected outdoor “bonus room” that we use on a daily basis.

When it came to choosing furniture and other objects, we didn’t want a prescribed “look” from a brand. So, to slot seamlessly into what we’d assembled over the years, we se lected a few timeless pieces from several collections by Terra Outdoor Living, which allowed us to create task- and leisure-oriented zones that are distinct yet work as a cohe sive whole. We accessorized with garden tools that actual ly look cool and used a mix of new and vintage pots and planters. Here’s a look at a small space that now gives back in a big way.

With a sturdy teak top and handsome lines, the Terra Outdoor Living Madera dining table with golden teak top ($3,798; terraout door.com) does double duty as an entertaining space, gardening station, and sprawling desk.

The Belvedere backless bench es ($686) keep the lines svelte and clean. Char coal plays well with the low-key, plant-friendly color palette.

Not only is the Big Green Egg XL ($1,399; biggreenegg. com) capable of reaching a blazing 800°F for pizzas and for dropping super slow and low for brisket, its organic shape and handsome green are right at home next to succulents in vintage pots in a verdant garden. Morning glory vines trained on wires will eventually grow into a single expanse of green wall.

I like to have garden tools good looking enough to leave out when guests came over, which is why Elephant’s Standard Golden Spade ($55; plantmate rial.com) has become, well, the gold standard in my arsenal. The handsome Arco Valet ($129; modernica.net) is made of marine-grade steel and keeps any hose looking neat and coiled. Angel City Lumber, which transforms local L.A. trees into exquisite wood suitable for high-end furniture and construction, makes these amazing little table/stools they call Chonks ($250; plantmaterial. com) out of sanded and oiled reclaimed blue gum eucalyptus and pine.

Terra’s Wood side Adirondack chairs ($798) can be moved to find the perfect shady (or sunny) spot. Modernica’s Case Study Ce ramics Arroyo planters ($285 for large, $99 for small; moderni ca.net) with plinth in pebble are modernist homes for some of our succulent collection.

Plant Material is my go-to spot for cool garden gear like Japanese Kamaki pruning shears ($33; plantmaterial.com), the excellent Wonderground journal, and, of course, plants! Ceramic tile coasters are a cool collab between California makers Block Shop Textiles and Fireclay Tile. ($70; blockshop.com)

Home for the Holidays

One of our favorite ranchers, Mary Heffernan of Five Marys Ranch in California, prepares the ultimate family-style holiday feast with plenty of flavor and cheer.

knows how to cook for a crowd. The Cali fornia rancher grew up in a big family— her parents were each one of five—and she now lives with her hus band, Brian, and four girls (all named Mary!) at their historic Five Marys Ranch near Mount Shasta. The property is also home to a burger house and craft butchery where they serve up sizzling steaks, smoky bacon, spicy sausage, and more. It’s safe to say it was a no-brainer to turn to Heffernan for help with creating the ultimate family-style feast to be savored around the holidays.

Heffernan’s latest cookbook, Five Marys Fami ly Style: Recipes and Traditions from the Ranch ($40, Sasquatch Books), is an ode to making memories around a table, gathering your people not just for gifts but also for good food; at the ranch, that means salt-jacket prime rib. It also means continuing traditions like a visit to the fish market for fresh crab to be served on Christmas Eve—and leftovers on Christmas— and cutting down the stress by making much of the spread ahead. Of this feast, the pickled on ions, candied pecans, salad vinaigrette, crab cakes, tartar sauce, and celery root purée all can be made a day before a celebration. That’s our kind of menu planning. Without further ado, ex cerpted recipes from Five Marys Family Style

FOR THE ROAST

Salt-Jacket Prime Rib with Horseradish Crème Fraîche

Before roasting the prime rib, Heffernan and crew “pack it with a seasoned salt crust, which hardens and browns beautifully as the meat cooks,” the rancher says. “It lifts right off before serving, like removing a jacket, and leaves the meat not salty but perfectly seasoned.” If cooking the full seven-rib roast, double everything in recipe except meat.

SERVES 8–10 (OR 12–15 FOR LARGER ROAST)

1 partial (4-to-5-rib) prime rib roast (12–14 lbs.), or 1 full 7-rib roast (18–20 lbs.)

3 cups kosher salt

2 Tbsp. peppercorn blend (ideally a mix of red, green, black, and white), crushed or very coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle

1 Tbsp. mustard powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

FOR THE CRÈME FRAÎCHE (MAKES 3 CUPS)

2 cups crème fraîche ½ cup sour cream ¼–½ cup horseradish, freshly grated ¼ cup chopped fresh chives

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon (about 1½ tsp. zest plus 3 Tbsp. juice)

Kosher salt

Black pepper, freshly ground

1. Pat the roast dry with paper towels, and set it bone-side up on a bak ing sheet.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the salt, peppercorns, dry mustard, and garlic powder. Add ¾ cup warm water and stir until the salt is evenly sandy and begins to clump up a little. Using your hands, spread about one-third of the salt mixture over the small strip of meat next to the rib bones and pack it into a firm, even layer. Carefully turn the roast over and spread the remain ing seasoning over the meat and fat, leaving the meaty ends of the roast clean. (It’s fine if some of the salt falls off; just do the best you

can to create a shell of salt over the entire top of the roast.) Gently rub the exposed ends with your salty hands—you’re just seasoning the meat, so you don’t want a full crust here. Set aside and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before roasting.

3. Meanwhile, make the crème fraîche. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the crème fraîche, sour cream, horseradish to taste, chives, and lemon zest and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve, or up to 3 days.

4. Preheat the oven to 450°F and ar range a rack in the lower third of the oven.

5. Roast the meat for 1 hour, until the salt crust is nicely browned. Reduce the temperature to 300°F, and roast for 2¼–3½ hours more (up to 4 hours more for a full 7-rib roast), until it registers 135°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the cen ter of the roast for medium-rare. (The top of the roast will be very dark.)

6. When the meat is done, remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour. To serve, remove the crust—it should come off in a few big pieces—and gently transfer the meat to a large cutting board, bone sides up. Slice into large slabs between the bones, or carve the meat away from the bones, and cut the resulting roast into thin slices. Serve warm, with the crème fraîche alongside.

Saltine-Crusted Bite-Size Crabcakes with Jalapeño Tartar Sauce

“My grandfather loved to host and cook for big family events,” writes Hef fernan. “He always served cracked crab with a mayonnaise-based sauce and hot crusty sourdough on Christ mas Eve, starting with the fresh crab he’d buy live at the fish market. It doesn’t get more San Francisco than that! We still do this every year, with my dad carrying on the tradition. The girls delight in the sight of live crabs in a cooler before dinner, and we always prepare enough to have plenty of left over crab meat for a Christmas Day seafood appetizer—like these crab cakes, made with plenty of fresh Dungeness crab. They’re the ideal handheld make-ahead bites for a special occasion.”

MAKES 3 DOZEN CRABCAKES, PLUS 1½ CUPS TARTAR SAUCE

FOR THE CRABCAKES

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, divided

½ cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 lb. fresh Dungeness crab meat, flaked

1¼ cups saltine-cracker crumbs (from about 35 crackers; see Tip), divided

2 large eggs, beaten

1½ tsp. Old Bay seasoning

¾ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

FOR THE TARTAR SAUCE

1 cup mayonnaise

1 jalapeño (small or large, depending on how much spice you like), finely chopped

2 Tbsp. finely chopped yellow onion

1 Tbsp. diced cornichons or dill pickles

1 Tbsp. capers, finely chopped

Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon (about 1 tsp. zest plus 2 Tbsp. juice)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Make the crabcakes. In a medium skillet, melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter over

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This Zinfandel blend is a great counterpart to the salad (on next page). Its soft tannic structure works nicely with the greens without adding to the bitterness.

TIP:

To make the cracker crumbs, put the saltines in a large reseal able bag, close it, and use a rolling pin or wine bottle to roll them until well crushed (but not totally powdered).

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Salt-jacket prime rib should be served with this structured wine that picks up on the earthiness of the dry-aged beef while matching its body. Learn more at sunset.com/ wineclub

medium heat until foamy. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and stir for about 15 sec onds, then transfer the mixture to a medium mixing bowl. Add the crab, ½ cup of the cracker crumbs, the eggs, Old Bay, salt, and pepper, and stir until well blended.

3. Put the remaining ¾ cup cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Using a ta blespoon, form the crab mixture into 36 balls, each about a packed table spoon’s worth. Working with one ball at a time, flatten each into a roughly 1½-inch-wide and ¾-inch-thick disc, then dip it in the cracker crumbs on all sides and transfer to the pre pared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls and crumbs. (The crabcakes can be made to this point and refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours, or you can freeze them

directly on the baking sheet, then pack them into an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.)

4. Brush the crabcakes all over with the remaining 4 Tbsp. melted butter, then bake for 15 minutes (or slightly longer from frozen), or until well toasted.

5. Meanwhile, make the tartar sauce. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, jalapeño, onion, cor nichons, capers, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper to taste until well blended. Cover and refrig erate until ready to serve, or for up to 3 days.

6. Serve the crabcakes warm or at room temperature, with the tartar sauce dolloped on top or served alongside for dipping. (Cooled crab cakes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and reheated for 5 minutes in a 425°F oven before serving.)

Spinach, Kale, and Dried Cherry Salad

“Here’s a salad that’s as festive as my parents’ house during the holidays,” Heffernan says. “With sweet cherries, spicy pecans, piquant blue cheese, and plenty of greens, it’s sort of a par ty in a bowl—and it holds up well, al ready dressed, on the table, which is always a plus during a long holiday dinner.”

MAKES 12 SERVINGS, PLUS ABOUT 2 CUPS VINAIGRETTE

FOR THE CANDIED PECANS

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided

2 Tbsp. water

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

2 cups pecans, halved

¾ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon, ground

1 8 to ¼ tsp. cayenne

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE

1–11 3 cups extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. good-quality maple syrup

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

FOR THE SPICED PICKLED RED ONIONS (MAKES 1 QT.)

1 large red onion

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1½ tsp. red pepper flakes

1½ tsp. mustard powder

FOR THE SALAD

5 oz. baby spinach (about 4 lightly packed cups)

6 packed cups curly green or red kale

Make-Ahead Celery Root Purée

“Mashed potatoes are a great traditional side for prime rib, but why not try some thing a little different? Celery root—a root vegetable with a rough exterior and a creamy white inside with great fresh celery flavor—makes a perfect partner for rich, juicy beef. You’ll feel like you’re purchasing a lot of celery root for this, but much of the wild-looking exterior gets trimmed away.”

(from 1 medium bunch or about ¾ lb.), stems removed and chopped

1 cup Spiced Pickled Red Onions

1 cup dried tart or sour cherries

4 oz. blue cheese or gorgonzola, crumbled

1. To make the candied pecans, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set a wire rack (the gridded kind) on top, and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine ½ cup sugar with the water and mash with a fork until the sugar is fully moistened. Place the pan over high heat and cook until the sugar dissolves and turns a rich amber color, swirling the pan occasionally but resisting the temptation to stir. (It will take 5–7 minutes, but don’t rush it. You want a beautiful deep brown color.) Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the butter, then stir until it melts. Add the pe cans, stir to coat completely, and spread them on the wire rack.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the re maining 1 Tbsp. sugar with the salt, cinnamon, and cayenne to taste. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the pecans and let cool completely.

4. To make the vinaigrette, in a blender, blend 1 cup of the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, maple syrup, salt, and pepper until smooth. Season to taste with additional oil (if the dressing is too sharp for you), salt, and pepper, and set aside.

5. To make the Spiced Pickled Red On ions, halve and thinly slice the red onion pole to pole, break apart the pieces, and stuff them all into a 4-cup mason jar or similar container.

In a small saucepan, combine vine gar, water, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and mustard powder, and bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve

the sugar and salt. Carefully pour the mixture over the onions, press any that are sticking out down into the liquid, and cover. Let cool to room temperature, then use imme diately or refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

6. To assemble the salad, pile the spin ach and kale into a large serving bowl and top with the pecans, on ions, cherries, and cheese. Dress the salad to taste with the vinaigrette, toss well, and serve. Store any un used vinaigrette in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.

8 celery roots (about 8 lbs.)

2 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon (about 1½ tsp. zest plus 3 Tbsp. juice)

Black pepper, freshly ground

1. Using a small knife, trim away all the roots, brown skin, and light-green parts of each celery root until you’re left with just the firm white insides. Cut into 1-inch chunks, transfer to a large pot, add the salt and enough water to cover, cover with a lid, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cook, covered, until the celery root is completely soft, about 15 minutes.

2. Drain the celery root and transfer to a large food processor. Add the butter, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pep per to taste, and process until totally smooth. (If your food processor won’t fit everything, you can do this in two batches, dividing the butter and lemon between them.) Serve immediately, or transfer to an ovenproof dish, cool, cover, and refrigerate. To reheat, bake, covered, for about 20 minutes at 350°F, or until warmed through.

GET THE BOOK Five Marys Family Style: Recipes and Traditions from the Ranch by Mary Heffernan $40, available wherever books are sold

AllPurpose Double Pie Crust

MAKES ENOUGH FOR ONE 9-INCH DOUBLE-CRUST PIE

2¾ cups allpurpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. fine sea salt

1 cup plus 2¼ sticks unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, chilled ½ cup ice-cold water, divided 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, chilled

1. In the work bowl of a food proces sor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together to blend. Add the butter and pulse until the largest chunks of butter are about the size of peas.

2. Transfer ¼ cup ice-cold water to a measuring cup with a spout, and stir in the vinegar. With the machine run ning, drizzle this mixture into the food processor. Once the initial liquid has been added, drizzle in another 2–4 Tbsp. of ice water as needed, puls ing, until the crust is uniformly moist and begins to gather in the bottom of the work bowl. (The machine’s tone will change.)

3. Dump the dough into a mixing bowl and press into a ball. Use as directed, or sep arate into two mounds, press into 1½-inch discs, wrap well in plastic, and refrigerate 1 hour before using, or up to 3 days.

Cardamom Apple Pie with Hazelnuts

“Over the holidays, we always bring apples down to my parents’ house and fold them into a version of apple pie with the crunch of Oregon hazelnuts and a dose of cardamom, which together give the pie an almost Scandinavian accent,” Hef fernan writes. “While chilling a pie crust is always important, I’ve found that you can cut corners in the rolling-out process—meaning you can roll out the dough immediately after making it, as long as the dough has time to get good and cold before baking.” MAKES ONE 9-INCH PIE

1 All-Purpose Double Pie Crust (see recipe at left)

6 large tart, firm apples (such as Cortland, Cox’s Orange Pippin, or Granny Smith; about 3 lbs. total), peeled, cored, and cut into about 12 wedges each

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. ground cardamom

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. fine sea salt

1 cup roasted, skinned hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1 large egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water

1. Make the pie crust as directed. Sep arate the dough into two roughly equal portions. Working with a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured board, roll each portion into a 12-inch round. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour each round, stack them on the pre pared sheet, and refrigerate for 1 hour. (You can also cover and re frigerate for up to 24 hours.)

2. To make the filling, in a large bowl, toss together the apples, both sug ars, flour, cardamom, cinnamon, and sea salt to blend. Fold in the hazel nuts and set aside.

3. Remove the dough from the fridge. Fit one round into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan (the deep-dish kind works best here), allowing the excess dough to hang over the sides. (If you’ve chilled the dough over night, you may need to leave it at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before it’s soft enough to bend into the pan.) Dump the apple mixture into the crust, shaking the apples around as needed to settle them into the pan.

4. Transfer the second dough round to a large cutting board, and using a large, sharp knife, cut it into 10 roughly 1-inch-thick strips. Brush the interior edge of the fitted bottom crust and the strips lightly with the egg mixture.

5. Transfer the strips to the top of the pie, egg side up, placing the longest strips across the center and the shorter strips toward the edges. You can either place five strips in one di rection, then simply layer the re maining five strips in the other direc tion, or you can scour the Internet for instructions on making a lattice-top pie. Gently press the strips into the bottom crust where they meet.

6. Using scissors or a small, sharp knife, trim the crust to about ½-inch be yond the edge of the pan. Fold the bottom crust over the strips all the way around the pie, then use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges closed. Brush the edges with the egg mixture, then transfer the pie to a clean parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for another 30 min utes, or up to 4 hours. Reserve the egg wash.

7. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F.

8. Brush the pie all over with another thin layer of egg wash, and bake 75–90 minutes (longer if the pie’s been chilling for a while), or until the pie is well browned and the filling bubbles slowly anywhere you can see it. Let the pie cool for at least an hour, or overnight, before serving.

“Kick your feet up and enjoy a hearty meal and a well-earned drink.”

Communal

months of opening in Seattle’s Central District, Communion became the must-get reservation for anyone looking for a fresh and local take on soul food, colorful cocktails, and, well, a party. Chef Kristi Brown has made it a mission to revive the African American foodways of Seattle in a way as celebratory as it is culturally aware. The restaurant is located in a building that was once home to the Pacific Northwest’s first Black-owned bank; on Sundays, brunch is a highenergy affair fueled by said cocktails and tables loaded with cornbread, French toast, catfish, grits, and Laotian sausage eggs Benedict. Lest you think these brunches are simply boozy, let it be known Brown turned the most recent Mother’s Day into a showcase of BIPOC-owned businesses, complete with pan el discussions on motherhood and sexuality, and Ethiopian bird’s-eye-chilespiked Bloody Marys.

Brown’s menu pays homage to the cultures that have found their way to Seat tle and to the ingredients from the surrounding region: She serves a platter of pickled vegetables, crudités, and hummus, the latter made with black-eyed peas. Deviled eggs come five ways, including one made with smoked oysters. Her signature soup combines the flavors of gumbo and pho. “I’m influenced by the different cultures that have been in this neighborhood,” says Brown. “The food goddess put us all here for a reason.” And the result is undeniably deli cious. Here, Brown shares another of her takes on pho, which she dubs a pholike situation. It has many of the flavors of the traditional dish, but with per sonal embellishments that make it wholly her own. Like so much of what she does, Brown invites you to make it your own.

1. Place the bones and beef brisket in a large stockpot and add enough water to cover. Bring water to a boil and let cook for 10 minutes. Drain the meat and bones in a colander and thoroughly clean the stock pot. This process removes any impurities or scum and will give you a much cleaner broth.

2. Place pork rib tips in one medium bowl and bok choy and mushrooms in another. Add soy sauce, chopped garlic, and chile paste to each bowl and stir to combine.

3. Meanwhile, working with one ingredient at a time, use tongs to char the ginger, on ions, and scallions over an open flame, or place each directly on a gas burner. Turn occasionally until lightly blackened and fragrant, 2-3 minutes.

4. Add about 5 qts. water to the stockpot and bring to a boil. Transfer the bones and beef back to the pot, along with the charred ginger, onions, scallions, and bay leaves. Add the fish sauce and lump sugar to taste.

5. In a dry skillet set over medium-low heat, toast the chiles, star anise, cloves, cinna mon, cardamom, fennel, and coriander until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Use kitchen string to tie up the spices in a piece of cheesecloth and add it, along with 1½ tsp. salt, to the broth. Cover the pot and sim mer on very low heat for at least 8 hours. After 2 hours, check the brisket every hour and remove when tender. Once brisket is cool, slice into ¼-inch slices against the grain and refrigerate.

Pho-Like Situation

Kristi Brown’s pho-inspired soup is a lovely launching point for wintery im provisation. Feel free to swap in vari ous meats, condiments, and other vegetables according to what looks good at the market and reflects the season and the community you’re in. The broth takes at least 8 hours to de velop fully, so you might want to shop one day, make the broth the next day, then serve the soup on the third day.

SERVES 6

2 lbs.

1 lb.

1 lb.

1½ Tbsp.

2 Tbsp.

brisket

rib tips

1 Tbsp. Thai toasted chile paste

2

1 3-inch knob

in half

root,

2 yellow onions, skin on and halved

2 scallions, halved crosswise

2 Tbsp. fish sauce, plus more to taste

1 Tbsp. lump sugar, plus more to taste

2 dried Thai chiles

5 pods star anise

2 Tbsp. cloves

2 pieces cinnamon sticks

3 black cardamom pods

3 Tbsp. fennel seed

3 Tbsp. coriander seed

1 lb. bok choy, trimmed and halved

½ lb. shiitake or other mushrooms

1 package thin dried Vietnamese rice noodles, such as bánh pho

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

½ Tbsp. toasted sesame oil

1½ cups bean sprouts, for garnish

Fresh basil and mint, for garnish

2 limes, quartered, for garnish

SUNSET WINE CLUB PAIRING

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This wine boasts a crisp, refreshing finish that will pick up the floral, exotic spice but won’t compete with the complexity of the flavors in the broth. Learn more at sunset. com/wineclub

6. Skim the broth often with a spoon to re move any foam and fat. Add lime juice and sesame oil to the broth. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, sugar, and fish sauce as needed.

7. When the broth is finished, line a colander with cheesecloth, place over a bowl, and strain. If you want a clearer broth, strain twice. Do a final skimming of the fat.

8. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the rib tips in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and cook for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil from pan, push ribs to one side, and add bok choy and mushrooms to the pan. Turn on the broiler and broil for 10 minutes or until browned.

9. To serve, cook the noodles according to the package directions. Divide between serving bowls. Place a few slices of the brisket, pork rib tips, and bok choy on the noodles. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle it into each bowl. The hot broth will warm the beef. Garnish with bean sprouts, fresh herbs, and be sure to squeeze a lot of fresh lime over the top!

SIMPLE and SERENE

The wide-open spaces of the Santa Ynez Valley and the whitewashed walls of a transformed ranch house in the hills are a bucolic backdrop for seasonal gatherings. Join designer Jenni Kayne for a tour of the Jenni Kayne Ranch—plus easy, holiday-ready appetizers and spritzes with a California country flair.

in SANTA YNEZ

here’s really no place like California— but more important, there’s nothing quite like California living. There’s an effortlessness and a focus on nature and informality that defines the Cali fornia way, and it’s something I aim to bring to life every day. California liv ing, and what it evokes, is as much a feeling as it is an aesthetic, and it’s one that I find constantly inspiring.

The best way to understand the es sence of California living is to experi ence it, and there’s one destination that I’ve always been drawn to: Santa Ynez.

I grew up visiting Santa Ynez with my godparents Joanie and Jerry. We’d spend the weekends at their home, riding horses, walking in the hills, ex ploring local farms, and enjoying the scenery. I have such special memories tied to the valley, and I knew I wanted to continue the tradition with my own kids and show them how magnetic this place is. That’s what led us to the Jenni Kayne Ranch.

With the continued success and growth of home and interiors in my business, my team was eager to create a new brand experience: a completely Jenni Kayne space designed head-totoe from our design point of view. We wanted a home that spoke to our brand’s distinct aesthetic while also serving as an escape where friends and family could come together.

When we first toured the property, I could see beyond the outdated inte riors and instead focused on the po tential of what the space could be: a beautiful California ranch. I envi sioned a home where my daughter, Ripley, could ride horses outside; where my sons, Trooper and Tanner, would spend time in the sunshine; and where we could all enjoy slow

mornings and long dinners together.

Like most interiors projects, build ing the ranch was a true labor of love. We took the space down to the studs and embarked on a full gut renova tion. The closed-off layout has be come an open floor plan, every win dow now welcomes in the view, and nature continues to be a constant source of inspiration.

Throughout the entire process, I was deliberate with my vision. I want ed to design a home that was a true embodiment of California ranch-style homes. I think a lot of people might have their own idea of what that means, but to me, a classic California ranch is more than just a single-story space; it’s a place that is welcoming, comfortable, and speaks to an effort less way of living.

To bring this to life, I focused on minimalist touches, neutral palettes, and organic elements that blur the

Opposite page, top left: Jenni Kayne at home at the ranch; left: Kayne focused on a neutral palette to bring a classic California style into the house.

From top left: the great room at the ranch; the kitch en; Alana Stipech of Bodega Los Ala mos sets the table; baby goats also roam the property.

line between indoors and out. From the rolling hills you can see from ev ery window to the oak trees that line the property, the Jenni Kayne Ranch would be nothing without the Santa Ynez landscape. Every detail was con sidered with our unforgettable sur roundings in mind, and it’s what makes the space feel like home.

spritzes came from

Bodega

Tinned Fish Tray

twist on the classic charcuterie board or relish tray, tinned fish is served alongside a lemony garlic aioli with

vegetables for a briny bite and radishes for a refreshing reset.

bread from a rustic country loaf

Winter Beet Soup

onion

Yukon

potatoes

extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish

salt and fresh black pepper,

stock

cloves

nutmeg, for grating

crème fraîche

blossoms, for garnish

edible flowers

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Peel beets, onion, potatoes, and carrots and cut into 1½-inch cubes. Add vege tables to a sheet pan, toss with ol ive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake until vegetables are tender, about 40–45 minutes. Remove and let cool.

2. In a large pot over medium heat, add stock, roasted vegetables, bay leaves, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 15 more minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.

3. Ladle soup into serving bowls and finish with a grating of fresh nut meg, a dollop of crème fraîche, a drizzle of olive oil, chive blossoms, and flowers.

fresh lemon juice

cloves, minced

salt and fresh black pepper, to

for garnish

fish of your choice,

as sardines, octopus, mackerel,

make the garlic aioli, add mayon naise, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and

to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Let chill for about an hour

serving. Transfer to a serving bowl.

with fresh dill.

tinned fish and place cans on a tray or cutting board. Place cor nichons, mustard, pepperoncinis, ol ives, and radishes in small bowls and place next to tinned fish. Add bread

crackers.

with aioli.

Tartines Two Ways

grilled tartine topped with creamy cheese and fresh ingredients is a sure party pleaser. Make one sweet and one savory to satisfy every craving.

WHIPPED GOAT CHEESE, HONEYCOMB, AND CRISPY SAGE TARTINE

oz. goat cheese

Tbsp. butter, divided

small sage leaves, or 6 large sage leaves cut in half crosswise

½-inch-thick slices sourdough

½-inch squares of honeycomb

sea salt, to taste

In a medium bowl, whip goat cheese with 1 Tbsp. of butter, adding a splash of whole milk if needed to

lighten the consistency.

2. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. but ter in a saucepan over me dium high, and fry sage leaves until crispy but not burnt, about 1 minute.

3. Toast the sourdough in a toaster, under a broiler, or in a cast-iron skillet set over medium-high heat.

4. Spread the whipped goat cheese on top of each toasted sourdough slice.

with honeycomb, crispy sage, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Repeat with remaining slices, place on a platter, and serve.

WHIPPED RICOTTA, GARLIC, AND ZESTY HERB OIL TARTINE

OIL

herbs of your choice

chives, or dill)

grapeseed oil

slices

cloves garlic

fresh ricotta

extra-virgin olive oil

salt

To make the herb oil, create an ice bath by combining 4 cups ice and 4 cups water in a large bowl and set aside. Fill a medium sauce pan with water, bring to a boil, and add the herbs. Blanch for 20 seconds. They will start to wilt and darken in color. Using a slotted spoon or spider strainer, re move the herbs and quickly transfer to the ice bath, then remove from the ice

bath and squeeze out as much water as possible by wrapping in a cloth or pa per towel. Combine herbs and grapeseed oil in a blender and process until dark green in color. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the oil in a jar and store in a refrigerator until ready to use, or within 3 days.

2. To make the tartine, toast the sourdough in a toaster, under a broiler, or in a castiron skillet set over medi um-high heat. Rub a raw garlic clove into the bread to release the aroma. Whip the ricotta in a blender or food processor with a driz zle of olive oil to make it ex tra fluffy and smooth. Once smooth and a desired tex ture, add the whipped ricotta to a pastry bag and pipe onto the toasted sour dough. Top the sourdough with the herb oil and gar nish with lemon zest, sea salt, and extra herbs if de sired. Repeat with remain ing slices and serve.

Winter Panzanella

Refreshing yet comforting, a winter panzanella offers the key to low-stress holiday hosting. It’s simple, quick, and an all-around favorite, so you can easily switch out ingredients and make it what you want. Bonus: The sturdy radicchio won’t wilt, so you can prep this in advance.

SERVES 6

CROUTONS

1 loaf day-old rye bread

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

DRESSING

1½ tsp. Dijon mustard

1½ Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. honey

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Fresh black pepper to taste

½ medium red onion, thinly sliced

SALAD

6 medium radishes, thinly sliced

1 medium head radicchio, chopped into approximately 2-inch pieces

1 medium fennel bulb, sliced thinly or shaved on a mandolin, with tops set aside for garnish Parmigiano Reggiano, for shaving

8 fresh mint leaves, torn into small pieces

1. To make the croutons, pre heat oven to 400ºF. Break rye bread into bite-size pieces and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet. Spread into

one layer. Bake 10–15 min utes, until golden and slightly crunchy. Let cool.

2. To make the dressing, com bine mustard, vinegar, hon ey, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the red onion to the dressing, letting it soak while the croutons bake.

3. To make the salad, gently combine radishes, radic chio, and fennel slices in a large bowl, along with the croutons, dressing, and on ions. Shave Parmigiano Reggiano over top and gar nish with the fennel tops and mint leaves.

Bodega’s Sunset Spritz

This well-balanced beverage is earthy and bright—the perfect low-ABV winter cocktail.

MAKES 1

3 oz. Porta del Vento Voria pét-nat (or any bottle of dry bubbles)

1½ oz. Furlani vermouth

1½ oz. blood orange apéritif, such as Mommenpop

Splash of olive juice

Splash of club soda

Blood orange, cut into wedges

Small olive or rosemary sprig, for garnish

1. In a wine glass filled with ice, com bine pét-nat, vermouth, apéritif, olive juice, club soda, and stir.

2. Squeeze a bit of juice from one blood orange wedge in the glass. Garnish with another wedge and an olive or rosemary sprig.

Perfect Pairings

The Sunset Wine Club fea tures the best bottles in the West, perfectly paired with these recipes and delivered straight to your door. Join at sunset.com/wineclub

2020 Marimar Estate Don Miguel Vineyard Albariño Russian River Valley

A natural affinity for seafood, Albariño is bold enough to match the richness of the tinned fish, with a citrusy edge that plays nicely with the briny, acidic accompaniments.

2021 Tensley Syrah Santa Barbara County

Kayne’s winter soup pairs well with a wine that carries both sweet and savory notes. This one finishes with a twist of black pepper, adding a dash of spice to the mix.

2020 Tassajara Pinot Noir Monterey

The winter citrus in Kayne’s panzanella and Pinot Noir pair gorgeously as the wine has a healthy dose of citrus zest, and the tannins don’t compete with the radicchio.

BELL’S

Make sure to book this Michelin-starred Los Alamos bistro at least a month in ad vance to enjoy its French-meets-ranch

(including the legendary uni crêpe; splurge on the caviar

and a wine list local bottlings.

BAR LE CÔTE

This is the Spanishinfluenced, seafoodcentric

from the

restau

behind Bell’s. The

is high-

the shellfish

BOB’S WELL BREAD

Expect long, totallyworth-it waits for the exceptional breads and pastries that ri val those of the best bakeries in the West.

the original lo cation in Los Alamos to see where it all

or the new sleek spot in

BODEGA LOS ALAMOS

With a shop stocked with all the beautiful little things you want (natural wine, tinned

artisanal oils, jams, and pickles) in front, and a charm ing

you just

This well-curated

and

in

a

to Santa Ynez’s

With chefs from Ve rona in the kitchen and local meats and produce on the menu, this restaurant has set the bar for culinary excellence in the area. Think Wa gyu meatballs, little gem

wood-

and exquisite

C

aynelle St. Jean’s pies are modernist works of edible art. Over the past few years, the Oakland-based baker has established herself as a design-minded deliverer of deliciousness with her bakery Pietisserie, which offers some 15 flavors in five visual categories. There’s the “co coa” line of brooding dark crusts filled with contrasting dark berries and pumpkin; architectural lattice- and herringbonetopped “woven” pies; “open” pies, such as ultraviolet sweet purple potato; and the “pastel” collection featuring crusts dyed with beet, annatto, and other natural pigments, contrasted with yolky con densed-milk citrus fillings. St. Jean has garnered such a devoted fol lowing in the Bay Area that she announces her holiday pop-ups months in advance to give her customers a chance to strategize their dessert shopping (visit pietisserie.com for locations).

St. Jean’s path to pie began after she left a career in public relations in New York to explore sustainable agriculture in Hawaii. She re turned to the Bay Area and pushed pies at her mother’s house and an underground farmers’ market in Oakland from a nostalgic “country window” built with the help of a set designer. That country window evolved into an Oakland brick-and-mortar, and now the seasonal popup shops, the centerpiece of which is an 8-foot-by-8-foot mandala-like display case filled with her pies in a massive color wheel of baked goodness. “Pies are a neglected little part of Americana,” says St. Jean. “They’ve remained pretty basic and there haven’t been many up dates.” But with flavors like chocolate cream pie and pretzel crust and banana chai, St. Jean hopes to lead a nationwide revolution of pie in genuity. You, too, can do your part by trying your hand at her colorful crust and filling on these pages.

Grapefruit Pie

In the great traditions of citrus pies like lemon cream and key lime, this pie from Pietisserie’s Pastel line is super easy and will stand out on any holiday dessert table. The colorful crust requires you to first bake a large cookie that turns into the crumbles that make the crust.

SERVES 6

FILLING

14 oz. condensed milk

5 large egg yolks

¾ cup fresh grapefruit juice, strained

¼ cup fresh lemon juice, strained

2 tsp. grapefruit zest

CRUST

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup powdered sugar

¾ tsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt 6 tsp. beet powder

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into ½-inch cubes

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1. To make the filling, add condensed milk and egg yolks in a large bowl, and stir slowly with a spoon or spat ula to combine. You want to take care to not introduce air bubbles, so no whisking! Add grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and grapefruit zest and continue to stir until thoroughly combined. Allow the mix to sit for 1 hour at room temperature to give it time to thicken.

2. Meanwhile, make the crust. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Place the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and beet powder into the bowl of a food processor and process for 10 seconds. Add butter to the bowl and

process for 30–60 seconds. Stop when the mixture forms one mass in the bowl. If it’s not doing that, pulse in 10-second increments until it does. The dough is ready when it clumps together when pressed.

4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll out to ½-inch thick ness. This will become the large cookie that you will crumble for the crust. Place rolled dough on the pre pared baking sheet and bake 12–14 minutes, until cooked through like a cookie but not browned. Immediate ly remove the cookie from the baking sheet and transfer to a cooling rack. When the cookie has cooled com pletely, break it up into large pieces and pulse the cookies in a food pro cessor until they are sandy crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse un til combined.

5. Press crumbs along the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Place crust in oven and bake 5 min utes. Remove and allow it to come down to room temperature. Pour in the filling. Bake the pie 15 minutes more. It will be a little loose when you remove it from the oven. Allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before enjoying. Extra points for us ing a clear pie dish to show off the hue of the crust.

GIFT GUIDE

GARDEN GIFT THAT DOES MORE

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West Essentials

{ OUR PICKS FOR WHAT’S ESSENTIAL IN THE WEST }

Find Your Island

Just 35-minutes by ferry from Seattle, unplug and ease into the small-town charm of Bainbridge Island. Whether exploring the trails and coastline, sipping handcrafted wines, beers, and spirits, or shopping eclectic boutiques, you’ll discover why its among Washington’s greatest treasures. VisitBainbridgeIsland.org

The Peak of Winter

In Montana's Yellowstone Country, we don’t wait out winter, we wait all year for it. Experience the true nature of the season with binge-worthy snow, world-renowned skiing, and dreamy mountain towns. visityellowstonecountry.com

Winter - It's Better In Big Bear

Few places in Southern California offer opportunities for a snowy winter, and even fewer places do winter as well as Big Bear Lake, California! Break out those winter clothes and get ready to visit SoCal’s favorite winter destination. bigbear.com/things-to-do/fall-season-fun/

Unbox The West!

The Sunset Subscription Box brings the Best of the West straight to your door! Every three months, you’ll get a box full of home, design, food, and gardening products curated by Sunset editors. Choose the box that fits your style and price point, then get ready to be surprised and delighted by what you find inside!

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TRAVEL & ESCAPES

Inn Style

Boutique micro-hotels are having a moment with travelers seeking to reconnect with the agrarian lifestyle without sacrificing bespoke luxury.

With travelers continuing to seek in timate experiences as the world re opens, diminutive properties that crib on the craftsmanship of European inns, Italian agriturismos, and Japanese ryo kans are poised for their moment. These nano-hotels are rooted in a true sense of

place, a connection to the Earth, and an emphasis on cultivating a community among their guests; there is no better way to see the West.

At these emerging farm- and food-fo cused inns, the room count is as low as the thread count is high. What’s more is

that many of the culinary programs go well beyond the rooftop garden, sourc ing ingredients from their very own fullfledged farms, giving guests the freshest experience possible during their stays.

Here are some of the small hotels making big moves in the industry.

THE HARBOR HOUSE INN Mendocino, California

There’s not a bad suite in the house at this historic 10-room inn, originally opened in 1916 just off California’s his toric Highway 1. Perched on the craggy, redwood-lined Mendocino coastline, the property reopened after an eightyear renovation, now with an undeni able reverence for both hospitality and

sustainability. In the mornings, chef Matthew Kammerer can be found for aging for seaweed in tide pools just outside the inn’s doors, to be turned into a course on his tasting menu. What can’t be grown in the garden or plucked from nearby stands is sourced in and around the town of Elk. Splurge on the deluxe cottage suite with ele vated cedar ceilings and an expansive

patio overlooking the fog-blanketed beach, or opt for the classic harbor guest rooms, which still boast ocean views at a slightly more moderate price point (from $525). We wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t set foot offproperty, but if you’re feeling adven turous, head into the nearby Anderson Valley for a wine tasting during your stay. theharborhouseinn.com

TRIBUTARY HOTEL McMinnville, Oregon

Built within the historic Taylor Dale building, the newly opened Tribu tary Hotel was fastidiously restored while keeping its original rustic charm in mind. Each of the eight rooms is named after distinct

riverways in the Willamette Valley, and feature dramatic fireplaces, ex posed brick walls, oak beams, and amenities crafted by Pacific North west artists. At the inn’s restaurant, ōkta, chef/partner Matthew Lightner, formerly of the two-star Michelin Atera, offers a progressive tasting

menu inspired by the region’s mi cro-seasons and what’s available at the property’s farm. Lightner also offers an incredible in-room break fast experience reminiscent of Eu rope’s luxury B&Bs, perfect to ready yourself for a day of sipping in the valley. tributaryhotel.com

SINGLETHREAD FARM Healdsburg, California

In the verdant Sonoma Valley, guests can enjoy a bucolic farmhouse holi day—and all the delicious fare that comes along with it—at this five-room inn. Right in the heart of Healdsburg, guests experience complimentary breakfast from chef Kyle Connaughton and his wife, farmer Katina Connaugh ton, including the option for his take on a Japanese brekkie that includes ce dar-roasted salmon, traditional dashi omelet, and yuzu kosho rice served in a donabe made by an eighth-genera tion ceramicist in Iga, Japan. At the three-star Michelin restaurant down stairs, guests are taken on a journey through a beautifully executed 11-course California kaiseki meal that embodies the Japanese idea of omo tenashi—a deep sense of personalized hospitality where a guest’s every need is anticipated. singlethreadfarms.com

FOR THE WILLAMETTE WINE

GAIGE HOUSE

Glen Ellen, California

Situated along Calabazas Creek in So noma Valley, Gaige House is the per fect home base for forest (and wine country) bathing. The 23-room inn, in spired by traditional Japanese ryo kans, features several communal spaces to unplug, including medita tion and moon viewing decks. While there isn’t an onsen per se, they do have a gorgeous pool and spa. And if you’re staying in the signature Ryokan Zen suites, you’ll have private granite soaking tubs, classic yukata robes, geta and zori slippers, tea service, and complimentary sake. thegaigehouse.com

FOR THE PNW WARRIOR

RUBY JUNE INN White Salmon, Washington

Located in Washington’s up-and-coming Columbia Gorge wine region, this impeccably curated inn features rich textiles, vintage art pieces, and the work of local artists. The team hosts a chef-inspired alfresco dinner series at their 1890s IceHouse Wine Bar that consistently sells out. Each of the five rooms has a private entrance, so if you want peace and quiet you can easily slide into your four-poster bed or jacuzzi soaking tub for some R&R while listening to sounds of the river outside your win dow. rubyjuneinn.com

IN CANADA’S YUKON TERRITORY, PHOTOGRAPHING THE AURORA BOREALIS IS ONLY HALF THE ADVENTURE.

Silence is deafening.

I angled my headlamp toward my watch. Just after midnight. Stars soared overhead, innumerable. Wil derness extended in every direction. The temperature dipped to 10 degrees below zero.

Extending the titanium legs of my tripod emitted a metallic “thunk” that seemed to echo amid my sur roundings. I aimed my camera in the direction of a slight greenish glow on the horizon. Canada’s aurora borealis was barely visible to the naked eye, but an extended exposure just might pick up some of the slack.

It was my fourth night in the Yu kon. I’d arrived with a mission of

chasing, and photographing, the elu sive northern lights. When the time came to depart two days later, I would be doing so unsuccessfully—at least by that standard.

But it didn’t make any difference.

“The chase is the adventure,” I re called a brochure at the Whitehorse airport saying. And it was.

The Yukon is a world brimming with magic, untamed and largely spared from human interference. Among its oceans of forest, mountain, rock, and ice is where, alongside a three-person team from Destination Canada and Travel Yukon, I spent a

week—a mere taste of environs that tightened my own emotional tether to our world.

The experience ignited an eyeopening, primordial sense of explora tion that incited not only an insatiable desire to return but a need to ensure that friends and family became wellacquainted with the destination’s po tential for rejuvenation and liberation.

There are many means by which to explore the Yukon, whether in the bustling eateries and watering holes in its biggest city, Whitehorse, or in the wilderness that envelops it. Any avenue is sure to leave an indelible mark, even if, like me, you miss the aurora, a phenomenon First Nations myth attributes to ancestral spirits filling the sky with celebratory dance.

I was fortunate enough to experi ence the region through the mediums that follow, each category of which is worth a visit in its own right and ce ments the Yukon as a top tourism destination on traveler bucket lists.

The old adage replayed in my mind as each footstep onto the snowpack of a frozen Pine Lake shattered a stillness that seemed to envelop the area with intent.

Learning From Locals

No visit to the Yukon is complete without experiencing the culture of the area’s First Nations stewards. It’s evident in the region’s arts, names, customs, and celebrations that re main deeply intertwined today.

The Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse, a staple institution that anchors the vibrant town of al most 30,000, acts as an Indigenous museum, a base of operations for First Nations art residency programs, and a host for workshops and pro grams designed to promote the tradi tions unique to the area’s original inhabitants.

An hour west of Whitehorse, mean while, is a living—and more inti mate—museum operated by First Na tions historian Harold Johnson. The property known as the Long Ago Peo ples Place, also called Kwaday Dan Kenji, is marked by lodging, hunting and trapping setups, and cook houses that show how ancestral First Nations once lived and survived in this unfor giving landscape.

For those keen to listen, Johnson will share stories that span First Na tions myth to marriage and family customs. And if you’re lucky, John son’s mammoth of a dog may even make an appearance.

“He’s got some timber wolf in him,” he told me.

Snowshoeing Winter in the Yukon necessitates the use of gear that can stand up to the el ements, and our tiny cadre wasted lit tle time embracing just that during a snowshoe hike across a frozen Lake Laberge, a body that sits 30 miles north of Whitehorse.

I’d just buckled into my snowshoes and set out for our midnight stroll across the 3-foot-thick sheet of ice— with another 2 feet of snow layered on top—when the thrill of genuine isola tion set in.

Sweeping clouds kept hidden what ever aurora may have been present, but it didn’t matter—the activity had plunged us into a fantastical night time wonderland that, only 24 hours earlier, would have been difficult to even imagine.

Opposite page: Mount Logan EcoLodge, located in Haines Junc tion, offers a northern lights viewing tour with a photographer.

The four-hour round-trip trek was arduous, each of us in the single-file column diverting attention between showshoe placement and keeping track of the person ahead by way of a headlamp’s solitary glow. Our path eventually ascended an island in the middle of the lake, where our guide built a bonfire and passed around tin cups of hot cocoa. We sat and watched the stars occasionally dance behind passing clouds while the warmth of my drink gradually thawed the formation of ice crystals in my beard.

ULTIMATE OUTFITTERS

TERRA RIDERS

Finding adventure in the Yukon isn’t difficult, but few outfitters do it better than the informative guides of Terra Riders. Adventure packages comprise all seasons, from snowshoe ing and “fat biking” in the winter months to mountain biking and multi-day canoe trips in summer. Also available are numer ous camps for adults and children alike. terrariders.ca

ROCKING STAR ADVENTURES

Take to the sky to get per haps the most impeccable views of the Yukon with the crew at Rocking Star. Admire glaciers from over head and even fly alongside Mount Logan, Canada’s tallest peak at 19,551 feet. Tour packages range from 45 minutes to two hours. rockingstar.ca

Touring by Air

The best sightseeing in the Yukon may occasionally come by climbing aboard a single-engine Cessna and taking to the sky.

I embarked on two such flights, each soaring to heights that unveiled snow-covered mountain ranges with no end in sight. Shelves of dense snowpack seemed to teeter on the verge of collapse on every mountain side adjacent to our small aircraft.

Glances at the forests below re vealed networks of tracks meandering like veins of the earth. Moose and

WHERE TO STAY

MOUNT LOGAN ECOLODGE

Sitting on the doorstep of Kluane National Park is no shortage of warm hospitality courtesy of the EcoLodge staff. Enjoy accommodations that range from a lodge room or cabin to a spacious yurt, each of which is nestled among a range of mountains that catch fire in the morning sun. Three-course dinners and gour met breakfasts are included in each stay.

mountloganlodge.com

SOUTHERN LAKES RESORT

This resort boasts traditional log cabins and luxury villas with incredible views of Tagish Lake and the surrounding peaks. Explore the area straight from the resort by dogsled, snowmobile, or snowshoe during winter, or mountain bike, kayak, boat, or ATV in warmer months.

southernlakesresort.com

wolves. Glaciers stretched for miles, many jaggedly cut by crevasses that plunge hundreds of feet into a shad owy abyss. Frozen lakes formed long ago by glaciers cast rich blue colors intermittently covered by patterns of windswept snow.

And while each flight offered breathtaking sights, the region’s small commercial lines, such as Alpine Avia tion, occasionally offer more than sightseeing—some even provide a faster mode of transport. One such flight from Whitehorse to the South ern Lakes Resort on Tagish Lake came by way of a ski plane that touched down on a frozen lake with hockey sticks as runway markers.

Letting the Dogs Out

A winter adventure in the Yukon must include one of the region’s most long-

standing modes of transportation.

Climbing aboard a sled led by an expert guide—most of the guides also own their dog teams—we raced across the lake and through trails un der a dense forest canopy. Each dog, trained to follow the whistled com mands of its leader, anxiously pulled our cargo, never breaking stride to hydrate on surrounding snowpack.

Miles transpired before the teams broke to enjoy a fire-cooked meal and hot chocolate or tea. I removed my boots and held my feet near the fire for a welcome respite from the cold.

The dogs, too, enjoyed their wellearned break, each reaping the re wards of passenger affections that came in avalanche capacity. Unlike many sled dogs, the teams in this re gion are socialized from the time they are puppies. Visitors, especially

tourists arriving on Alaskan cruise lines, are drawn to the “Come See Sled Dog Puppies” billboards that grace roadways.

Snowmobiling

With the Southern Lakes Resort as a brief basecamp, our team set out to survey the property’s numerous snowmobiles, which range from heavy cruisers to light, sporty models.

Once each of us had selected a ma chine, our guide ushered the small convoy across Tagish Lake, under soaring mountain sentinels, and onto wooded trails that meandered up onto overlooks that framed the lake and its surrounding expanse like a postcard.

The experience of being on a faster machine became particularly gratify ing on the return trek, when the guide gave the okay to venture away from the convoy and speed around—at about 70 miles per hour—on the lake’s untouched snowpack amid 360-degree, awe-inspiring views.

Truly, there is no wrong way to ex plore the Yukon. Its appeal spans sea sons that each offer unique, other worldly enrichment that will stay with you the rest of your life.

To gaze out at its tundra, to soar over its glacier-fed lakes, rivers, and mountain titans, to admire its vast caribou herd and the ties these ani mals and land maintain to the land’s original stewards is an experience that, over years of traveling, I have never come close to replicating.

The Yukon is Canada’s last frontier, and with a population density that boasts only one person for every two moose, there is much wilderness to explore. You just have to experience it for yourself.

This month: Oahu, Hawaii

The insider: Robynne Mai’i, chef-owner of Fête

Insider

PACIFIC

Robynne Mai’i catapulted to culinary stardom as the winner of the 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific, becom ing the first woman of Hawaiian ancestry to be recognized with the honor. Here, the sea soned chef and adventurer shares some of her favorite spots on Oahu.

Seasonal diversions and secret travel tips from local experts.

EAT:

At Waiahole Poi Factory, dishes are inspired by the food you would find at a traditional luau, and the team has been preserv ing native methods of cooking for over 100 years. “The Sweet Lady of Waia hole ice cream is not to be missed.” At Yakitori Hachibei, finish “your ya kitori experience with a cup of chicken ramen.”

SHOP:

“Be sure to stroll through the neighborhood of Kai muki. There are so many cute little small business es and locally owned shops to explore. Ten Tomorrow is my favorite lo cal designer right now.” If you’re feeling peckish, pop in for “artisanal baked goods at Bread shop by Chris Sy. The

Curb Kaimuki does bril liant coffee but also spe cializes in natural wine and artisanal chocolate.”

DRINK:

Grab a piña colada with a rum float at Hau Tree at the Kaimana Beach Hotel. “It’s a beautiful venue.” Bar manager Jen Ackrill is “so funny, and I love her cocktails. Bonus: They do low-ABV cocktails really well, too. Even though they don’t have it on the menu, you can always get a burger and fries.”

STAY:

White Sands Hotel is ideal

“for a throwback, nostal gic feel of Waikiki. Along the same vein but more luxurious is The Kahala Hotel & Resort. They both evoke the same era, al though the White Sands is a little more laidback and fun.”

DO:

Honolulu Museum of Art “reminds me of an island version of smaller muse ums in Paris, with the mix of galleries and garden

spaces.” Or, take a boat to visit the USS Arizona Me morial at Pearl Harbor “I’ve done it about 10 times in my lifetime, and every time I have been so moved. It gives you pause and reflection out on the water.”

This month: Mammoth Lakes

The insider: Aida Mollenkamp, founder of Salt & Wind Travel

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Mammoth Lakes often gets overshadowed by massive resort towns, but Aida Mollenkamp, whose business is focused on sustainable trav el, finds that her home is “one of the last small Sierra towns, with a tightly knit community” that boasts a “distinctly California identity.”

Folks here are “one with the land—either farming, traveling, or being active outdoors— and we identify a lot with our topography.” Here are her favorites.

STAY:

Tamarack Lodge’s cabins “have recently been mod ernized. I’d recommend the cabins over the main lodge. It has such a rich history.” For something more central, book at the locally owned Alpenhof Lodge The Clocktower Cellar bar is “frequented by locals for après, and they’ve got a gondola that takes you right up to the mountain.”

EAT:

One of the best examples of local alpine flavors is Skadi. “The chef is of Nor dic origin, and everything is top-notch, from the wine to the service.” For breakfast, cozy up at The Warming Hut . “They have great table bacon that the whole group can share, amazing chilaqui les, and the best Bloody Mary in town.”

DO:

One of the best things to do during the winter (aside from skiing) is “snowcat and snowshoe tours during the full moon.” In the warmer months, “book in time to kayak and stand-up

paddle, which gives you a different perspective of the hundreds of lakes that make up the region. My favorite outfitter is Calde ra Kayak. There are so many trails to bike on, but another thing I love to do is get an e-bike from Footloose Sports.”

DRINK:

Head to Shelter Distilling for an “agave-based spir it whose base materials are from California.” Bevi Bene is a “small bottle shop and wine bar with tinned fish, almonds, Euro-style bites, and wellpriced bottles for purchase.”

SHOP:

The Cactus and the Hawk has a general-store feel and is great for gifts.

“They sell everything from Japanese denim to hand made pottery and handpoured candles.” While the name Mammoth Mountaineering Supply may sound intimidating, “if you want to try any backcountry sports, they have the most fairly priced high-end gear in town and are super approachable.”

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Johannes Ariens founded the RV and van rental company Route Line to broaden peo ple’s access to the outdoors and decrease their waste while doing it. Members can access the brand’s fleet of vehicles on an ongoing basis from its headquarters in Seattle, then hit the road and explore the Pacific Northwest.

Here Ariens, who grew up on the Olympic Peninsula, shares two epic journeys on either side of the city center.

This month: Seattle

TO THE COAST

STAY:

Head west from Seattle and rest your head (or catch a wave) at Loge Camps on the Westport coast; Ariens founded this outdoorsy hotel brand with destinations across the PNW. Alternatively, he recommends Alderbrook Resort & Spa for a spot on the Hood Canal.

DO:

Head up the coast to ex plore Olympic National Park , a “true rainforest” with “some of the largest trees in the world. You can go there during the week and not see anyone,” Ari ens says. Before you go in, grab ice cream at Hood sport Coffee Co.

DRINK:

If you keep heading north, you’ll hit Aberdeen, a

working fish town where Ariens says Tinderbox Coffee Roasters is a must-stop.

EAT: Aberdeen is also home to slurping destination Brady’s Oysters. Before you leave Westport, check out Aloha Alabama BBQ , a restaurant right on the marina that specializes in low and slow. Continue north and you’ll pass through Port Angeles and Forks, where you can “see country that is truly unique.” Your trip can loop out to Port Townsend and the San Juan Islands be fore coming back to Inter state 5. You’ll want to hit Skagit Valley Food Co-op in Mount Vernon for the “best sandwiches ever” in “one of the most fertile agricultural valleys in the state,” Ariens says. “I can not drive past that place without stopping.”

The insider: Johannes Ariens, CEO of Route Line

DO:

Seattle “fairly” gets a “bit of a rap for being a little gray in the win ter,” Ariens concedes, but there are “easy ways to combat that.” One is to head east on Interstate 90 to where “it’s sunny 300 days a year.” About an hour outside the city, Snoqualmie Pass is a “sig nificant” ski area with “controlled” avalanche conditions, says Ari ens, a former professional ski patroller.

EAT:

“You can’t go over Snoqualmie Pass without stopping at Laconia Market & Cafe,” Ariens jokes. “It’s against the rules.” Housed in a restored fire station, this spot serves coffee, pastries, and sandwiches in a coworking space with high-speed Internet.

SHOP:

If you don’t want to spend all your time skiing, keep heading east to Rosalyn and make a pit stop at Basecamp Books & Bites on the other side of the Cascades.

STAY:

Loge Camps also boasts a loca tion in Leavenworth, the charm ing Bavarian mountain town where you’ll find high-alpine win ter and ice climbing in the colder months. “If you’re a climber, it’s endless.” (Do not forget to stop at Yodelin Broth Company for arti sanal soups.) Ariens also recom mends Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort on your way to Ste vens Pass where you’ll be sur rounded by trailheads and na tional forest.

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CHEF IN THE WILD

Viet Pham reconnects with his love of cooking outdoors on a new Hulu series that’s perfect for binge watching after your holiday feast—here he shares his gifting tips for aspiring foragers.

Viet Pham grew up in the Bay Area with parents who adored cooking, instilling in him a curiosity for cuisine at a young age. After working under award-winning chefs like Laurent Gras, Pham went on to open Forage Restaurant and Pretty Bird in Salt Lake City, and has since earned multiple nominations for Best Chef: Southwest from the James Beard Foundation.

Pham has competed on countless culinary competition shows, including Iron Chef America , but his latest appear ance, on Hulu’s Chefs Vs. Wild , brings him back to his true love: the outdoors. The series pairs chefs with survival ex perts, who are then tasked with hunting, fishing, and forag ing their way to delicious meals.

Here are some of Pham’s tips on how to start foraging and cooking both safely and deliciously out in the wilder ness, whether you’re cozied up in a cabin getaway or explor ing your own backyard.

What’s your No. 1 tip to start foraging? Read as many books as you can about the region that you live in. Oftentimes your local community college or con tinuing adult education schools have classes on beginner’s foraging, too.

What books do you recommend as gifts?

My favorite mushroom identification book is All That the Rain Promises and More. It has a goofy cover page, but covers Western mushrooms really well. Another one of my go-to books is the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. And for plants I love Edible Wild Plants: A North

American Field Guide, by Thomas S. Elias.

What tool can you not live without?

My Opinel mushroom-foraging knife ($32; opinel-usa.com). It has a folding curved blade on one end, and a brush on the other, perfect for brushing off dirt from the mushrooms I find.

Best meal you’ve cooked in the wild?

I love to fish, and to me there is noth ing better than roasting a fresh-

caught trout over juniper branches. The flavor of the juniper imparts a wonderful flavor to the trout while the embers burn really hot, allowing you to crisp up the trout skin.

What’s an easy way to bring those fla vors into a holiday meal?

Smoking is such a big element of being outdoors, which is why I love it so much. It conveys a sense of place and time. For people that don’t have access to smoking equipment or are stuck in a city, you can go outside and gather some pine needles or go buy juniper berries, which are easily found in the spice aisle of a grocery store. You can pickle the pine needles and add them to a vinaigrette to capture the pine es sence. And with juniper berries, you can mince or crush them and put them into a sauce or vinaigrette. This way, you can really capture mountain flavors in your dish without the smoke.

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“ G o outside and gather some pine needles or go buy juniper berries, which are easily found in the spice aisle of a grocery store.”

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