Archive   |   March, 2011

help me win my company’s bake-off

Posted by in cooking


I’m entering my company’s bake-off and i want your help to win! Cheating? Oh my, no — I’m not asking you to help me bake (and you’d never fit in my tiny kitchen anyway). I’m asking for recipe ideas. The bake-off has three levels: cookies, brownies, and cupcakes. If past bake-off results are any indication, the judges go for moist and preferably slightly gooey. I bake a mean Snickerdoodle, but I’m thinking it might be a little too basic to come out on top. Would our notorious “best chocolate chip cookie” recipe win, or would that be too basic as well? I believe I have my brownie recipe already chosen (I’m being cagey, but I don’t want to jinx anything by sharing it yet). So what I’m trying to say here is: what are your ultimate crowd-pleasing cookie, cupcake, and brownie recipes? If I win the bake-off, I’ll buy something cool at my local bake shop and offer it here as a giveaway — deal? — Mary T.

Those are Lisa C’s lovely amaretti cookies in the photo above. Recipe here.

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post off: do you reap the benefits of a clean bedroom?

Posted by in cleaning

makethebed

Here’s the story: You’re working on a huge project at work and have been traveling more than usual. Those side projects are moving along as scheduled but your nights and weekends are suddenly mystifyingly busy and by the end of the week you open the fridge and the lay of the land is tipping the scales strongly in favor of condiments. Sound familiar? Well, this is my story right now, and in the ebb and flow of a busy period it’s easy to feel like your life, and by default, your home, is a mess. That feeling is amplified in my tiny bedroom, where life’s residuals seem to pile up even faster. And every time I have a week that has me crawling over a pile of stuff just to get into bed, I think of the many articles I’ve seen touting the benefits of going to sleep, and thus waking up, in a clean bedroom. An article over at Apartment Therapy served the latest reminder, and I have to ask: Do you make a point of going to bed in a clean room? Do you make making your bed a ritual? Sound off! – Sarah C.

In this photo: A gorgeous bedscape from the old but invaluable Apartment Therapy post 8 Tricks to Make Making The Bed a Habit.

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strangely appealing: zombie posters from neatoshop

Posted by in decorating

Breakfast-is-Tiffany

It’s no secret that we love zombies here at Shelterrific! Neatoshop adds a winking contribution to the shuffling, moaning, walking dead trend with their Breakfast is Tiffany poster. “Rock star designer” Matt Busch takes the iconic movie poster you’ve seen on a thousand sorority girls’ dorm walls and transforms it into a wickedly fun illustration. If Audrey Help Burn isn’t your style, perhaps we could interest you in Indiana Bones and the Last Cadaver or Scary Rotter? –Katie D.

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want it now: flip flop door mat

Posted by in decorating

flipflopmat

Just in time for warmer weather, the Flip Flop Door Mat. Made at the factory from colorful remnants, the mats are billed as indestructible. (Unlike most flip flops I’ve owned.) And lucky for us, all four sizes are on sale. Prices range from $25 for the small mat to $75 for the large. (Regularly $29 to $89.) If you’re super picky about color or patterns, note that no two are alike. Door mat buyer beware! — Sarah L.

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etsy find: rooftop views

Posted by in decorating

monmarte
barrow
rockland

What is it about rooftop views that are so intriquing? The lack of people? The ability to a glimpse of the world from an angle usually ignored? The sense that you’re not only seeing what the artist is, but that you’re right there, too? Whatever it is, there’s something about each of these that speaks to me, however different they are. The first is a shot of Montmartre from YannPendarie’s “80 days in a hot balloon” project. The second, an Ultrachrome print by  Etsy seller allnsundry. And the third a photo from Rockland, Maine by Etsy artist AllisonTravels. — Sarah L.

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