Life

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) A quick dinner is often very dependent on how you stock your pantry. What do you stash away in your pantry for quick, easy meals? Here’s a peek inside my own pantry and freezer with ten good staples for quick weeknight meals. Read the full post at: The Kitchn

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Everyone around me seems to be revving up their fitness routine to get ready for spring. Friends order salads when we eat out, and family members are working out twice in one day. Me? I’m eating cake for breakfast. Read the full post at: The Kitchn

We’re only in the first week of Small Cool 2011 and things are already hot, hot, hot! These mover and shaker entries have caught the eyes of our readers thanks to their savvy solutions and smart style. How many of these have you clicked the “favorite” button on already? Click through for the hot list,

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) After I made this crazy hot pink Valentine’s confection, one of the comments on the strawberry milk required for the cake was, “Why not make your own?” Now that was a great idea! Creamy, smooth and straight from the diner of my dreams, a glass of chilled, pink, and homemade strawberry

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Freezing food is a great way to conserve and plan for easy dinners, however, it doesn’t make for a spontaneous cooking experience. Read on for a few tips that take defrosting beyond waiting hours and nuking it in the microwave. Read the full post at: The Kitchn

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) A friend informed us recently that cupcakes in a jar are the hot thing right now. They’ve been seen on The Today Show and in O Magazine. Really, we said. We haven’t even seen these things. What are they? Cupcakes in a jar, it turns out, are like the illicit love

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) David Lebovitz’s eponymous blog is one of the wittiest, insightful, delicious food blogs around. Join us in digging into a simple, yet extraordinary, way of eating toast. Warning: This breakfast might become your favorite any-time-of-day-I’m-feeling-slightly-peckish snack. Read the full post at: The Kitchn

It all begins with the soil. Worms are the great transformers of landscape through eating and digesting. They can consume a patch of stones and over time turn it into a fertile field. Worms continually pass soil through their intestinal canals, keep anything they can use for food, and then “cast” the rest. With indoor

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Let’s hope not by sitting them on the counter. But seriously, what is the best way to keep little ones occupied while you dice, sauté, and open oven doors? We’re talking kids who are too young to help out in the kitchen or sit quietly in front of a DVD in

We have such respect for Purekitchen, a Williamsburg company that has done local green kitchens since 2004. They operate with a strong focus on the safety of the natural environment, the people who fabricate their products, and the customers who are the ultimate end-users, all while creating the most functional and aesthetically-pleasing kitchens we’ve seen

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) During a recent visit with my old pal Teja and her darling ten-month-old, I was amazed and delighted at the foods she prepared for her little one. I just so happened to taste a little bit of baby’s breakfast: persimmon, pear, rice and cardamom puree, and I had to pause, narrow

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) A departure from our regular food programming for one moment to indulge our childhood adoration of LEGOs. LEGO is reaching out to grown-up food-lovers right now with some seriously fun food-related sets. How about your own holiday bakery? Or a French-style city block complete with green grocer? Oh the fun we

If you’re traveling during the holidays (or any time of the year), you may be thinking about how best to transport food for your infant. These eco-friendly glass containers from Wean Green are perfect for homemade foods now or snack and finger foods when they’re older. Plus it doesn’t hurt that they’re oh so pretty!

There’s nothing worse than being at someone’s home and not being able to find an extra roll of toilet paper when it’s needed. Check out our list of things to do before company comes for 10 ideas that will help make your guests’ stay memorable for all the right reasons. Over the years there are little things we’ve noticed while attending parties (and hosting our own) that make guests feel more comfortable while they’re in your space.

I don’t have children, but they weave their way into my life in many ways and are always welcome in my home, especially when we entertain. But how do we retain our sanity? Do we baby proof the space? Is there a box of goldfish crackers stashed in the back of our pantry for just such an occasion?

I was raised to believe in the old-fashioned, inherent thoughtfulness of the hand-written note. In fact, “Santa” still leaves thank-you notes in my stocking every Christmas so that I have no excuse not to write them. I am 30. However, when it comes to party invitations, I have to admit I always go online. With features like guest tracking, easy one-click RSVPs, and pot-luck sign ups, it’s easy for both my guests and me to plan for the event!

The spookiest thing to happen in our house this past Halloween weekend was a toaster oven that mysteriously turned itself on. Was it a visit from a long deceased Bagel-Bites-loving ancestor? Probably not. It turns out that it’s part of a sporadic phenomenon that popularly plagues small appliances like toasters, microwaves and coffee makers. Has it ever happened to you?

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) How can you sneak vegetables past a picky eater? Is it healthy to have a vegetarian baby? What are some tips for surviving grocery shopping with kids? These are a few of the most popular questions and topics on Parent Earth, a new website devoted to “Videos about Food for Families.”

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Shelby and Joe started a family in Portland, Oregon. They transformed an old Victorian house into a modern living space to accommodate kids and family fun. Where do they hang out the most? In their dreamy, spacious kitchen. Read the full post at: The Kitchn

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Q: Hi — I think I have one of the weirder “Good Questions” for The Kitchn that you’re ever going to get. To wit: how can I re-purpose baby food for adult cooking? Read feedback (and leave your own) on: The Kitchn

Ah, the internet. Where else would we find answers to all of our random questions? Our latest internet research: Whether or not your cell phone can help you identify leaks in your microwave. The legend says that if you place your phone in a microwave and close the door, it will only be able to receive an incoming call if there’s a leak. But is that true?Paranoid about cell phone radiation? You’re not the only one.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) CBS Sunday Morning profiled school lunches at two public schools in France this past Sunday, and the results are somewhat mouth-watering. Lunches include five courses and such sophisticated fare as bouillabaisse and a daily cheese selection. Jealous? Read the full post at: The Kitchn

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Olive oil — designed specially for kids. That’s the idea behind PequeOliva. When I was at the Fancy Food Show in New York last spring, I met a representative from the Spanish company producing PequeOliva, an olive oil formulated specially for children. So of course I asked him why — why

With the days remaining hot, the time for BBQs and camping trips is far from over. This nifty little project takes something that we love — the humble Altoids tin — and upcycles it. • Read the full post at Unplggd

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Mallomars. The name alone is almost enough to trigger a blissful sugar coma. This confection of graham cracker and marshmallow, dipped in chocolate, is a seasonal item from Nabisco and only available in the colder chocolate-friendly winter months. Which means that those of us who need a mid-year fix are forced

From Gmail to Microsoft Word, here are our favorite computer software. We use these programs daily and have generally try to keep them updated as much as possible. While it can get costly for some of them, they are definitely worth keeping.1. Microsoft OfficeNo matter what people say, I’ve gotten to used to using MS Office, especially MS Word. Even though some people dislike it, I find that it works well, no matter what I plan on writing.

Seeing as bottled water isn’t doing much to help the environment these days, we set out to find the best water filter solutions to help curb our carbon footprint. Here’s our list of the top 5 water filtration products on the market today. • Read the full post at Unplggd

One of the best ways to protect your home while you’re away is to appear you never left. Leaving a light on in the front window doesn’t cut it any longer and sometimes you need a little extra believability to help others think you’re still home (though anti-social) while away on vacation.Here’s a few of our favorite choices for making your home a little brighter when you’re away. Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list?

So apparently we have piñata fever around these parts. We just can’t help it. They’re perfect for a party, a backyard get together, or could even be a fun way to pick summer chores (who says they can’t come pouring out amongst other things?) for little ones, but sometimes we’re not into all that sugar. Here are a few non-food ideas instead!1. Bubbles: You can find small packages of bubbles (check with wedding supplies) that won’t weigh things down too much!2.

If you’re looking an entertaining idea for this summer there is nothing more amusing than a little friendly competition between friends – especially when it involves food! Hosting a cook-off is a great excuse to encourage friends to go head to head with their best recipes and serves as an instant icebreaker among the guests. With a bit of planning, hosting a cook-off can be stress-free.Here’s the breakdown of planning your own food-centric competition.

Have you seen today’s entries in The Kitchn’s Small Cool Kitchens Contest? Take a peek, and if you like what you see, give them a thumb’s up! • Andrea’s Fresh and Modern New York Kitchen• Catherine’s Modern Entertaining Kitchen in Seattle• Julia’s Efficient Brooklyn Studio Kitchen• Helen’s Eclectic Yet Calming Philadelphia Kitchen

Have you seen today’s entries in The Kitchn’s Small Cool Kitchens Contest? Take a peek, and if you like what you see, give them a thumb’s up! • Carin’s Light, Bright Vermont Kitchen• Brittany’s New Bright White Portland Kitchen• Shannon’s Labour of Love Kitchen in Ottawa• Kevin and Kelly’s Overhauled Victorian Kitchen in Virginia

Have you seen today’s entries in The Kitchn’s Small Cool Kitchens Contest? Take a peek, and if you like what you see, give them a thumb’s up! • Robert’s Delightfully Designed New York Kitchen• Inés’ Opened-Up Barcelona Kitchen• Matt’s New Beginning Kitchen in Boston

Imagine getting ready to curl up inside your humble and comfy little abode. You’ve popped in a DVD and made your way to the kitchen to gather up some delicious treats and crack open a frosty brew. But when you sit down with your grub, you find yourself sitting through what seems like endless and unskippable movie previews and piracy warnings—what a buzzkill. If only you knew the remote-control trick that works on nearly every DVD Player (Hint: It’s not the menu button.

Q: I have a full size IKEA Malm Bed. I love the look of low bedframes, but have trouble storing anything under the bed since it only has a 5″ clearance underneath. It seems like I can only find 6″ ones. Are there any underbed storage containers that are less than 5″? Sent by Stephanie Editor: Please share your suggestions, sources and ideas with Stephanie in the comments below – thanks! • Got a question?

In the ongoing history of technology, there will always be bigger and better digital formats coming along to try and dethrone the top dog. VHS won over BetaMax, and Blu-ray beat out HD DVDs—but who will beat out Blu-ray? Well if it’s up to Sony, Blu-ray XL will. That’s right, Sony’s seemingly begun eating its own tail and releasing new Blu-ray XL discs that aren’t compatible with current Blu-ray players (including the PS3!).

For your morning inspiration- we’ve rounded up a few beautiful kitchens. Even if you’re not in the position to overhaul your whole kitchen, there are plenty of family-friendly ideas here that you can easily integrate. Think colorful bunting, chalkboard walls, or open shelving. • Read the full post at Ohdeedoh

It all begins with the soil. Worms are the great transformers of landscape through eating and digesting. They can consume a patch of stones and over time turn it into a fertile field. With indoor worm composters, these creatures can take your coffee grinds, lettuce scraps and apple cores and turn them into fertilizer castings

Aside from convenience, there’s not much to love about disposable products. We all know that they create a lot of waste and zap resources… but is there anything to take from their design? Some seem to think so, as iconic shapes like the plastic red cup, paper plate, water bottle and more are popping up

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Yes, that’s right; you heard us. Creamy, soft-serve style ice cream with just one ingredient. No ice cream maker needed, either! What is this one magic ingredient that can be whipped into perfectly rich and silky ice cream, with no additional dairy, sweeteners, or ingredients needed whatsoever? • Read the full

Even if you buy organic, it’s a good idea to wash your produce before you consume it to rid it of germs or residue. While water works, a wash can help you use less water; they’re also effective at forcing out any bugs. Here are two fruit and vegetable washes that you can make at

Q: I recently purchased a set of end tables (see pic) from Craigslist. I want to use them as bed tables, but need to add about 5″ of height. I tried to remove the legs, but they don’t screw off. I would have to saw them off to remove. Any suggestions on adding height to these tables w/o completely demolishing original piece? Thanks! Sent by Michelle(Include a pic of your query and your question gets posted first!

Summer’s the prime time for visiting friends and for them to visit you. But, as my grandmother used to say when my family would visit her, she was happy to see us come and she was happy to see us go. It wasn’t that she was inhospitable; she loved having us over. It was that she understood the rule of visiting. There’s a rule about how long guests should stay that she often quoted…Fish and guests, she liked to stay, smell after three days.

My balcony is an extension of my kitchen and home. I have experimented with all kinds of furniture arrangement, surfaces and growing over the past two seasons, and this season I am finally satisfied with the layout and look. Chelsea and I (and Porkchop) enjoy our balcony in the warm months by cooking and relaxing

We’ve been using a PUR gravity fed pitcher water filter system in our household for several years now, a decision that has weaned us off a bottled water addiction. Yet, there’s always been this sneaking suspicion that the pitcher’s filter system was only doing a halfway decent job of filtering the water, especially compared to the expensive reverse osmosis systems we’ve occasionally pondered investing in.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) In Week Three of the Kitchen Cure, part of your assignment was to do something beautiful for your kitchen. Here’s a shot of our dining table over the weekend—not exactly the kitchen, but close. And it uses those recycled soda bottles we’ve been talking about… • Click here to read the

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Time to expand your green knowledge. We must admit that we had actually never seen an episode of Sundance’s Green Porno until recently, and now we’re totally fascinated! Leave it to Isabella Rossellini to make the sex life of insects (season one) and marine animals (season two) feel like a walk

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) Your Kitchen Cure assignment this week is to clean up the kitchen and finish restocking, reorganizing, and doing whatever your kitchen needs to be ready to get cooking next week. Cleaning isn’t the sexiest topic, but we still love to talk about it. A clean kitchen is a healthy kitchen, so

Have you ever had this situation? A friend comes over to your house. Maybe you go in the other room to put something away and when you come out, before you’ve even said anything, your friend has made themselves at home; they’re opening a bottle of wine, they’re surfing the net on your computer, they’re rummaging through your DVDs, they’re making playlists on your ITunes. How do you feel when this happens?

Dear Apartment Therapy,I’m in the process of moving to a new apartment. The whole place had beautiful wood flooring except for the bedroom. I got the OK from the building super to tear out the ugly stained berber flooring and replace it with some lovely wood floors or maybe those tiles from FLOR. I was hoping to find wood floors underneath that I could re- finish, but instead I found a weird but pleasant surprise…Got a good question you’d like answered?

As someone who LOVES the smell and taste of curry, we found this recent reader question an amusing one: I recently bought a couch from a lovely Indian couple off of Craigslist. The couch is perfect except for the fact that the couch smells like curry. What would be the most cost effective thing for me to do to get rid of the smell?Thanks! JayneGot a good question you’d like answered?

Hello AT! I am looking for a modern sectional sofa for my condo. I don’t want to spend more than $1500 before shipping. I’ve been considering the Annex Sectional from CB2. I am a little nervous about ordering a sofa without sitting on it, and I don’t have a CB2 near me (I live in Tampa). Does anyone have experience with this sofa? Likes? Dislikes? Thanks! Brad(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.

We’ve all been there before–hosting a party and for one reason or another, strangers are the only ones left. Or worse, our friends keep starting new conversations (even though they know we have a 7am wake up call) but are still partying like it’s New Year’s Eve. Don’t get us wrong, we’re pretty sure we’ve overstayed our welcome a few times.

If you’re having people over this month, no doubt you’ve spent a good amount of time considering the guest list and what you plan to cook. You’ve probably started cleaning in advance and have a lot of details you’d like to take care of. Don’t forget to have fun dressing the table and making it festive and inviting for guests. Don’t worry we don’t like a formal fussy table, but planning out what you want to do ahead of time will make it easy and fun.

The baby bouncer is an item we consider essential for young babies. We received our Oeuf lounger as a gift two years ago and it’s happily bouncing baby number two at this very moment. So we have to admit – the baby bouncer is something we’ve always wanted to try out for ourselves.Baby always looks so comfortable gently bouncing up and down with each movement he makes. Glad we aren’t the only ones who had this thought.

After our recent post on Best White Paints, we received an email from a friend who has a background in decorative painting. Jump below for her notes on white paints…• Benjamin Moore Super White (cool white, pretty modern/stark)• Benjamin Moore Linen White (yellowy-peach tone) I love this color, but depending on lighting situation, can look a bit dingey.

If you’re an AT fan with a dog who has an affinity for shedding (if you’re like me, he sheds more hair than it looks like he has on his body), then you know what a pain it is to keep your space looking good under the carpet of dog hair that rests on top. IRobot’s Roombas have always been a favorite of pet owners for the little upkeep required to reap the results of a twice-daily room vacuuming. Now, iRobot has released a line just for pet owners like us!

A friend of ours is on the hunt for a dresser that will double as the changing table when her baby is born. I’m looking for something simple and affordable- something that will easily work as a dresser as they grow. But it has to be a comfortable height for changing. Any suggestions? Well, it’s a great idea to use a regular dresser for changing, especially if you’re limited in space. A good height would be about 36″ tall.

Hello AT,I’m curious as to how you all store your shampoos, soaps, lotions etc that you use in the shower. I have a shower caddy that hangs on the shower head but think it looks cheap and dorm-room-esque.I find that if you put your bottles on the tub ledge they are continually knocked off, so there must be alternatives… any ideas?…(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.

Hello AT, I am madly in love with the Roche-Bobois Mah Jong seating system, but it’s way, way out of my league economically. I keep thinking: I do know how to get the *look* (using, say, the silky 9-button pillows and floor cushions from Urban Outfitters), but how do I get decent back support and “spread control”? Is there a way to build a good frame, or to chop off the legs of an existing futon frame or very spare sofa?

Hello AT,Dear AT,I’m in the process of buying a tiny apartment in Paris. While it is in fairly decent nick, there are a couple of things I want to improve; as much as possible, I’d like to have a pretty clear idea of what I’m going to do before I meet with the contractor next month (I’m doing things long distance, eek).I have a couple of things I need help with; I’ll space them out so I’m not too much of an irritant. I do think all have general relevance.

Does Bo know? As we monitor comments coming into the site as well as hits on the site, we have noticed that week after week, the one post that gets the worst comments is Bo Concept (largely customer service), but it is also one of the top posts each week (we have stopped listing it) as the result of Google searches on the web.We would love some good news about this store as it has some very eye catching and good designs, but we can’t find much.