Brown butter is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest-tasting things on the planet. The deliciousness originates from the browning of milk solids that separate from the fat when butter is melted, lending a toasty, nutty, butterscotch-like complexity to whatever you serve it with, sweet or savory. So when I saw this New York Times recipe for caramelized brown butter rice crisp treats, I instantly bookmarked it, hoping to make them soon — and then promptly forgot all about it. At 11 p.m. last Friday, I realized that I needed to bring a dessert to an event at 7 a.m. the next day. I was so glad to not only have this recipe waiting in my arsenal, but also, serendipitously, the ingredients on hand. Shazam! In a mere 15 minutes, I had an impressive, portable dessert that turns the old fashioned Rice Krispy Treats up to 11. I made a couple of modifications to the original recipe, using only 1/2 the butter and subbing out organic puffed brown rice cereal for the Rice Krispies and was elated with the results: super-crunchy, brown buttery, and just enough sugar and salt to make them crazy addictive. — Megan B. Click for the recipe! (more…)

Sarah L. pointed me to Fed Up With Lunch, a website by a teacher gone undercover (with the Bondsian pseudonym “Mrs. Q”) to photograph, eat, and discuss the hot lunches served at her school each day. The results are fascinating, discouraging, and sometimes disgusting. But there’s hope, too, especially with growing interest in her project and guest posts on a variety of lunches from across the country and globe, good and bad, and how we can make them better. Recommended reading! — Mary T.

Related: What do your kids each for lunch?

When I spotted them at a local gift shop, I immediately fell in love with these cute wooden gardening stakes with a twist. Seated at the base of each Magic Garden plant growing marker (either a gnome, toadstool, or ruby-bellied toad) are herb seeds that sprout up when watered, adding a bit of tasty edible foliage to existing flower beds or pots. I have some pansies in containers that could use a little touch of toadstool whimsy, and I cant help but think that these would make a lovely (and affordable) hostess gift for springtime. Find them at imaginechildhood.com, $5 each. — Megan B.

If you’re going to ICFF in May, check out the modern gas fireplaces from Spark Modern Fires. Their vented and vent-free fireplaces can be the centerpiece of a room or take up as little space as a flatscreen TV that hangs on the wall. Spark Modern Fires are also energy efficient and ready to fit into whatever decorating scheme you can dream up, indoors and out. The drawback for people with more style than cash? The prices, of course — though maybe they’re not crazy out-of-reach as far as gas fireplaces go? — Mary T.

If there’s someone out there in the blogsophere who shares my appreciation (ahem, obsession) for everything Polaroid, it would have to be the lovely swissmiss. I just spotted this Polaroid scarf via her site and I’m seriously swooning. Now, I know we don’t normally cover clothing on Shelterrific, but the thing about this scarf is that I want it for reasons other than accessorizing my outfits — I’m already dreaming up several DIY projects with this scarf at the helm. (A hefty price tag means they’re likely going to stay in my dreams.) I can just imagine using it for a completely awesome pillow, a super-sweet framed piece of art, or even as the fabric for a fantastic seat cushion. The scarves are part of a limited edition series by French designer Phillipe Roucou. To make them even cooler, Roucou used images from anonymous Polaroids found by happenstance. — Erica P.

Remember Katie D.’s post on minimalist television posters? Now there are minimalist 12″x18″ posters for Stephen King die-hards (or “constant readers,” as he dubs us) based on his movies, $30 each. “Carrie” is the first available, illustrated by artist Nick Tassone. Other favorites to follow include “Misery” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” Me? I’d love to see a minimalist Dolores Claiborne poster, but I’d be sure to hang it with six pins, not five, in honor of Vera Donovan. — Sarah L.

We get a lot of email clamoring for our attention — and no doubt you do, too — but some recent missives that have stood out have been Saveur’s weekly recipes. This week’s menu included sugar snap pea soup with parmesan cream, crunchy spring salad (with plenty of cheese in it, heh), and salmon with spring vegetables (YUM). The nifty menus come to your inbox only if you sign up to receive them, but you can browse all kinds of seasonal recipes (right now there are tons of Easter ideas) in Saveur’s collections. And if you enjoy photographing spring veggies as much as eating them, check out their spring produce photography contest.

Photo of Jar Restaurant’s chopped salad by Todd Coleman via Saveur

1) You’re never too old to invent something cool. Kimberj of Arthur and I says about the easy-thread needles: “I spoke with the inventor yesterday! She’s a very cool new grandma who just actually made the proverbial ‘better mousetrap!’ I’m ordering some and will give a review as soon as I get them.” We look forward to seeing it! See the rest of the comments on this helpful new way to thread a needle here.

2) Yes, Christoph Neimann’s fun art can be purchased in print form. Thanks so much to reader Anita, who says: “I followed your link and ended up spending a couple of hours looking through his posts on the NY Times website…and then following the link to the artist’s website. He is incredibly talented and clever! By the way, I followed the ‘Buy’ link on his website, and his works are available as prints in various sizes, framed and unframed — the one you featured is right here.” This is why we love our readers! See the post right here.

3) If you’re going to buy an umbrella as a gift, make it MoMA. Joan says: “What a GREAT umbrella! I’m thinking it will be a great gift for a few college-bound graduates in May. Thanks for the idea.” See the color-changing umbrella.

4) The Roomba’s not for everyone. BBTN says: “I have a Roomba, and have to disagree with most of these people, as mine is pretty worthless. It gets caught on rugs, under tables, under chairs, under desks, and manages to wedge itself into all sorts of corners that it’s unable to escape from. While it /is/ entertaining to cheer for it while it tries to escape the deathly embrace of the coffee table (all while scaring the life out of the cat), in truth it really requires just as much attention and at least four times the time as a real vacuum (all while delivering the cleaning power of a dust buster). It’s also supposed to make a “mental map” of the house, but every time it tries to dock itself into its little station, it moves the station a bit, skewing its map. As a result, it spends a lot of time lost.” Join the debate on the Roomba.

5) Never underestimate the possibility of a thrift store score. Nutmegg says: “My new favorite 8 chairs are the Juliane chairs by Johannes Andersen from Vamo Sonderborg I just picked up at the Thrift Store. Major score!! I don’t know if they are very comfortable, but I am loving the deal I got! I know I sound all braggy and stuff, but this is my first real “find” and I need to share.” We LOVE hearing about amazing scores like this — congrats! Almost as much as we love hearing how many people, like us, are obsessed with cool chairs.

CB2 has a nifty tutorial on how to recreate the vertical succulent garden seen in their new catalog.

These banana, chocolate, and peanut cookies at Pumpkin and Pomegranate look absolutely delicious — but just happen to be vegan and gluten-free!

ModFruGal talks about getting bats in her belfry — literally. Come to find out, bats can really help control mosquito problems. Plus, the guano apparently makes great fertilizer!

Over at LifeHacker, we were pleased to learn that our instinctual preference for darkly roasted coffees is actually better for our stomachs, too. (They also contain less caffeine, which we’re not sure is a good thing.)

We are seriously digging these two-tone walls as a more relaxed alternative to chair rails in a dining room. At Apartment Therapy.

CasaSugar shows us how to extend the life of your cut daffodils — exceptionally helpful this time of year.

At FaslanNYC, a great article about Bukowski-scapes, urban gardens that integrate into the gritty city landscapes, celebrating the beauty of decay and creating life at the same time.

And lastly, we bring you 100 Amazing Upcycling ideas anyone can do. Thanks to reader Betty Jones for the tip!

My grandparents have a room full of shelves holding their nutcracker collection. I remember visiting when I was little and gazing up at rows and rows of shiny, lacquered nutcrackers painted to look like golfers and the Statue of Liberty and wanting, very badly, to play with all of them. Alas, I was forbidden since the collection was and is extremely delicate. Even then, it didn’t make sense to me how fragile those nutcrackers were. I much prefer this hard hitting nutcracker from UK site Mocha. The Heavy Metal Nutcracker uses the force of gravity and a sleek, modern design to free those delicious walnuts from their tough shells. — Katie D.