I will never forget ringing in the New Year in Australia in 1999. There was so much Y2K buzz in the air that I promised myself I would watch every celebration across the globe that night, since Australia would be the first country to see the clock strike twelve. Well, by the time New Year’s hit Spain, I had fallen asleep!

The month itself carries with it so much promise. January gives us permission to press the reset button, to reevaluate and reshuffle priorities and maintain the rituals that bring us joy. Cooking dinner has always fallen into that last category. This is the month for an open house; on New Year’s Day, we love to put together a menu that’s festive and restorative. By throwing open the doors, we start the year off with the friends—new and old—and family who have long sustained us.

January is slumber party month in our respective homes—our kids always seem to want to hunker down with their friends and watch endless movies, giggle through the night, and of course, eat. We’ve found that kids have the most fun preparing the food they’re going to eat (and put on their faces, as in the Blackberry Yogurt Mask, here) and even more so when their smoothies, waffles, and mac ’n’ cheese are presented in unexpected ways.

We know all about resolutions and the earnestness with which we devise them. Preparing food with a bit of thought is a low-demand start. Marking the start of the year by slipping a delicious bite of waffle onto a stick or making mini quiches in a muffin tin, for example, gets you off on the right foot, food crafting–wise.