Introducing A Year of East Coast Cozy

Inspired by the lifestyle I’ve adopted since moving to Nova Scotia, this series will combine East Coast simplicity with the Maritime love of hospitality. I’ll share 12 months of seasonal recipes, crafts, community building ideas, and homemade adventures that celebrate the everyday in simple ways, anchor us to the present, and restore us in a chaotic world.

My Year of East Coast Cozy series is inspired by a lengthy scroll through my photo roll of the past seven years in Nova Scotia. I realize that much of the happiness in our life is measured in meals shared, memories made, and outdoor adventures.

‘Cozy’ is a through-line of it all. Being cozy means slowing down, finding joy in the small things and being present in everyday life. But it is much more than a cup of cocoa by a fireplace.

Cozy expands to all parts of our life – home, family, friends, gatherings, community – but it is anchored in the kitchen, the heart of the home, and in an increasingly chaotic world, keeping cozy has been a salve.

Cozy as Self-Care. Here, Now.

Over the many years spent in the Simple Bites kitchen, I’ve come to understand how cooking and baking, when approached with intention, can be a form of self-care. The act of sharing a meal with others can bring strength, comfort, and in some cases of sympathy meals, radical love.

As I drafted this series, I struggled with self-doubt: is it frivolous to write about keeping cozy when many are grieving the current state of humanity?

Fortunately my love of cookbooks came to my aid (links at the bottom of the post). This year many beloved authors showed me that now, more than ever, we need the powerfully restorative comfort of cooking to counter the chaos bombarding us. It’s not showing indifference to suffering; it’s nourishing ourselves to do small things with great love. (HOW is that post 9 years old?)

For example, in Good Things, author Samin shares ‘How to Build an Oasis in Time’ – a guide to creating a dinner ritual with friends or family. Sounds cozy to me.

Tamar Adler writes to soothe pain in her latest book, Feast on Your Life, finding solace in creating cozy comforts like cinnamon toast and long-simmered beans. I totally get it.

Finally, and most impactfully for me, was psychologist-turned-baker Helen Goh’s Baking and the Meaning of Life. Seven inspiring chapters that explore how baking gives our life meaning through nurturing, connection, celebration, creativity and much more. This is the cozy energy I want to carry into 2026.

Over the past few years, nurturing, cozy living has become second nature for my family and me. The Danes call it hygge, and nearly every culture has their own form of cozy self-care. I know I’m not introducing anything new; I’ll be merely sharing my approach and recipes in this series.

Why East Coast Cozy?

A Sense of Place

I’ve lived all over Canada, from the wilderness of the Yukon to the Montreal Plateau. From a ski town in British Columbia to windswept ‘Winter-peg’. In 2018, After visiting all the Atlantic Provinces, we uprooted our family from Quebec and moved from homestead to seashore.

One year later I wrote “I couldn’t have dreamed this big for our family, and yet here we are. It wasn’t easy to uproot, but it was worth the effort, a thousand times over.” We had transitioned into our cozy chapter. That was 2019, a lifetime ago.

We moved to Nova Scotia with the intention of slowing down. Together, Danny and I carved out time for our family to create community, express creativity, and connect with nature in an impactful way.

The Maritime provinces are small and it’s easier here to became anchored to a place. It is in the Maritimes where I’ve experienced the sacred serenity of belonging.

A Closeness to the Natural World

In Nova Scotia, lakes abound and the ocean is never more than an hour away no matter where you are in the province, reminding us of how small and insignificant we are on this earth. There’s an effortless proximity to nature and this lends itself to a cozy lifestyle. The Japanese have a word for this – Shinrin-Yoku – forest-bathing or grounding ourselves in the natural world to lower stress levels.

Trail running, hiking, paddle boarding, skating, swimming, canoeing, walking, biking, kayaking and cross-country skiing are just some of the ways our family can get out in nature just by walking out our door. And it has saved our mental health many times over.

A Cozy Routine

The pace of life downshifts here on the East Coast. There are fewer options for keeping busy, less glitz and glam. However, instead of feeling like we’re missing out, we’ve developed meaningful routines and take comfort in the familiar.

• Shopping Saturday mornings at the famers’ market in a 200 year old brewery.
• MONRUN with a neighbourhood running group on the trail behind our house.
• A monthly cookbook club kitchen party where we’ve each contributed a dish.
• Sunday breakfast with an affirming church community who truly believes all are welcome.

Under these anchoring routines are pillars that help uphold a community: buying local, feeding the hungry, welcoming refugees, supporting artists, encouraging creative expression and more.

There’s a beautiful belonging to oneself that comes with slowing down, creating routine and embracing cozy. It is a state of being that isn’t garnered from status or attention; it brings a joy and contentment that isn’t tethered to external things.

Simple Bites

My Year of East Coast Cozy: The Series

And so, seven years after moving here, I’m making a plan to share our favourite bakes, activities and comfort meals. They all fall loosely under the theme of “East Coast Cozy”. I thought this might be my next book, but I didn’t want to wait 2+ years to get it out to you.

I’ll show you how we’re practicing the simplicity of cozy living in many small, accessible ways. The result is joy, comfort and a calm sense of self.

Stay tuned for:

• Tried ‘n true family recipes with a Maritime flair that you can make anywhere
• Zero waste tips & sustainable living 
• Approachable Home DIY 
• Ideas for creating special memories
• Ways to celebrate the small moments in life
• Budget-friendly entertaining

A post might be as simple as a do-ahead menu for a cozy weekend at the cottage/campsite/chalet/cabin/camp. Or it might be a step-by-step recipe for my Earl Grey latte with lavender honey. I hope you’ll follow along!

The series will highlight what has brought comfort to me and my family, but understand that it might not create the same kind of meaning for you. We all have our own journeys. But my hope is that somewhere in the series, a spark will ignite in you to create your own sense of cozy living.

A Cozy Moment, Wherever You Are

Cozy living is a gift to yourself, pushing back against the frenetic energy of the world. It can be cooking an omelet for one on a slow morning, or simmering a pot of soup on a winter night. It’s a forest walk with a pet or meeting a friend for coffee. You can carve out a cozy moment no matter what is going on – here are a few things that help.

Quick Cozy Checklist:

• Cozy textiles. Quilts. Blankets. Napkins. A favourite sweater. East Coasters embrace natural fibers most of all. Upcycled? Even better. Thrifted? Most often.
• Books. See my list below for cozy lifestyle books and cookbooks.
• Candles. Soooo many candles. Tall tapers. Tiny votives. Scented for aromatherapy.
• Warm drinks. Hot Spice Mulled Wine and Hot Apple Cider in winter. This handy milk frother is used daily for hot chocolates, vanilla lattes and Earl Grey lattes (recipe coming soon). In summer it makes cold foam for our ice coffee.
• A Craft. Embroidery. Knitting. Sewing. Crochet. Painting. Doodling. Clay. Whatever relaxes you.
• Reliable Cozy Recipes. To come! Or start with Banana Bread. Cinnamon Buns. Fish Chowder. Bolognese.

Further Resources for Cozy Living

Cozy Lifestyle Books:

• The Book of Hygge by Louisa Thomsen Brits
• Cozy, Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith
• The Art of Making Memories by Meik Wiking
• The Simplicity of Cozy by Melissa Alvarez

Cozy Cookbooks

Everyone will have their own comfort cookbook, but these are a few that come to my mind when I think of cozy cookbooks. I want to embody their sentiments of generosity, community, simplicity and care, as I invite others into my home.

• Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh
• The Secret of Cooking by Bee Wilson
• Brown Eggs and Jam Jars (by me!)
• Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love by Samin Nosrat
• Feast on Your Life: Kitchen Meditations for Every Day by Tamar Adler
• The Homemade Kitchen by Alana Chernila
• A Generous Meal by Christine Flynn

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