Table of contents for January 2017 in Sunset

verb\'jәmp-'stärt\ • to start (a vehicle whose battery is not working) by connecting its battery to another source of power (such as the battery of another vehicle) • to cause (something) to start quickly • to give new energy to (something) JUMP-START YOUR LIFE. What does that mean, exactly—other than as a handy little catchphrase for a January edition of Sunset? What does it mean for you right now? One of the trickier aspects of editing a monthly magazine, particularly in this digital-first age, is the lag time between shipping an issue off to the printer and getting it into a reader's hands: You need to intuit popular sentiment weeks or months from the moment you produce a photo shoot or type words onto a screen. Never has that seemed…

IT'S THAT TIME of year when a line is drawn in the snow. On one side are the powderhounds who stockpile gear and bank PTO days waiting for the next dump. On the other side, the rest of us. We've sat in the traffic jams, slept in the cheesy chalets, and shivered our butts off, all in the name of fun. No more. We're here to tell you there's a better way. While you've stayed away, ski resorts have been upping their game, from adopting new snowmaking technologies to expanding their après scene beyond buffalo wings. Today the snow is better, the terrain is endless, and the base camps are badass. Make this the year you cross the line and call yourself a skier. STATS MORE RUNS, MORE FUN Resorts…

WE all know by now that eating more vegetables is good for us and for the planet. And there's never been a more delicious time to do it: Big flavors from the Middle East and Asia, combined with new choices of produce and grains, have transformed vegetarian cooking. We've brought these flavors into five easy, big-batch vegetarian recipes. Cook them on a weekend and they'll last at least a week in the refrigerator. Or, freeze them (for up to three months) as a gift to your future hungry self or family. Then, when you're ready for dinner, combine a couple or customize them with store-bought condiments. For minimal work, that's a lot of healthy eating. WEEKEND PLAN COOK BIG BATCHES OF … NO. 1 CHICKPEAS HERBED CHICKPEAS MAKES ABOUT 5…

EVERY SATURDAY, when Andrea Nguyen was a little girl in Vietnam, her mother cooked up a pot of the flavorful noodle soup known as pho, charring onions and ginger, then simmering meat and spices for hours. "We all have those smells that remind us of who we are, and pho is that for me," she says. These days, you can get pho in practically any town in the West, but a great home-cooked version is a world away. In Nguyen's upcoming The Pho Cookbook (Ten Speed Press; $20), the James Beard Award–nominated author explores the history of Vietnam's national soup and offers scrupulous recipes for beef, chicken, vegetarian, and vegan pho, along with regional twists and ways to use leftover broth and meat (pho fried rice!). For her Fast and…

BEST SOAK URBAN BATHHOUSE "We wanted to create a secret for people to stumble upon in the city—like a hot spring discovered while hiking in the mountains." So says Sunny Simmons about Onsen, his newly launched holistic spa and tearoom in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. Inspired by Japan's community bathhouses, he and his wife, Caroline Smith, bought a defunct auto body shop and transformed the former mechanics pit into a contemporary bathing pool, complete with a skylight fringed with ferns. Six private treatment rooms offer affordable massages, Reiki, and acupuncture; a small restaurant serves inventive dishes (thick rice porridge with miso kimchi and quail egg) along with a selection of teas and sakes. The duo spent three years building the spa by hand, he raiding secondhand shops for the steampunk-style…

[The following content appeared in the Northern California edition.] IDEA WE LOVE New Year blooms As other plants go dormant for the winter, many succulents are still in their prime. Certain aloes, for instance, send up spectacular blooms that can brighten the garden while all other plants are snoozing. At the San Diego Botanic Garden, the Aloe "Super Red" rises among shapely boulders, showing off its tall candles of scarlet blooms. Other cool-season favorites include coral aloe (A. striata), whose branched clusters of coral pink flowers last from midwinter into spring, and mountain aloe (A. marlothii), which sends up towering blooms ranging from golden yellow to orange and red in fall and winter. PLANT Nurseries are stocked with a wide selection of bare-root fruit trees this month. For Northern California…

Two years ago, as Natasha Lawyer and her husband, Brett Bashaw, wrapped up a six-month road trip, they found themselves dreading the return to their old life in Seattle—to put it mildly. "The idea of coming back and all our money going to rent pissed me off," says Lawyer, a freelance illustrator. Plus, after living out of a VW bus as they crisscrossed the country, they had proof that they could live lightly. "We learned we didn't need all the stuff we thought we did." So the couple found new digs: a 1971 Airstream they purchased for $4,600 and set up in an RV park just outside of Seattle. "We weren't in a position to buy a house in the city," says Bashaw, a special-needs educator. "An Airstream was a…

WINE PAIRING Lone Madrone 2013 Sheep Camp Zinfandel (Paso Robles; $45) SLOW-COOKER CARNITAS SERVES 6 / 40 MINUTES, PLUS 8 HOURS IN COOKER Using a slow-cooker to braise pork means you can start this recipe in the morning, go about your day, and just sizzle the meat right before dinner. Store any leftover carnitas in the cooking liquid and use for sandwiches, or serve over polenta. 5 tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral-flavored oil, divided 1 boneless pork shoulder roast (3½ lbs.; aka Boston butt) 1½ tsp. kosher salt 1 tbsp. pepper 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 tbsp. adobo sauce from canned chipotle chiles 1 tsp. achiote paste 4 wide strips orange zest 12 corn tortillas (6 in.) Pico de gallo, store-bought or homemade 1. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in…

A bustling seafood market is our happy place. In next month's issue, we're showcasing one of our favorites—San Diego's open-air Tuna Harbor Dockside Market—and we've partnered with the San Diego Tourism Authority to offer a greatest-hits getaway to this beautiful seaside city. The prize package includes round-trip airfare for two, courtesy of the SDTA; a three-night stay at The US Grant, a Luxury Collection Hotel; dinner for two at the Top of the Market, with views of San Diego Bay; two tickets to SeaWorld; and a Harbor Tour for two on Hornblower Cruises & Events. For more details on this Instagram contest, visit sunset.com/sandiegocontest.…

Allegedly, Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS, celebrated turning 40 this year. Objectively, it doesn't sound like there was time. When we meet at Malibu's One Gun Ranch, where he's dropped in for an event to spread the TOMS gospel (delivered with Bill Clinton–level charisma and Matthew McConaughey looks) and to learn about the property's volunteer programs, Mycoskie has just gotten back from a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his wife and collaborator, Heather, and their 2-year-old son Summit. Prior to that, his schedule verged on the Carmen Sandiego–an: One minute he was in Iowa, at the high school graduation of his Ethiopian adopted son, Wubetu (they met when Wubetu was 14); the next, he was at Cannes, accepting an award for his charitable work. In a few weeks, he'll…

1 THE HOME OFFICE A longtime design blogger carves out a quiet nook in a shared Seattle nest. TWO YEARS AGO, when Cassandra LaValle moved into her fiancé's South Seattle Craftsman, she was faced with the daunting task of merging not only closets but also disparate decorating styles. Craving dedicated space for her wardrobe, LaValle claimed the home's 140-square-foot attic, which had been retrofitted by a previous owner. With a little paint and new hardware, lighting, and furnishings, she created a cozy and chic dressing room that she chronicled on her design and lifestyle blog, Coco Kelley (cocokelley.com). At the same time, LaValle—whose company, Emerald Studio, styles shoots for clients such as Amazon and Starbucks—had been using a breakfast nook as her occasional workspace, complete with laptop cords and piles…

COMICE PEAR CLAFOUTIS SERVES 6 / 65 MINUTES, PLUS 15 MINUTES TO COOL Somewhere between a custard and a pancake, you'll find clafoutis. This version of the classic French dessert, made with slightly floral Comice pears, is best when the stem end of the pears yields slightly to the touch, signaling that the fruit is flavorful but neither hard nor squishy. Salted butter for the dish 2 firm-ripe Comice pears (1 lb. total), peeled, cored, and sliced lengthwise about ⅓ in. thick 1 cup whole milk 3 large eggs ⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp. granulated sugar 1½ tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. orange zest ⅛ tsp. nutmeg, preferably freshly grated ¼ tsp. kosher salt ½ cup flour Powdered sugar 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a shallow 3-qt. baking dish…