Life@Home April 2013

Color Codes a room-by-room painting guide

Tiny food party anyone?

Donate

Is the Dining

Room Dead?

Your Way to a Cleaner Home

Savvy in Saratoga One couple’s DIY home story

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Publisher George Hearst III Editorial Janet Reynolds, Executive Editor Brianna Snyder, Associate Editor Brittany Lenotti, Editorial Intern Design Tony Pallone, Design Director Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn, Designers Contributing Writers John Adamian, Steve Barnes, Caroline Barrett, Betsy Bitner, Valerie DeLaCruz, Laurie Lynn Fischer, Anna Zernone Giorgi, Jennifer Gish, Alison Grieveson, Alistair Highet, Ann Hughes, Suzanne Kawola, Brittany Lenotti, Elizabeth Floyd Mair, Wendy Page, Colleen Plimpton, Lucianna Samu, Cari Scribner Contributing Photographers Paul Barrett, Alistair Highet, Krishna Hill, Emily Jahn, Philip Kamrass, Suzanne Kawola, Colleen Plimpton, Mark Samu

C Come iin tto see th the latest spring styles for you and your home.

COME SHOP WHERE STYLE MATTERS, FASHION FLATTERS, AND THE EXCITEMENT IS DOOR TO DOOR. FOLLOW OUR SIDEWALKS AND YOU’LL DISCOVER 60 SENSATIONAL SPOTS TO SHOP AND DINE. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Sales Kurt Vantosky, Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing Kathleen Hallion, Vice President, Advertising Tom Eason, Manager, Display Advertising Craig Eustace, Retail Sales Manager Jeff Kiley, Magazine Advertising Manager Circulation Mark Vinciguerra, Director of Circulation Dan Denault, Home Delivery Manager Business Ray Koupal, Chief Financial Officer TimesUnion.com Paul Block, Executive Producer Life@Home is published monthly. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of Life@Home magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or e-mail magcirculation@timesunion.com.

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Contents Home

34

In Every Issue 10 12 14 20

Talk Back On the Web Editor’s Note Window Shopping

In This Issue 24 Raising the Roof

The Krasses take matters of their house into their own hands

38 Where We Eat

The dining room in the 21st century

44 Living Color

A room-by-room guide to painting your interior

April 2013

April 2013

Color Codes a room-by-room painting guide

Features

Life@Home | Ideas and Inspiration for Living

19 Home Life

36 10 Ways to Use ...

50 Down the Garden Path

32 Design Defined

46 Living Green

52 Dollars & Sense

The mulch man cometh What’s new this year?

34 Problem Solved

Tiny food party anyone?

Is the Dining

www.timesunion.com/lifeathome

Room Dead?

Donate

Colorblocking gone wrong

Table salt!

Recycle those empty snack bags

49 Refurnished Living

Homemade upholstery

Your Way to a Cleaner Home

Longing for lungworts

Financial spring cleaning

54 Tech Tips

Picking the best musicstreaming service

Savvy in Saratoga One couple’s DIY home story

On the cover: Photo by Philip Kamrass  timesunion.com/lifeathome | 7

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Contents Life

In This Issue 58 Giving and Getting Donating your way to a cleaner home

68

74

63 Dirty Deeds

It’s time to do your spring cleaning

64 It’s Raining, It’s Pouring Perfect books to curl up with on a rainy spring day

78 Small is Better

Why go big when tiny can make your party special?

Features 57 Help Me ...

Plan a summer vacation!

67 Kitchen Crumbs

Mmm, spring vegetable pizza

68 Dish

Cooking with Dan Smith

72 The Vineyard

Globalization is a wine phenomenon, too

74 Table@Home

You can have local corn in April. We’re not kidding!

81 My Space

Sally Temple’s favorite place

82 Photo Finish

It’s lovely in the piano room

78 timesunion.com/lifeathome | 9

 Talk Back

The story behind the story ... from our contributors Read below about how our contributors learned new things while working on this month’s edition of Life@Home.

Spring Cleaning

Dining In

Brianna Snyder I sort of like to clean, to dig deep under things and really scrub. But as much as I like things to be clean, there’s often so much that it overwhelms. I like what cleaning experts had to say about tackling spring cleaning: take it one chunk at a time. Anyone can do that. I can do that! See Brianna’s story on page 63.

Lungwort Longings Colleen Plimpton Springtime colors of azure and yellow banish the winter blues. Place dainty, lovely lungwort in a lapel vase, or compose a small bouquet with petite daffodils and Virginia bluebell. Add a touch of lily-of-the-valley for fragrance.

Position where the arrangement can be best enjoyed, perhaps on the kitchen counter or bathroom sink.

See Colleen’s story on page 50.

Anna Zernone Giorgi

Color Codes  Laurie Lynn Fischer I realized why there are so many red restaurants. Before writing this, I never knew that colors could influence appetite, although the decorators for chains such as KFC, Dairy Queen, McDonald’s and Popeye’s probably did. See Laurie’s story on page 44.

Second Life Cari Scribner Before I started writing Living Green, I thought recycling was pretty standard, but now I realize so many household items can be given new life See Cari’s story on page 46.

We asked ... you answered Join the conversation! facebook.com/ lifeathomemagazine

There’s always something happening on Facebook. Click to add your two cents and enter contests.

• We want your recommendations!

What book are you reading right now?

Marie: E.F. Benson: Trouble for Lucia (#6 in Lucia series) Brigid: Reading Joan Didion’s Blue Nights (thanks J!) and rereading The Little Prince (thanks Billy!)

Heather: Just finished The End Of Your Life Book Club. Pretty good Susan: About to read an earlier

10 | Life@Home

With a large extended family, we often need the extra seating in our dining room for entertaining. Otherwise, the table has served as a makeshift holding area for papers and projects in waiting. After researching the article, I realized that I could commit to making the room more user-friendly as a permanent quiet workspace, while also retaining the option to use it for spare seating when needed. See Anna’s story on page 38.

All About Seaweed John Adamian I was surprised to learn of the crazy amounts of minerals present in seaweed. The fact that the plants require that in order to thrive in seawater makes sense, I guess, if you’re an oceanographer. See John’s story online at timesunion.com/lifeathome.

Here’s what our readers said this month on Facebook.

Hilary Mantel novel. Her Cromwell novels are WONDERFUL! MARVELOUS! STAGGERING! Truly.

Janice: Just finished The Art Forger. Fascinating book. I learned a lot about museums and art. And Marie, I hope you are liking the Lucia books. They are among my favorites.

• The one appliance I can’t live without is ...

Amy: My Keurig!! Need my coffee fix!

Carolyn: If it’s only one, it would have to be a stove.

• The first thing I do when it starts to get warm is ...

Donna: Open the windows!

Linda: Yes! Open windows & clean.

Marie: Turn over the garden soil.

Caroline: Pull out the deck chairs and sit in the sun!

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Magnificent four bedroom, three bath Georgian Colonial with classical architectural details. Gracious formal rooms rich with exquisite appointments provide the perfect setting for entertaining. Large chef’s kitchen, spectacular Master Suite with a sumptuous Master Bath.

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ONLINE

Find more at timesunion.com/lifeathome Explore more content — photos, stories, recipes, videos and companion blogs — all in once place.

PHOTOS Check out more photos online from Chef Dan Smith (story on page 68), and from this month’s @home feature (story on page 24).

STORIES More Seaweed, Please It’s good for more than sushi. Trust us.

How Now, Houseplants?

How do you pick the perfect houseplant?

We’ll give you our experts’ opinions.

VIDEOS Want to know how to make Chef Dan Smith’s House-Cured Salmon “Bacon”? Watch our video online and get the recipe on page 71.

LIFE@HOME ONLINE Pinterest

pinterest.com/timesunion Like our photos?

Follow us on Pinterest, where we pin all our original photography and more!

12 | Life@Home

Facebook YouTube

youtube.com/ TimesUnionMagazines Want to go beyond the pictures in the magazine? Check out our behind-the-scenes videos.

Life@Home Blogs timesunion.com/lifeathome

Follow our 518 blog for great local finds and our House Things blog for gems dug up around the Web.

facebook.com/ lifeathomemagazine

Like us! Join in our conversations! Win free stuff! And stay on top of all our latest stories and news.

Photos: iStockphoto.com. Seaweed, © Eva Gruendemann; Houseplant, © Emilia Stasiak.

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 Editor’s Note

On the Homefront Painting and cooking up a storm

I Janet Reynolds Executive Editor jreynolds@timesunion.com

ay for us! r g f o s e d a No sh for color s a e id r u o y Get page 44. n o n io t a ir p ins

love to nosh. I would graze my way through life if I could, having a snack here, a few bites of something else there.

So when I saw the review copy of Tiny Food Party! Bite-Size Recipes for Miniature Meals I knew I had met some kindred spirits. Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park take all their — and our — favorite foods and miniaturize them. Not only that, but they provide menus to have entire tiny-food parties. Why serve a meal when you can create an enticing buffet around a theme?

The tiny-vegetarian-food party, for instance, features mac ‘n’ cheese bites, sweet potato latkes and little pineapple upsidedown cakes. (See page 78 for the story.)

Some of my love of noshing undoubtedly stems from the (obviously mistaken) theory that I will consume fewer calories.

The reality, of course, is that what tends to happen is I forget how many of those little Pop-Tarts I’ve actually consumed. Oh well, no one’s perfect.

What is perfect in my life this month is our downstairs bathroom, which got a new countertop and a new wall color. Our house was built in the ’70s — and when we moved in, it featured everything bad in décor from that time period.

Multi-colored shag rug? Check. Hideous

shade of yellow appliances, speckled linoleum countertop (with matching backsplash!) and dark dark dark kitchen cabinetry? Yup. The list of offenses could go on. (The living room walls were painted a salmon color so hideous that I told my husband we could not even unpack a single box before we painted it a different color. I felt like I was inside a Jonah-sized salmon until we fixed it.)

Not surprisingly, for years, I went neutral with just about every upgrade/catastrophe fix we took on. Walls were shades of cream with some occasional grays and light greens thrown in.

But we’ve gone much bolder in our middle years. Our family room is glazed shades of orange (goodbye barnboard three-quarters of the way up the walls!) while our kitchen is a deep mustard color.

Which brings me to our bathroom. While I initially thought we might do a gray or a green after we replaced the counter, my husband — the mustard kitchen mastermind — chose the blue you see in the photograph on the left. And he was right. It shows off the countertop and makes the room instantly more elegant and cozy. 

A tiny-food party is on my entertaining agenda for this spring. See how to host yours on page 78.

14 | Life@Home

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Bedroom blues. Photo by Philip Kamrass. Read more on page 25.  timesunion.com/lifeathome | 17

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Home Life 

The Mulch Man Cometh

By Betsy Bitner

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Don Nichols.

A

ll I wanted was some good dirt.

Not the kind you get from scanning the tabloid headlines while waiting at the supermarket checkout. I’m talking about the kind that’s brown, has worms in it and you don’t want tracked inside your house. Forgive me for using technical horticultural terms, but I was looking for the stuff you can grow stuff in.

It had started out innocently enough when I assembled some raised beds in my too-shady backyard but had no soil to put in them. The idea of hauling home a bunch of puny bags of topsoil from the garden center seemed like too much work.

So I looked up “topsoil” in the phonebook, thinking it would be a lot easier to have someone deliver the dirt to me.

That was my first mistake. The second was being totally unprepared when the woman at the topsoil place asked me how much topsoil I wanted to order. Whoa! I totally hadn’t seen that one coming. Putting logic aside in favor of assuming the woman at the other end of the line had telepathic powers, I asked her how much topsoil she thought I’d need.

The next part is kind of a blur but I’m pretty sure she mentioned something called a cubic yard. Math’s not my strong suit, but “cubic” sounded like “cube,” so I figured it had something to do with a square. Or ice. And I was pretty sure a yard was a unit of measurement somewhere between an inch and an acre.

My recollection of what happened next is as fuzzy as my math skills. I think I told her I was trying to start a garden. She then began explaining depth of coverage in inches per square foot. Every question asked led to more units of measurement being thrown around willy-nilly. I struggled to follow along but as we talked, it suddenly occurred to me I was actually going to have to use math. In real life. I knew somewhere, in that Great Staff Room in the Sky, all my math teachers from long ago were chuckling and saying, “I told you so.”

I finally decided to order five cubic yards.

This decision was the result of a highly scientific calculation: mainly that it was the smallest quantity they would deliver. But wait. There’s more.

Since most of the cost was for delivery, the woman told me I could get twice as much topsoil — 10 cubic yards total — for just a few dollars more.

I hesitated a moment, wondering if I needed that much. There was that gopher hole in the backyard I’d been meaning to fill in. And that area around the downspout that had been washed away — I could probably use the extra for that, too.

Besides, with the special deal, it was like getting free dirt. I may not be a math whiz, but I’m no fool. So I told the woman yes.

I

was about to cross “topsoil” off my to-do list when I heard it: Beep. Beep. Beep. I’d been expecting a small dump truck like the kind landscapers use. Instead, an 18-wheeler pulled up outside our home. Given the enormous pile of dirt it was carrying, I assumed they’d just finished digging to at least the halfway point of a tunnel to China.

“Lady, you’re going to want to move your car,” the driver said, so I backed my car out of the garage and parked it on the street. What I should have done was kept on driving, making sure I avoided the giant pothole my topsoil order had created, and not stopping until I was far away. It would have been easier than facing my husband once he realized I’d just filled his to-do list for the next 37 weekends.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

True to its name, the dump truck began dumping its contents onto my driveway.

The pile soon dwarfed my minivan, then my two-car garage, and eventually my house.

It became clear that the only way I’d be able to regain access to my garage

without the help of a Sherpa guide was to tackle the mountain. One. Wheelbarrow. At. A. Time.

Nine wheelbarrows later and the raised beds were full. After another couple of loads, the gopher — if still in his hole — was literally six feet under. And not a dent had been made in my personal Everest. My husband was a good sport and never complained about the extra work. He said he didn’t really like playing golf anyway. Still, I decided to keep my mouth shut about all the money we were saving in greens fees, not to mention the great deal I’d gotten on the dirt.

Eventually our shovels hit asphalt and the mountain was reduced to less than a molehill. And every inch of our property was stocked with enough dirt to last for years. Or at least until I get the urge to start another garden. Next time, I’m using a calculator. 

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 19

 Window Shopping

Shop Smart Shop Local In each issue, Window Shopping highlights interesting and unique items available at area stores. This month we present bath luxury!

Photos by Krishna Hill

Pivoting Chrome Toilet Paper Holder

Crystal Chandelier

This modern, made-of-zinc pivoting chrome toilet-paper holder (Creative Specialties by Moen) is a part of the Iso collection and inspired by European minimalism. $47. Found at Frank Webb’s Bath Center.

Inspired by 1940s cinema, the Noir collection includes features such as the Progress Lighting overthe-tub crystal “Noir Chandelier,” finished in nickel. $360. Found at Frank Webb’s Bath Center.

Bubble Massage Tub With 120 air jets with variable speeds, the Kohler Devonshire Bubble Massage Tub releases thousands of bubbles to massage your body. It’s 60 inches long, 32 inches wide and 20 inches, $2,048.45 .

This model comes with brushed nickle faucets, hand sprayer, and diverter, $1,144.20, as well as a Moxie speaker.

Found at Security Supply (Bath Expressions Showroom).

20 | Life@Home

Cassidy Faucet This Cassidy faucet by Delta is a classic design with modern upgrades, and comes in champagne bronze or Venetian bronze. $424.75. Found at Frank Webb’s Bath Center.

Petite Vanity This Kohler-Camber Petite Vanity comes in water-resistant Sepele Wood. At about 21 inches in diameter, this basin is adorned with a plum blossom pattern. $1,044.85 Bol single handle faucet, $481.15. Found at Security Supply (Bath Expressions Showroom).

Hand Blown Glass Sink Hand-blown Indikoi Sinks are handmade in Springfield, N.H., made of porcelain china and can be customized in various styles: classic, SoHo, deco, modern and more. $925. Cassidy faucet by Delta in champagne bronze, $424.75.

Found at Frank Webb’s Bath Center.

Featured stores Security Supply

(Bath Expressions Showroom) 475 Central Ave., Albany 518-489-2554

Frank Webb’s Bath Center 17 Erie Boulevard, Albany 518-455-8833

Shower Jets This GROHE Aquatower 2000 shower system comes with a chrome finish, a hand shower, hose and three swivel body sprays. $2472 Found at Frank Webb’s Bath Center.

continued on 22

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 21

 Window Shopping continued from 21

Our Bloggers Shop

more

ONLINE

To stay in our bloggers’ design loop 24/7, go to timesunion.com/lifeathome.

Are you a design and décor junkie? We’ve got your fix at timesunion.com/lifeathome. And check out this month’s picks from our local and national bloggers.

There’s more where these came from!

Home Décor@518

By Valerie DeLaCruz

Want to add some zing to a classic dining chair? Ethan Allen has introduced its American Colors line with brilliant new colors that spice up several occasional pieces and this shaker-style Berkshire side chair from their Artisan Collection. Made of solid Appalachian hardwood, featuring a contoured seat and fanned-out spindles, this jaunty raspberry painted chair could pair with natural wood tones in your table. Or, really mix it up by making each of your dining chairs a different bright color: sunflower, lime green, kelly green, chambray blue, tangerine and turquoise, for a vibrant dining set! Available at Ethan Allen, 2191 Central Avenue, Schenectady.

22 | Life@Home

House Things

By Brittany Lenotti

The Spice Solution | Every kitchen needs a full collection of spices, but as those bottles collect and duplicate and get lost in the back, it becomes difficult to keep track of what’s there.

This magnetic, wall-hanging spice rack might be an answer to that problem. The tops of these 24 mason jars include a strong magnet to ensure a sturdy hold-on. These jars can also be stuck right onto your refrigerator. The hexagonal-shaped jars make this honeycomb design that adds a decorative flair. The jars can be filled with whatever spices, herbs or even cake decorations you use most often. The back plate is available in rusted metal or stainless steel to match your appliances.

Order at etsy.com/shop/GneissSpice: $150.

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by Clifton Park’s Belmonte Builders in 1999, had served the family well since they bought it that same year. But the living room, family room,

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kitchen and dining room were all walled off from each other, and over time the space felt too closed-in. “The living room was totally boxed off,” J’Lene Krass says, and laughs, remembering that when her thenadolescent daughters were first learning to play piano, having walled-off rooms was kind of nice.

In 2009, the Krasses began major work — all by themselves. Well, almost. Paul took down walls, erected support beams, installed all-new hardwood floors, and even altered the chase so that the fireplace could fit in the living room. “[Paul] didn’t have a childhood where he played, really,” J’Lene says. “He just worked on things. He got his tools at a very young age and just started building things. He’s just sort of always been good at that.” Paul, who’s from Montana, was in the Army for several years. J’Lene, who

26 | Life@Home

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grew up in Idaho, says the family moved to Gansevoort a couple of years before buying the house in Saratoga. They’d been renting there. But when Paul left the Army to start his own consulting business, they took the opportunity to settle down here.

T

he kitchen was always a little frustrating for J’Lene. “The kitchen was small,” she says. “I didn’t have that much counter space, just one little area to work in. I had an upper counter space where people can sit, but, you know, you can’t really work on that.” When the walls came down and the kitchen space could be expanded, expanded it was: Paul installed all new cabinetry from Best Kitchen in Glens Falls and built his wife a huge, horseshoeshaped island. (“At first I didn’t have any space. Now I have two islands!” she says.)

And in the dining room, J’Lene points out

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 29

“

At first I didn’t have any space. Now I have two islands! ”

a lovely china cabinet, which Paul built for her after they were first married.

While Paul took care of the major construction on the house, the Krasses hired Lynn Ricci of Classic Interiors in Clifton Park. They met her at a home show and absolutely fell in love and, for the most part, left the design up to her: all the furniture on the first floor was made by Classic Interiors and all the drapes and many of the rugs were also Ricci’s work.

Upstairs, in the master bedroom, Paul tore out a linen closet in the master bathroom and installed a luxurious walk-in shower and a jacuzzi. The girls’ former bedrooms have been converted to brightlycolored guest rooms, one a playful purple and the other a bright teal. Though the girls have moved out, the Krasses wanted 30 | Life@Home

their rooms to preserve a little bit of their spirit. And, down in the basement, they’re finishing a home theater and playroom, in which the Krasses — who became grandparents in the past couple of years — hope to entertain grandkids.

Because of Paul’s work, the couple travels a lot — they’ve been spending a lot of time in Houston, Texas — so future work on the house is suspended indefinitely. Having only finished the last renovations to the master bedroom in 2012, the Krasses don’t feel rushed to dive into a big new project. But when they do find themselves itching to get back to work on the house, they want to add a sunroom, mudroom and patio to the back.

When asked how long they think they’ll stay in this house in Saratoga, J’Lene says, “Forever. I don’t think we’ll ever leave.” 

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 Design Defined

The Trade Show Season Wrap-up What I learned about what’s coming in design

By Lucianna Samu | Photo by Mark Samu

T

he season of trade shows and building and design industry events is coming to a close for me. I wish I had thought to wear a pedometer before I set out on my winter trade show pilgrimage, but let’s just say I’ve walked enough. Somewhere between the cacophony of pavilions and great halls of Maison Object, Paris, and The New York Gift Fair, my singular purpose for attending these events was fulfilled, the great design discovery made. Mission accomplished.

With more than a few interior design projects underway, I’m constantly on the

32 | Life@Home

hunt for the next great thing. Sometimes, the “thing” is a color. Last year, that color was gray, and this year it’s still gray, only now with a good bit of black accents or trim added to the mix, along with a hefty splash of vivid emerald green. Sometimes the discovery is more a re-imagining or re-envisioning of something we’ve always admired and loved. For example, reclaimed wood, or organic fabrics such as hemp, cotton duck, or burlap, appearing on anything from a long languid sofa to a lampshade.

Exhibitors go to great lengths to pique the interests of trend-spotting design profes-

sionals at these events, all of whom (no doubt) have aching feet. Attendees are encouraged to sit on the furniture, touch the fabrics, taste the food offerings, or test the gadgets.

Photography of any kind, and most especially of the sneaky sort, is frowned upon at all but a few trade events. So it stands to reason, then, that a luxurybedding supplier would suggest a weary traveler should stay for a while, and why not have a short nap? The nap, on a bed outfitted with every conceivable bedding accouterment, will certainly lead to plac-

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ing an order. Seriously, who could resist? After some rest, time spent playing with newage apple peelers, luxe coffee makers, nearly supersonic juicers or experimental lighting seems like time well spent.

Of all the new and exciting, nothing intrigued me more than the latest offerings in tile, kitchen sinks, refrigerators and cooktops. The trend, toward the use of vivid paint colors, and the very of-the-moment, irreverent mix and layering of pattern is making its way into the kitchen. As a kitchen designer with a special affinity for the all-white kitchen, kitchens lavished with color and pattern is a trend I may have struggled with were it not for the tile I’m obsessing over at the moment.

When mosaic tile meets glass tile and gets married onto a 12x12-inch mesh backing after a long trip through the color palette, I am in love.

Similar to mosaic tile, small round tiles, or “pennies,” are not new either. But what happens when the pennies get the mixed-up 2013 treatment combined with other colorful circles in varying sizes is another kitchen backsplash material that’s hard to resist. Wood tile is setting a new standard too, offering an inventive means to add the warmth of wood to any place in any room. My favorite is the herringbone-patterned

wood tile, easier and perhaps even more exciting than a herringbone floor.

If a burst of color is more your style than an entire colorladen backsplash, how about letting the hardest-working fixture in the house set your color standard? With visions of my mother’s avocado-green kitchen dancing in my head, I approached the latest apple green, turquoise; navy blue and candy-apple red farmhouse sinks with trepidation. Weeks later, I can’t get the colors, or the sinks, out of my mind.

If you’ll be in the market for new appliances soon, be sure to take a walk down the French Door refrigerator aisle. Having all the benefits of a side-byside, with a water dispenser, ice maker and a large-capacity freezer typical in only a luxury over/under setup, is sort of genius. And, if it’s genius in design you’re after, or the next great discovery, induction cooking is taking its rightful place in the luxury-cooking lineup. With 95 percent energy efficiency, no energy is wasted, and the cooking happens fast.

Easier to ventilate and a snap to clean, induction is the next best thing that could change how we cook, how we keep our kitchens clean, and how a kitchen layout is organized.

Kind of, sort of revolutionary?

Mission accomplished! 

Lucianna Samu is an interior designer and project expert for Aubuchon Hardware. For more of Lu’s musings, go to www.luciannasamu.com

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 Problem Solved AFTER

Top Tip “Just because something is in style and in fashion doesn’t mean it applies to you,” Bortugno says. Color blocking might work for sweaters and certain rooms, but not necessarily for every home or homeowner. The original designer should have taken that into account, which brings Bortugno to her second tip: “Check references!”

34 | Life@Home

Store who gives wholesale pricing to

The ColorBlock Botch Sometimes what’s in fashion just doesn’t always work

everyone.

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Problem

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The owner of this East Greenbush home hired the wrong interior designer who didn’t do work the owner liked. The failed attempt at color blocking darkened the room and made it seem smaller.

BEFORE

Solution Though color blocking is trendy right now, Interior Designer Maria Bortugno says, “It’s on the way out.” That’s fine, she says, if you’re the kind of homeowner who wants to change the look of your home every three to five years. But this homeowner was more interested in “something classic,” Bortugno says.

Bortugno painted over the red wall with a neutral cream color and installed material on the lower half of the dining room’s walls to create “one harmonious line of color.” The homeowner, Bortugno says, couldn’t believe how much the effect opened up the room. They also had slipcovers custom-made to refer to the caramel color of the wall upholstery. Bortugno says she likes adding fabrics to walls, particularly in rooms lacking texture, as this one was. “Paint can feel kind of cold sometimes,” she says. “Adding fabric to a space is a nice way to add warmth.” 

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10 Ways To Use …

Salt

By Brianna Snyder

S

alt is cheap and delicious. It’s also one of those miracle powders that functions in literally dozens (maybe even hundreds) of ways. We poked around the web and polled on Facebook to find out what people are doing with their salt (besides shaking it on their popcorn). There was no shortage of ideas.

GET RID OF MILDEW

Salt is abrasive and a good cleaning agent for scrubbing counters and tubs, among many others. It’s also environmentally friendly and safe for kids.

HealthyChild.org recommends this recipe for tackling mildew: Mix one part salt and one part lemon juice and apply to mildew in bathrooms and kitchens.

2

COOL THINGS DOWN Abby on Facebook says: “Mix lots of

salt with ice water, submerge warm beers in it, and they chill much faster.”

3

KEEP FLOWERS FRESH Reader’s Digest offers this tip: Add a

pinch of salt to fresh-cut flowers and they’ll last a little longer.

4

REMOVE THAT GARLIC SMELL If you just peeled eight cloves of garlic

and your hands reek of garlic, try rubbing them with salt and a bit of lemon juice.

Now your hands smell lemony-fresh!

5

CLEAN BABY BOTTLES Jenny writes on Facebook that salt,

mixed with rice, is “the only way to actually clean the bottom of a baby bottle.”

6

DON’T SLIP! “After you clean up a small spill on

the ground there’s always a slippery spot on the floor. You can dump a whole bunch

of salt on it, then sweep it up. The salt will absorb the moisture and make the spot safer to walk on,” says Scott on Facebook.

7

FRESHEN UP THE CUTTING BOARD Remove odor from a cutting board by

pouring a generous amount of salt directly on the board, according to SaltWorks.us.

Rub lightly with a damp cloth. Wash in warm, soapy water.

8

TREAT YOUR SORE THROAT If your throat hurts, gargle with

half a cup of warm water and a quarter teaspoon salt.

9

PUT OUT GREASE FIRES We’ve all heard that in the event of

a grease fire, the way to put it out is not with water but with baking soda, which cuts off oxygen to the fire. But salt works too -- it absorbs the grease and puts out the flame.

10

WHITEN YOUR TEETH Because salt contains

fluoride, salt can replace toothpaste in a pinch. Also, if you sprinkle a bit on top of your toothpaste when you brush, it scrubs and whitens your teeth and keeps your gums healthy, according to MarksDailyApple.com. 

Want to join in the 10 Uses fun? Stay tuned to our Facebook page for upcoming questions: facebook.com/lifeathomemagazine.

36 | Life@Home

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A formal dining room in a classic style. 

Is the Dining Room Dead?

A look at the dining room in the 21st century

A

s times change, so do our priorities. Today’s homeowners have lifestyles that are very different from what may have been the norm when their houses were built. With standards that often defer to casual over formal and convenience over tradition, it might seem probable that the dining room, an often restricted room reserved for guests, may have lost its appeal. So, is the dining room dead?

In characterizing dining rooms, like the homes in which they exist, there are no universal norms. For some households, the dining room is definitely dead and gone.

Perhaps it was never on the floor plan at construction, or maybe it was swallowed up into the expanded floor space of a kitchen or family room remodel. In other homes, the dining room may be dead, but 38 | Life@Home

resurrected and repurposed as a playroom, home office or game room. But, in some households, the dining room remains alive and well, preserved as a traditional entertaining area for special occasions.

TRACKING THE TRENDS Identifying dining room usage, as well as other changing home needs and preferences, is critical in the homebuilding industry.

The National Association of Home Builders 2012 survey, titled “What Home Buyers Really Want,” identified these trends. From a nationwide group of 3,682 recent and prospective homebuyers across varied ages and incomes, 76 percent of respondents identified the dining room as being either essential or desirable in a new home.

However, this doesn’t mean a return to

traditional dining room use. “When you look at the entire survey, you understand that when they say they want a dining room, they are not necessarily saying that they want this to be a formal, conservative space that’s separate and apart from the rest of the house,” says Rose Quint, assistant vice president for survey research at NAHB. “They are very interested in a big, open room that we call ‘the great room.’”

Indeed, 62 percent of respondents also indicated that they prefer an open living room and dining room floor plan as opposed to having these areas as separate and distinct rooms. “The overall sense I get from this study is that homebuyers do want a nice space to eat, but it doesn’t necessarily have to look like it did 30 or 50 years ago,” Quint says.

Photo courtesy Bennett Contracting.

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MEETING BUYERS’ NEEDS IN NEW HOMES Area homebuilders report a variety of preferences in relation to homebuyers’ dining room needs. “There are some people that do still want a [separate] dining room,” says Christopher Marchand, project manager, CGM Construction, Inc., which builds and remodels homes in the Capital Region.

“We have done several homes recently that still have it. However, the greater percentage of homebuyers, regardless of square footage, whether it be a 1,800 square-feet or a 5,000 square-feet house we’re building, just don’t want that formal dining room. They would rather have a nice, big great room.”

Incorporating a dining area into the great room creates a demand for larger kitchens that can be accommodated by custom-designing building plans or removing dining rooms from existing ones, Marchand says.

“Instead, they may have an area that we’re calling a dining area, not a room, that is not really separate from the kitchen. One component, perhaps flooring, just carries seamlessly into that dining area.”

The dining room, whether defined or as part of a more open space, remains an important aspect of design, says George Amedore, executive vice president, Amedore Homes, Inc., which represents communities in Albany, Saratoga, and Warren counties. “The title or functionality, whether it’s more of a formal dining room or a more casual dining area, really is entirely up to the lifestyle of

the homeowner,” he says.

Of the 10 local communities Amedore Homes represents, six are single-family homes and four are multifamily condominiums and townhomes. “Every home that we build and every design that we offer for a single family home has a dining room on top of that casual dining area off of the kitchen,” Amedore says. “In the townhome or condominium community, because size may be more limited, you’re using what is more of a multifunctional dining area that could encroach from the kitchen into more of a formal dining room which also is going to act as a casual dining area.”

Buyers also vary in their demands for dining rooms in purchasing an existing home.

“Regarding the dining room, it’s about a 50/50 split,” says Miguel Berger, president, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Tech Valley in Albany. “The younger generation doesn’t want a dining room because they may feel that it’s a wasted space and, perhaps, they live a little more informally,” he says. “But, also, if someone comes from a family that used to use the dining room a lot [for dining], then it is an important thing.”

While homebuyers’ opinions vary, it’s typically not a major priority in making a decision to purchase a particular house, Berger says. As housing becomes more expensive, homebuyers are concentrating on having the available space they need for their lifestyle.

“Buyers want to make sure that the space that they have, they can live there, and not just use it as a museum piece.” continued on 40

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REMODELING AND REPURPOSING IN EXISTING HOMES Even among existing homeowners, home remodelers and designers report a wide range of reactions to the use of dining rooms. For some homeowners, the dining room is one space they may be willing to sacrifice to accommodate other needs, says Greg Jackson, president, Bennett Contracting, Inc., a home improvement contractor in Albany. “People like to open up their living area. Often, by taking a wall out [that separates the dining room], they 40 | Life@Home

will increase the size of the family room.”

While the expenses and work related to remodeling can vary drastically depending on your existing home and the desired outcome, considering benefits versus costs is enough to motivate some homeowners to reconfigure their homes into a more usable space, Jackson says.

“For people who entertain but like the company to be involved in the entertaining process, such as helping to prepare the meal or sharing a glass of wine with them, we do tend to open up a lot of the walls so

that it’s more of an open, interactive environment,” says Susan Spellmeyer, owner, SGS Interiors in Delmar. These configurations typically include counters with stools so the host can prepare the meal in the work area, while guests are seated across from them at an island, she says.

In some cases, homeowners leave the dining room in place, but repurpose it to meet their needs. “If you have a breakfast room and a dining room, that’s a lot of space in your home that’s not being used,” says Jenna Burger, interior designer and blogger of SASinteriors.net in Saratoga Springs. “Given the economic times, as people may be downsizing in their homes, they’re strategically thinking about every use of space and how it can best be used instead of having nonusable space on a daily basis.”

Even without remodeling, it’s possible to transform a dining room into a playroom, home office, exercise room, craft room, game room, laundry room, or sitting room.

With the core walls and structure of the dining room intact, you can utilize design and décor items like furniture and shelving to fit the needs of the room you want to create, Burger says.

For some homeowners, keeping a formal dining room is consistent with their lifestyle and personal preference. “It’s not a cut and dry situation. People who live in a very large home with many rooms and still do a lot of formal entertaining are keeping their dining rooms just as they had always been for entertaining,” Spellmeyer says.

The demand for traditional formal dining room décor still exists. “My clients use the dining room as more formal areas of entertaining, They typically dedicate the space to dining and keep it at that,” says Lisa Santy, owner/designer of Pizazz Interior Design in Round Lake.

While it may be one of the least used rooms in a home, Santy says, appropriate use of color and design can create a welcoming atmosphere. She recommends warm colors, chair and crown moldings, dimmer lighting, and a clean, uncluttered design to create a calm room for eating with guests, thereby keeping the original, intended use of the dining room alive and well. 

Photo by Mark Samu.

A dining room turned into a casual family and lounging area. 

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Living Color A

A room-by-room guide to painting your interior

police officer once told me his department was experimenting with the hue of its holding cell.

Pink kept prisoners calmest, he said.

Actors, meanwhile, traditionally wait backstage in the Green Room. Serene green supposedly wards off stage fright.

What about our homes? Can wall color affect mood? Why are some hues better for different rooms? Find out here on a house 44 | Life@Home

tour with these local experts: Cyndi Martin used to constantly change color schemes in her Delmar home, “but it never seemed quite right.”

Then she discovered traditional Chinese Feng Shui. Now, through her business, Feng Shui Elements, she advises others about harmony and positive energy in their living spaces.

Darcy Scarlata is an interior decorator with

Mooradian’s Furniture of Albany. “To me, paint colors are part of your personality,” she says. “Most of my own rooms are yellow. It’s light, airy and sunny and cheerful.”

Jessica Carhide is an interior decorator at Miller Paint and Decorating in Latham.

Remember – it’s only paint, she says. “If you paint it this year and you’re not happy with the color, it’s a small investment to repaint it and get a totally different feel.”

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Elena Elisseeva.

By Laurie Lynn Fischer

CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION

Colors can influence how much we eat.

That’s why so many fast food restaurants use red, says Carhide. Bear this in mind when painting your kitchen or dining room.

“For large feasts and hearty meals, consider fire colors, such as reds, oranges and strong yellows,” Martin says. “For weight loss and appetite suppression, choose blues. In the kitchen, she says, “Choose colors that insinuate health, happiness, and vitality. These would be reds, oranges, and yellows, but definitely not too much!”

SEA OF CALM

If you want “to fall off to sleep,” select soothing hues for the master bedroom, Carhide says.

“People want their bedrooms to feel relaxing and spa-like, which means using tranquil water colors like blues and teal greens,” Scarlata says.

To enhance romance, select pale fire colors, such as lavender, pink, terra cotta, coral and soft maroon, says Martin.

Earth tones “create warmth, calm and the grounding of the earth element,” she says.

COLORS TO GROW BY Children mature. So should their bedrooms, says Scarlata.

Teacher’s Tips What are the right color dynamics for your interior? Pigment preferences are subjective, says Marian Chilson, who teaches color theory at The College of Saint Rose.

“Tastes change,” she says.

“It’s a very personal choice. It’s about what kind of space we’re comfortable in. Most people’s goal is to generate a cohesive space.”

“Children’s rooms should be based upon a child’s favorite color, something that makes them happy,” she says. “They want their personality to show in their room. Use lively tones. When they become tweens, you want to change it to something more sophisticated, versus brighter colors or the pastels that we usually paint babies’ rooms.”

WARM WELCOME

Autumnal tones make living rooms, family rooms and great rooms inviting gathering places. “Browns bring stability and a sense of peacefulness; soft oranges and yellows will facilitate openness and communication,” Martin says.

“Some people want really rich, cozy colors like chocolate browns, so there’s almost a wrapped-in-a-blanket kind of feel,” Carhide says. “Some people want more of a conversation color — high impact yellows, reds and greens.”

Alternatively, try neutral walls with colorful accents, Scarlata says. Always choose the furniture first, because it’s easier to match wall paint to your sofa than vice versa, she advises.

DOWN TO BUSINESS For home offices, some people like energetic tones such as orange, rust or red, while others prefer something softer and richer, Carhide says.

Colors evoke feelings, she says. “Red is a color that makes us aware, not necessarily in a relaxing fashion. Blue is an open, calming kind of color. You can have a warm blue and a cool blue.”

Choosing colors might seem intimidating, but consider the alternative. “If everything is equally neutral — if your floor, your wall and your carpet are all the same color as your sofa —

WATER COLORS

Green is the color of plants that thrive off water. Because there’s so much water in the bathroom, “greens of any shade are a great choice,” Martin says.

Especially if it’s the master bath, “soft, luscious” neutral tones are popular, says Carhide. “A lot of people are having soaking tubs and real luxurious finishes,” she says.

“They complete that feel with a really spectacular wall color — warmer grays, soft, tranquil blues and greens. You feel like you can be rejuvenated when you’re in there.”

PUMP UP THE PALETTE Even if your workout is low-impact, highimpact hues are popular for home gyms, says Carhide. She recommends vivid colors that make you want to move, such as yellow, orange and red.

DON’T UPSTAGE YOUR ROOMS

Neutral wall colors are best for halls, especially with contemporary, open floor plans, says Carhide.

“Let the other rooms branching out have the importance,” she says. “With a lot of homes you go into now, you can stand at front door and get a 180-degree view of a lot of rooms in the house. You don’t want to feel like you’re walking into a circus.” 

you may find you’re tripping over it all the time,” Chilson says.

Her pupils study saturation, intensity, value, complements, triads, tetrads, harmony and contrast. Paint companies do the work for consumers, basing palettes on such concepts.

“It’s like the Garanimals solution for children’s clothing,” she says. “If I pick all the right tags, it will go together.”

Chilson recommends testing a color before painting the whole room. “When you see a little swatch in the store, it’s going to look very different in different situations — at night, on a cloudy day, a sunny day, in morning or evening. That’s why you see a move to sample sizes of paint. Paint an area on your wall, live with it for a couple days. See it in the space.”

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 45

 Living Green

Second Life Recycle those empty snack bags and flip-flops!

By Cari Scribner | Photos courtesy TerraCycle

W

e all carefully sort out cans and bottles, newspapers, cardboard and plastic milk bottles, putting them in our household recycling bins to be picked up weekly at our curbs. But there are places to recycle more obscure items that we’d typically toss into the trash, such as snack wrappers, and it’s worth the time and effort to participate. Also, if you’ve ever wondered where to donate those flip-flops you bought but never wore, here’s the info you need. All these cast-offs can be given new uses that bring a whole new name to recycling by benefitting the planet and worthy causes.

PANTYHOSE No Nonsense collects all brands of used pantyhose, which can be turned into park benches, playground equipment, carpets and even toys. Donating yours is easy.

Weed out your pantyhose, nylon knee highs and tights and log onto nononsense. com/pantyhoserecycling to download and print a mailing label. Bring to your nearest shipping center and send away. Collec46 | Life@Home

tions are handled by a North Carolina No Nonsense plant and then donated to a recycling facility. Who knows? The next playground slide your kids enjoy could be made from those tights that snagged the first time you wore them.

EMPTY CANDY, CHIP AND SNACK BAGS, DRINK POUCHES The organization TerraCycle is on a mission to create waste collection programs for food packaging and beverage pouches and then send them to appropriate sources for new use via its Brigade Programs.

Pitch in by setting up a local Brigade Program through a school, civic group, place of worship or workplace. Organizing a Brigade couldn’t be simpler: just register online at terracycle.com, click on “Brigades,” and download the “Collect, Store and Ship Guide.” The guide outlines everything from how to set up your collection display to how to store collected items, and you’ll also get your minimum weight requirement for shipping. Once you’ve reached that requirement, simply

download the UPS label from your TerraCycle account and call for UPS pickup. But there’s more: Once your collected waste is received and checked in at the TerraCycle facility, your group earns points that can be redeemed for payment to the nonprofit or school of your choice. Want to see how your collected donations are used? Check out the “Products” section on the website and prepare to be wowed. Shop for items including M&Ms picture frames, a Capri Sun large tote, a Clif Bar duffel bag, and much more, all unique, artsy and eclectic.

These items are available at some major discount stores and can also be purchased online.

FLIP-FLOPS (NEW OR IN GOOD CONDITION) The Flip Flops For Families Organization ships flip-flops all over the world to less fortunate families that walk barefoot.

Why flip-flops and not closed-toe shoes?

They’re a cool and light shoe that many people can wear in hot and humid cli-

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mates like countries in Africa, South America, and other parts of the world. Close-toed shoes such as sneakers can carry bacteria if they are not properly cleaned when they get dirty. Many of the people who receive shoes like this and get them dirty in the mud and poor conditions don’t have the resources to keep their shoes clean enough to be healthy and safe to wear. To participate, log onto flipflopsforfamilies.org and click on “Donate Here.” You’ll need to mail your donations to Lake Mary, Fla., but since the average pair is 13 ounces or less, postage fees will be nominal while your satisfaction will be substantive.

WINE AND CHAMPAGNE CORKS Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery established a natural cork collection and recycling center. Natural corks can’t

be re-used in wine bottles because they’re porous and can’t be properly sanitized, but Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery ships (at the company’s expense) collected corks to an American company that recycles them into postconsumer products, including cork floor tiles, corkboards and more. Although they prefer natural corks, any plastic corks received are donated to schools to be used in crafts.

Every cork counts! One ton takes about 266,667 corks.

You’ll need to mail your corks to the winery in Bunker Hill, Fla., at a nominal postage fee.

For information, go to bunkerhillvineyard.com and click on “Recycling Center.” 

To get other ideas of local places to donate used goods, from clothing to appliances, see our story on page 58.

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Refurnished Living 

Refurbished Chic

Introducing designer Jessica Allyn, a woman inspired by the beauty and form of vintage furniture. Jessica brings old furniture back to life with vivid colors and peppy patterns.

By Alison Grieveson

I

stumbled upon Jessica’s show-stopping furniture through her Etsy store and was thrilled to get a chance to speak with her recently … a lady who speaks my language!

What inspires you? I suppose my initial inspiration to start refurbishing was the idea that there is already so much great furniture out there (that actually had great bones, unlike the particle board furniture of today’s world) and that I had the ability to make it look just the way I wanted! I LOVE playing with color and pattern (obviously!) and I wanted to start making things that were one-of-a-kind, eco-friendly and artistic. Once I finished my first set of four chairs, I decided to put them on Etsy. Quite frankly, the

response I got to them was what made me keep going.

People from N.Y. to L.A. were contacting me to purchase them! I’m also really inspired by unique color pairings. I love seeing Chinese reds with light robin’s-egg blue and citron or neon orange paired with bursts of pink. You can say a lot with color alone. I also try to source vintage or reclaimed fabrics as much as possible. I love when I can take two old things, an old piece of furniture and old fabrics, and make it look completely relevant for today’s world.

What’s next for you? I came up with the concept of Oak and Velvet. Oak and Velvet is a line of true luxury furniture that is all handmade right in Connecticut. Each piece

is created with a solid wood frame, down-filled cushions and covered in beautiful fabrics. The beauty of this brand — beyond its insanely comfortable pieces with luxurious detailing — is that it is all locally produced.

Learn more at oakandvelvet.com. 

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Alison Grieveson is a graphic designer who enjoys exploring the greener side of the design and decorating industries. For more green tips, check out RefurnishedLiving.com. timesunion.com/lifeathome | 49

 Down The Garden Path

Longing for Lungworts If this garden workhorse is blooming, spring is at hand!

Story and photo by Colleen Plimpton

D

oes the dainty little flower of the lungwort (aka pulmonaria) have anything to do with breathing?

Our ancestors thought so.

The spotted oval leaves were believed to resemble diseased lungs, and in an era of medical magical thinking, were used to treat pulmonary problems. This practice was not uncommon; witness such plants as boneset, whose leaves wrap tightly around its stem and thus led the ancients to believe that employing them as bandages would speed healing of broken bones. Such superstitions are now largely disproven but intriguing nevertheless.

But back to pulmonaria. Over the years the plant has also been known as Bethlehem or Jerusalem sage, Spotted Dog, and Soldiers and Sailors, none of which make

50 | Life@Home

any sense to us today but which surely had some relevance in the Middle Ages.

Here in the 21st century we value lungwort for its deer resistance, early flowering, charm in the shade garden, and appearance in the vase. Easy to grow given the moist shade it prefers, it’ll happily thrive and reproduce with glee. Never invasive, it will nonetheless spread and self-sow into areas such as beneath sheltering shrubs and at the wood’s edge.

Lungwort is actually an herb in the borage family and native to western Asia, but it’s long been an American cottage garden favorite. Considered a true pass-along plant, mine has been with me for 30 years, a gift from a dear friend in New Jersey.

Lungwort vies with hellebore as one of the earliest perennials to blossom in our

neck of the woods. In mid-April its flowering stems sprout simultaneously with the silver, speckled, solid green or whitesplashed leaves and soon its pink buds morph into blooms of blue, pink or white.

Only 10 to 14 inches tall, with a spread of 18 inches, pulmonaria is granite-hardy, and once established, it’ll never leave home.

Just make sure its planting hole is amended with compost and it’s watered well the first year. My lungwort receives no supplemental moisture, even in the dry shade garden where it volunteered some time ago.

Favorite cultivars include the old-timey Mrs. Moon, whose hairy leaves are dotted with silver moons, and whose small arching stalks bear a copious amount of funnelshaped blossoms. Also try Raspberry Splash with deep pink blooms, and Silver

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Streamers, which is grown for its spectacular lance-shaped leaves and, like many pulmonaria cultivars, is attractive to our beleaguered honeybees and hungry hummingbirds. Roy Davidson, with its scrumptious silver-spangled leaves and pale blue flowers, is also popular.

These herbaceous perennials, hardy from zone 3 through 7, don’t require coddling with frequent or heavy fertilizer.

Though not fond of excessively dry or wet sites, they can be left undisturbed for years if naturalizing is desired. To propagate, divide the fibrous root system in spring after flowering or in autumn; make sure each clump has several leaves and a portion of root. Replant immediately or pot up to give away to a gardening buddy or to the local garden club plant sale.

Lungwort blooms for a good six weeks, from April to mid May, and then sporadically throughout the season. They make a charming small posy; pick in the cool of the day and place in a miniature vase with Virginia bluebells, lily-of-the-valley and corydalis for a marvelous May Day bouquet. After flowering, trim the floppy stems back and remove any older leaves that appear a bit tattered. This will prompt the plant to send up new foliage. More de-leafing may be necessary if the summer is hot and dry.

Such conditions may encourage powdery mildew, but take heart!

Remove the disfigured leaves and fresh new foliage will arise in a week or so.

Because these plants favor damp conditions, slugs may occasionally be a problem. If so, protect your investment with a sprinkling of the newer nontoxic slug controls based on iron phosphate, such as Sluggo and Escar-Go. Pulmonaria may be planted close together as a weeddiscouraging ground cover or in borders, used for edging or employed as bright accent.

Since their delicate, trumpetshaped flower clusters appear at jonquil time, consider accompanying them with small Tete-a-Tete, Minnow, or Jenny daffodils for a pretty symphony of yellow and blue.

In general, pulmonaria comports well in the shade garden. Experiment with this: In a plot backed by shrubs such as fothergilla, leucothoe and hydrangea, step down a level with perennials: columbine, hosta (try Blue Eyes or Stiletto) and fern such as autumn fern Brilliance. The next tier (closest to the edge) could encompass your pulmonaria as well as European ginger, tiarella, and heucherella. To draw the eye all season, intersperse with colorful annuals: wax begonias, caladium and coleus.

Long life, deer resistance, attractive colors, appealing leaves, good for bees and hummingbirds … the list of attributes is impressive for a little beauty that only appears to be delicate. While it may not necessarily improve our lungs, lungwort certainly gladdens our winter-weary hearts. 

Garden communicator Colleen Plimpton lectures, teaches, coaches and writes about gardening. Visit her website at colleenplimpton.com.

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 Dollars & Sense

Financial

Spring Cleaning What to save and what to toss

By Ann Hughes

home that would be taxable, so they don’t think it’s important. They think, ‘I’ll never sell a house where I’m going to gain $250,000,’” Guzior says. “But they should still keep those records to support that if they ever got audited.”

DUST OFF IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS FILES

Permanently keep annual reports from retirement plans and IRAs, IRA nondeductible contributions, information about how your retirement plan will be paid out and beneficiary information.

Whether they’re in a filing cabinet, a shoebox or an overflowing inbox, you are probably holding onto more financial documents than you need. Ronald L. Guzior, CPA, partner with BST Financial and Management Consultants, offers some guidelines on what you need to keep.

Tax returns Keep federal and state tax returns for seven years, along with supporting documentation. Guzior says that includes all income-related documents, proof of taxes paid, and proof of deductions and charitable contributions, in case you are audited.

Investments Keep purchase- and sale-related documents, dividend reinvestment records and year-end statements for as long as you own the investment, plus seven years for tax purposes.

Real estate documents Keep home-purchase documents, home improvement and repair receipts and cancelled checks. “Most folks, based on current tax law, probably wouldn’t have a sale of a 52 | Life@Home

Retirement accounts

Health insurance documents Keep for five years from the date of service. Guzior says you need to have proof of payment in case a provider claims you owe money for a service or treatment.

Keep records from non-deducted medical expenses five years from the time you are no longer being treated.

Bank statements Keep for three months. You will need those statements for a mortgage application. If your bank statement supports something in a tax return, Guzior says keep it with your tax return and follow the seven-year guideline.

Paystubs Keep the latest one up to three months, if you plan to apply for a mortgage.

Utility bills Keep the latest one until the next month’s arrives, unless it supports a tax deduction. Proof of home office expenses is one example.

Credit card statements Keep the latest one until the next month’s arrives, unless you need it to support the warranty or guarantee of a purchase.

Homeowner and auto insurance documents Keep for five years, unless you think you will have a problem with a claim. In that case, Guzior says hang onto them for 10 years.

TIDY UP YOUR FINANCES This is a good time to look at how you’re spending your money. Are you paying for a gym membership that you don’t use? Are you buying something that would make more sense to rent? For example, Guzior

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Mark Aplet.

T

he ground is thawing, the birds are singing and soon you’ll be opening those windows wide. If you’re in the mood for spring cleaning, this is the perfect time to do a little financial spring cleaning too. It might not be the most fun you’ve had all year, but the results are bound to be just as satisfying as crystalclean, streak-free windows. Simplifying might even save you a little cash.

TIRED OF LOOKING AT THAT PROBLEM DRIVEWAY? NOW IS THE TIME TO CLEAN IT UP!

Getting Organized Helen Volk, owner of Beyond Clutter and the author of Filing 101 says no matter how many files, boxes or bags of documents you have, it’s never too late to get started. She recommends simplifying, using these steps.

Trade potholes, cracks, sunken areas, loose stones and dirt for a smooth, solid drive….You’ll be happy you did!

Step 1: Designate a drawer, box or portable file folder as your place for important documents. When you find those documents, Volk says, “stick them in there. You don’t have to create folders right away.”

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Step 2: When you are ready to create folders, use two categories: financial and insurance. Volk then suggests the following sub-categories:

• Financial: annuities, bank statements, budget, credit cards, investments, IRAs, pensions and retirement benefits, tax information

• Personal Insurance: accident, disability, health/

says you may need to use a rototiller this spring. “They’ll use it once and it will wind up in a shed,” he says. “In those cases, just go out and spend $50 and rent it for the day instead of buying it.”

He also recommends looking at your insurance policies if you haven’t done so recently. “Every three or four years, take a peek.

Is it reasonably priced? Are there new coverages out there that might be attractive to you?”

Medicare, life, long-term care

• Property Insurance: auto, boat/other vehicles, business, flood, homeowners/renters Step 3: Dedicate time to getting it done. “Even if it’s an hour in front of the television set.

During the commercials, you can do your filing,” she says.

Step 4: To keep up, follow the “one in, one out” rule. When you file away your 2012 tax return, pull out and dispose of your return from 2005.

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Don’t forget, any documents that you throw away are likely loaded with personal information. Shred them for safety.

SWEEP YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT If your tax refund is sitting in your checking account or you have more money in it than you need, Guzior suggests using the excess to pay down debt. “I’d probably go in this order: credit cards, lines of credit, home equity lines of credit and mortgages.” He says they all carry interest rates higher than what you will earn on that money in a bank account. 

Ann Hughes is a journalist who has been counting her pennies ever since she saved up for a Cabbage Patch Kid at age 9.

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 Tech Tips

New Wave

Picking the best streaming music service for your needs

By Brianna Snyder

PANDORA Cost: free (ad-supported, limited songskipping); $36/year (no external ads, more allowable song-skipping) Famous for its Music Genome Project — an algorithm that determines what kind of music you might like based on how you rate the songs coming through a particular channel — Pandora is simple.

You don’t need to download any software, and its music database is gigantic. Type in 54 | Life@Home

any artist and Pandora will play you that artist’s song, plus songs by other artists musically related to the one you chose.

Leslie Trosset, a media expert in Albany, likes Pandora because, she says, “a song will pop up in my head and I’ll type it in and, boom, there it is.” The same is true for a certain genre of music; if she’s craving some oldies or some jazz, she plugs in a song and lets the radio take it from there.

Possible downsides: Pandora only allows you to skip six songs per hour if you’re bored or uninterested in what it’s selected for you. You also can’t rewind or repeat songs, or make playlists.

SPOTIFY Cost: free (limited streaming, ad-supported); $4.99/month (unlimited streaming without ads); $9.99/month (unlimited streaming, no ads, and mobile services) Spotify took off when it crossed the pond over to the States. Listeners can search for songs and artists, play whole albums as many times as they like, make playlists and play songs on repeat. And Spotify has its own Pandora-like, radio service for listeners wanting to discover new music or who just want to sit back and let a digital DJ do all the work.

“I use Spotify for a lot of my class playlists,” says Nick Conway, who teaches music at SUNY Albany. Because Spotify is integrated with Facebook, its sharing capabilities are sophisticated and plentiful: Conway makes a playlist for a class and all of his students have immediate access to

it, and can share it with their own friends or post it on Facebook or Twitter or on their blogs. Plus, Spotify can be synched on phones and tablets so that you can listen to playlists or albums without being connected to the Internet.

Spotify also allows users to make collaborative playlists. Party-planning friends might all collaborate on the ultimate dinner-party playlist or long-distance pals might introduce each other to new music via a shared playlist. Everyone can have a chance to pick a song.

Possible downside: You have to link your Facebook account to Spotify, so if you’re anti-Facebook or if you’re not interested in sharing your Spotify activity with your Facebook friends, Spotify will elude you.

However, once your Facebook and Spotify accounts are connected, you can check your preferences to hide your activity.

Also, Spotify’s music database is smaller than Pandora’s and iTunes’. No Beatles. No Led Zeppelin. No Pink Floyd.

ITUNES Cost: free to download, but you have to buy all your music Once you download an album from iTunes, it’s yours and it’s available on all of your Apple devices, until, supposedly, the end of time. (My harddrive crashed and I lost all my music; iTunes restored everything.)

Streaming is possible on any Apple device.

Possible downsides: Buying music can get expensive, plus iTunes can be clunky and requires a lot of updates. 

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/aleksandar velasevic.

T

he market-research company The NBD Group reported late last year that 96 million people — about 50 percent of the U.S. Internet population aged 13 and older — listened to an Internet radio or on-demand music service in the past three months, according to PCMag. com. Since 2009, CD-listening has fallen by 21 percent.

“CDs are definitely on the way out,” says Jim Huerter of Symmetry the Technology Company in Albany. Huerter specializes in setting up high-performance entertainment systems. “People are using iPods to stream audio throughout the house,” he says. With laptops, MP3 players, regular desktop computers, smartphones and Blu-ray players, you don’t even need to own a CD player anymore to listen to music.

So what’s the best way to do it? A few have emerged as top players. Spotify, Pandora and iTunes are the big three, with sites such as Rdio, Rhapsody and Mog providing nearly identical services, but with smaller, less-substantial catalogs. Here’s what you need to know to make your choice.

Family  Food  Wine

Life 55 – 82

Plated perfection. Photo by Suzanne Kawola. Read more on page 68.  timesunion.com/lifeathome | 55

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Help Me … plan a

summer vacation

By Jennifer Gish

I

f combing through Disney deals on the Internet or choosing the best cruise line has you wishing you could hop on the next red-eye to escape vacation planning, relax. Soon, you’ll so artfully organize your summer escape that the only thing you’ll need to worry about is crossing “kick back” off your itinerary.

ACK! IT’S APRIL. You don’t have to book 11 months in advance to get the best deals. “It all comes down to what you are looking to book for the summer. If you’re looking for an Alaska cruise, then you would be considered booking late. However, if you were looking to book a Caribbean cruise, then you would be right on time,” says John Kusek, manager of travel agency operations for AAA Hudson Valley. “Most people don’t mind booking early because in some cases your deposits are refundable up until your final payment, which is 60 or 90 days prior to your vacation so you have nothing to lose.”

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Lise Gagne.

FLY OR DRIVE? Kusek says some clients who choose to fly will drive to the airports in New York City to save $100 to $200 a ticket. But he’s also seeing a lot of families, with airfare to Orlando running about $300 per person, taking good old-fashioned road trips to Disney. Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, a Saratoga Springs-based family travel expert for MiniTime, a national family travel website (minitime.com), says mounting airline fees are making flying a less viable option for families. Meanwhile, gassing up the family car or van costs the same no matter how many family members you’ve got along.

GET EVERYONE INVOLVED. One person shouldn’t take complete control of planning the entire trip for everyone, Kelleher says. “My kids get on the web, and they have a strong opinion about where they want to go,” she says. “Kids are more receptive if you want to go to an art

museum when you have your pick if they know then they’ll have their pick. There’s a life lesson that comes with travel that’s great. The more people you do something with, the more compromise is needed.”

AND WHILE YOU’RE TEACHING LIFE LESSONS ...

If you’re planning a family vacation, Kelleher suggests letting kids know what the budget is in an ageappropriate way so they start to see that vacations do cost money. A younger child could be taught that lesson with a souvenir budget when the trip is underway. But an older child can help determine which attractions and eateries will fit into the overall vacation budget, she says.

DID I BUDGET EVERYTHING? “We actually talk about this question a lot when we talk about cruising,” Kusek says.

“Many people think when they pay for their cruise and then get on board, they are all set. But in reality, once on board there are a lot of things not included, such as gratuities and on board expenses like alcohol and shore excursions. Sometimes, these costs can be just as much as the cruise.”

AND IF YOU PLAN TO SET SAIL ...

“You may be surprised how inexpensive cruises are last-minute,” Kusek says. “They have to fill the ships and there sure are a lot of them. You can save money by sailing out of your local cruise port — here in Albany we are lucky to be only a few hours away from the New York City and the New Jersey piers, which you can easily drive to or take the train.”

to get lodging in Yellowstone at the height of summer at the last minute. ... And often you get a better deal when you wait for a sale of some kind. A lot of times hotels will lower their rates to make sure that they’re booked solid.”

BUT WHAT IF YOUR PLANS FALL APART? “New insurance options like ‘cancel for any reason’ have really made it easier for the customer,” Kusek says. Travel insurance is prorated on the amount of your vacation. For example, Kusek says, if your total trip is $2,000, then you would expect to pay around $49 to $59 per person. But having to cancel your trip isn’t the only reason to look into insurance. “They also buy it for the medical and dental coverage because some personal health insurances will not cover you while overseas,” he says.

“Insurance also covers you for lost luggage, missed connections and even trip delay.”

AND DON’T FORGET WHY YOU’RE TAKING THAT VACATION.

SCORING A DEAL.

Don’t pack the itinerary with so many things that really special moments get lost or there’s no time to just relax and be together.

“That’s a mistake that a lot of families make because they want to get as much into a vacation as possible,” Kelleher says, “(so) they don’t leave any downtime.”

“Last year my family went to Yellowstone,” Kelleher says. “I was amazed at being able

Jennifer Gish is features editor at the Times Union. timesunion.com/lifeathome | 57

Clutter

Be Gone!

Donating your way to a cleaner home

By Elizabeth Floyd Mair | Illustrations by Colleen Ingerto

FURNITURE AND SMALLER HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany 41 North Main Avenue, Albany (518) 453-6650 www.ccrcda.org This nonprofit organization serves individuals and families in both homeless shelters and low-income apartments.

According to development director Molly Nicol, Catholic Charities serves people of all faiths, races, and creeds — “We don’t ask you what you believe 58 | Life@Home

ed items actually go. Knowing who will be benefitted by your efforts at spring cleaning may serve as an extra incentive to get started.

Choosing to donate — anywhere — rather than throw away is better for the environment, since it keeps the items out of our landfills. And as an extra incentive, you can usually get a tax receipt. Nonprofits will give you one on the spot or mail one later. Some clothing drop boxes even have a built-in slot on the side filled with tax receipts, for donors to take away.

before helping you”).

Rather than used clothing, Nicol says Catholic Charities would prefer to receive used furniture, small appliances, household goods such as dishes and throw rugs, and children’s toys. Qualifying individuals or families — referred through various social service agencies — choose their own furniture and household items at the organization’s warehouse in Rotterdam.

Schenectady Home Furnishings Program First United Methodist Church (the program has no religious affiliation) 603 State Street, Schenectady Program coordinator Jamie Doriguzzi (518) 346-2444 schenectadyhomefurnishings. org/donate_furnishings.html

E-mail: homefurninc@aol.com This program delivers household furnishings in “excellent usable condition” to people and families in need in Schenectady County. At no cost to donor or recipient, Home Furnishings picks up and delivers furniture and other household items collected from individuals or groups, churches, and estates.

“Being associated with the program is an exhilarating and humbling experience,” says Rob Carney, president of the board of directors. “It does the heart good to know that we’re helping people, but I’m sorry that we have to see so many people in need.” Recipients are all referred by social agencies or congregations. Most are in transition from situations including domestic violence, rehab, or fire.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/artpipi.

O

rganization experts tell us to organize clutter into three piles: keep, throw, and donate. But sometimes even though we would like to donate some of our gently used clutter, we’re not sure where we can actually bring it. Would anybody really want our used microwave? How about that ping-pong table gathering dust in the basement? Will those clothes in our closet really be put to good use?

Once we started looking into who will accept what, we were amazed to discover a multitude of local, national, or international organizations that can put our clutter to good use. It’s a matter of finding the right fit for the items you no longer need.

We decided to track down just where donat-

Accepts: beds, mattresses, dining room tables, coffee tables, couches, chairs, as well as smaller items such as dish sets, utensils, small appliances, lamps, and window curtains.

Franklin Community Center 10 Franklin Street, Saratoga Springs (518) 587-9826 This organization matches would-be donors with local people in need. Anyone wishing to donate gently-used furniture can call the office and be placed on a donation list.

This is then checked against a “needs” list. When a match is found, the donor is contacted and given the contact information of the family in need.

Transportation arrangements are made privately between donor and recipient.

FURNITURE, APPLIANCES, AND BUILDING MATERIALS

Schenectady Habitat for Humanity ReStore 115 North Broadway, Schenectady (518) 395-3412 ext. 6 www.schenectadyhabitat.org/restore Randy Sparrow, ReStore manager E-mail: randy.sparrow@ gmail.com Accepts furniture or large ap-

CLOTHING, FURNITURE, AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS Captain’s Treasures (run by Captain Youth and Family Services) 1714 Route 9, Clifton Park (518) 383-1788 www.captainyfs.org Captain Youth and Family Services is a grassroots nonprofit that runs a homeless youth shelter, a food pantry, and many programs for youth and families.

Captain’s Treasures is the organization’s next-to-new shop. The store is open to the public, and clients in Captain Youth and Family’s many programs receive vouchers that allow them to obtain items from the store free of charge.

Some items donated to the store are given to the shelter for its residents’ use.

Accepts: Full sets of dishes, pots and pans, full comforter sets, books, videos, DVDs, towels, small appliances including microwaves, blenders, rice cookers.

The main office also accepts bicycles, which are distributed to young people in need. To donate a used bike, call the main office (rather than the store number above) at (518) 371-1185.

City Mission of Schenectady Thrift Store 416 Saratoga Road, Glenville (518) 399-0917

City Mission of Schenectady, a nondenominational Christian ministry, runs a thrift store in Glenville that accepts “pretty much everything,” according to mission Executive Director Michael Saccocio. Items accepted include clothing, furniture, small (working) appliances, and bric-a-brac. The mission cannot accept encyclopedias, computers, TVs, typewriters, or exercise equipment.

Proceeds from the thrift store benefit the work of the mission, helping people in need in Schenectady. The group’s website notes that the mission serves over 500 meals each day and provides shelter to about 90 men, women, and children each night.

City Mission of Schenectady also has drop boxes — for clothing only — throughout the community. The boxes are red and bear the city mission name and logo. Much of the clothing placed in the boxes will be shipped to developing countries and distributed there.

Goodwill 1 Fuller Road, Albany (518) 459-5580 (other locations include Rotterdam, Troy, and Amsterdam) Goodwill is now almost 100 years old. Its mission, according to Alfred Vanderbilt,

pliances in good-to-excellent condition, building materials, electrical and plumbing supplies. Most items received are sold at “very reasonable prices” to the general public, with the proceeds used to support the “Habitat mission of creating basic decent housing for hard-working families with need,” says Schenectady ReStore manager Randy Sparrow.

Capital District Habitat for Humanity ReStore 454 North Pearl Street, Albany (518) 275-6638 www.habitatcd.org/restore Dave Harrison, manager E-mail: dave@habitatcd.org

spokesman for Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, is to help people achieve better lives by overcoming barriers to employment.

“We have a big focus on employment programs,” Vanderbilt says. “In 2011, 86 people with developmental disabilities received training and work experience in the Albany region stores.” And in the entire New York and New Jersey region, Vanderbilt says, Goodwill serves upwards of 100,000 people annually, through all its programs.

Goodwill accepts clothing and small household items, as well as books, CDs, and DVDs.

created by Bethlehem resident Roberta Sandler. Its mission is to help people in need in our community. It runs a “community store” — accessible to anyone and often used by those who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness — that does not actually feature any exchange of cash. In order to simulate a real shopping experience, a limit is placed on the number of items that customers can take.

Marketing coordinator Eric Guzman says that the organizations likes to receive clothing items for the store that are actually in season; they welcome donations of coats, winter boots, and gloves or mittens while it is still actually cold out.

Items accepted include men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing as well as household items like dishes, pots and pans, bedding, and window curtains.

Please bring donations to the store weekdays from 9:30 am to 3 pm.

Grassroots Givers Community Store (within the Sheridan Hollow Drop-In Center) 26 South Swan Street, Albany (518) 694-8899 www.grassrootsgivers.com Grassroots Givers is an initiative

Accepts larger furniture and building materials only. To donate, please call or e-mail the ReStore manager.

continued on 60 timesunion.com/lifeathome | 59

continued from 59

CLOTHING ONLY

Colonie Christian Life Center 31 Vly Road, Albany, NY (518) 951-5172 This church runs a weekly food pantry each Thursday from 6 to 7 pm, open to any residents of

BABY CLOTHES, BEDDING, POTS AND PANS, SILVERWARE, TOWELS Homeless and Travelers Aid Society (HATAS) 138 Central Avenue Albany, NY 12206 518-463-2124 www.hatas.org

COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS

Colonie and to others in emergencies. Volunteers also set out donated clothing for people to take free of charge.

According to Sara Steffenson, business director, “Most families who visit the food pantry also leave with a bagful of clothes. We go through an enormous amount of stuff.”

The clothing bin is located right next to the front door.

also accepts slacks, blazers, dress blouses and shells, and nearly new handbags or shoes.

Clothing items must be on hangers. Jewelry appropriate for work is also welcome; each piece should be placed separately into a small bag.

Not accepted: Jeans, sweaters, coats, formalwear, leather, and suede.

To donate, stop in on Tuesday morning from 9 to 12, or call or e-mail the program coordinator.

Dress for Success Albany Albany Community Action Partnership 333 Sheridan Avenue, Albany (518) 463-3175, ext. 131

This local affiliate of a worldwide organization “provides interview suits and confidence building” for women who are in transition back into the workforce, says program coordinator Jennifer Stoner.

Dress for Success, which also provides women with career development skills, accepts clean and pressed women’s suits no more than three years old. It

This organization helps families and adult individuals in need to find emergency shelter. Last year the group found safe emergency shelter for 762 families and 2,149 single adults in our area.

According to Leslie Stilson, a case manager and alcohol and substance abuse counselor, the organization is in great need of kitchen and bath

items, as well as baby clothes. “Our clients move in with nothing,” she said. “In many cases, they don’t have a sheet or a can opener to open a can of soup.”

Items can be dropped off at HATAS between 8:30 and 4:30 Monday through Friday.

Because of a lack of storage space, HATAS cannot accept

furniture. But it does accept donations of microwave ovens.

GE Elfun Computer Rehab of Schenectady, Inc. Building 33, Main Reception GE Main Plant Erie Boulevard, Schenectady (518) 385-9606 www.computerrehab.org

wipes the hard drive free of information and programs using Department of Defense–compliant software. If a computer has no hard drive, they buy and install a new one. And they install a fully licensed Microsoft Windows operating system in each computer they refurbish. They also rebuild and provide printers, scanners, and other peripherals as requested by the client.

“In calendar 2012,” says Elfun president and retired GE engineer Terry Lustofin, “we donated 650 computer systems. That’s the most we’ve

ever donated in a year. Sometime during 2013 we’ll reach 10,000 computer systems over the life of the program. We’re at 9,800 now.”

Lustofin says that volunteers work only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but that they manage, all together, to log between 8,000 and 10,000 volunteer hours a year.

Drop off computers or peripherals, as well as digital cameras or video projectors, Tuesday or Thursday from 7:30 am till noon. Please see the web site for more information.

The Elfun program is an allvolunteer program of 32 retired GE employees who refurbish computers and donate them to schools and nonprofit organizations that cannot afford to buy new equipment.

When the group receives a donation of a computer from a business or individual, it first 60 | Life@Home

www.albanycap.org Jennifer Stoner, program coordinator jstoner@albanycap.org

more

ONLINE

To learn about dropboxes and Freecycle, go to timesunion.com/lifeathome.

BICYCLES Troy Bike Rescue 3280 6th Avenue, Troy (518) 328-4827 This volunteer collective not only keeps bicycles out of the waste stream, but teaches people how to repair them.

The collective also allows its volunteers to earn a bike

EYEGLASSES AND HEARING AIDS

CELL PHONES (AND CHARGERS, IF AVAILABLE) Equinox, Inc. 95 Central Avenue, Albany (518) 434-6135 www.equinoxinc.org Old cell phones—even those with no contracts or minutes—can be used to dial 911, provided that the battery is still good. For that reason, non-

through work hours. And it donates refurbished bikes to area organizations and individuals in need. It also offers refurbished bikes for sale, on a sliding scale suggested donation system.

Bikes in any state of disrepair are accepted; they can be pulled apart and used for parts or in teaching people how to refurbish a bike.

The collective is run strictly

by volunteers, with no managers or owners. According to core volunteer Dakota (“I don’t use my last name”), the point of the organization is to reduce the number of bicycles in the

waste stream and to teach people that bikes are legitimate transportation alternatives.

Drop off bicycles Monday or Wednesday nights from 5 pm to 8 pm.

The Albany & Troy Lions Club has over 80 collection sites for eyeglasses and hearing aids throughout and between Albany and Troy.

Jerry Gordon, the club secretary and webmaster, estimates that the Albany & Troy club collects 14,000 pairs of eyeglasses, and a couple of

hundred hearing aids, each year. The eyeglasses are first cleaned, sorted, and prescription-labeled here in the U.S., and then shipped to developing countries. As Gordon explains, “People get a brief eye exam and then they get the glasses that are closest to what they need. This allows adults to work, and kids to go to school, who otherwise wouldn’t.” The hearing aids are turned in to a local manufacturer in exchange

for “credits” that are later used to help needy local people obtain hearing aids.

Albany & Troy Lions Club also has about a dozen collection bins for used cell phones and inkjet printer cartridges.

Phones and cartridges are either refurbished or recycled, depending on condition.

Refurbished items are resold, and the proceeds channeled back into Lions Club humanitarian programs.

profit community organization Equinox accepts donations of old cell phones.

According to Lea Bosquez, director of development and community relations at Equinox, the organization recharges the batteries and then distributes the phones to people in its shelters and programs who have been the victims of domestic violence, for use in emergencies.

Any phones that cannot be recharged can still be recycled, with Equinox receiving the proceeds. Bosquez says, “I’ve been amazed at how valuable individual components of these phones can be, and it all goes right back into our domestic violence programs.”

Phones (and chargers, if available) can be dropped off at the Equinox office Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. 

Albany & Troy Lions Club P.O. Box 192, Troy (518) 266-7788 http://albanytroylions.org

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 61

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Dirty Deeds Give your home some springcleaning sparkle!

By Brianna Snyder

S

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Ever.

pring cleaning is a dreaded yearly chore. But with winter finally ending, soon you’ll have open windows and fresh air again, and all of a sudden nothing seems more reinvigorating than a thoroughly cleaned house.

Katie Whitt, owner of Albany Home Cleaning, says spring is the time to give your house a top-to-bottom cleaning.

Wintertime is marked by kids and pets coming in and out of the house, tracking in snow, salt, sand and mud with them.

And months of dry, artificially-heated air means rooms are stuffy and stale. So how do you manage the daunting task of this big spring cleaning?

Whitt recommends taking on the house piece by piece. “Trying to tackle all of the cleaning all at once is going to make you cry,” she says. “Do one room a week. Go top to bottom. Start in one corner and go clockwise. ... That way you don’t miss anything.”

Here are some places our experts say you won’t want to miss to give your home that spring-clean sparkle:

BASEBOARDS, WINDOWSILLS AND DOOR LEDGES Erica Daugherty, office manager for The Maids of Albany, says spring is the time to clear away all the places dust accumulates during the winter. Heating vents are generally dusty places and when the heat is on, all of that detritus finds its way into corners and behind the couches. When The

Maids do services on houses — a thorough 22-step process, Daugherty says — spring is when they focus on cleaning all the places where allergens — such as dust and mold — hide. That means couch cushions, baseboards, walls, windowsills and doors, doorknobs, and door ledges.

MUDROOMS AND ENTRYWAYS “Some of the entryways may need some extra focus,” Daugherty says. Snowy, muddy boots mean snowy, muddy floors. “Our cleaners get down on their hands and knees to get rid of all that accumulated salt,” Whitt says. “I think a lot of people vacuum a lot no matter what, but stuff that accumulates in the winter needs more attention. A lot of times a quick mop doesn’t work.”

WINDOWS, SCREENS AND GLASS DOORS “We have a dog, so our sliding glass door is full of noseprints,” Whitt says. Windows and doors are extra grimy after winter, since they’re closed most of the time and curious faces regularly press up against them to watch for snow. The Maids of Albany also wash window screens, polish and disinfect the ledges and clear away any dead bugs or leaves or other debris that gets caught in those places.

CURTAINS Daugherty says curtains should be vacuumed, and even washed or dry cleaned if they look particularly grubby.

OTHER TASKS TO DO:

 Clean kitchen appliances (oven, toaster, coffee pot, etc.)

 Clean out cupboards. Take out

everything, wipe down the shelves, discard/donate unneeded or unused items.

 Rotate and/or flip mattresses and dust boxsprings

 Clean your pillows. Check pillow tags

to ensure they can be washed in the washing machine (most can, according to apartmenttherapy.com), and then dry thoroughly. Wash two at a time to balance the machines, and dry with tennis balls to keep the pillows fluffy.

 Reorganize and switch your clothes from winter to spring/summer. 

The Key is Organization “My phrase is everything needs a home,” says Katie Whitt of Albany Home Cleaning. “If you have a pile of papers on the table or a stack of DVDs next to the TV, you need to find a home for them. If you keep piling them by the TV or on the desk, your house isn’t going to be clean.”

Even if you have to buy extra shelves or cubbies, make the investment. Things will look that much nicer.

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 63

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

Perfect books to curl up with on a rainy spring day

By Brianna Snyder | Illustration by Emily Jahn

A

pril can be a cruel month. Little bursts of warmth and sunshine excite us for summer, while days-long stretches of rain and cold remind us we’ve still got some time before we can break out the beach towels. That makes April a perfect time to curl up by the rain-streaked window with a cup of hot tea and absorb yourself in a good — no, great — book.

We talked to area librarians to find out what they and their patrons have been reading this year, and they recommended all kinds of different writers and genres.

“Everybody’s looking for something a little bit different,” says Ike Pulver, director of the Saratoga Springs Public Library. In library jargon, the “appeal factor” is what you like in a book and finding the appeal 64 | Life@Home

factor can be “a little bit of a science,” Pulver says. Do you like character development/ study? Are you a plot person? Are you looking for great storytelling?

Pulver was joined by Mary Ann Hunter, who stocks the fiction shelves at the Saratoga Springs library; Sarah Clark, a librarian at the Albany Public Library; and Carol Roberts, a librarian at the Troy Public Library, in compiling a list of their (and our) favorites.

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris, Little, Brown, 288 pages, $26.99 David Sedaris fans, get excited. It’s been awhile since Sedaris released a

book of essays, and this one about his travels around the world is sharp, funny and moving.

The Lady Most Willing: A Novel in Three Parts, Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Connie Brockway, Avon, 384 pages, $7.99 A regency romance that takes place right around the Napoleonic War, The Lady Most Willing is historical fiction of the highest caliber, Mary Ann Hunter says.

“It’s funny but it’s also sensual,” she says.

“It’s not 50 Shades. … These are three very solid romance writers — regency legends,” who write witty dialogue and smart prose.

The Burn Palace, Stephen Dobyns, Blue Rider Press, 480 pages, $27.95 Stephen Dobyns is a poet and novelist who may be a familiar name to local readers. (He wrote a detective series set in Saratoga Springs.) This latest release is receiving high acclaim from everyone from the New York Journal of Books to Stephen King. This thriller begins with a nurse who finds that a baby has been stolen from the hospital — and replaced with a snake. From there, “a series of inexplicably violent acts” begin to terrorize the small Rhode Island town.

The Tenth of December, George Saunders, Random House, 272 pages, $26 This collection of short stories was proclaimed

by The New York Times Magazine to be possibly the best book you’ll read this year. George Saunders is one of the most talented fiction writers of his generation, and this new book of creepy, eerie, funny stories is quite a headtrip. “Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience,” according to Publishers Marketplace.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, Maria Semple, Little, Brown, 336 pages, $25.99 Maria Semple was a writer on the popular TV series Arrested Development and Saturday Night Live, so if you’re a fan of either of those programs, you might like this. Where’d You Go, Bernadette? is a “quick, light-hearted read,” Hunter says.

The book tells the story of an agoraphobic

mother whose disappearance launches a search to find her again. The Washington Post calls it “warm, dark, sad, funny — and a little bit screwball.”

The Fault in our Stars, John Green, Dutton Juvenile, 336 pages, $17.99 Librarian Carol Roberts calls this “one of the best books ever written.”

The plot goes like this, according to GoodReads.com: “Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.”

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Mary Roach, W. W. Norton & Company, 352 pages, $26.95 If you’re a David Sedaris fan, says Sarah Clark, you might like science writer Mary Roach. Funny and dark, “She’s covered the topics of cadavers, ghosts, sex, and outer space in her previous books, and digestion is the subject of her newest book,” Clark says. (Her other books include Stiff, Bonk and Spook.) “Her research is thorough, and she leaves nothing to the imagination, even though you may wish she had.”

Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein, Hyperion Book, 352 pages, $16.99 Young Adult crossover is a growing genre, and Code Name Verity might be the next Hunger Games.

Hunter says the book, which is about a young woman who, during WWII, crashes in Nazi-occupied France, is “sad, and thoroughly moving.” The New York Times calls it “a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel” and a visceral read of danger, resolve and survival.

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis, Timothy Egan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 389 pages, $28 Ike Pulver says he loved this biography about a famous photographer in the 19th century whose subject was largely Native Americans. The Wall Street Journal calls it “a sweeping tale about two vanishing ways of life. The traditional lives of Native Americans were in eclipse, of course, but there was also the world in which Curtis made his way, amid Gilded Age tycoons and Edwardian adventurers, in the company of hale fellows setting off on long trips by rail and boat, when simple mistakes of navigation had far-ranging consequences.”

The Good House, Ann Leary, St. Martin’s Press, 304 pages, $24.99 Noted as a 2013 mustread by the news and entertainment site MSN. com, The Good House is the story of Hildy.

Hildy is “a successful real estate broker in a small New England town; she’s a divorced, irreverent un-recovered alcoholic, who finds herself in a surprising romance,” according to MSN. “The characters are smart, fun, warm and flawed.

Every page is a gift to read.” 

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 65

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Kitchen Crumbs 

Tasty Tidbits

to brighten up your cooking

By Caroline Barrett

Easy Recipe Spring Vegetable Pizza

Soap photo by Paul Barrett. All others: iStockphoto.com. Cheese, © Alena Dvorakova; Pea Shoots, © Le Do.

Want a fast weeknight dinner? Load up a pre-baked pizza shell with piles of crunchy, fresh spring veggies.

Just heat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush a pre-baked pizza shell with olive oil. In a large bowl, toss together thin stalks of asparagus chopped to 1-inch lengths, chopped spinach, finely chopped green onions with a bit of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly over pizza shell. Dot the top of the vegetables with bits of goat cheese and crumbles of feta. Cover the top with plenty of black pepper. Bake for 12 minutes or until the vegetables are hot and the cheese is melted.

Mmmmmm …

Creamy, mild, gooey, hard, stretchy and rich. Cheese comes in all shapes, sizes, textures and tastes, and we Americans love it all. The U.S. is the top cheese producer in the world, producing over 4,275 metric tons of cheese per year. statisticbrain.com/cheese-statistics

“

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.” — Aesop

Have you ever wondered how to make your own sourdough starter?

The process couldn’t be simpler. Mix together water, yeast and flour. Let this sit for 2-5 days, checking on it and stirring as it goes. You will know it’s ready when the mixture develops a sour smell and is the consistency of pancake batter.

For the recipe and a detailed how-to, visit: kingarthurflour.com/recipes/start-your-ownsourdough-starter-recipe

April brings soft, warm

Grow your own delicious and fresh pea shoots. No special equipment required. Purchase a packet of peas for planting, and fill a small container with potting soil (a glass loaf pan works especially well, and fits right on the windowsill).

Pour a 2-inch layer of soil in the pan, layer in the seeds, and cover with another 1 inch of soil. Keep moist and in a sunny, warm spot. When the shoots are 2- to 3-inches tall, snip the top inch from the plant. The shoots are crisp, tender and sweet. Add to salads, sandwiches or stir-fry. The plants can be left to sprout again, and will grow into mature pea plants.

earth that we’ve waited months to dig our hands in.

When you’re done digging, lather up with Hoe Down Garden Soap. This soap is locally produced and made with coconut and olive oil, oatmeal and calendula flowers. It’ll have you digging back into the garden just so you can wash up again. Visit radsoap.com for local outlets.

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 67

 Dish

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By Steve Barnes  |  Photos by Suzanne Kawola

D

an Smith once ran brunch service as executive chef of The Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck, but it was such a busy place on weekends that he supervised instead of actually cooking. Today, at age 59, he does cook, poaching and scrambling and omeleting eggs and flipping flapjacks and making toast from his homemade bread six days week at Jake Moon Restaurant & CafĂŠ in Clarksville. “I sell a tremendous amount of eggs,â€? he says. “I used to love to eat them, but I cook so many now that I feel a little differently about them.â€?

Breakfast and lunch make up about two-thirds of the meals served at Jake Moon, an unprepossessing eatery in a former country diner and ice-cream shop, which Smith opened in January 2009 in the rural Albany County hamlet he calls home. With a menu featuring chef versions of home cooking, many homebaked goods, and ingredients that, in season, mostly come from Smith’s vast

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Dish 

House-Cured Salmon ‘Bacon’ 1 (1½- to 2-pound) side of salmon, skin on Juice of 1 lemon ½ cup sea salt or kosher salt ½ cup sugar ¼ cup olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper ½ cup chopped fresh dill or ½ cup dry dill Method

 Make sure all pin bones have been removed from the side of salmon. (You can ask your fish market to do this.)

 Lay the fish on a large sheet of aluminum foil and sprinkle flesh side with ¾ of salt, sugar, pepper and dill. Add ¾ of olive oil and lemon juice. Press and rub lightly with hands to evenly distribute. Turn over and repeat process with remaining ingredients. Turn fish back over so the skin side is down.

 Lay another sheet of foil over the salmon and curl up the edges to seal and form a shallow boat. (The curing will produce liquid.)

 Place foil envelope in a roasting pan or casserole and weigh down with a heavy, flat-bottom pan at least as big as the fish.

Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. home garden, Jake Moon has cultivated a crowd divided between his country neighbors and foodies who make it a destination restaurant. Smith likes to joke that half of his customers wear hats with the word “NAPA” on them: some from the auto-parts chain, others from a recent vacation to California wine country.

After more than a decade as executive chef of the former Nicole’s Bistro in Albany, the end of many years in fine dining, Smith relishes his casual country place, where he serves a variant on eggs Benedict that is the most popular among several breakfast dishes featuring fish. He calls the

meat “salmon bacon,” because it’s cured and then cooked, but it’s really closer to gravlax that gets a quick sauté before being placed on a muffin with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

For this story, Smith was cooking at the Loudonville home of his old friend Carl Rosenbloom, whose late wife, Nicole Plisson, lured Smith from the Hudson Valley to Albany to cook at Nicole’s Bistro. He’s been a dinner guest at the home scores of times over the years but only cooked there once or twice. He was glad to stand behind the stove this time in honor of Plisson, who died in August. 

 After curing, unwrap fish, drain liquid, pat dry with paper towel if necessary, and cut into thin angled slices, leaving the skin behind.

 Quickly sauté in a small amount of olive oil and serve on an English muffin with poached egg and Hollandaise sauce for a version of egg Benedict.

Note: If allowed to cure for three days, the salmon can be sliced and eaten like gravlax.

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To see an instructional video on how to make HouseCured Salmon ‘Bacon,’ go to timesunion.com/lifeathome. timesunion.com/lifeathome | 71

 The Vineyard

Road Trip W

Globalization is a wine phenomenon, too

Story and photo by Alistair Highet

hen I’m not obsessing about wine, I’m obsessing about soccer (please allow me to call it football). What has been amazing over the last 20 years is how, say, Manchester United — based in Manchester, England — has become a truly global brand. The team has more fans in Thailand, Indonesia and Korea than in Manchester, where they share support with rivals Manchester City.

World-class players are global supernovas on a level that dwarfs Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen and the like. How could it be, for instance, that a player from a dusty town in Ivory Coast — former Chelsea star Didier Drogba — should be a household name in France, England, Barcelona, China, Bahrain? There is no airport in the world where a man like that would not be instantly recognized.

That’s the world we live in — a rapidly accelerating globalization of everything, and wine is no different. In fact, wine grapes may be the avant garde of globalization, as they were spread around the ancient world by the Greeks and Romans, planted wherever a Roman sandal dared to tread — even into the darkest forests of Gaul (now Germany).

All of that has accelerated now, and wine grapes that call France and Italy home are grown in the most unlikely places and making better wines all the time — the great grapes are making great wine almost everywhere.

This month, my eye was drawn to these global migration stories. To begin with, I tried a pinotage — the official wine grape of South Africa. The story is fascinating, even if the wine is often flatout weird. In 1925, Abraham Perold, an agriculture professor, wanted to make a wine grape that was pest-resistant and hard enough to thrive in African soil. So he crossed Cinsault — a Rhone grape — with the refined and snooty Burgundian Pinot Noir. He planted them against 72 | Life@Home

a shed and forgot about them. Years passed. A friend took the grapes and made wine with them. Thus an entirely unique offspring became the wine grape of Africa.

It’s not to everyone’s taste, rich as it is in isoamyl acetate – which makes it smell a bit like paint. I tried one once again. I didn’t like it. See below.

But there are fabulous successes: Bodega del Desierto is located in a desert in the province of La Pampa appellation of Alto Valle Rio Colorado (High Valley of the Red River) of Argentina. Who would think that the Cabernet Franc — traditionally a blending grape from Bordeaux — would find pure, operatic expression in the high desert?

Chile may be the most fecund winegrowing area in the world, with reliable Mediterranean temperatures — sunny, dry, moderated highs and lows thanks to the ocean on side and the Andes to the other. Irrigation is essential, but the great European grapes grow effortlessly and with little attention. A truly thrilling wine is Veramonte’s Primus “The Blend,” which combines Bordeaux and Rhone grapes to luscious, fruitful effect.

Expect to see more of this. The reliable old regions — Chianti, Bordeaux, Rioja — will face stiffer competition as their grapes go global.  Alistair Highet is a former editor, restaurant manager, and vinedresser, and has written about wine for over 20 years.

Mooiplaas “The Bean,” Pinotage, South Africa, 2011 ($11) OK, the idea here is that the oak barrels used for fermentation are roasted with coffee beans. Yes, I can taste the mocha, oaky flavors, but this was too creamy for me, with black cherry fruit, and a thin finish. And yes, a smell of paint.

Veramonte, “Primus,” Colchagua Valley, Chile, 2009, ($20) A blend of Cabernet, Carmenere, Syrah, and Merlot, this is a deliciously layered wine, with black cherry, cassis, licorice, toast, espresso, and blueberry flavors, balanced with delicious acidity and bright flavor. A superior blend.

Bodega Del Desierto, “25/5” Cabernet Franc, La Pampa, Argentina, 2009 ($16) I loved this. Fragrant, perfumed with wild flowers, and expensive leather, it has bright, balanced red currant fruitfulness, strawberry, cream and a silky finish.

Wonderful.

 Table@Home

Corny

Jokes You can have local corn in April. We’re not kidding!

By Caroline Barrett | Photos by Paul Barrett

M

y family likes to play April Fool’s jokes. We go with the goofy, fun stuff.

Zoe and I once dumped a healthy dose of cayenne pepper into Paul’s coffee. He knew it was there (the cream and the pepper made the coffee sort of pinkish, and it smelled like the Bayou) but he made a good show of it anyway, acting surprised and choking and flailing about. Zoe was 4 at the time. She rolled on the floor, howling with laughter.

And it was pretty hilarious when Lucy, without telling anyone, short-sheeted her grandmother’s bed. She carefully pulled back the quilt and folded the top sheet just so, tucking in the ends. When her grandmother slid into bed, her feet wouldn’t budge past the tightly-folded sheets. Lucy watched from the hall, hands covering her mouth and giggling. Confused, her grandmother got out of bed and tried to figure out what was going on. Not knowing that it was a prank and seeing her walk around the bed made it even funnier.

Other April Fool’s day jokes, though well-intentioned, weren’t so funny. My kids conspired to trick me once by wrapping a rubber band around the sprayer hose at our sink. It would have been funny, really, if it hadn’t been the end of a long day. If I wasn’t

74 | Life@Home

cranky and in a hurry. I was greeted with a stream of cold water, down the front of my shirt when I turned on the sink to wash dishes. And no matter how mad I was at the time — and boy, was I mad — they didn’t regret it. It was just too funny. I’m still mad about that one, and they still laugh.

My all-time favorite April Fool’s joke wasn’t even a joke. It was an assignment.

In college, one of my professors gave us this assignment for April Fool’s Day: create something that is not what it seems. And,

preferably, something edible.

I enlisted the help of my roommates and we made hard candy jewelry, pinned on black velvet boards with price tags on each shiny piece. Class that day featured all kinds of trickster foods: a flower potted in dirt made from crushed chocolate cookies and sushi created with rice cereal and fruit roll-ups. The best project was a cake made from two round loaves of pumpernickel bread, and carefully frosted with tuna salad. It was decorated with tiny chopped

Indian Spiced Corn and Lentils pickles and really, truly looked like a chocolate cake with coconut frosting.

I

’m writing about all these April Fool’s jokes, because it may seem funny or even like a joke to talk about a certain food in April: corn. I mean, who eats corn in April?

In upstate New York, when we are still a month away from corn planting, it seems a ludicrous notion to buy corn at the farmers market. Almost as crazy as eating a cake made from pumpernickel bread and tuna fish. But the cake worked, and so does the corn. Because the corn, you see, is frozen.

This frozen corn is not like those bags in the freezer section of the grocery. Those bags are picked and frozen in some faraway place and, honestly, are not very good. But the corn you can buy here, in April, at the local markets? Picked in a field not far from your house. Processed, bagged and frozen by the farmers themselves. The most important part is the corn still tastes good. Yup: sweet, crunchy and fresh. In April. No joke.

So we buy these bags of corn because the corn we cut and froze last year is gone.

Long gone. Elliot likes corn the old-school way. He likes his corn cooked and steamy with a chunk of butter on top. Zoe has been seen eating it frozen, by the handful. Lucy artfully places thawed corn and beans atop her salad greens for a quick taco salad.

Once I discovered the cases of frozen corn, they became a regular purchase during the late-winter/early-spring shopping trips at the farmers market. Every week I fill my basket with a few bags of this freshfrozen corn, and even add a bag or two of the other frozen vegetables: spinach and even Brussels sprouts. Of course, my kids like the frozen-corn choice better than any frozen green vegetable. And they aren’t shy about voicing opinions.

I’ve used these frozen bags of corn in soups, spoon bread and in a rich vegetarian chili that everyone ate and liked. In a house filled with varying tastes, that’s a

feat. It’s no secret that fresh corn is better than frozen. I save my fresh corn recipes for the real stuff: the tender, sweet and fresh corn that shows up around midAugust. That’s when we make corn salsa, soup and salad.

My husband is a true lover of good, fresh corn and sniffs at anything other than butter and salt on his. Paul shakes his head at basil, brown butter and anything else that interferes with the sweetness and simplicity of fresh, in-season corn. He appreciates the frozen corn we’ve been picking up, though. It’s tasty and, while it’s not summer, it’s a little taste of it.

This Indian-inspired dish combines the sweetness of corn with fresh ginger and creamy coconut milk. It’s the kind of food my family will eat and ask for again. Lots of flavor, easy to make, healthy, fresh.

Perhaps you are like Paul, and a true believer in the real thing — fresh, corn off the cob. If you do try the frozen corn from the market, it’ll make a convert out of you, too. No joke. 

serve with brown rice and a salad for a vegetarian meal 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 small onion 1 pound bag frozen corn 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 14-ounce can coconut milk 2 cups cooked red lentils crushed chile pepper, to taste sea salt to taste 2 green onions, trimmed and chopped 1 small handful fresh cilantro, chopped method  Pour the oil into a large skillet and cook the onion over medium heat until it just barely begins to brown. Add the corn and stir, cooking until no longer frozen. Stir in the ginger and turmeric, cook for another minute, and then add the coconut milk and lentils. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, season with the chile pepper and salt. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with the green onions and cilantro. Serve hot.

timesunion.com/lifeathome | 75

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To learn how to make Potato Salad Bites, pictured above, go to timesunion.com/lifeathome.

78  | Life@Home

Why go BIG when tiny can make your party special?

By Janet Reynolds | Photos by Teri Fisher

S

ometimes less really is more. At least that’s the theory behind Tiny Food Party, a cookbook devoted to tasty tidbits rather than entrees.

The brainchild of food stylist/recipe writer Jenny Park and photographer Teri Lyn Fisher, Tiny Food Party is a celebration of miniature munchies. Rather than macaroni and cheese, for instance, the book has mac ‘n’ cheese bites. Instead of full-size pizzas, Tiny Food Party features a recipe for super-small deep-dish pizza.

The result can be an evening of noshing for your family or friends.

To help you get started, the duo, who blog at spoonforkbacon.com, offer menus to take the guesswork out of what to pair and how much to make. The comfort-food party, for instance, features recipes for shepherd’s pies, meat loaves, chicken ’n’ waffles, white chocolate cheesecakes and bloody marys.

“We came to the table with our favorite

foods,” says Fisher of the book’s inception.

“From there it was easy to decide which would be good small.”

It was also a chance to feature some foods that might be, shall we say, slightly more nutritionally acceptable in a smaller version than their larger counterpart. Pop Tart anyone?

“We both love entertaining,” says Fisher, “... so we really wanted to make a book that had appetizery food that we would like at a party. We just started brainstorming about what would make it as miniature.”

Also critical to their final choices was ease. “We didn’t want it to be too hard,” says Fisher. That’s why they put together the various menus too. “It makes people’s lives easier so it’s not so overwhelming,” she says.

Of course, you can always take the recipes and expand them into larger, “normal,” sizes. But that would sort of defeat the point, wouldn’t it? 

Tiny Food Party! Bite-Size Recipes for Miniature Meals by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park, Quirk Publishing, 160 pages, $18.95

Tiny Taquitos

mixture and gently fold to incorporate.

Makes 24

 Place about 1 ½ tablespoons of

2 quarts vegetable oil for frying 1 ½ cups finely shredded cooked chicken ½ cup prepared salsa 2 tablespoons adobo sauce 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper salt and pepper to taste 1 ½ tablespoons honey 24 small (2- to 2-inch) corn tortillas about ½ cup avocado cilantro sauce

filling onto each tortilla and carefully roll into a long, thin tube. Secure the rolled taquitos with toothpicks.

Method  In a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees.

 In a large mixing bowl, toss to combine chicken, salsa, adobo, chili powder and cayenne powder. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle honey over

 In small batches, fry taquitos for 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp and lightly golden brown. Drain on paper towels and remove toothpicks. Serve immediately with sauce for dipping.

Avocado Cilantro Sauce  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the following: 2/3 cup sour cream, ½ avocado (peeled and pitted), ½ bunch cilantro (roughly chopped), juice of 1 lime. Process until smooth, about 1 minute.

Season with salt and pepper. Pulse to combine. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate. timesunion.com/lifeathome | 79

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Referred for a reason.

My Space 

W

e all have favorite spots, places where we feel most comfortable or at home.

Sometimes it’s a favorite chair or nook in a room; other times it’s outside the house. Wherever it is, it is where we are most at home.

Story and photo by Suzanne Kawola

WHO: Sally Temple -- founder and scientific director, Neural Stem Cell Institute

FAVORITE SPACE: The Hood It may not seem homey, but scientist Sally Temple says “the hood,” a ventilated space where stem cells can be cultured, is her center. Through the hood and the equipment that it houses, Sally can do what she is passionate about: studying stem cells. This past December, Temple’s lab was recommended to receive a $10.6 million grant from New York Sate to continue retinal stem research that could lead to a cure for Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

WHY: The hood is where the conversation about stem cells begins. “For me, it’s the way into a world that otherwise we don’t have access to ... this very secret world of the brain. The nervous system, the central nervous system -- which is the brain -- the retina and the spinal cord, it drives everything. It’s who we are as a person. It’s how we interface with the environment.

How do we see and hear? How do we move?

How do we behave? It’s really everything.

But it’s happening deep inside our bodies.

So, if you want to understand what makes that complicated system and how it works, how it goes wrong in disease, there’s no way in from the outside; you’ve got to be able to take out the cells and put them in the culture dish and then look down the microscope.” The hood is where it happens.

“That is the window to me. The window into this world that is so fascinating and is so important for us, but which we don’t have a way of looking at it apart from through that vehicle.”  timesunion.com/lifeathome | 81

 Photo Finish

It’s lovely in the piano room. Read more about the Krass home on page 24.

82 | Life@Home

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