Chicago-based Sprout Home has been one of our favorite garden sites and stores for ages. They make gardening seem accessible and possible in even small urban spaces. They recently relaunched their site and we have to say the new and improved sprouthome.com has us counting the days until winter’s thaw hits. Now blogging from their outposts in both Brooklyn and Chicago, they offer fun, informative posts on everything from Venus Fly Traps to tips on how to choose the perfect house plant . If you’re looking for inspiration, click around their garden area for some of the gorgeous projects they have designed. And, if you’re thinking of planting something, check out their collection of mod containers, which will make even the brownest thumb seem mildly chic.

These days, during the height of winter, I feel like I could roast a chicken a week and be happy. It’s just the easiest, loveliest, most satisfying meal — not to mention it warms up your house and provides plenty of leftovers. This past Sunday I decided to give a recipe from the new Martha Stewart Living a try, roast chicken with parsley, lemon and parmesan. Blessfully simple, the only prep work is to rub the bird with some oil, salt and pepper, and stuff the cavity with some parsley and a half a lemon. Toss some fingerling potatoes with oil and salt and add them to the pan. First you bake it at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375 for 25 minutes, rotate pan, and then roast another 25 minutes. Meanwhile chop up some parsley (I used a small food processor), add oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and parmesan. Dollop some over the chicken and potatoes and serve the rest on the table. Heavenly. Click here for the recipe at MSL.com. — Angela M.

What’s your favorite way to roast a chicken? Here are some of our favorites, and leftover recipes, too.

Roast Chicken with Chick Peas and Lemon

Jamie Oliver’s Lemon Chicken

Lemon Rigatoni with Chicken and Broccoli

Peanut Noodles with Mango and Chicken

Wondering through Tarjay the other day, I was distracted by some very cute bread boxes prominently on display. Do I need one of these, I thought? Our bread storage habits are kinda haphazard. We just toss them in a wire bin tucked under a counter (along with our potatoes, dog treats, and such). My grandma always used one but never told me: Does bread really last longer if stored in a bread basket? Should it be stored in the fridge? Why do some bread bins cost so much?

Some cute bread boxes that have me debating giving up valuable counter space:

Target’s Pin Jan White Bread Box, $18.

Colorful bread bins from Wesco, about $100

Retro Metal Bread Box on Ebay, starting at $19.

— Angela M.

Previous posts to read:
I Dig The Bread Bin, But Will It Save My Loaf?

I’ve been thinking about getting a Furlicious bean bag from PB Teen for ages… and finally bit the bullet the other week. I was worried that it would make our living room seem too dormy or juvenile. But then I realized that with a four-year old and a puppy in the house, it was nearly impossible to have “mature” decor anyhow! Actually, it was Isadora who tipped the scale towards buying the bean bag. There’s a bookstore in our neighborhood that has one tucked in the kids’ corner, and whenever we go there we get so cozy reading that it’s hard to leave. Sure, she would have preferred a purple polka dotted variation, but I thought this faux flokati monster would match our brown leather couch, orange Saarinen chair and shag rug better. Since I seem to spend more time sitting on the floor than furniture these days, it is already getting a ton of use. Isadora “loves it” and the puppy… well, see for yourself. I dare say it’s the best $180 I’ve spent in a long time. — Angela M.

The other day, I got a wild hair and decided to make myself a grilled PB&J for lunch. Sure, I could have just opted for a regular old frying pan, but I thought I’d go for gold. So, I unearthed my Le Creuset panini pan from the nether regions of my kitchen cabinet (no doubt banished there for good reason), got it smoking hot, popped my sandwich inside, and ended up with this:

Not exactly the delicious, satisfying lunch I had in mind. If anything, it conjured more of a gag reflex than hunger pains. As I scraped the sorry remnants out of the pan, a series of flashbacks of prior mishaps appeared before my eyes. In reality, this panini pan has plagued me since the day it arrived. I didn’t return it after the first stick-tastic catastrophe, thinking it was just a fluke, or I was doing something wrong. A year later, I’ve determined there’s just no amount of grease sufficient to prevent this pan from destroying everything it touches. And, as you might expect, clean-up is – well, not a breeze. But I spent so much money on it…you know how it goes.

We all have them. Those appliances, gadgets or tools in the kitchen that we absolutely despise. Something we probably shelled out a good chunk of change to buy, with hopes of it transforming our culinary lives. Only to discover, once we put it to use, that it’s an utter horror to have around. Yet for some reason, you just can’t bear to throw it out.

As for me, I’m finally ready to admit defeat. I’m sending this pan off to my local Goodwill, complete with the residual PB&J crud I couldn’t free from its clutches, where some poor sap will undoubtedly discover it and think they’ve hit the thrift store jackpot. That is, until they get it home.

Please…tell me I’m not alone. Do you have any gadget wreckage cluttering up your kitchen? –Becki S.

I am feeling very grown-up and, yeah, even a little smug. I just had my first piece of custom furniture made, and I am totally in love with it! In the interest of full disclosure, technically I did not pay for it. When up-and-coming furniture maker Dan Sjogren of Sjotime Industries asked me to rework the copy on his website, www.sjotime.com, I told him I would gladly do it … in exchange for one of his unique pieces. I figured it would be a win-win, particularly since we had a really pesky TV area and had been searching for a new media cabinet. Now that it’s here (pictured at top), I think I definitely was the one who scored big-time in the trade. His attention to detail is incredible — right down to the openings he cut out for the remote signal. A few of Sjotime’s accessories are being featured on Fab.com right now (hello, Valentine’s Day!), so it seemed like perfect timing to spread the word about this talented designer from Denver. What about you … have you ever had a piece of furniture custom-designed for your home? –Ginny F.

I have a new favorite place for finding recipes — Pinterest. Yes, we’ve gushed about the wonders of the social sharing site before, but I can’t let a day pass without browsing around and pinning some yummy looking recipe suggestions. Last week I found this dish from Tartelette Blog, a gluten free, butternut squash coconut rice wonder and decided to give it a try. Helene from Tartelette wrote that this healthy number was her go to recipe during the hectic holiday season, as a relief to all the decadent food they had been eating. Seemed like a perfect way to start the new year to me! The recipe is a little time consuming, only because cutting up a butternut squash always takes a commitment. I also had a hard time finding lemongrass but did eventually (at Whole Foods, naturally). The black beans and squash worked really nicely together, and the coconut milk-cooked rice was wonderfully fragrant. The only complaint that arose was about the pesky lemongrass. I cut it up nice and small, but it still had a tough consistency and was too crunchy for our liking. I wonder if there is a better way to incorporate lemongrass? Any tip?

And, if you’re wondering what I’m thinking of cooking next, check out my Things To Cook board at pinterest! — Angela M.

Here’s something I never thought I would confess: I just spent three hours on Purina’s website. That’s right. Forget Reddit. Move along, Facebook. Time’s up, Pinterest. My hard-to-capture Internet attention has been captivated by Purina’s site petcentric.com. If you too are a fan of anipals, a similar fate awaits you. The purveyors of kibble have created a fun, stylized breed library for both cats and dogs. Almost everyone is represented here in delightful, colorful animation. Click on your favorite breed and you’ll be greeted with an mini cartoon of a representative of the breed welcoming you with facts about themselves in their hysterically over-the-top voice (if you only have time for one, check out the German Shepherd). Besides sheer entertainment value, the website’s main goal is breed education. Purina (just like me!) encourages you to adopt your anipal! Use the Friend Fetcher to honestly evaluate how much time and money you will have to devote to your dog or cat, if they should be kid/other pet-friendly, and several other factors. –Katie D.

Recent stories:
The Puppy Files: Choosing The Perfect Breed

Blueprint for the Perfect Dog (Art)

I always like to have a few baking mixes handy for the days when I am lazy and Isadora is restless. Lately I have found myself seduced by the pretty packaging of Barefoot Contessa’s mixes, which seem to be placed near the checkout aisles, where we are all more vulnerable to impulses. Today I gave her Gingerbread Cupcakes with Maple Frosting a try. Unlike good old Betty Crocker mixes, this one required an additional trip to the grocery store when I realized that cream cheese was needed for the frosting. It was worth the extra trip. The cupcakes are moist and have little pieces of crystalized ginger in them, and the frosty smells maple-y but tastes creamy and not too sweet. Last week I made her Peppermint Brownies and they were great too. — Angela M.

What’s your secret baking mix favorite?

Just today I was feeling glass jar guilt. I saw a page in the new MSL that suggested we use them to store things like pre-chopped garlic and unused onion halves, and I thought, oh, I’ll never be that organized. I save a lot of glass jars, but except for firefly catching in the summer, they don’t get much use. This supremely clever item at Uncrate, called the Cuppow, could help me be a much more practical recycler. It’s a reusable top that acts like a coffee cup lid. Of course, pouring hot liquid into a glass jar is not the smartest way to consume your joe (ouch!) but it could be great for lemonade and iced tea in the summertime. Stick a straw in it (and repeat stern “two hands!” instructions over and over) and I’ve got a spill-proof starter glass for Isadora. Available at Uncrate, $8. — Angela M.

What do you do with your old glass jars? Send suggestions and ideas, please!