Cooking at home isn’t rocket science and like most things in life it just takes a little bit of practice to get right (and of course a few good tips).   Here are eight essential food and kitchen tips so that you can become a good home cook (be careful what you call yourself or some foodies will get upset, […]

As the peak summer growing season comes to an end, I took a trip to my parent’s place to have a look at their urban garden in full bloom.  My parents have grown ripe tomatoes, feathery zucchini flowers, sweet string beans, basil, parsley, figs (yes, in New Jersey!), blazingly hot cayenne peppers, mint, squash, and woodsy rosemary for as long […]

Have you noticed the days getting shorter and the local kids walking to get to their first day of school?  Or that the temperature has dropped a bit and you can actually sleep with a breeze coming through your bedroom at night?  Well, if so, you’ve picked up on the fact that September is here and in turn the perfect […]

Photo: Our front yard used to be covered in ivy, we dug it up and seeded a lawn. Many homeowners are intimated with the prospect of taking care of their own lawn.  They fear cutting, fertilizing, and watering their lawn and year after year are disappointed with the way their lawn looks.  In turn, many homeowners hire a landscaper with […]

Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe Growing up in New Jersey I was surrounded by people from all over the world; on my block alone I remember families from Italy, Egypt, Lebanon, England, Spain, etc.; needless to say, the aroma of food hovered on our small block like haze hovers over Los Angles. One of my favorite food smells came from my […]

How to cook and eat like an Italian   Everyone loves “Italian food” and it’s many authentic and inauthentic variations, but many people (including chefs at top restaurants) get Italian food wrong.  In turn, here are ten ways to cook like an Italian at home: You hear it all the time, but ingredients are key.  Buy fresh and local whenever […]

(The following is a guest post from Wendy Thomas at SimpleThrift ; Wendy is also a Journalist for the Nashua Telegraph) As a writer of a weekly newspaper column on thrift, the author of a blog on the same subject, and a mother of 6 children I consider it my responsibility to continually try out different ways of being thrifty.   […]

Photo of some master elder savers. A recent newspaper article stated: The savings rate of Americans, meanwhile, jumped to 5.2 percent in the period April to June, the highest since 1998. A higher savings rate, however, could slow economic recovery because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. I read about the above implication over and over again […]

Recipe: Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil One of my favorite, all purpose, condiments on this little planet is sun dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil.  Authentic sun dried tomatoes capture the essence of the tomato and can be enjoyed year round.  There is a difference between tomatoes that have been truly dried in the sun and dehydrated tomatoes (click here to […]

For most sane men, seeing their significant other give birth is a mind blowing experience.  My brain, for example, is already beginning to elicit nausea every time I think about my wife’s upcoming labor and delivery.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m terribly excited about the arrival of our first baby, but the birthing process isn’t like renovating a kitchen or bath.  Delivering a baby, at least […]