Living

Liz and Joe Sanicola’s house in East Quogue is a modern homesteading paradise — the ultimate intersection between home and garden.

In the summer months, under the immaculately tended giant rhododendron stand in Henry and Martha Murray's backyard on Further Lane in Amagansett, their young grandchildren can be glimpsed darting in and out of the canopy of fuchsia blossoms, visible one second, gone the next.

Sleigh bells ring: Are you listening? Here’s our carefully curated selection of the holly-est, jolliest events between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

There’s no easier way to cook for a crowd than to throw an old-fashioned holiday cocktail party, serving simple, make-ahead hors d’oeuvres. We'll help you master the art.

Wine has never been more popular than it is today (as we know from all the “You had me at merlot” and “Mama needs wine” T-shirts sold on Etsy). But what about . . . hot wine? Reporting in on the rich delight of Scandinavian glogg.

Journey back — way, way back — to winters past, when prosperity came from harpooned whales, kids flew up and down frozen Hook Pond on skates with sails at their back, and the annual businessmen’s holiday promotion was a raffle for a free ton of coal. Here, season snippets from the pages of The Star evoke the sights, smells, sounds, and snowy pastimes of Decembers gone by.

What to do with winter’s ugly vegetables —  all those ungainly, bumpy, stripey winter squashes that stock the farm stands this time of year, intimidating us with their sheer mass and quirky colors? Turn those ugly veggies into something beautifully delicious.

Home décor, like fashion, shouldn’t be generic, but should reflect the uniqueness of your personality, and that’s another reason to shop local, rather than at the homogenous big boxes this season. Here, a guide to small, special South Fork shops offering housewares to match your aesthetic

Cold winter night, nothing to do? Gather a group of friends, head to your corner bar, come up with a goofy team name (“Sherlock Homies” or  “Simple Minds”), and put on your thinking cap: Pub quizzes are popping up in restaurants and bars all over the East End.

Here’s Fireplace 101, in honor of chestnuts-on-an-open-fire season, with tips to help keep your burn safe, your wood dry, and your coziness level at the max.

The fellow giving out awards following the U.S. Open said tennis players live longer, as if it were settled science, and perhaps that is true — and I hope it is, for I am a tennis player — though three experts of my acquaintance with whom I spoke recently, all knowledgeable when it comes to tennis and golf, were in agreement that should you be wondering on the eve of your retirement whether to take up golf or tennis, you should take up golf, if for no other reason than it’s easier on the body.

You’ve likely heard of the digital nomad — in case not, it is defined as a person who works remotely while traveling freely, with laptops, smartphones, and Wi-Fi allowing a lifestyle free of a central workplace and even a home base. Untethered by material possessions, the digital nomad is free to pursue the best life, enjoying Instagram-worthy experiences in exotic locales virtually anywhere in the world. But working-age digitized hipsters aren’t the only ones getting in on the fun.