rachpie, it's my understanding that you aren't supposed to cook and eat them after they've been used as pie weights (maybe because they dry out more in the oven? beans that are very old and dry do...

My view of holidays is to do what's fun, what matters to you, and forget about social pressure, "that's the way we've always done it," and traditions that do nothing but stress you out. The tradit...

This is something I struggle with, a legacy of my mother's "keep up appearances for the neighbors" mindset. I always fear that I'm going to be judged by other people, though I know that I shouldn'...

It seems like something that only looks stylishly rumpled when in a magazine--in real life, it just looks messy. I've had slipcovers in the past and they drive me nuts because you spend your entir...

pinguino, your menu sounds great, but if I were in your position, I think I'd consider simplifying a bit. You've got 4 carb-heavy dishes there, and your menu might be a lot to take on, especially ...

I do have a question for the smart folks here, though it's not about Thanksgiving per se: we're going to host a cocktail party early in December, and I'd like some suggestions on finger food to se...

Last year, my honey and I went out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner, and we plan on doing that again this year. It's great because you get to have the usual dishes that you love, but the re...

Oops, I think we've killed the site with the instructions . . . .

It's just a big old mess. Sorry, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of useless junk in my life, not increase it.

I couldn't find a jewelry armoire that I liked--and was less than $200--so I bought an inexpensive cabinet and stained it. One of these days I'll have the time to finish the project: I bought sil...

Dana, another wonderful post. I always enjoy your writing. Thank you.

I'm with you, s-t-o-d; there's a lot of unnecessary freaking out about germs among the commenters on this site. Remember the post about the wonders of washing your keys? I completely agree with y...

koddesign, you're right about keyboards, and not just Apple ones, either. If you spill soda or something on your keyboard, you can put it in the dishwasher (with detergent and your dishes); the ke...

Well, one of the reasons that I'll never buy super-expensive furniture is that I never want to stress too much about my stuff getting banged or scratched up by my little family. My cats are welcom...

I like the idea of having a little party as a way to get you motivated to do little home fix-ups, clean, etc. My problem isn't so much cabin fever but the winter blahs--a lack of motivation or ene...

And here's a bit of serendipity for you: I just ran across this blog post on a modernish-looking scrappy quilt.

What's wrong with featuring a vibrator? No, really, I can't imagine what people are objecting to here, unless it's the topic of sex in general. If the topic of the blog is nifty new technology, t...

I agree, Raunix. We have one in our kitchen and it makes a huge difference--you never need to turn on the kitchen lights during the day. Because we live in a condo, we have one long wall that we ...

If you're just starting out quilting, I would recommend "Your First Quilt Book" by Carol Doak; it does a good job of covering all the basic stuff without overwhelming you. And the Craftster websit...

Oh, apparently "agency, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" = every single person in this country (with the possible exception of Bill Gates) is one bad car accident or illness away from ba...