15 Ways to give back to your community

The holiday season is the perfect time to encourage your coworkers, alumni organization, civic group, or extended family to focus on others. While there are endless ways to give back this time of year, use this list to get you started.

1. Host a holiday meal for a single-parent family or an elderly neighbor.
2. Volunteer your time at a local pet shelter.
3. Visit a nursing home. You could take small gifts to hand out, but your greatest contribution will be spending time with the residents you meet.
4. Encourage everyone in your group to thank a uniformed firefighter or police officer for their service. (Make this a year-round gesture.)
5. Send homemade holiday cards to military personnel overseas.
6. Get a group together to be bell ringers.
7. Make the extra effort to smile at a stranger, speak to someone in an elevator or share a compliment at least once per day.
8. Choose a child's name from a giving tree and include your kids in picking out gifts.
9. Go to the grocery store together to purchase items for a food pantry.
10. Invite an international student to join you for holiday festivities.
11. Ask each person in your group to select a few of their books (in good condition) to donate to a school or library.
12. Deliver treats to the staff members at a nearby hospital who are working during the holidays.
13. Collect money to purchase gift cards for fast-food restaurants and deliver to a homeless shelter.
14. Clean out closets and take gently used coats, hats and gloves to a coat drive.
15. Contact local nonprofits to find out how you can help meet specific needs in your community.

Tips for smarter New Year's resolutions

With the New Year comes hope and optimism. But how can you make sure that your optimism doesn't conflict with reality? Here are some tips to help you make (and keep) your resolutions.

Do it for the right reasons. Are you making resolutions because you want to see positive changes in your life, or are you fueled by external pressure? If your motivations are pure, you'll be more likely to persevere when things get hard.

Get SMART. Facing a colossal goal can be anxiety producing. Try dividing big resolutions into SMART goals – objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. You're aiming for resolutions that are challenging but not discouraging.

Give yourself a break. Be kind to yourself and make it a point to celebrate your victories, no matter how small they seem. No one is always on the ball and sometimes life gets in the way of our good intentions. Taking pride in the process – and forgiving yourself for mistakes – will help you appreciate your success that much more.

Who knew? National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

To celebrate National Chocolate Covered Anything Day on Dec. 16, delight your taste buds by dipping these unique foods in your favorite type of melted chocolate.

• Potato chips make for a delicious snack that's both sweet and salty.
• Espresso beans covered in chocolate make a tasty treat for coffee lovers.
• Cereal is the perfect bridge between breakfast and dessert.
• Citrus fruits provide a pleasant combination of zesty tang and creamy goodness.
• Edamame is the newest addition to chocolate-covered beans.
• Jalapeño peppers are a fun option for adventurous eaters.
• Honeycomb is an especially unique addition to the realm of melted chocolate.
• Bacon becomes a sweet and savory combination – what's not to love?

Holiday Cheese Ball

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
10 fresh sage leaves
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 oz. Mascarpone cheese, softened
6 oz. shredded sharp white Cheddar cheese
½ cup toasted sliced almonds
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 cup pomegranate arils (seed pods)
Crackers

Directions
In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add sage leaves and cook for 1 minute per side. Remove sage and place on a paper towel. Reserve butter.

Beat cream cheese, Mascarpone and Cheddar with an electric mixer until combined. Add almonds, sage, reserved butter, salt, and pepper. Beat for 1 minute more.

Form mixture into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Spread arils on a paper towel. When cheese is chilled, uncover and roll in arils. Gently press arils into cheese until ball is covered. Serve immediately with crackers or refrigerate until ready to use.

Serves 6