The Winter Survival Guide

8. Max out your library card.

illustration by jameson simpson

Having ditched iTunes and Netflix in favor of no-coin entertainment a few years ago, I’m not surprised my lowly library is emerging as a belle of the downturn ball: BPL card applications spiked by more than 30 percent last year, as newly thrifty Bostonians loaded up on free books, music, and DVDs. And with prime couch-surfing weather here, the library’s recent push to stock boxed TV series (mainstreamers like Lost as well as smart imports like Slings and Arrows, each set counting as just one item) is a gift from the budget gods.

—J. L. Johnson

9. Turn off the Wii and plan a hard-core board game night.

Everyone loves a boozy round of Taboo. (Well, at least everyone in our office focus group does.) But if you’re up for the challenge—i.e., willing to leave out the drinking part and actually concentrate—there are more intellectually rewarding diversions with which to pass a wintry evening. David Leschinsky, owner of Coolidge Corner’s Eureka Puzzles, recommends these “gateway” games, options that “people who used to play Clue can move into without crashing and burning,” he says.

From left, Portobello Market, Hive, Hit or Miss.

Portobello Market Set in London’s famed street fair circa 1900, the game rewards players for building the most-lucrative booths. The ability to plot stall locations and customer volume boosts the strategy factor beyond Monopoly levels.

Hive The object of this tile-based game is to capture your opponent’s queen bee using grasshoppers, spiders, and beetles. Unlike chess, there is no board: As play progresses, pieces are added and the game area expands. (Bonus: If you lose interest, the insect-emblazoned ceramic-composite game pieces look great as coffee table décor.)

Hit or Miss This variation on the ubiquitous word/trivia game Scattergories ups the ante by requiring players to brainstorm unique responses and guess their opponents’ answers.

Or, just go with an updated take on the old favorite. Hasbro didn’t win any friends by squashing Facebook’s Scrabble homage, Scrabulous, but the Rhode Island–-based gamemaker may have slightly redeemed itself by modernizing Clue’s classic characters. In the new version, Colonel Mustard is all-American football star Jack Mustard, and Professor Plum is now a billionaire video-game designer. Players also have the option of offing someone in the spa instead of the billiard room.

10. Transform your snow-emergency leftovers into something delicious.

Like the good prepared New Englander you are, you heeded the forecast and filled the fridge for the big blizzard…which turned out to be just flurries. Now you’re stuck with aging bread, gallons of milk, and two dozen eggs. What to do? French toast is the obvious option, but this dried-cranberry bread pudding from restaurant Sel de la Terre puts those withering ingredients to much more memorable use.

6 eggs
2 c. milk
2  c. plus 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1/4 tbsp. pepper
1 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. dried cranberries, finely chopped
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
3 c. stale bread or day-old pastries, torn into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk eggs, milk, and 2 cups of the cream until combined. Fold in salt, pepper, nutmeg, vanilla, cranberries, and thyme.

2. Add bread to mixture, toss, and let sit for an hour.

3. Coat 9-by-13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour in the custard mixture. Refrigerate for an hour. (The bread should still be wet. If it’s too dry after an hour, add remaining 1/2 cup cream.)

4. Place baking pan in a hot-water bath (use large roasting pan). Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

11. Go to the symphony. (For the people-watching.)

photographs by tim llewellyn