Announcer #1: "Modern Pioneering" is funded in part by Wild Blueberry Farmers of Maine.

Wild blueberries are full of flavor and nutrients.

A pop full of blueberry taste for your favorite smoothie, breakfast, or dessert.

Learn more at wildblueberries.com.

Announcer #2: At Muir Glen, we believe that organic farming benefits consumers, farmers, and ecosystems.

Announcer #1: And made possible by Paul Matteucci, Ben and Heather Grizzle, Susan Wiskow, and many other generous donors.

A complete list is available at GeorgiaPellegrini.com.

♪♪ Pellegrini: There are certain times of year that remind me to look for glimmers.

Small, meaningful moments that spark joy, peace, connection.

The holidays offer them generously if we let them.

The sparkle of first snow, the scent of sugar and spice drifting through the air, a hand held as you wander slowly towards something that feels like magic.

The older I get, the more I believe life's purpose is found in these small moments.

Not the rush, not the lists, not the things.

In a season that so easily becomes about more, I find myself wondering, what would it look like to lean in more thoughtfully, more consciously, more sustainably, and let the glimmers be enough?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Dried oranges dangling from garlands, soft light pooling in the corners of a room, snow falling steadily outside -- these are the things I return to.

A sustainable holiday, to me, isn't about perfection or performance.

It's about honoring the season, decorating with what the earth offers, mending what can be mended, gathering close instead of reaching outward.

It's a practice of restraint, of warmth, of finding enough in what's already here.

♪♪ ♪♪ Sometimes honoring what's here means seeing it differently and going to visit my new friend Robert Fuller, founder of Hunker & Vibe in upstate New York.

Robert is one of those rare people who recognizes beauty where others see discard.

His eye is drawn to the overlooked -- a forgotten chair at a yard sale, salvaged wood, something left quietly at the edge of the road.

Where the world sees something spent, he sees possibility.

There's a kind of sustainability in that.

Not just recycling, but reimagining, extending the life of an object, continuing its story.

In a season so often defined by newness, Robert reminds me that meaningful gifts don't have to be new at all.

They can carry history, texture, a past life.

And in that way, they feel all the more lasting.

Fuller: I was born and raised in New York City and I have always been a creative person.

I've always made stuff with my hands.

As an only child, I always had the ability to focus on my creativity, which was great.

I must have worked in finance for about two or three years before I said, you know, "This is just misery.

You know, I need to do something else.

I need to do something that's not associated with corporate life."

I had the hobby of repurposing because I would also collect vintage furniture, and so I would come across objects that were beautiful but seemed to have been forgotten.

I would bring those objects home.

Some of it was broken, missing parts and pieces, but still beautiful -- things like old radios with beautiful wood cabinetry, crates that had quirky adverts inscribed on them.

And I'd start tinkering with them and repurposing them into functional furniture and pieces I could use around the house.

Working with reclaimed and recycled materials, it makes you feel like you're working with the past.

These objects were created at a time that was simpler.

People really cared about craftsmanship.

When I look at an object that's old and forgotten, I see the potential of what it can be.

I think that there is going to be a place for craftsmanship and one-of-a-kind objects, custom things, because there are people who seek that.

They want that individuality and uniqueness.

And you'll notice that we have that one inch of overlap, which is perfect.

So you'll give that some glue right on the edge there.

Nice technique.

Pellegrini: I'm getting better.

Fuller: Very nice.

[Laughs] And fold that onto there.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: When I collect objects, I don't always have in mind what they're going to be.

A lot of times, the object itself dictates what it's going to become.

An example is a military metal box.

It can become a footstool.

It can become an ottoman.

It can become a minibar.

It can become a pet bed.

But when I start putting my hands on it and bringing hardware to it, I go with the feeling of what the piece wants to be.

That's the only way it becomes a successful item.

Leave about an inch of the fabric uncut.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: All right.

Now, Georgia, guess what we're going to do next.

Pellegrini: More glue?

Fuller: That's right.

So to make it less messy, peel back the layers of the flaps.

Pellegrini: And I'll just go all the way around.

Fuller: That's right.

When I started transforming objects into functional pieces of furniture, I tried my hand at selling some of them at some of the local artisan craft markets in the Northeast here, where I live, and lo and behold, people love them.

They supported what I was doing, and it came to the point where that gave me the encouragement I needed to make this more than just a hobby.

One of the misconceptions is that it only appeals to those who like traditional or rustic, and that's not the case at all.

I have some clients and customers who have modern and monochromatic homes, where taking a repurposed piece from the past seems to just breathe life into the space.

It's just that right bit of character that's needed for the home.

And that's our last spot.

I've pre-cut some felt... Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: ...and folded it so that it is the same size... Pellegrini: Slides right in that corner.

Fuller: ...as two interior walls.

And so it slides right in the corner.

Pellegrini: That is beautiful.

Fuller: See that?

You'll do this piece.

Pellegrini: Okay.

So you fold it like a napkin.

Fuller: Yep.

Pellegrini: And just line it along the corner.

Fuller: That's right.

Pellegrini: And it just opens right up.

Fuller: And you can just take the time and glue that so it doesn't move.

Pellegrini: Sure.

Fuller: Who would think that that is a milk carton?

Pellegrini: I love it.

What a great idea.

And here's some finished versions you've done.

Look at this.

Fuller: That's right.

Pellegrini: I love the idea of making a tissue-box cover.

Fuller: I have one more thing I want to show you.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: It's a pillow.

Pellegrini: Really?

Fuller: A homemade throw pillow.

Pellegrini: Without a sewing machine?

Fuller: That's right.

Without a sewing machine.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: I've already pre-cut a piece of fabric.

Pellegrini: Perfect square, it looks like.

Fuller: That's right.

And we're going to make a 12-inch pillow.

And I've also added a little embellishment, iron-on letters from the craft store.

Pellegrini: "Good vibes."

Fuller: Good vibes.

That's right.

And I've also taken my pen and/or marker and a straight-edge and created the borderline for my 12-inch pillow.

Where you see the X's, that is about an inch, and that will not be seen.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: Very important.

What we're going to do is take our hem tape or fusion tape.

You're going to line up the tape along the marker on the side of the X's.

Pellegrini: Got it.

Fuller: When we line this tape up, we're going to tape it with masking tape.

Pellegrini: Okay.

So just to keep it taut and make sure -- Fuller: That's right, so it doesn't move.

We're going to fuse the two pieces of fabric together.

So we don't want that to move.

Perfect.

We're going to make an envelope back to this.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: We're going to take a piece of fabric, and it's going to be the same width... Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: ...as our original fabric, but it's going to be approximately 10 inches longer.

We're going to first fold it in half, take our scissors, and cut it in half.

Do stuff like this.

I'm going to put this first half aside for now.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: And we're going to fold this half about 2 inches.

We're going to bring back the other half.

And we're going to line up the edge of that to the edge of the original fabric.

Pellegrini: Gotcha.

Fuller: So we've got this overlay that's approximately, oh, 5 inches of overlay.

The front of the fabric is face to face.

We're working inside out.

We're going to take our iron.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: A nice hot iron.

And we're fusing the fabric together with the sewing tape.

I like to use steam because the steam tends to make it fuse faster.

We'll seal all the ends where the contact between the fusion tape and the fabric are.

And that looks about okay for now, Georgia.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Fuller: Now, remember that overlap?

Pellegrini: Yeah.

Fuller: We're going to take two more strips of tape and then we'll close this flap back.

Pellegrini: Look at that.

Fuller: And give it one more press.

So about 5 seconds and another 5 seconds.

Ready for the reveal?

Pellegrini: Yes!

Fuller: So, what you'll do is you'll reach in and you'll gently turn it inside out.

And so there you have... Pellegrini: That is so beautiful.

Fuller: ...your 12-inch pillow case at this point.

Pellegrini: What a darling little pillow.

Fuller: You're ready for fill.

You want to do that?

Pellegrini: Yeah, let's do it.

Stuff it in the corners.

Make sure it's -- Fuller: That's right.

Pellegrini: You can keep playing with the filling and add more.

Fuller: And you can keep playing it until you reach the desired full.

Pellegrini: Look at that.

Fuller: That's great.

Pellegrini: I love it.

Fuller: Good vibes, Georgia.

I don't see myself as a designer, an inventor, or a storyteller, really.

I see myself as a repurposer.

The objects I work with have already been designed.

I'm just redesigning them.

They've already been invented, for the most part.

I'm just reinventing it into something else.

And as for storytelling, they've told their story.

I'm simply retelling a different story for them so that they can keep living on.

Pellegrini: I like witnessing the way each of us shares our stories.

For Robert, it's in giving an object new life.

For me, it's in the recipes I make and share and pass on, bringing them to the table, especially in the months that ask us to gather close.

This is my favorite dessert to make around the holidays or for a special occasion.

It's really quite simple to make, but it looks like a showstopper.

I'm going to start with my pastry crust.

I've got 3 cups of flour right here.

I've got 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt.

And to that, I'm going to add some very cold butter fresh out of the refrigerator.

I'm going to cut that into cubes.

All right, now you're going to break those apart with your fingers.

This is where you get your hands dirty.

Just throw those in there.

We're going to make this into a sandy, pebbly consistency with our hands.

Just really get in there and give it a good squeeze, but just until it's incorporated.

Now, to that I'm going to add one egg that I beat with a touch of water.

Maybe about a teaspoon.

A nice mix.

You don't want it to be too wet.

You can also start to press it together with your hands.

Now you're going to want to form this into a nice disc.

Give it a nice squeeze and then put this in some plastic or some beeswax wrap.

Loose cover.

And we're going to pop this in the freezer.

While my dough sets in the freezer, I'm going to make my filling.

Now, for the filling, I like to do a variety of apples, some that will cook down and get really soft, some that will be more firm and hold their structure.

You want about 4 or 5 apples, depending on their size.

And once you've peeled them, you just pop out those cores.

I just cut them in half, dice them really roughly.

Nothing fancy.

Add my apples right into this little saucepot.

Teaspoon of sugar.

A little bit of lemon juice, which helps keep the brightness of the flavor.

Just about a teaspoon.

And then a splash of water.

This will just allow the apples to steam and cook down more easily.

I'm also going to put a lid on there to help them steam, and I'm going to put them on a low setting and let them cook for about 15, 20 minutes, until they break down.

I'll stir them occasionally.

While our filling cooks and our pastry crust gets more firm, I'm going to work on the topping for this tart.

Now, these are some apples that are a little bit sweeter, crisper.

They hold their structure better.

I love a pink lady apple.

You want a whole range of sizes.

So you're going to start by just capturing the edge and using your finger to guide the knife.

And we're just going to go slowly and thinly slice these apples as thinly as your knife and your knife skills will allow.

You want some that are paper-thin, because that is going to be used for the rosette in the center of the tart, which I'll show you.

Okay, my dough is nice and chilled.

I'm going to check on my filling.

It's been steaming for about 20 minutes.

Wow, that looks perfect.

Some of it looks a bit like applesauce, and some of it's still chunky, which is exactly what you want.

So I'm going to turn this off.

Texture is a good thing.

And while it cools, I'm going to roll out my dough.

♪♪ I make this about 1/4 inch thick, a little bit wider than your tart pan.

I'm using a 9-inch drop-bottom tart pan.

It has some nice fluted edges, which I love because it gives that tart a finished, polished look like it's from a professional bakery.

Woman: ♪ Angels we have heard on high ♪ ♪ Sweetly singing o'er the plains ♪ Pellegrini: Okay.

Now, it's not going to be perfect around the edges here, but that's the beauty of this crust is that you can piece it together.

So if you have any little bits that have fallen on the counter, just add those and press them into the edges.

Woman: ♪ What the gladsome tidings be ♪ ♪ Which inspired your heavenly song ♪ Pellegrini: I got my filling.

It's a little bit chunky.

Roasted fruit, if cooked low and slow, really has this natural sweetness, which means you don't need a lot of sugar.

All right, I think we're nice and smooth here.

Now, my favorite part, which is decorating.

We have our different-sized apple slices.

We've got some that are larger, some that are small, but they're all quite thin.

So what I do is I start with the larger ones, and as I come across smaller ones, I just put them aside so I can use them later and I start layering them on each other.

So you start on the edge and you layer them about 3/4 on top of each other, just like so.

♪♪ Once you get all the way around, you start going in an opposite direction with the petals and you're going to create the beginning of your rosette.

And now, as I go and create more layers, these flower petals are going to overlap in all sorts of ways.

And this is when it becomes a little bit more haphazard.

But that's the fun of it.

Every one looks just a little bit different.

Okay, we are at the center.

So, for the finishing touch, I'm going to add just a few more cubes of cold butter.

Dot it along the top.

This is going to help it have a uniform golden color as it cooks.

I have my oven preheated at 425.

I'm going to pop it in there for about 10 minutes, and then I'm going to lower the temperature to 350 degrees for about 50 to 60 minutes more, until it gets golden brown.

I'm just taking my tart out.

It's got this beautiful golden-brown color.

Now, I have a finishing touch.

It's an apricot glaze.

It's simply apricot preserves that I mixed with about a tablespoon of water.

I microwaved it for about 30 seconds.

I'm just going to brush it on gently while the tart is still warm.

And as it cools, it's going to give it a glossy shine.

Makes you look like a real pro.

And then, once it cools, I'm going to pop it out of the tart pan and plate it.

And we have a beautiful showstopping dessert, which is great for a special occasion or the holidays.

Enjoy.

Woman: ♪ Gloria ♪ Pellegrini: I like giving this tart to someone.

It marks a moment with nothing more than a few apples and a little care.

It reminds me of two people who also find beauty in simplicity, Lisa Przystup and Jonathon Linaberry, a writer and a musician who make their home in Delhi, New York.

There's something especially inspired about the way they live in winter.

Lisa approaches the holidays with a kind of quiet theater, layering handmade paper chains, dreaming up doorway curtains from upcycled fabric, setting a table that feels like a stage awaiting its cast.

Even papier-mâché swans arrive for their curtain call.

They remind me that celebration doesn't have to be excessive to be extraordinary, that well-lived spaces are built slowly, shaped in layers, and that small glimmers tended with care become something lasting.

♪♪ Przystup: I want to create a universe that's contained within itself, an entire world set apart from what's outside, a full experience.

I want it to feel fun and playful, magical and whimsical.

And I think there's a couple elements to my style.

First and foremost, the foundation of it is based on objects that have a certain degree of timelessness.

And in that, there is this nostalgia.

When Jonathon and I met, he's half-Ukrainian, I'm half-Polish.

When you start sharing the holidays with somebody, you learn very quickly what their traditions are.

I was so thrilled to know that he grew up eating the same things.

He would make a big pot of borscht for us and put the big pot of borscht behind the passenger seat of the car, and we were like little borscht fairies, just ladling it out to all of our families.

It was something he grew up with and now a key part to our holiday tradition.

Pellegrini: What do you have in here?

Linaberry: Oh, so right now, this is just beef stock.

The borscht I make is a very forgiving soup.

It can have meat in it.

It can be leaning more towards vegetables.

Pellegrini: Can I peel this beet for you?

Linaberry: Please.

It's the last one.

It's got to get done.

Pellegrini: Great.

Linaberry: The holidays, every meal was a big deal.

I will say that.

But especially Christmas Eve was the big one.

Pellegrini: Do you dice?

Do you slice?

Linaberry: Halve the beets and kind of slice them into about 1/4-inch half-rounds.

I have this pan heating.

I'm going to add, like, a high-heat oil to it.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Linaberry: Grapeseed oil, because it doesn't smoke.

Pellegrini: Yeah.

Linaberry: So, I'm adding some onions here, some chopped onions.

Add the carrots to it.

And we're just going to let them sauté and get some color.

Add salt and pepper to it.

Once the onions get a little translucent, I'm going to add some tomato paste to it and let that caramelize a little bit underneath it.

And, so, while that's cooking, you can add the beets and the potatoes.

Pellegrini: Little red skins?

Linaberry: Little red skins, yeah.

I'm going to turn the heat up on that.

We're going to bring this to a simmer.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Linaberry: We're ready to add the tomato paste, 2 to 3 tablespoons.

-All right, we got one, two... Linaberry: That's great.

Pellegrini: It smells really nice.

You can start to smell that tomato paste caramelizing.

Linaberry: Mm-hmm.

You can already see the soup turning that beautiful, iconic red color.

We're going to add the tomatoes next and then let this cook for another few minutes.

Add the onions and carrots to the pot.

You want to give that soup a nice little stir.

Start cooking usually in the morning.

I have it on the stove for the better part of the day.

We'll wait a little bit, but we will add cabbage to it and finish it off with a little white vinegar and dill.

Pellegrini: Okay.

Toward the end.

Linaberry: Yeah, towards the end.

Yeah.

Pellegrini: All right.

I can't wait to try it.

Linaberry: Yeah.

Przystup: The holiday season is so short.

This season can often feel very rushed.

So I think it's about saying, "Okay, do one thing, make one thing."

And it feels good because it kind of gives you, like, an easy lift and you've succeeded.

Every year, I like to make a wreath.

In the past, I've sourced grapevine armatures.

You can get them at the flower market.

Because we lived in Brooklyn, there was no walking around, grabbing grapevine.

Last year was the first year that I actually foraged, found grapevine.

Ooh!

I had gloves.

I took the gloves off.

I regret taking the gloves off.

♪♪ That's a great find.

Pellegrini: A nice, delicate one.

Przystup: Yeah.

The grapevine creates a natural armature.

So I just sort of start shoving them in, and it usually will just hold it.

Woman" ♪ Three hundred and twenty-one days ♪ ♪ I spent the better half of the year ♪ ♪ Just holding your space ♪ Przystup: I like to make them kind of asymmetrical so you can see -- and I'll usually leave a space here for pine cones and, you know, larger items.

When I'm sourcing things, whether it's furniture or ornaments or a certain, like, weight of paper for a paper chain, it is a mishmash of a lot of different things.

But I think, ultimately, what it comes down to is the act of noticing, which is just something I do probably excessively, but for better or for worse, it is a real part of the fabric of who I am.

Look how perfect.

Pellegrini: So fun.

Przystup: I love that -- it's like you just don't know, and then you hold it up and you're like, "Oh, yeah, this is right."

Woman: ♪ Small piece of heaven on Earth in this town ♪ ♪ It's only Christmas if you're coming around ♪ Pellegrini: I'm really enamored by these pine cones.

Przystup: Should we try?

Should we clip this guy and see if we can -- Pellegrini: Yeah, let's do that.

Przystup: And I think we'll just use the floral wire to... Pellegrini: Yeah.

It looks like you don't need to use a lot, which is nice.

You just sort of tuck it in.

Przystup: Yeah.

Pellegrini: But your approach, too, is not about making it this perfect, even, fluffy circumference.

Przystup: Yes.

Yes.

Pellegrini: It's about sort of this wild, sort of leaning in to the organic, wild nature of it all.

Przystup: Yeah.

To me, it's about the lines of always keeping your eye moving.

Pellegrini: Mm-hm.

Przystup: The act of making something during the holidays versus something store-bought, I think it offers you connectivity within yourself.

It really, like, puts you in your body.

And then the connectivity between what you're doing, the paintbrush and the paint and the paper or the papier-mâché.

Like, it's a very tactile experience.

And I think that we are not touching and making.

And there's something really special, though, about sitting at a table, having some nice music on, and making something, sitting next to somebody.

Pellegrini: Oh, wow.

Przystup: There it is.

Pellegrini: Look how fun.

Przystup: I like how long it is.

It extends the blueprint of the wreath.

Maybe I'll do one more bow, too.

♪♪ I think interiors are so fascinating because it feels like a very apparent reflection on what somebody values.

They're in that house every day.

A lot of it, too, is community.

We have so many talented and creative friends.

You go into their homes and you see this thing that they found, that they noticed, that they sourced.

So I think that that noticing carries over into the things we end up bringing into our home, and it's just these really beautiful, small, quiet moments.

If you were to ask Jonathon, he would say, like, traditions are like a North Star for me, almost to a fault, almost excessively.

They are such a way to ground you in your life, in the season, in the way you move through the world, and then you've got this amazing layered patchwork of the memories that were handed to you that your life was imbued with.

And then you imbue your life with your own traditions that you keep getting to layer on.

Woman: ♪ Silent night ♪ ♪ Holy night ♪ Pellegrini: There's something sacred about this kind of gathering.

Simple food, handmade details, familiar light.

In a world that moves so quickly toward the next thing, the joy is in honoring what's already here.

Maybe a sustainable holiday is just that.

Choosing presence over excess, care over consumption, connection over clutter.

The beauty of the season isn't in what we purchase, but in what we practice.

Passing recipes down, reusing what still has life, gathering close enough to see one another clearly.

Sustainability at its heart is stewardship -- of objects, of land, of tradition, of one another.

And sometimes it looks exactly like this.

A lit window in winter.

A table set for friends.

Letting the glimmers warm us from the inside out.

Woman: ♪ Jesus, Lord at thy birth ♪ ♪ Jesus, Lord at thy birth ♪ ♪♪ Announcer #1: "Modern Pioneering" is funded in part by Wild Blueberry Farmers of Maine.

Wild blueberries are full of flavor and nutrients.

A pop full of blueberry taste for your favorite smoothie, breakfast, or dessert.

Learn more at wildblueberries.com.

Announcer #2: At Muir Glen, we believe that organic farming benefits consumers, farmers, and ecosystems.

Announcer #1: And made possible by Paul Matteucci, Ben and Heather Grizzle, Susan Wiskow, and many other generous donors.

A complete list is available at GeorgiaPellegrini.com.

♪♪