Happy holidays!
We’re excited to share the discoveries that made the past year a little bit brighter. We hope you’ll find something that brings you joy this season and beyond.
Our Top 5 of 2025
Pizza oven: Santa surprised Sean with a pizza oven grill insert last Christmas, and we’ve made excellent use of it! We usually take shortcuts on the base components—Trader Joe’s dough is as good as anything we could make ourselves, and Rao’s Roasted Garlic sauce is *chef’s kiss*—so we can feast our imaginations on toppings. The best pizza we’ve made so far? That’s easy: brisket with chimichurri. Should you find yourself in possession of a pizza oven, Sean recommends buying two peels: a wooden one for sliding the pizza into the oven, and a metal one for retrieving it.
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass concert: Our whole family has been fond of Herb Alpert semi-ironically ever since we discovered his perfect Christmas album nearly a decade ago. But after seeing him in concert this year, Sarah and Sean are now full-blown fans. (Trumpet pun not intended but nevertheless appreciated.) He’s an icon for a reason! If you’re not already on his bandwagon and you’re into peppy jazz and 1960s kitsch, give him a listen.
Drops of God (Apple TV): Upon his death, a French billionaire and wine aficionado makes his estranged daughter and his Japanese protégé compete for his fortune through a series of wine-related tests. It’s a show unlike anything we’d seen before, and it begs to be binged—preferably with a bottle of wine. (We discovered this Cabernet Sauvignon during the course of our viewing and can’t recommend it enough.)
Hitster game: This party game is a must for music fans! Gameplay is a blast and the objective is simple: The DJ scans a QR code on a card, triggering a popular song from the past 100 years to start playing. Teams must determine when that song came out relative to the other song cards in their timeline. It was originally a Christmas gift for Sarah’s dad, whose signature catchphrase is “Who sings this?” It was such a hit at the family gathering that Sarah and Sean took it on a trip to visit friends, and we kept the all their neighbors up with our nightly singalongs.
Chocolate Coffee Granola (Trader Joe’s): Not too sweet and perfectly dark-chocolate-mocha-y—this is hands down the best granola we’ve ever had. We go through it so quickly, it doesn’t make sense to buy less than two bags at a time.
Sarah’s Top 5
The Pitt (HBO Max): Medical dramas aren’t typically Sarah’s thing, but The Pitt is in a league of its own. The acting and writing are superb, the storylines are captivating, and the pace is edge-of-your-seat fast. It’s the one show she’d bring up in casual conversations this year, and it never failed to generate a healthy dose of enthusiasm from fellow Pitt fans.
Creative Arts Center of Dallas: Sarah took an eight-week wheel throwing class at this adults-only art studio in August, and she enjoyed it so much that she’s re-enrolled twice since. The studio offers courses in everything from painting and jewelry making to stone carving and metalworking, and it attracts the friendliest and most supportive makers around. If you’re looking for a creative outlet but are not local to Dallas-Fort Worth, consider looking up art studios in your area. If you prefer to admire artwork rather than make it yourself, check out The Great Pottery Throwdown on HBO Max (from the producers of The Great British Baking Show) or the superlative Texas Clay Festival in Gruene.
Oat and Pecan Brittle Cookies (Claire Saffitz): It wasn’t easy for Sarah to choose a top bake of the year. These Brown Butter White Chocolate Matcha Cookies and these Gochujang Caramel Cookies both garnered rave reviews from our neighbors and Sarah’s fellow pottery students. But it’s almost impossible to beat the symphony of textures and salty/sweet perfection of the Oat and Pecan Brittle Cookies from Claire’s first cookbook. Are they fussy to make? Extremely. Are they worth it? Absolutely. You’re going to want to do a double batch.
Sassy Sauce nail polish: For a brief, shining moment in 2024, Sarah was a put-together lady who got manicures regularly. But when the quality could no longer justify the price, she switched to at-home solutions. Sassy Sauce has become her holy grail polish—it lasts up to a week with no chipping, goes on smoothly, dries quickly, and the colors are a lot of fun. (A close runner-up are pre-glued press-on nail sets from Impress KISS. They’re easy to apply, last up to two weeks, and the holiday designs are particularly great.)
Merry People rainboots: Sarah originally bought these ankle-high boots for their packability, but they’re so easy to slip on, so comfortable, and so darn cute that they’ve become a staple for rainy days around town and trips to the messy clay studio, too.
Sean’s Top 5
Camp Brisket: Every January, the Meat Science department at Texas A&M University hosts a weekend-long deep dive into the mechanics of brisket making. We’re talking bovine biology, grill thermodynamics, blind taste tests—the works. Sean’s been entering the lottery to attend every year since we moved back to Texas—and in 2025, his number was finally pulled. He came home with a notebook full of tips and a mouthful of unforgettable stories. You don’t have to be a Texan to try for a spot—Sean met a couple of barbecue enthusiasts from Saskatchewan in his class—but you do have to be a dues-paying member of Foodways Texas, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the state’s culinary culture. If you can’t make it to Camp, pitmaster Sean’s top tip is this: Get yourself a good meat thermometer (he adores his Thermapen) and smoke your meat to temperature rather than time. Looking for a quality cut? Check out WildFork, which stocks everything from wagyu steaks and lobster tails and to frog legs and whole rabbits.
Long Way series (Apple TV): This series follows actor Ewan McGregor and his best friend on long-distance motorcycle journeys around the world. While Sean’s been a fan of the show and the book (Long Way Down) for several years, the season he watched this spring—Long Way Up, which tracks the riders from Ushuaia, Argentina to Los Angeles, California—inspired him to get a motorcycle of his very own. (The new riding gear that makes Sean look like a ruggedly handsome Scottish actor is worthy of an honorable mention on Sarah’s Top 5 list.)
Spaghetti Carbonara (NYT Cooking): Sean makes this recipe from the incomparable New York Times Cooking at least once every couple of months. Sarah showed it to an Italian friend of hers who dubbed it “correct.” So if you won’t take Sean’s word for it, take it from the source. Mangia!
Casio AE1200 Hydro Mod watch: These custom watches are so cool that Sean couldn’t stop at just one. Makers take 80s-inspired Casio digital watches and modify them with gel photo filters and silicone oil that improve the contrast and colors of the watch face. They’re available on eBay and Etsy, and many vendors will customize them with your favorite movie or color combo. (YouTube videos are also available for DIYers who know their way around watches.)
Banhez Espadin-Barril Mezcal: Sean became obsessed with the smoky-slash-fruity favor of Mezcal after visiting a distiller in Oaxaca several years ago. As a budding bartender, he needed a starter bottle for his collection—and Banhez fit the bill perfectly. It’s affordable enough to mix, yet smooth enough to drink on the rocks. He’s had great luck with recipes from the Cowboy Cocktails cookbook, which Sarah’s parents’ gifted him from their collection along with the Mezcal.
Bonus: Layla the Cat’s Top 3
Bonkers Purrpops: These freeze-dried treats work as advertised—Layla goes absolutely bonkers for them. If we don’t hang on tight, she’ll yank them right out of our hands.
Temptations Snacky Snowman: This toy/treat dispenser/enrichment activity was a Christmas purchase that’s now a fixture in our living room all year long. Sarah sings “Do you want to eat a snowman?” in the style of Frozen, and Layla comes running.
Purina FortiFlora probiotic: Granny Layla has developed some gastrointestinal issues in her old age, and mixing half a packet of this supplement into her wet food every morning helps keep things in check. She usually protests when we add things to her food, so the fact that she likes (or at least tolerates) this probiotic is a small miracle.
