Living

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.

Need help with grocery shopping, library access, transportation to doctor appointments, or household tasks? Here are several resources offered by East Hampton and Southampton Towns for senior citizens.

The time is nearly upon us when many older East End residents pack up their houses and head south for the winter. To Dr. Charles Guida, a practitioner of internal medicine and gerontology since 1996, who also teaches in Stony Brook Medicine’s intern and resident program at its Southampton Hospital campus, The Star posed this question: “Is it safer to be a snowbird?”

Some say passion is impossible to fake, but for some South Fork retirees, it has also proven impossible to ignore, driving each to worlds beyond their fruitful, long-lived, and long-loved careers.

At its most basic, estate planning doesn’t need to be overcomplicated — but that doesn’t mean it’s easy, because it’s emotional, with death and dying looming over the necessary conversations.

The move from brunette to gray hair has become a topic of fascination for me and I’ve since watched others make the change with interest, embracing their natural color.

The residential elevator is gaining popularity on Long Island and on the East End in particular, where aging homeowners are finding that it’s adding years of useful life to houses taller than a single story.

Studies show that social isolation among older adults can cause health problems, and that active seniors often lead happier, healthier lives. For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control, “Social isolation was associated with about a 50-percent increased risk of dementia and other serious medical conditions.” Fortunately for seniors, South Fork institutions such as libraries, theaters, and health care facilities offer plenty of ways to connect with others — with just a few of their many offerings listed here.

Mansell Ambrose married her longtime beau, Henry Beveridge, on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 in the gardens of Villa des Amis in Bridgehampton.

Mike and Liz McCarron of Montauk have announced the engagement of their son Benjamin Knute McCarron to Colleen Elizabeth Sherlock, whose parents are Kevin and Debbie Sherlock of Montauk and Delray Beach, Fla.

“When I created Lifted, I really wanted to use what I learned as a pro athlete,” said Holly Rilinger, a former professional basketball player turned trainer and all-around inspiration to a largely middle-aged female crowd aspiring to get, and stay, in shape. The workout and wellness studio that she created with her life partner and business partner, Jennifer Ford, occupies a space on Montauk Highway in East Hampton.

Amanda Calabrese, an East Hampton native and former lifeguard at Ditch Plain and Indian Wells Beaches, with her friend Greta Meyer, has disrupted the female hygiene industry so prominently that they have been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2023.

Along with a number of parties and events last weekend, Guild Hall's annual summer gala took place in East Hampton on Friday, starting at the museum and continuing with cocktails and dinner served at Mulford Farm. The evening marked the opening of Leo Villareal's new exhibition and Renee Cox's ongoing show in the newly renovated galleries. Ken Wyse was the evening's honoree.

Lily Singer and Evan Schumann met in their freshman year at East Hampton High School in 1999, but it wasn’t until the fall of 2019 “that they had their first date after reconnecting during a surf session at Georgica Beach’s first jetty,” Ms. Singer wrote. “They bonded over a shared love of the ocean and a recently piqued interest in birding on Lily’s part (Evan was already an avid and accomplished birder).”

Edison I. Bolivar and Maria Camila Alvarez Franco were married on April 30 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton. Town Justice Steven Tekulsky officiated.

Abigail Balnis and Gabriel DeWalk were married on April 29 at the Randall House in Greer, S.C. The groom’s uncle Jonathan Powell officiated.

These days, many people are living well into their 80s and 90s. Lois Nesbitt, a longtime yoga instructor and teacher-trainer who lives and works in East Hampton and New York City, specializes in helping older adults maintain their strength, stamina, flexibility, and balance, and has a lot to say about movement for older adults.

At 88, I've been granted tenure in an institution called "old age," a.k.a. "senior citizenship." It resembles a lifetime appointment in a university, where tenure is granted because of your books, articles, the quality of your teaching. But in tenure due to elderliness, the entrance requirements are entropy, chronological time, the density of your complaints, and your bone density. Aging into senior citizenship transforms your transient maladies into thermodynamic decay.

The enthusiastic booksellers at BookHampton in East Hampton Village want readers of all ages to feel inspired, entertained, informed, and enlightened. But for an older demographic, Jesse Bartel, the store manager, has curated a special summer-reading list.

In simpler times, the most prevalent scam to be on the lookout for was the so-called "Nigerian Prince" email scam, in which a fraudster would send out an email that persuaded a potential "mark" — often an older adult — to wire them some money in order to trigger the release of a bigger pot of money that was coming the victim's way. More recently, scammers have gotten menacingly creative and even use technology to take advantage of victims.

An abundance of activities, educational programs, and clubs are aimed at meeting the needs and interests of East Hampton's older residents, Diane Patrizio, the town's director of Human Services, said last month, noting that people 65 and older are projected to outnumber those under 18 by 2034, a first in American history.

This was supposed to be a compendium of not-to-be-missed films from the '30s, '40s, and maybe '50s, but truth be told, excepting maybe for King Kong and Snow White, the 1930s really don't deserve all that much ink. Along with some over-the-top Ziegfeld-y musicals and rudimentary westerns, the Depression-era decade gave us a lot of forgettable flicks designed to arouse social consciousness. Most of them sank like a stone. The '40s were quite another story.