Mere weeks into our New Year’s cleanse and we’ve fallen off the no-bread wagon.

One visit to Le Matin bakery and we were cruelly brought down by a sourdough boule. Chef Jean-Pierre Challet’s new Leslieville shop is also sinfully stocked with raspberry clafoutis, lemon tarts, quiches lorraine and pain au chocolat. Dense and delish, the soft-crusted baguettes ($2.75) are made with beer yeast giving them a certain je ne sais quoi. We guiltily slathered ours in butter and red fig jam.

Alas, there’s always next year. —Marianne Wisenthal

Le Matin, 5 Coady Ave., Toronto, 416-778-1509, www.lematinbakery.com

“Lampshades are like the shoes and handbags of the home,” says doyenne of design, Nina Campbell. “The right shoes can make an outfit – but if you have the wrong shoes, you can feel old-fashioned in the smartest suit.”

This super-cool shade ($315) from Shana Anderson is up there with our favourite pumps and clutches. The local textile designer covers shades in Toronto skylines pulled from archival and current photos of the city.

Hang it the guest loo or above the dining room table. Just don’t let city politics be the only thing you talk about over dinner. —Athena Tsavliris

At Made, 867 Dundas St. W., Toronto, 416-607-6384, www.madedesign.ca

Even on the tightest deadline I can find myself wandering over to Twitter, taking the Downton Abbey quiz or streaming the latest episode of The Vampire Diaries. If you too can find seemingly endless ways to procrastinate, check out this simple solution.

The Pomodoro Technique is a five-step time management process created by Francesco Cirillo. It is based, in part, on the idea that taking breaks while you work is a good thing. The steps are as follows:

1. Choose a task to be accomplished
2. Set your timer to 25 minutes (One “Pomodoro”)
3. Work on the task until the timer rings (no checking Facebook, no texting – just 25 minutes of focus)
4. Take a short break of about three to five minutes
5. Every four Pomodoros take a longer break (15-30 minutes)

It might seem basic, but what’s bizarre is how much you can accomplish in those first 25 minutes of uninterrupted work. Sure I might check the timer once or twice, but after investing a full Pomodoro or two on writing a proposal or section of a report, I often find I’m over the hardest part—the start.

—Julie Whelan

Download a Pomodoro Technique cheat sheet here www.thepomodorotechnique.com 

Mae West said, “keep a diary and it’ll keep you.”

Here’s a clever idea for modern diarists. From print-on-demand publisher, Ether Press, a stylish book ($10-25) of tweets is a neat way to archive your online musings.

And unlike our lugubrious teenage outpourings, this journal shouldn’t embarrass as much in five-years time. —Athena Tsavliris

www.ether-press.com

Between those Christmas puddings, ports and hefty wedges of Stilton, we could all use a post-crimbo detox. I refuse to live on cabbage soup, but I am prepared to trade lattes for tea with medicinal oomph.

Start the day with this super detoxifying blend ($7) of lychee, lemon, flowers, Kombucha and Green Tea from Toronto’s tea kings, Tealish. 728 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-203-3301 www.tealish.com

Packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, Sea Buckthorn ($5.99) is a superhero in the plant world with healing properties as long as the Great Wall.  At www.noahsnaturalfoods.ca

With delicious ingredients including cinnamon, ginger and licorice, cardamom, clove and black pepper, this tea ($30) from Teaopia warms the cockles, cleanses and calms. At www.teaopia.ca —Athena Tsavliris

Thanks to a wildly eccentric Parisian neighbour, I got to spend many a childhood Christmas sporting shimmery paper hats while gorging on Galette des Rois under the table of a canary yellow kitchen.

An honorary Gaul, I still look forward to epiphany. Every year my family hides a fève in the cake and we wait to see who will claim the royal title.  

Herewith, the best galettes in town:

Petite Thuet, ($18), various locations, www.petitethuet.com

Rahier Patisserie, (from $17.30), 1586 Bayview Ave., Toronto, 416-482-0917,  www.rahierpatisserie.com

Jules Café Patisserie, (from $19), 617 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-481-1666, Toronto, www.julescafe.ca

Patachou, ($25), 1120 Yonge St., Toronto, 416-927-1105

Patisserie Sebastien, (from $20), 3306 Yonge St., Toronto, 416-544-0333.

—Athena Tsavliris

If Maria von Trapp can make clothes out of curtains, we can certainly think up imaginative ways to wrap a gift. Herewith, a few of our crafty favourites.

Material Girl
Fabric is always a lovely alternative to paper. Those old Toile de Jouy cushion covers would work beautifully, or how about cutting out the wine stain from an out-of-use table cloth and using that? If the collars and cuffs are looking tatty on your chap’s shirts, you could up-cycle them too. 

Gift Wrap
If you like the idea of the wrapping being a gift in itself, why not opt for a Marimekko tea towel or chic vintage silk scarf?

Read All About It
Newspaper is a good one too. I like Corriere dello Sport and the Financial Times because they’re pink!

Kitchen Aid
Your kitchen drawers are likely filled with possibilities. Parchment paper stenciled with glittery stars is so pretty and festive.

Gift tags are so easy to make, and remember, most things look better with a bow on top. —Athena Tsavliris

Our guest wine columnist, Natalie Maclean, shares her top wine picks to make your holidays festive:

2009 Hillebrand Winery Sauvignon Blanc Trius, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario: Terrific mouth-watering flavours of ripe green melon and grapefruit. Ultra-refreshing and perfect for salads, seafood and sparkling conversation on New Year’s. Price: $14.05  Score: 87/100.

2009 Cono Sur Viognier, Chile: Everything’s coming up daisies with the Cono Sur Viognier, a lovely wine with notes of field flowers, peach and dried apricot. It’s perfect for holiday parties, especially those involving cheese. Price: $9.95  Score: 87/100.

2009 Louis Bernard Syrah Blend, Cotes Du Rhone, France: A solid performer, year after year. This robust red offers tasty notes of dark red fruit, cedar and some smoke. Perfect for hearty meat meals.  Price: $12.15  Score: 87/100.

2006 Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Riserva, Tuscany, Italy: A lovely, classic chianti that celebrates all that’s best about Tuscan living and the joys of pasta and fresh tomato sauce. Dark berries and smoke with mouth-watering acidity and full-bodied weight. Great gift wine. Price: $15.95  Score: 91/100.

2008 Lenz Moser Prestige Trockenbeerenauslese, Austria: Sublime! Gorgeous dessert wine that’s complex and endless. Apricot and peach with that distinctive note that botrytis adds. This one will make sugarplums dance in your head; its perfect with Christmas fruitcake. $19.95  Score: 96/100. —Natalie MacLean

For more on these wines as well as holiday wine picks and pairings, visit www.nataliemaclean.com

With Cliff Richard on the radio and an eggnog chilling, we’ve set the stage for our annual holiday biscuit-baking marathon.

Thanks to Kevin Lynch over at Closet Cooking we’ve added plenty of delicious cookie and cake recipes to our repertoire. There’s a boozy fruitcake, gooey maple butter tarts and some classic, fail-proof shortbread.

The Toronto-based blog (his kitchen is the size of a closet) is filled with imaginative recipes and photos so tasty looking you'll want to dive into your screen.

Now, throw me a pinny and just call me, Delia. —Athena Tsavliris

www.closetcooking.com

Seafood is packed with skin-worthy omegas but thoughts of overfishing can cause unfortunate worry lines.

Appease guilt with weekly visits to Hooked, the new ocean-friendly fishmonger. Here, sustainable catch like ocean-friendly purse seined sardines, hand-netted Baja shrimp and line-caught mackerel is sourced directly from fishermen. Chef-run, the cheery staff offer great cooking tips and wine-pairing advice, while the in-house kitchen hosts classes (from $50) on everything from poaching and shucking to braising and stewing. The trout roe caviar is divine and we’re completely addicted to the fish cakes (slather in wasabi mayo and serve with a crisp glass of Riesling).

Finally our conscience is as clear as our skin. —Marianne Wisenthal

Hooked, 888 Queen St. E., Toronto, 416-828-1861, www.hookedinc.ca