help! suggestions for a shag rug alternative?
Our cheap Ikea shag rug met its demise a few weeks ago (the tale is too sad to share, but lets just say it involved an incredibly sick kitty), and I am determined to replace it before the weather gets a chill a in the air. Perhaps it’s time for an upgrade and something a little different. Shag rugs seem so…. 2004. I’d love to find an alternative, but one that is still soft under the feet and relatively easy to clean up spills. There are a couple at West Elm I am eying (the pebble rug or the sweater rug) but I’d like to visit them in person before ordering. Why don’t catalogs offer rug swatches? Does anyone else have suggestions? Remember we have a toddler in the house and — shhhh — there’s talk of a puppy in our future. Thanks for your help! — Angela M.
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first look: our new gravel backyard
The back yard at my house has always been a bit of a problem. Well, a disaster, really. It’s cloaked in full shade, and I have two dogs, which means that when the rainy season hits, we’re dealing with a (probably) malaria-ridden swamp pit for most of the winter. It also means I spent much, much, much too much time with my Swiffer, cleaning up all those muddy paw prints.
Finally, I’d had enough – and this summer, we decided to pave over it. Except that paving over a yard is expensive, and tricky. So, we went cheap and opted to install landscaping gravel instead. I was actually really nervous about how this would turn out, but after spotting these photos in Sunset Magazine, I had to give it a try. I had visions of an awful urban jungle, devoid of color and personality, but the end result is so fantastic, I can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner. The whole project took one day, and was under $500 to complete (including labor!). The new yard is so incredibly liberating – no more mowing, seeding, digging around in piles of mud. And it’s much prettier than I imagined, even calming. The borders are edged with soil, so we can plant a few shade-friendly plants around the perimeter, and the rest is totally, 100% maintenance-free. I can hardly wait to throw an outdoor rug underneath my patio table (which can finally come out of storage), and have a little end-of-summer barbecue to celebrate! The only down side I can think of is that one of my dogs isn’t so crazy about walking on the gravel (you can see her scoping out the situation in that photo). But she’s coping, and my other dog loves being able to lay on the warm gravel in the sun…so I’m calling it a trade-off.
Have you ever considered eliminating the grass from your yard? –Becki S.
real life test kitchen: perfect pops
Food trends seem to come and go at lightning speed these days, particularly when it comes to sweet treats. We’ve gone from cupcakes to whoopie pies to pie to Parisian macarons – it’s enough to make a baker throw up her apron in frustration. Fortunately, the latest and greatest in sweet treat trends is as simple as can be: the gourmet ice pop.
Now, believe me when I tell you this is not the Twin Pop you remember (with great fondness) from your youth. The new generation of ice pops are packed with real fruit, exotic flavors, and even, on occasion, a bit of booze…and they are delicious. You can shell out as much as $5 for a single pop at your friendly neighborhood Farmers’ Market. Or you can pick up a copy of Perfect Pops (by Charity Ferreira, Chronicle Books) and a $3 popsicle mold, and you’ll be set for the summer.
I think my favorite thing about this new book is how easy the ice pop thing really is. No mixers, no measuring cups, no oven required. I made a batch using nothing but a cereal bowl and a mini-spatula as my “tools”. These recipes are made for winging it, and they’re all but foolproof – you’ll quickly find yourself making substitutions in your head, and the beauty is that, because it’s not baking, just about anything goes.
I got a wild hair to try the Neo-Neopolitan Pops one night, and rummaged around in my fridge to see if I could make it happen. Fresh strawberries to cook down and puree? Nope, but I had strawberry jam and a sieve…good enough. Chocolate sauce? How about melting down some hot fudge? Turns out, it worked out perfectly. And after about 5 minutes of hands-on time (spread over an hour) and an overnight stay in the freezer, they were delicious.
Next on my list are the Blackberry Iced Tea pops. Of course, I don’t have blackberries, but I have some blueberries in my freezer that are desperate to be used. And I don’t have any Earl Grey tea, but I’m thinking maybe a batch of decaf peach tea might work out perfectly. –Becki S. Click for Neo-Neapolitan Pops! (more…)
steal this idea: loaf pans as drawer organizers
I can’t believe I hadn’t come up with this one before — using loaf pans to corral the utensils in my kitchen drawers. I stole the idea from the teaching kitchen I worked at last year, which had dozens of drawers filled with every kind of tool imaginable, all sorted in loaf pans of varying sizes. I already had two pans just loafing (sorry, I had to) around my cupboards, so I put them to use. My utility drawer has never been happier! Now, I keep on the lookout for as many as I can find at garage sales, thrift stores, where they’re usually available for a song; much more affordable than regular organizing bins. And I’m set if I ever need to make a huge batch of poundcake! — Megan B.
want it now: ceramic berry basket
I’ve been watching my strawberries ripen on the vine S L O W L Y over the last few weeks, and it’s like torture. A few more weeks, and it’s harvest time, though. And what better to store my patiently awaited bounty in than this adorable red ceramic berry basket I spotted at Sur la Table? The design is based on the dare-I-say iconic fiberboard baskets we get at berry stands, but with much more permanence — and those air holes are perfect to keep those berries sweet and fresh — not mushy and moldy. Best part? It’s on sale for $3.99, which means I can grab enough to help contain my soon-to-be overwhelming blackberry harvest. — Megan B.
