There’s enough going on with the holidays — let’s make setting the table the easy part, shall we? When my friend Tracy and I were planning our Cozy Holiday Potluck, we agreed that we wanted to keep the table simple, rustic, and festive. The easiest way to do this, we quickly realized, was obvious: bring in the evergreens! Here’s what we did — it’s so easy I have no doubt you can do it too.

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From the very get-go of planning my Cozy Holiday Potluck, I knew that I wanted to make Bigos Stew. This Polish hunter’s dish is a real stick-to-your ribs kind of affair — pork and sausage (several kinds!), sauerkraut, porcini mushrooms, and a few glugs of good beer. It’s a bit rich to justify for a weeknight meal, but for a midwinter party with a group of friends who love to eat, it’s absolutely perfect.

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I come from a generously-sized family, the sort that prompted wide eyes and under-the-breath counting from strangers who glimpsed our brood at the library or grocery store. I’ll spare you the counting and say that I have five brothers and two sisters, so eight of us, plus parents, and now assorted spouses and in-laws. Christmas is an all-day affair for us, with stockings and enough presents to necessitate an intermission about halfway through unwrapping. But as we’ve grown up and gotten married, things have shifted; last year we did Christmas in the evening, instead of in the morning, and every holiday now has a marked absence of a sibling (or two) celebrating with someone else’s family.

But there is one inviolable tradition that still binds our Christmases together, and that is my mother’s cinnamon rolls.

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