I’m heading out of the city for about a week, and I’m trying to avoid buying fresh groceries until after I get back. In an effort to use up the veggies quickly going limp in the crisper drawer, I whipped up this quick couscous salad for lunch. This combo ended up really tasty, but the recipe is easily adaptable to whatever you may have lying around. Enjoy! –Erica P. Click for couscous! (more…)

My husband and I work nights — most often until midnight — so when we are home from work, I immediately retreat to the kitchen to make a quick bite. More often than I’d like to admit, it’s cereal or frozen pizza from Trader Joe’s, but the other night, my late-night culinary skills really shone. I had this gorgeous organic heirloom tomato I had to use before it was overripe, so I threw it on some sliced crusty french bread with some grated Italian cheeses (I used a pre-grated Italian four-cheese blend) and some basil from the yard, slapped em on the cast iron skillet, and voila — an amazing late summer supper in less than 10 minutes! The extra-delicious secret was adding a light dusting of cheese to the outside of the bread and then grilling it, which creates a mouth watering browned cheese crust. I’ve been making these ever since, and will continue to until the very last tomatoes of summer are gone! –Megan B.

More grilled cheese goodness: big apple grilled cheese, grilled cheese fest

I’ve expressed my love for Wonder Thunder before, and it’s still going strong with the Moody Toast Pillow. It has everything: a salute to my undue love for anthropomorphic food and a convenient way to warn others of my less-than-perfect moods. At Velocity, $20. –Mary T.

As someone with fluorescent lighting that is the thing of nightmares, lately I’ve been more interested in ways to beautify my kitchen than I’ve been in the fashion magazines Jenga-ed into my mailbox. Luckily for me, September marks the launch of Rejuvenation’s first line of industrial pendants and two exciting additions to their mid-century modern collection.

I think there’s something very charming about the form-follows-function nature of industrial style, so I loved these new pendants: the Wiley, $129, and the McCoy, $99. The Wiley style is a re-purposed version of the hand-held “trouble-finder” light (dubbed thus by Sears in 1910) originally used to light old barns and compact spaces. With its oak handle, optional wire cage, and graphite finish, it reminds me of my grandad’s workshop, and would be the perfect addition to my crawlspace of a kitchen! (more…)

I intend to recover my throw pillows sometime this year. I know a year is a very large window, but I don’t like to stress myself out with deadlines. It’s not the actual sewing I’m concerned with; I’m a decent sewer, and if I dig my sewing machine out from the hall closet, the recovering will really take no time at all. The large window of time is to accommodate my search for the perfect fabric for the project. I love this zip code pillow from CB2, and while I’m not fully ready to commit, I think it has inspired me to find skyline fabric for my pillows. A quick search uncovered this colorful cityscape fabric. What do you think? –Erica P.

What a brilliant idea: 20×200, a site I just stumbled upon, was founded by Jen Bekman with the idea that good art should be available to everyone. So she offers photos and prints that start at just $20 for an 8″x10″ limited edition from a run of 200. Bekman writes, “We’re really excited about creating a place where almost any art lover can be an art collector. We introduce two new pieces a week: one photo and one work on paper.” In addition to the $20 pieces, 20×200 also offers 11″x14″ editions of 500 for $50, 17″x22″ editions of 20 for $200, 20″x24″ editions of 50 for $500, and 30″x40″ editions of 2 for $2000. Learn more at the 20×200 site, where you’ll of course find lots and lots of fantastic artwork. As they say in the biz, act now. –Mary T.

Pictured: Boots and raincoats, San Diego, California, by Taj Forer