Hot pot is such a nourishing comfort food. We eat it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and many other holidays. I like making a single-serve version at home in my pressure cooker. It’s easy to meal prep, with packets of frozen vegetables, meats, and whatever other toppings you like. The broth is a mix of Little Sheep soup base and Golden curry cubes. My favorite items are enoki mushrooms, kabocha, tripe, fish balls with roe, and corn.

Occasionally, we find ourselves grabbing one of those sad-looking Starbucks protein boxes on the go. I figured, why not make an absolutely lovely, organic, fresh, and delicious version at home. These have Hu chocolate, gouda, swiss cheese, white cheddar, jammy eggs, organic Honeycrisp apples, organic blueberries, and crunchy honey peanut butter sandwiches.

There’s a delicious galbi-jjim place in SF called Daeho Kalbijjim that we eat at and order takeout from often. It’s huge and we end up eating the saucy short ribs with cheese, rice cakes, and vegetables for days. Last Christmas, I decided to make my own homemade version and flavor it the way I like - less oily, more acidity. Yum! It was a lot of work, but better than takeout.

I made crack pie for the first time in college. I made this two Christmases ago for my fiance and his parents, along with that deep dish honey apple pie galette. It keeps really well and becomes almost pudding-like in the fridge. The homemade oat cookie crust becomes crispy and candied, while the chewy center tastes like custard and chess pie.