Growing up in Venezuela, Canada, Indonesia and the U.S., I’ve experienced many variations of the “traditional” holiday meal. But no matter where I am in the world, one thing has always remained constant: the joy of sharing a delicious meal with the loved ones in my life.

For many people, the holiday season is a chance to spend more time with family and friends. It also means attending or hosting more events than usual, and more cooking and stress to get everything prepared.

Our goal with the Assistant is to help you get things done, especially in the kitchen. To make holiday cooking even easier (and more delicious), bestselling author, entrepreneur and chef, Ayesha Curry’s recipes are starting to roll out on the Google Assistant—so you can get step-by-step help cooking on Smart Displays, like Nest Hub Max.

Ready to give one of Ayesha’s recipes a try? Just say, “Hey Google, show me recipes from Ayesha Curry” and you’ll see a list of some of her favorite appetizers, entrees and desserts. And we have another treat for you … you can ask the Assistant for Ayesha’s brand new recipe—Cast Iron Fall Bread Pudding with Brown Butter Apples—which she provided exclusively for Assistant users. To get the recipe and start cooking, just say, “Hey Google, show me Ayesha Curry’s fall bread pudding recipe” to your Smart Display.

Looking for other ways your Assistant can help out in the kitchen? Here are a few ideas:

• Quickly convert measurements or figure out a substitute ingredient. Just ask, “Hey Google, how many tablespoons in a cup?” or “Hey Google, what’s a substitute for buttermilk?” 

• Learn a new cooking technique. Try asking your Assistant, “Hey Google, show me videos for how to laminate pastry dough” or “Hey Google, show me how to brown butter.”

• Search for recipes based on specific dietary needs. Just say, "Hey Google, show me gluten free stuffing recipes" or "Hey Google, show me vegan broccoli casserole recipes."

• And when you discover a recipe that you love or want to try out in the future, you can easily save and view it in your own personal Cookbook on Smart Displays like Nest Hub Max. I just saved Ayesha’s Butternut Squash Pasta with Edamame recipe to make for my kids this weekend!

Whether you’re a novice cook hosting your first Friendsgiving, or a seasoned chef putting on your 20th annual Thanksgiving dinner, the Assistant can provide hands-free help so you can pull off the perfect holiday meal. 

Nest Mini hits shelves today, just in time to help you catch up with what’s been happening in Arendelle as Disney’s “Frozen 2” hits theaters. Join Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf around the campfire for a dozen tales that you can only hear on the new Nest Mini (and other Google Assistant smart speakers), available starting today. 

To get started, just say, “Hey Google, tell me a Frozen story” and you can pick which character you’d like to narrate (and more stories will be coming by the end of the year).

For families who want to relive the films at home, Google Home and Nest smart speakers can help read along with you. When you read Disney’s “Frozen” and “Frozen 2” Little Golden Books aloud, the Google Assistant brings the books to life with sound effects and music. Just say, “Hey Google, read along with Frozen 2” to get started. 

 Parents can give their kids access to the Assistant on Nest Mini and other Google Assistant smart speakers  by creating an account for kids under 13  (or the applicable age in your country) through Family Link, then linking their Google Account and voice to Google Nest. Google Nest already comes with lots of other Disney games, so you can go on interactive adventures with some of your favorite characters right from your living room.

You can pick up your Nest Mini, Google’s newest smart speaker with better sound, an upgraded Assistant and a sustainable design, at the Google Store, Target, Best Buy and more retailers. So, get ready to gather the family around your new Nest Mini and go back to Arendelle with Disney’s “Frozen” 2 stories and be sure to catch the film in theaters on November 22.

Growing up, I loved everything about Halloween: the candy, staying up past my bedtime and my small suburban town that came to life at night. But I always struggled with finding the right costume. I’d ask my friends and roam party stores for hours to no avail. One time, I even dressed up as “binary code”—I wore head-to-toe silver and wrote “Happy Halloween” in binary on my costume—in a moment of last-minute desperation. 

Had I worked at Google then, I’m sure this idea would have been more popular with my peers, but it didn’t quite land at the time. But thanks to the tech available today, it’s much easier to come up with a great costume idea. Now, a simple search or voice command can lead me to thousands of ideas instantly, and show me step-by-step how to recreate them myself. 

Come to think of it, technology has made so many things about Halloween easier. In celebration of that, we’re sharing 13 tips and tricks from Google Nest for Halloween—whether you’re trick-or-treating, hosting a party or staying in with a scary movie.

1. New! Enable spooky ringtones on Nest Hello.Starting today through early November, all Nest Hello users in the U.S. will have the ability to transform their doorbell chime into a cackling witch, a ghost, a vampire or a scary monster to make your front door a neighborhood destination on Halloween night. And the festive features don’t stop there: Winter ringtones are coming in late November.
2. Get costume and makeup inspiration. With Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max, you can watch YouTube videos with a simple command. For costume inspiration and DIY tips, just say “Hey Google, show me DIY Halloween costume videos,” or “show me Halloween makeup videos on YouTube,” and scroll through the list. 
3. “Hey Google, get spooky.”Say this command to one of your Google Nest speakers or displays and your device will start an hour-long playlist of “spooktacular” sounds and music to greet your trick-or-treaters or party guests.
4. Enjoy your favorite scary movie.Use Chromecast to cast your favorite scary movie to your TV (media content subscriptions may be required). To take your experience up a notch, you can create a speaker group for cast-enabled speakers around your entertainment center for room-filling sound effects, too. 
5. Get the family involved. If Grandma or Grandpa can’t see your trick-or-treaters all dressed up, simply give them a quick video call using Nest Hub Max and Duo: “Hey Google, video call Grandma.” 
6. Conquer your to-do list.Busy families have lots to prep for in the lead-up to Hallow’s Eve. As you remember things you have to do, just add them to a running list of reminders: “Hey Google, remind me to pick up cupcakes for school,” and when you head out for the day, you’ll have the reminder on your phone.
7. Add candy to your shopping list with ease.Just say, “Hey Google, create a list,” which you can then name “Candy Shopping,” and your Google Assistant will ask what you want to add. 
8. Learn a festive new recipe.Say “Hey Google, show me recipes for pan de muerto” to your Nest Hub display and see a list of traditional Day of the Dead bread recipes to choose from and follow along, completely hands-free.
9. Protect your home from Mischief Night.Nest cameras like Nest Cam Outdoor and Nest Hello notify you when activity is detected around your house, and you can talk and listen through the Nest app to deter trespassers and TP’ers. 
10. Find one-stop shopping near you.Just say, “Hey Google, show me Halloween stores nearby” to one of your smart displays to see options near you. Once you tap on one, you can say “Hey Google, call this store” to give them a ring (in the U.S., U.K., and Canada only).
11. Hear your favorite Halloween playlist in a heartbeat.Google Home Max is our smart speaker made for music lovers. Use it to blast your favorite playlist—whether your ideal Halloween tunes involve "The Monster Mash" or indie rock. 
12. Set up a ghostly guest network for your party.Using Google Wifi, you can create a separate network for your party guests and give it a fun name and password, like “Hocus Pocus.”
13. A party to remember, with help from our partners. Google Nest products work with over 30,000 partners in the U.S.—everything from smart lights to Wi-Fi plugs for smoke machines—so you can throw the ultimate Halloween party with a little help from tech. 

Homes are evolving quickly. We all started with one simple smart device (like a thermostat or a light bulb), but now many of us find ourselves living in homes with multiple devices from multiple companies. But privacy and data security hasn’t evolved with the growth of these devices.

Getting this right is the basis for the decisions we have been making at Nest. We’re living the commitments we published in May, putting your privacy and data safety first. While we’re focused on developing a more open platform, it must be grounded in security and safety, and that’s a tough balance to achieve.

Earlier this year, we announced that we’re moving from the Works with Nest program to Works with Google Assistant. Many of you had questions on how this will work. Today, we’re providing an update on what we’re doing to create an ecosystem that offers you greater flexibility to create a helpful home—one that’s just right for you. The Works with Google Assistant lets you control more than 30,000 devices from more than 3,500 partners, giving you lots of choices. 

We’re also adding new solutions to make Works with Assistant an even more flexible platform. That includes offering three additional ways to give you the integrations you’ve told us are important, and they’re combined with protections to keep your data private and secure. Here’s what you should know about our partners and your integrations:

• With the Device Access program, we are enabling qualified partners to request secure  access and control of your Nest devices in their apps and solutions, providing you more choices to control your home. You’ll be able to opt-into the program, and you can always control which partners have access to which devices in your home. As an example, if you have a security system that offers a Device Access integration, you’ll be able to view and control your Nest cameras and other devices directly from your security provider’s app. Device Access partners must pass an annual security assessment from one of our authorized testers. You can rest easy knowing we’re doing the hard work to safeguard your Google data to our standards. 

• Routines allow you to automate smart home experiences, and we’re expanding the Works with Google Assistant capabilities. Home Routineswill give you more flexibility to get the most out of your smart home devices. Soon we’ll be giving you a few new ways to experience Routines. First, you can choose to have your Nest devices trigger routines. For instance, if your connected smoke alarm identifies an emergency in your home, a Home Routine can flash your connected lights and turn them red to give you a visual cue. Or when it’s clear there’s nobody home, a Home Routine can turn down your thermostat, turn off your lights, and run your smart vacuum. Second, you can build your own Routines from scratch, or opt into common ones we've made for you. Third, some of the most innovative integrations were built by third party partners, so we’re also allowing partners to build custom routines. You’ll be able to browse and opt-in to using approved routines and choose to have Nest and other devices react and participate in that routine. You’ll always be in control, and can decide to opt in or out of these actions. All the while, your sensitive information won’t be shared, so your home data remains private.

• We’ll also invite smart home developer enthusiasts to participate in our Device Access for Individualssandbox, allowing you to directly control your own Nest devices for your private integrations and automations.

The Device Access API is available today, and we have several partners with new integrations coming soon. Home Routines will be coming early next year, with partner-made routines available later in 2020. If you’re a developer or a Nest customer interested in the Device Access API, or access to the sandbox, you can find more information on our Device Access site. 

We’re doing the hard work to make your Nest devices more secure and protect your privacy long into the future. What this means for you is better privacy and data security, and the flexibility to safely work with thousands of products from partners to create your helpful home.