Mark this weekend as when I quit sending my husband, Dustin, to get things. Yes, even if he has a list. I learned my lesson about lists after the muffin incident (see below), but this weekend’s lemonade mix-up canceled all of Dustin’s go-getting tasks. Four years ago, when none of our three children were at […]

My garden is finally paying me back for all the work I’ve done this year. I’m putting up the harvest and eating vegetables until they (almost) pop out of my ears. It’s been a great summer. Let’s look at how to know if your vegetables are ready to harvest, as it’s not always obvious. Potatoes, […]

The ancestor of this recipe was a beloved burger on the menu of a bar where I was a cook back in my college days. Working on a flattop grill (the same surface used in diners to cook hash browns), we’d top the burger with a special mix of veggies, top the veggies with a […]

NEW YORK Earlier this year, in a Manhattan conference room littered with half-eaten lunches, water bottles, laptops and easels, a group of color forecasters from PPG Brands was wrapping up a week of work. They came up with recommendations that will influence the colors and finishes we’re likely to see in 2017 on a wide […]

At a neighborhood cookout, I met a woman who asserted that she had a “brown thumb.” Although this is not the first time I’ve heard someone say they couldn’t grow anything, I always take issue with such statements. No one is born with an ability to garden; some of us become good gardeners over time […]

I quit eating desserts for 10 months and here’s what happened: pretty much nothing. That’s right, after 10 months of refusing everything delicious, my health is not significantly different. But my willpower is. I did lose 20 pounds, which is great, but it might have more to do with returning to the gym than it […]

The reason cupcakes took the baking world by storm a few years ago is because, in short, they are awesome. A sweet little package of moist, crumby goodness topped with a dollop of creamy, fatty frosting — I understand my four daughters’ (and America’s) obsession. For the healthy eater, cupcakes might seem like a nonstarter; […]

It’s not unusual to see teapots on display in museums, celebrated for their beauty and craftsmanship. Often they’re centuries old artifacts, with fussy floral designs or painted scenes on porcelain or china, or silver teapots with intricate engravings or metalwork. But what about coffeepots? They tend to be more utilitarian than decorative, the workhorses of […]

Right now my front walkway is dominated by annual flowers, many of them that I did not plant — not this year, anyhow. First and foremost are the calendula. These are wonderful bright yellow flowers in the composite family, like daisies or sunflowers. They blossom and then drop seeds on the soil so they come […]

This week I learned that people who are colorblind, including my son, Lindell, think peanut butter is green. Of all the things that surprised me about this — including, how can something so clearly orange ever look green? — the part that shocked me the most was when I reflected back on how eagerly and […]