Life@Home October 2012

april october 2011 2012

AATTIMES IMESU UNION PPUBLICATION UBLICATION

A Trackside Home in Saratoga

Inspired by plus…

• home security tips • putting your garden to bed • boosting your decor confidence plus… getting your chocolate • hot new perennials • • downsizing tips home • the newest fabulous trends • crafting a meaningful

…and more! displaying children’s art …and more!

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Janet Reynolds, Executive Editor Brianna Snyder, Associate Editor Rebecca Haynes, Contributing Editor Design

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Steve Barnes, Caroline Barrett, Betsy Bittner, Valerie DeLaCruz, Melissa Fiorenza, Laurie Lynn Fischer, Alison Grieveson, Alistair Highet, Suzanne Kawola, Kim Messenger, Merci Miglino, Lee Nelson, Jennifer O’Brien, Wendy Page, Colleen Plimpton, Lucianna Samu, Cari Scribner

Before

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Tony Pallone, Design Director Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn, Designers Krista Hicks Benson, Rebecca Isenhart, Contributing Designers

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Contributing Photographers

Paul Barrett, Valerie DeLaCruz, Alistair Highet, Krishna Hill, Emily Jahn, Suzanne Kawola, Mark Samu Sales

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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 email magcirculation@timesunion.com. For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358. life@home is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Rd, Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2012

by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher.

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:home:

content 19 SCARE TACTICS

Halloween decor is not for the faint of heart

21 WINDOW SHOPPING

Must-have goodies for the home, plus our bloggers’ online favorites

27 LIFE BY THE FAST TRACK

A trackside Saratoga home gets a makeover

34 DESIGN DEFINED Living with books

36 BOOST YOUR DESIGN CREATIVITY

Tips to help your design confidence soar

40 PROBLEM SOLVED How to update a staircase

42 10 WAYS TO USE ...

And you thought baking soda was just for cooking?

44 SECURITY BLANKET

What’s new in home security systems

48 A WOOLEN PLAYGROUND Linda Van Alstyne’s whimsical creations

54 BATTERY BEAT

What to do with those rechargeable batteries

57 REFURNISHED LIVING

Outside of the box

58 TULIP TIME

Plan now for spring flowering

60 gOOD NIGHT GARDEN Prepping your garden for a long winter’s sleep

62 design classics Whimsical wool. Read the story on page 48. Photo by Krishna Hill.

A wheeling wonder

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content 64 HOUSE BLEND

Your fall maintenance to-do list

66 GOOD SCHOOL HUNTING Why private school might be in your child’s future

70 SENIORS ON THE MOVE Move managers can help make downsizing more bearable

74 THE MAC-N-CHEESE MASTER Paul Valente is a wizard in the kitchen

79 THE VINEYARD

The history of war — and wine

81 TASTE SENSATION Saratoga Olive Oil takes this kitchen staple to new heights

85 RULES ARE FOR BREAKING ...

Except for the one about food

89 FIVE THINGS

Dr. Leonard Putnick’s favorite things

90 PHOTO FINISH

High Point University school pride

“A letter from home is worth ten thousand ounces of gold” — Chinese proverb

Pasta anyone? Read the story on page 74.

Photo by Suzanne Kawola.

Cover photo by Mark Samu.

timesunion.com/lifeathome

9

talk back

The story behind the story from our contributors Lee Nelson  I know many people struggling to help their elderly parents from afar or just in their busy schedules. I have told several of them to call a senior move manager for help. They seem to be miracle workers and understand the delicacies of packing up someone’s memories. See Lee’s story on page 60.

Private Education Brianna Snyder  There’s a lot of talk about the embarrassing state of education right now. Are private and charter schools the solution to a system bogged down by underfunding and bureaucratic heavyhandedness? We’ll have to see, but right now the special care, unthreatened arts programs and small class sizes found at private organizations bode better for our kids than many underfunded public districts. Read Brianna’s story online at timesunion.com/lifeathome

join the conversation!

! n i w s for a Like u to win e chanc ds of k all in uff! free st

facebook.com/ lifeathomemagazine

Locavore: Saratoga Olive Oil

Fall Bulbs

“I’m relieved to know how lowmaintenance they are.”

Cari Scribner  This was the ideal story for me to research!

I bought my own house last year, and put in several gardens with plenty of perennials. I thought I’d have to dig up the bulbs and store them for the winter. I’m relieved to know how low-maintenance they are. See Cari’s story on page 77.

Building your creative confidence Home Security Laurie Fischer  I suspected that the poor economy would lead to more break-ins. Burglaries did increase over the past five years in the Capital Region. I also learned that it pays to lock your door! See Laurie’s story on page 64.

life@home

Merci Miglino  What I learned is to let go of that critical voice in your head that’s always judging you and let the ideas fly. So what if they are silly, simple or outright impossible?

Start somewhere and go from there. You can always refine, correct and change them. See Merci’s story on page 34.

We asked, you answered!  What’s your favorite piece of furniture in your house? Why? Laura: Our entry buffet!

It was the bottom of my grandmother’s hutch (top removed) and I refinished it matte black. Then on the top I placed black and white old photos under glass.

 If you had an unlimited amount of money to spend on redoing just one room, what room would you pick? And what would you do?

Paul: An open family room with lots of light, going to a walk-out flagstone patio with a firepit in the center.

10

Wendy Page  I learned the power of taking a leap of faith and doing something you love to do. The Braidwoods love the concept behind their store, and their pride in it shines through.

The store is immaculate and well thoughtout, every customer (including me) gets an education, and the product is top-notch. I also learned that seemingly gentle olive oil can sometimes burn your throat (in a really good way!). See Wendy’s story on page 48.

Tracey: I’d have to go with my kitchen/dining area....it has so much potential but I don’t know which direction to go... it’s an outdated kitchen, yet has a floor to ceiling brick wall with fireplace, could be awesome with some vision and unlimited cash!

Gail: Push out the back of the house and build an enormous kitchen and extend the family room.

Linda: I would pick my kitchen ... completely gut it and start from scratch.

Oh the things I could do!

Jenn: Bathroom hands down: Huge jacuzzi tub, separate shower with a couple of shower heads, large vanity area — I could go on and on!

Lisa: Basement, finish it, with a bathroom!

Laura: It sounds boring, but laundry room! It is very cellar right now and I wish it was more of a room with great storage.

Showerhead photo © iStockphoto.com/Don Nichols.

Moving your Parents Around

Want to know more about

The Affordable Care Act before you vote?

COME TO OUR FREE SEMINAR

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 New York State Nurses Association 11 Cornell Road, Latham 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Panelists: KATE BRESLIN President and CEO of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.

The center advocates for the state’s low income and vulnerable populations, and was a prime booster of the early creation of health exchanges in New York.

Moderator:

CASEY SEILER

Times Union state editor, his column appears in the Sunday Perspective section.

He also co-hosts WMHT’s weekly public affairs report “New York Now.”

RICHARD KIRSCH Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and the author of “Fighting for Our Health: The Epic Battle to Make Health Care a Right in the United States,” published in February 2012 by the Rockefeller Institute Press.

He is also Senior Adviser to USAction and an Institute Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute.

LEV GINSBURG Director of Government Affairs for the Business Council of New York State.

A former staff member for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, Ginsburg has also worked as a political campaign coordinator and marketing director. Most recently, Served for seven years as attorney and staff supervisor with the former Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform.

Space is limited, register at HealthcareAct.eventbrite.com

by October 5.

Questions, call 518-454-5815

on the web facebook.com/ lifeathomemagazine

check us out online @

timesunion.com/lifeathome more of

photos

everything

recipes

House Things Read all about filling your house with the right things, in our blog by Times Union Magazines editors Janet Reynolds and Brianna Snyder.

GET MORE recipes like Chef Paul Valente’s Pumpkin Soup and Calamari Marinara, after first reading the story on page 74.

stories

Explore the “greener” side of the design and decorating industries with Refurnished Living columnist Alison Grieveson.

Facebook

See more photos of the Hollowoods’ Saratoga home (story, page 27) , Linda Van Alystyne’s fabulous felted goods (story, page 48), and watch our video of how to taste olive oil (story, page 81).

12

life@home

We want to hear from you! Join us on Facebook to add your two cents to our discussions, give us your ideas for inclusion in upcoming stories, and enter to win contests.

READ MORE stories, like how to finance your child’s education and how to sew up a happy home.

Computer mouse illustration © Irina Iglina/Dreamstime.com.

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Boo! H

igh on the list of the many things I love about October is Halloween. I have been a fan since I was a kid for all the obvious reasons: Free candy! Homemade costumes! Running around in the dark without my parents! Jack-o’-lanterns!

The kids on my street also “celebrated” Oct. 30, aka Cabbage Night, in my childhood New Jersey town. In fact my mother actually taught us how to toss toilet paper in the trees.

Just how unusual my mother’s behavior was became clear when I became a mother. For years, I regaled my children with Cabbage Night capers and the fun we had. And then three things happened: Cabbage Night (or Mischief Night, as it’s also called) got increasingly out of hand and the fun became a lot less good-natured; I married someone who thought that idea was crazy, especially the part of it somehow being parent-sanctioned; and my kids got old enough to want to participate.

Parental dilemma: Espouse what was now seen as a night for hoodlums to wreak havoc (not to mention the havoc this would wreak with my spouse) or squash the concept entirely?

I did what many parents do when faced with these moments: I waffled. And maybe, just maybe, I also just turned a blind eye to taking note of where our children were, say, from 7 to 9 on

Oct. 30 on our street and was shocked — shocked! — to discover toilet paper in the trees the following morning.

Halloween has only grown in stature in the years since, with Americans spending over $6 billion on the holiday last year.

My children are grown and our neighborhood is rural, so my Halloween has, sadly, gotten smaller and smaller. I have to satisfy my itch with carving pumpkins — and memories of nights spent running in the dark. @

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A distinctive staircase makes any home shine. Read the story on page 27.

Photo by Mark Samu.

furnishings | gadgets | décor pages 17 - 62

timesunion.com/lifeathome

17

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Scare Tactics

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Clint Hild.

D

ear Neighbor, I regret to inform you that you are not pulling your weight. It’s already October and you have yet to festoon your property with so much as a single pumpkin or cardboard skeleton. It really is unfair of you to expect me to do all the work.

Perhaps you are unaware of the fact that Halloween is fast approaching. This is more than just some holiday for kids. It is also another way for Americans to take pride in our country.

When it comes to Halloween, we are world leaders in terms of money spent, amount of candy purchased and greatest variety of women’s costumes marketed as “sexy.” Halloween has become as American as baseball, apple pie and climate-controlled toilet seats. Seeing your home with nary a giant spider clinging to your lamppost or witch crashing into a tree makes you seem unpatriotic. Would it kill you to put up a scarecrow?

You probably are familiar with my house. It’s the one that looks as if it’s the final resting place to more souls than Forest Lawn Cemetery and has enough flashing orange lights to make it capable of being seen from the space shuttle. That is, if we still had space shuttles. I won’t go so far as to accuse you of single-handedly dismantling a NASA space program through your failure to appreciate the value of decorating with fake cobwebs and toilet paper mummies, but if the vampire shoe fits …

I’ve seen you walk past my property, snickering because you thought I’d begun taking in laundry to supplement my income.

Surely you are aware that the billowing white sheets of fabric suspended from every tree branch within reach are actually ghosts that I’ve carefully crafted from cheesecloth and spray starch. Your trees, on the other hand, bare of everything save a birdfeeder, look boring. If this is your idea of celebrating Halloween, I suggest you move to Canada.

H

ow does it feel to have the tables turned? I know there were times when you have taken smug satisfaction from the fact that your home’s well-maintained exterior and neatly manicured landscaping was superior to mine. But my home’s peeling paint, un-raked leaves and withered pots of mums that haven’t been watered for the past month now put me ahead of the game in creating a spooky tableau. And that area of my

front porch in need of repair is no longer at the top of my to-do list — that’s what fog machines are for.

It won’t be long before (according to the U.S. Census Bureau) an estimated 40 million trick-or-treaters descend on homes throughout America in search of candy. While I doubt all 40 million will actually visit our neighborhood, I’m working hard to ensure that at least one or two million will be lured to my front door in pursuit of a sugar high. That’s why I have laid in a supply of candy corn that would give Dr. Oz Type II diabetes just by looking at it. I’ve also glittered enough papier-mâché black cats and ravens to give Martha Stewart feelings of inadequacy.

You, on the other hand, will no doubt spend the 31st huddled in the dark, pretending you’re not home and praying for the night to end.

But maybe I’m being too harsh and you do actually open your door to distribute “treats.” Did you know that the average American consumes 24.5 pounds of candy each year? That may sound like a lot, but if we expect our country to remain at the forefront of global sugar consumption, we must all pitch in to keep those numbers up. It doesn’t help the cause when people like you hand out glow sticks, toothbrushes (oh, please), granola bars, or, heaven forbid, pennies (my kids don’t even know what they’re for). Thanks to you, I’ll have to work extra hard for the remaining two months of the year to make sure my children have an adequate intake of high-fructose corn syrup.

That’s because, as a conscientious parent, I like to make sure my kids are above average in everything.

This letter has not been an easy one for me to write, mainly because my hand is cramped from cutting 200 bats out of black plastic and my eyesight is shot from attaching each one to varying lengths of nylon monofilament. And I no longer have fingerprints after using hot glue to attach 12 dozen black sequins in an elaborate spider web pattern on a white pumpkin.

But it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if it means the United States can remain the number-one importer of plastic fangs and fake blood. I doubt you can say the same.

I must tell you that your callous indifference to Halloween truly frightens me. As a result, I have been unable to sleep for at least a week. Now that I think of it, you may have done your part. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

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window shopping photos by krishna hill

shop smart

shop local

Each month, Window Shopping highlights interesting and unique items available at area stores. This month’s picks can be found in Ballston Spa.

 This painted and distressed china cabinet ($385)

filled with pink Depression-era glass pieces ($1-$10 each) exudes warmth and personality. Available at C'est La Vie. continued on page 22 

timesunion.com/lifeathome

21

window shopping continued from page 22

➊

➍

➋

➌

1. Silver-plated antique dishes and plates repurposed into chalkboards ($19.99 - $39.99) make any message more sophisticated. Find them at C'est La Vie.

2. This fair trade Botswana basket ($39) is a beautiful centerpiece that doubles as storage.

Several styles are available at Mango Tree Imports.

3. Handmade plant and herb markers ($9.99 each) are crafted from vintage silverware. Pick some up for your garden at C'est La Vie. 4. This antique dresser ($265) brings classic elegance to any room.

Available at Two If By Sea.

22

life@home

➎

➐

➏ Shops featured: C'est La Vie 114 Milton Ave., Ballston Spa cestlavieshop.net Two If By Sea 91 Milton Ave., Ballston Spa twoifbyseagallery.com Strolling Village Artisans 20 Washington Ave., Ballston Spa strollingvillageartisans.com Mango Tree Imports 12 Washington St., Ballston Spa mangotreeimports.com

5. This fair trade round mirror ($121), made in Indonesia from rolled magazines, lends a unique pop of color to your decor. Find it at Mango Tree Imports.

6. These quirky cat bottles ($55-$70), handmade by local artisan Jim Best, are a one-of-a-kind conversation starter. See for yourself at Strolling Village Artisans.

7. These striking brass sconces ($485/pair) are a shining example of the expertly restored vintage lighting at Two If By Sea.

continued on page 24  timesunion.com/lifeathome

23

window shopping continued from page 23

our

bloggers shop

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Check out this months’s favorite picks from our local and national bloggers. Then head online to timesunion.com/lifeathome to satisfy your design and décor itch 24/7. Who knows what you’ll find!

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a trackside home gets a makeover story begins on page 29â€‚ď ľ

Life by the Fast Track timesunion.com/lifeathome

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28

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Stuyvesant Plaza 1475 Western Ave. Albany NY www.evokestyle.com 518.512.5240

continued from page 27 by brianna snyder | photos by mark samu

B

rien and Cindy Hollowood have a perfect perch from which to observe the behind-the-scenes activity of the Saratoga horse races. Their backyard ends at the Oklahoma training track’s property line. And because they’re all big fans of the Saratoga races, getting to watch the horses in early-morning training is a special thrill for the family of four.

“You have to behave yourself here,” says Cindy, “and keep quiet for the horses.” The Hollowoods like that peaceful engagement with nature, a controlled setting in which their two daughters, Keelin, a senior in high school, and Colleen, a junior in college, were able, as children, to interact freely with the horses and their trainers.

Cindy and Brien are busy parents of successful daughters (both girls are track runners who compete at national levels).

Cindy, who grew up in North Greenbush, is the general manager of the Saratoga Holiday Inn, and Brien, from Ballston Spa, is the executive director of Unlimited Potential Vocational Rehabilitation Center. Both Hollowoods also have served (and serve) on many different community boards and committees, including the Chamber of Commerce.

The two bought this plot of land in 1999, and when they built the house its original design looked nothing as it does now.

The entire first floor was open, with the dining room, kitchen, and living room all running into one another. continued on page 30 

It’s about fall.

@home with

continued from page 29

“It was just cavernous,” says Cindy.

“That’s the perfect word for it,” Brien says. “It just wasn’t comfortable.”

The two would sit uncomfortably on either side of a game table “for hours,” says Cindy. “A lot of the space in the house was wasted.”

So in February of this year, they hired Rick Bell of R.W. Construction in Orchard Park and Joanne Hans-Chmura, a Mechanicville-based interior designer, to redo the entire first floor.

Walls now separate the kitchen from the living room from the den from the staircase, and hardwood floors have replaced carpet. They also converted countertops to granite and lowered their ceilings by eight feet.

The most fruitful change the Hollowoods made was to convert their little-used formal dining room into a now much-used den.

The room is popular with the family, who entertain, read and watch TV in what Hans-Chmura has dubbed the “boyfriend room.”

When one of the girls is in the room with her boyfriend, Brien says, “if they close the doors, there are windows, so we can see.” There’s some privacy, but not too much privacy.

But really the room is well-loved and well-used for other reasons, too. “We really worked hard for comfort,” says Cindy. “And I knew we wanted a sectional sofa and a comfortable chair for Brien for reading.” continued on page 33 

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For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

continued from page 30

Much of the furniture in the home came from DiSiena in Mechanicville, says Cindy. Works by area artists hang on the walls. There are oil paintings, sculptures and photos — mainly of horses — by artists such as Kathie Friedenberg, Rumara Jewett and Lisa Cueman.

Horses play a role in the home’s overall decor theme, which complements another Hollowood family passion: sports.

“Sports have always been a big part of our family,” says Cindy. “Both our girls were competitive figure skaters and softball players.” Today, the girls’ successes on the track have earned Colleen an education at High Point University in North Carolina, and recruiters from that school are looking at Keelin for next year, too.

A small statue of a jockey stands proudly on the Hollowood front porch, painted in HPU colors. The back of the jockey’s jersey reads “HPU.” And Brien, also an enthusiastic runner, is a major fan of golf. A display of golf balls from many of the courses he’s played hangs in the master bedroom.

The Hollowoods also share a strong connection to their heritage: Cindy and Brien are both of Irish ancestry, and a green Celtic “H” represents that on the wall near the staircase. Inside the monogram’s glass frame is a dried shamrock Cindy’s mother pressed and preserved in a Bible.

“We bought that H on our honeymoon in Ireland and it’s been a part of us, no matter where we are,” says Cindy.

As their daughters get older, the Hollowoods know that they might not stay in this big house. Having just finished the redesign on the first floor this past summer, they’re not exactly in a rush to leave, of course. But when the time comes to look for a new home, they’ll stay near the horses. “Definitely we will always be in Saratoga,” says Cindy. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

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design: defined

Living with

Books by lucianna samu | photo by mark samu

R

egular readers of Design Defined will have figured out by now that my design style is well rooted in the realities of keeping house. We all need, or at least hope to find, the essentials that fuel our interests and support our daily needs. More than a place-for-everything-and-everything-in-itsplace strategy, better design ideas create energy, where the beautiful and utilitarian alike lend visual appeal, comfort, order and, yes, enthusiasm, to our home.

The stuff I speak of here is generally something we either need or simply love having in our midst. This philosophy explains the tricycle that’s parked permanently at my second-floor landing, and the tiny saddle I hope to someday sit my grandchildren atop, now straddled across a pile of coffee table books in the sitting room. Sure, I have an attic, but some things are worth making space for. My free-wheeling approach to accessorizing a home is sometimes at odds with a client’s clutter-free and orderly approach to keeping house — unless the accessories in question happen to be a book collection.

I’ve learned that ardent book collectors don’t think of their 34

life@home

books as things. This has been explained to me in many ways, and the message is always clear: Collectors feel their books are essentially an extension of themselves. Assigning a nearly human quality to their books is likely what explains an avid collector’s reluctance to ever let go of one once they have acquired it. Similar to those who can’t limit their wish to take in stray cats, so, too, serious book collectors walk a fine line between acquiring what they wish to read and amassing what they need to rescue from some imagined hazard. Once brought home to their protective care, the books become another occupant of the household, never to live elsewhere.

I myself like the look of a book collection that implies an absent-minded professor lives in the house. I’ve created some very ingenious storage solutions for tearful collectors who can’t find another inch of wall space to dedicate to their books. Stacking them up the side of a staircase may not be the most sensible approach, nor is stacking them to any great heights, but both are better solutions than the cardboard-box option so many serious readers eventually end up using.

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eyond the constraints of the Dewey Decimal system, most collectors establish their own system for curating their collections. Classics with the classics, children’s books on low shelves, reference books at the ready. With some reassurance, out-of-the-way places seem to work best for the truly prized editions. Valuable first editions and rare and collectible books benefit from being placed in a dust-free environment. Controlling the temperature and sun exposure is an imperative for ancient bindings, which explains why a truly important library is rarely a sun-drenched room.

Historically, some of the most appealing libraries have their bookcases built in place between the wall framing. This is a cost-effective way to get the most storage for the least amount of money spent. While I’d like nothing better than to send out a mandate to those who build new homes to recommend they include at least one wall of built-in bookshelves, it’s unlikely my suggestion will be put into everyday practice. Still, it’s a wise decision for those who are planning a new build. Absent the books to make this seem a logical decision, even the suggestion that someday a few books may turn up will lend interest to a living space no matter the immediate use.

When accommodations for a few volumes can be made in a bathroom, it’s best to consider this a temporary placement.

Those of us who hold a similar policy of keeping a vast magazine collection soon discover an ad hoc library within easy reach of a hot bath is a wonderful thing to have. Busy parents who enjoy reading to their kids can rely on a single copy of Curious George to occupy the curious mind of reluctant bathers.

Keeping books in the bathroom will spark all sorts of imaginative storage solutions once the toilet tank is ruled out. Stacked on a chair, stowed in baskets, lining the windowsill — I’ve even filled a rarely-used bathtub with books in the home of one avid collector who preferred reading to bathing by all measure.

While technology continues to create for us a simplicity that eliminates the need for the folly of filling a tub with books, the visual excitement of stacking books higher than we can reach creates an energy in a home not unlike that of well-curated art.

The feel of a leather binding, the smell of freshly printed paper, and the color and rhythm of dust jackets or worn bindings will reliably stir the senses. What happens next depends only on which book you choose to open. @

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diy design

Boost Your Design Creativity tips to help your design confidence soar

FIND INSPIRATION

Switch up accent pieces

start small pay attention to details

KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE

BRAINSTORM

get a Second opinion

Declutter

by merci miglino | illustration by emily jahn

I

f just glancing at the cover of an interior design magazine brings on symptoms of a near-panic attack, or if stepping into the beautiful homes of your imaginative friends and family intimidates rather than inspires you, you may be suffering from a crisis in creative confidence.

Many of us feel clueless when it comes to what colors go with each other, what window curtain fabrics and textures coordinate well, and which knick-knacks are truly artistic accents and which are just plain trash.

Don’t give up, say the experts. All it takes is a little research, patience and experimentation, and anyone — including the décor-insecure — can hold their head high among even the most elite do-it-yourselfers around us. Just take a deep breath and then follow these baby steps to ignite your creativity and claim your confidence.

Declutter Your Interior Clear out the chatter in your head, that disempowering, doubtful voice that has you thinking you are not creative, suggests Joe Califano, retired art teacher and creativity life coach in Albany. “The first to do is quiet those voices in your head, whether it’s the words of an old friend, a family member, or even what you have told yourself in the past. Clear them all out … the coulds, shoulds, or I don’t knows or what if this happens,” says Califano. “Now there’s room for discovering your true creative muse.”

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Brainstorm Once you silence those creativity-squashing voices, start brainstorming to break out of old, established patterns and ways of thinking and instead develop new ways of looking at things.

“And don’t censor your ideas in the process. The crazier, the better … just let them flow. Sometimes the craziest idea leads to the best idea,” says Califano, who recently used this technique with a client looking to bring natural lighting to her dining room, but who felt all her ideas lacked creativity.

“We started brainstorming ideas together,” Caifano says. “We went from ‘let’s put a tree in the middle of the room’ which, of course, was pretty extreme, to a really simple but beautiful idea — taking branches from one of her favorite trees, hooking up lights to them and hanging them in the dining room.”

Be Selfish Stop worrying about what other people think and be selfish about what you want, advises Creative Arts Therapist Maureen Del Giacco of Colonie. “Get rid of any idea of right or wrong.”

“Consider the ideas of people as a resource and ask yourself, ‘Do (I) want that resource or don’t I want that resource?‘ And then decide what you like and dislike, perhaps gather information, but be selfish about it, about what you want and how you like it and how this feels to you,” Del Giacco says. “You are the one to please here.” continued on page 37 

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Notice Everything The shape of a leaf, the bold pattern of a dress, even the color of an envelope can inspire paint colors or patterns that you can bring into your home, says artist and creativity coach Sarah Ferber of Albany.

“Look for inspiration in everything around you,” Ferber says.

“The other day a friend sent me a photo of her dog with a wig on. I loved it! And immediately taped it to my bedroom wall. If I still like it in a few weeks, I’ll pop it into a colorful frame. If not, I’ll use it in my art or not.”

Ferber also reminds us to notice and use the power of surprise. “When I work on a collage piece, I always know I’ve nailed it when the unexpected jumps out at me and fits beautifully within the whole picture,” she says.

Paint!

“The best thing about paint is that it’s just paint,” says Schenectady art instructor Mary Francis Millet. “You can just paint over it if you don’t like it!” Millet suggests selecting an out-of-the-way wall in the attic, basement or cellar and going slowly, playing around with safe colors such as beige or offwhite, then going bolder or trying a technique such as faux finishing.

“Do not judge your work. Your confidence will grow. So, keep at it and before you know it, it’s dinner time and you have to stop because the kids, husband or dogs are wondering where the heck you are,” Millet says.

Throw Pillows!

Even small changes, such as adding accent pillows to a living room, can get your creative juices flowing, says Patricia Green of Hudson Valley Design in Albany. Consider changing pillows with the season. Blues and greens feel light, fresh and cool in the summer while rusts, golds and reds feel warm in the winter, advises Green. “If your walls are neutral, you can use any and all colors. And buy reasonably priced pillows at Marshalls … in any color or design. Buying accessories can be fun and if you don’t like them, keep the receipts and return them.”

See the Magic in Details Find interesting and unique hardware for cabinet doors to make hip and happening updates, or hang a new sconce, says Janet Tanguay, chief creativity coach at Art n Soul, in Amsterdam. “To get ideas for small changes visit antique stores, art stores, vintage shops and garage sales. Your space should be a reflection of what you love, whether it’s color, textures or space. So buy a few baubles and see what speaks to you.”

Get a Second Opinion Maria J. Bortugno, owner of B Designs in Latham, recommends enlisting support from close friends. “Your friends see you more clearly than you see yourself. They notice things about you, such as you look great in baby blue and yellow, so why not use those colors in your home?”

With your friend by your side, head for your closet, says Bortugno, “Take a look at your clothes. What styles, fabrics, colors are you drawn to? Are they feminine, edgy, classic? What does this say about your style? And how can you use this information in decorating your living room or other rooms?”

Make your space an expression of you!

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All these steps will build your confidence, says Paula Chaffee Scardamalia of Rensselaerville, author of Weaving a Woman’s Life: Spiritual Lessons from the Loom. “But remember you are already creative in the first place,” Scardamalia says. “You can regain that unabashed love of discovery and innovation that you had when you were young. It is an expression of you — not your neighbors, the decorator or House Beautiful.” @

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/ DNY59.

Start Somewhere The hardest part is getting started, says Del Giacco, who suggests watching home makeovers and re-design TV shows, looking through decorating magazines and books, watching YouTube, or visiting Home Depot or Lowe’s to talk to the folks there.

“Take what you like (from their advice) and start creating your our own ideas. Believe that you have your own taste, your own style. Trust it. Do what you like, what you enjoy, be spontaneous. You’ll feel more confident because you are having fun doing!” Del Giacco says.

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a boring staircase gets new life by brianna snyder | “after” photo by emily jahn

On the outside, we’re Goodyear “Thank blue and gold... War

Problem: The Niskayuna staircase was outdated, and the homeowners wanted to update it to make a more exciting entryway.

BEFORE Solution: Denise Maurer, of Denise Maurer Interiors in Troy, says this kind of staircase represents a “very common stairbuilding method back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. It was very simple construction, usually not every costly. (This family) wanted something more apropos for their home.”

Collaborating with cabinet-maker and fine-woodworker Cornelius Powell of C4 Custom Woodworking in Troy, Maurer sorted through many different designs and materials and settled on an open staircase to replace the closed-in one.

The rails and newel posts (which are the bigger components of a stairway’s handrail, the ones that anchor the whole thing) were replaced, the treads (the term for the flat part of the step) were given rounded edges, the floors were all stained a “darker espresso color,” according to Maurer, and they added a funky chandelier overhead to give the new space a more contemporary vibe. (Powell designed and made all the rails and posts.) “It’s really something unusual and unique and something you will not see in everybody’s homes,” Maurer says.

Top Tip: While Maurer says this project was affordable, “there are smaller things you can do” to spruce up a stairway.

“You have to consider the whole space,” she says. “You can definitely modify a staircase with paint and/or stain. You can also change or add to the newel post. … There’s all sorts of whimsical things you can do to update a newel post.” @

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household tips

10 ways to use... by melissa fiorenza

Baking Soda

The powdery chemical compound stowed in your kitchen pantry works wonders for making airy cakes, but the buck doesn’t stop at baking.

Between our research and help from Facebook friends and locals, we came up with this list of other uses for that tiny box’s ingredients:

Can’t find your tube of deodorant when you need it? Pat some baking soda on your underarms with a cloth. It can neutralize odors and absorb sweat.

2. Refrigerate it

“I have a box in my refrigerator.

Keeps (the refrigerator) fresh!” says Kristen of Loudonville, via Facebook.

3. Clean your car tires

“To clean your tires on the cheap, make a baking soda-water paste, and scrub it into your tires,” advises Erin Huffstetler, About.com Frugal Living Guide. “Let it sit for a few minutes. Then, rinse off.”

4. Freshen up carpets

Arm & Hammer knows it’s got a great multipurpose product on its hands, so even its site lists plenty of uses. One of our favorites: “Sprinkle on carpets, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum up smells.”

5. Whiten your teeth

Ditch expensive whiteners.

Huffstetler says: “Just wet your toothbrush, dip it into some baking soda, brush and rinse. The baking soda will gently scrub away stains, leaving you with a younger, healthier-looking smile.”

6. Use it like dry shampoo

(they suggest half a teaspoon) through your roots rids your hair of oil. Try it next time you’re pinched for time.

7. Tackle clogged drains

“You can use baking soda to unclog drains in sinks and tubs,” says Rebecca, a local project manager in the energy efficiency field. “It’s less corrosive than chemical compounds and better for the environment. Even if they’re not clogged, you can pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the tub or sink drain and run warm water to prevent smells and keep things clean!”

8. Deodorize the litter box ...

Cover the base of the box with a thin layer of baking soda, then add the litter.

9. ... and also ditch post-workout odors

“Sprinkle it into smelly gym bags or sneaks,” says Andy of Troy.

“Helps take the smell out.”

10. Fix up a faux tan

“It is great for removing self tanner from the palms of your hands after slathering it on and also from areas that come out uneven after it processes,” says Alayne Curtiss, owner of Make Me Fabulous in Ballston Spa. @

On theblush.com, we learned that a touch of baking soda

Coming up: Wine corks, Vinegar Got an interesting use for any of the above? E-mail your tip to mfiorenza@gmail.com along with your first name and town. And follow life@home on Facebook; your comments and tips may appear in an upcoming issue!

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life@home

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/ Richard Goerg.

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Blanket Security W

hen I was a teenager, someone burglarized my Bethlehem house and stole my Sweet 16 pearls. Barbara Husik recalls feeling not only “violated” by a break-in she suffered while living in Schenectady but also “patronized” by police.

Sadly, those scenarios and feelings have become increasingly familiar to Capital Region residents. Burglary rates rose in Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties between 2007 and 2011.

The good news is that interested homeowners can feel safer than ever, thanks to today’s sophisticated home security systems. They’re triggered by anything from the noise of glass shattering to a forcefield break between paired electronic devices. Remotely monitored fire, flood, freezing and carbon monoxide indicators can save lives and property and lower insurance premiums. Residential security systems can also be commissioned to turn lights on and off, adjust thermostats and capture activity on camera.

A Delmar resident invested in a supervised alarm after somebody made off with valuables from his vacant house. “If it goes off, the alarm company knows it and calls the police,” says the victim, who prefers to remain anonymous. He pays Albany Protective Services $70 every three months to monitor his system.

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by laurie lynn fischer

“Putting it in could cost many hundreds, because they have to have a central system with a battery back-up; they have to put wires through the house and put traps that trigger the alarms on the doors and windows,” he says. “Other traps are placed on the inside perimeter. Some are pressure activated under carpets when you step on them. Some are lights going across a room. Some are sound-activated.”

Allan Schenkel’s Westerlo house came with motion detectors that can be deactivated in the cat’s favorite room and a basement water sensor. “Recently while we were at work, we received a call from the alarm company that there was an entry,” he says. “We told them that we were not at home, and within five minutes a police officer was at our house. When he arrived, he found the alarm going off and a side door open. Nothing was taken. The burglar opened the door, was scared off by the alarm and took off without closing the door.”

He and his wife pay Catskill-based Scott Alarm Systems a $70 quarterly monitoring fee.

P

repackaged systems may be installed cheaply or for free, says Scott Alarm Systems Operations Manager Joe Sacchetti. They discourage burglars but may involve high maintenance fees, long-term contracts, early termination penalties, liens on your house, and inadequate protection, he says.

Photos: © iStockphoto.com. Protect, Jakub Krechowicz; Home, Terry Healy; Graph, Emily Jahn/Life@Home

protection

“A $99 alarm system from a marketing company comes with window stickers, signs for outside and two- or three-door protection,” he says. “What if they enter another way?”

One more word of caution: If you buy proprietary equipment, you’re going to be stuck with that company, Sacchetti says.

At the other extreme are tailor-made systems. “With a custom system, the upfront investment is really the only downside a homeowner will face,” Sacchetti says. “This same investment has an instant return.”

Keep it simple to use, Sacchetti advises. “We’ll have clients who ask for all the bells and whistles,” he says. “If there are multiple keypads and complex touch screens and buttons to press, you’re less likely to use it. A home security system should be easy to turn on and off.”

As a basic rule of thumb, customized security systems cost roughly 1 percent of a house’s value, Sacchetti says. Scott Alarm Systems charges between $500 and $29,000 for custom installation. Doyle Security Systems in Albany generally charges $500 to $8,000, says sales manager Todd Julien.

“Everybody’s house has different vulnerabilities,” Julien says.

“It depends on the number of doors and ground floor windows and how extensive a home automation system you want. The industry has gone through a revolution. Instead of just arming the system now, you can be completely connected to it and arm it from your smartphone, PC or iPad. On top of that, there’s a wide range of available features. You can raise or lower your thermostat temperature. You can turn your lights on and off and dim them. Saving energy and being green is very popular.” The most deluxe setup his company has handled was a $20,000 system for a 20,000-square-foot house.

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES REPORTED IN THE CAPITAL DISTRICT

1000

500

100 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Source: DCJS, Uniform Crime/Incident-Based Reporting system. as of 7-9-2012.

“A whole host of camera solutions are available,” Julien says.

“They’ll let you know exactly when service people come in and leave. You can get something that will grab a license plate of somebody driving 60 miles per hour, or a general view of your backyard. You can see what’s going on in real time in your home.

You can look at your pet, for example, during the day. Let’s say you have a 15-year-old daughter or son, and both parents are working. When your son comes home from school and disarms the system, it would send a 10-second video clip to you.”

The bulk of Doyle’s clients are families with children or pets, frequent travelers and “early technology adapters,” who are “really into the capabilities that home automation offers,” Julien says.

“They want to protect hard assets like flat-screen TVs and jewelry,” he says. “Also, they want to keep the more sentimental stuff from getting vandalized — pictures, PC files, something that’s irreplaceable. If a neighbor has suffered a burglary or if they’ve had break-ins on their street or in their town, that often motivates people to call us.”

Peace of mind is the biggest reason people buy alarm systems, Julien says. “They say the most expensive security system is one that doesn’t work when you need it most,” he says.

“A lot of burglaries are inside jobs. They know when somebody is not going to be in the house. It is better to lock your door. It might be, in many cases, enough of a deterrent.” @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

45

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A Woolen Playground felt artisan linda van alstyne’s whimsical creations by cari scribner | photos by krishna hill

F

rom ordinary merino wool, felt artisan Linda Van Alstyne quietly creates everything from vases, wall hangings and vessels to hats, slippers and purses — all of it bubbling over with personality.

A bumpy lime-green cloth sculpture, for instance, vaguely resembles a vegetable, with a fancy tufted tail hanging from barely-visible fishing line. A blue and red mask with an Africaninspired design and another with a reptilian feel, pays whimsical homage perhaps to prehistoric dinosaurs. Twelve fanciful cartoon-like cloth characters lined up on a display board are so quirky and cute they could be finger puppets. By contrast, her rich, layered fiber collages of overlapping felt squares are a spectacular mix of shape, tone and texture.

Color is clearly Van Alstyne’s playground. She dyes her wool in hues far beyond the rainbow: cobalt, crimson, velvety gold, jade, teal, cotton candy blue, the particular orange of a sunset.

But step closer to any of her creations, and drink in all the small, expressive details. Her work has structured elements and flourishes, such as pea-sized balls of felt hand-wrapped in purple silk, encircled by perfectly sewn yellow stitches. One wall hanging of slender black trees against a plum background is superimposed with the outlines of maple

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leaves. Van Alstyne’s work is all about layers; the more you look, the more you’ll see.

Self-taught, Van Alstyne works out of a voluminous studio in the basement of her Middle Grove home. Down a long, winding driveway leading into the woods, the house she shares with her husband Bill, a videographer for a local news station, is also a tribute to her innate creativity. Set on a small hill, surrounded by trees and flowers, the house is a work in progress.

The couple bought a 1790s farmhouse up the road from their current home several years ago, hoping to rebuild it. Instead, when an inspection showed the house beyond repair, Van Alstyne moved many of the stunning original architectural parts — doors, wooden beams, shelving and even antique nails — to her current home. Then she recycled the timeworn wood into tables, cabinets, floorboards and door frames in nearly every room of her home.

“This is what I do. I take things apart and find ways to put them back together that are totally unpredictable,” Van Alstyne says.

“I suppose I could say I look at things through different eyes.”

T

he fascination with tactile art began in Van Alstyne’s childhood. “I started tearing up paper when I was very small and looking at ways to make pictures out of the pieces,” Van Alstyne says. “My grandfather taught my sister and me to tie intricate fishing lines, which was basically crocheting. We made our own doll clothes,

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then our own clothes.”

About 20 years ago, while working in her profession as a physical therapist, Van Alstyne began experimenting with fabric art, building a loom after receiving 10 pounds of Merino wool from her husband as a gift. But using the wool wasn’t satisfying to her, so she began soaking the material to make it dense and less porous, then adding dyes for color.

In 1994, she made her first original creation, a small brightlyhued purse.

From there, Van Alstyne kept playing with form and function, making sturdy but funky cloche hats with felt flowers, nubby hats with points and bumps, and even a hat that looked like Lisa Simpson’s hair on The Simpsons. Her artful hats took off, selling out at the Albany International Airport’s departure boutique, where lucky travellers snapped them up as much for fashion as to ward off wind.

“My work is best described as sculpture,” Van Alstyne says. “I also love, love color. That’s where the dyeing comes in.”

A door opens onto a back stoop with a few patio blocks on the grass, where Van Alstyne’s no-frills dyeing equipment sits: kitchen boiling pots that could be used for cooking lobster or a big batch of potatoes. Using acid-based dyes made with vinegar or citric acid, Van Alystyne stirs up her batches of uniquely colored cloth.

“My dye pots are always outside,” Van Alstyne says. “Nothing stops me from dyeing. I don’t care if there’s 10 feet of snow or it’s 95 degrees outside.” continued on page 50 

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“ I love problem-solving, working with little pieces and putting the puzzle back together in a way that wasn’t intended.” continued from page 49

Before submerging her material into the pots of dye and water, Van Alstyne scrunches, rolls and folds the fabric to create gradations in color and patterns after it cools down and dries.

“I do what I love,” Van Alstyne says with a smile. “A good dyer would measure, but I get inspired and add a bit more dye or sprinkle some on top. I don’t follow the steps you’d learn in a class or from a book. I’m not one to try to fit in. I do what feels right to me.”

The process yields fabrics that resemble mosaics or jeweltoned stained glass, or in lighter hues, clouds with swirls of sky blue and white. From there, Van Alstyne molds, cuts, sews and embellishes the fibers to bring her vision to fruition. In her studio, one wall hanging depicts a dancing Geisha, hair festooned

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with gold threaded braids of so many subtle tonal changes that it resembles a watercolor painting. Another is a turquoise lagoon with happy sunfish, a fancy silver fishing lure hanging overhead and a zipper in the middle, perhaps offering the fish a quick exit. Van Alstyne’s work invites interpretation, and anything you glean from it is just fine with her.

“I experiment a lot,” Van Alstyne says. “I love problem-solving, working with little pieces and putting the puzzle back together in a way that wasn’t intended.”

Although working under the business name of “F’enomenal Felt,” Van Alstyne doesn’t have a website, but has shown her art at various galleries and art gatherings, and sells through word-of-mouth advertising. “People seem to find me,” Van Al-

styne says. “It can be very hard to price my work because they take hours and hours, and they’re all completely unique.”

Her two granddaughters, Shayla, 6, and Lucy, 3, delight in playing with the fluffy fabrics on the work table, and have already begun mimicking their grandmother’s experimental methods by flattening the fabrics into flowers or twisting the fibers into curls to decorate a cloth doll’s head.

Van Alstyne’s creative nature defies orderliness, but even with various projects strewn across her enormous 12-foot-by-5-foot work table, and with bins of material lining the walls, she knows where everything is, and what she plans for every project.

“Ideas just buzz into my head all the time,” she says. “I get home and come in the door down here and drop everything and work until 10 at night. My ideas keep me awake. On weekends, I get up at 5 a.m. and work late into the night. This is who I am and who I want to be. This is what it’s all about.” @

For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

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Battery Beat stop throwing away those rechargeable batteries!

W

ith all the toys and clocks and flashlights we have in our houses, most of us burn through batteries. But when they’re out of juice, they can be easily and inexpensively replaced.

Smart consumers buy rechargeable batteries as a better alternative to one-use disposables. In fact, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association says U.S. demand for rechargeable batteries is growing twice as fast as demand for single-use batteries.

Alas, even rechargeable batteries don’t last forever. Given their complex chemical structure, they will always have a limited lifetime. How many times they can be charged and re-used depends on the type of battery and what it’s being used for.

(Check the packaging on rechargeable batteries you purchase for more info.)

Once they’re spent, it may be a reflex to toss tiny batteries into the trash can, or throw them into your home recycling bin.

But here’s the rub: Even if you disguise old batteries beneath the coffee grinds and orange peels in your kitchen garbage, batteries are not organic in structure, and the components — particularly mercury and cadmium — can be hazardous to soil, water and air as they degrade in landfills or are incinerated.

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, mercury and cadmium-based batteries carry no real risks while the battery is in use. But once they’re discarded with ordinary municipal waste or incinerated, rechargeable batteries can: • Pollute lakes and streams as the metals vaporize into the air when burned.

• Contribute to heavy metals that potentially may leach from solid waste landfills.

• Expose the environment and water to lead and acid.

• Release strong corrosive acids.

• May cause burns or danger to eyes and skin.

An important note: These risks don’t apply to single-use household alkaline and zinc carbon batteries, which have not been found to pose a significant health or environmental risk when disposed of in landfills.

But the metals found in rechargeable batteries can leach slowly into soil, groundwater or surface water. Dry cell batteries contribute about 88 percent of the total mercury and 50 percent of the cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream, according to recent studies. When burned, mercury may vaporize and escape into the air, and cadmium and lead may end up in the ash.

© iStockphoto.com/ Kenneth Cheung

by cari scribner

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

Photo: © flickr/ freefotouk

T

hat’s a stunning list of potential hazards from a small component that once powered your TV remote. Which is one reason why the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Bureau of Waste Reduction and Recycling stepped up regulations on batteries.

In June 2011, a state law took effect requiring retailers that sell rechargeable batteries to accept dead household batteries from anyone during normal business hours. Retailers must accept up to 10 batteries per day from any one person, whether or not they buy replacement batteries at the same time.

Haven’t heard of this law? DEC officials say you should have.

“Part of the new legislation was that the manufacturers must do outreach to let people know about the program,” DEC spokesperson Lori Sev- erino says. “There should also be signs up in all stores telling people what to do with batteries.”

Once collected, the batteries are shipped to manufacturers, who are required to dispose of them safely. But first, there’s one more mandated step.

“The manufacturers must remove parts of the rechargeable batteries that can be used again,” Severino says. “Any pieces that can be recycled must be recycled.”

A disposal ban followed in December 2011, bringing consumers into the circle. The disposal ban states that “no one shall knowingly dispose of rechargeable batteries as solid waste at any time in the state.” So, if you sneak them into your household recycling bin concealed by old newspapers, that’s not proper disposal, and it’s not actively protecting the environment.

Rechargeable batteries covered by the law include dry cell rechargeable batteries weighing less than 25 pounds. It doesn’t include vehicle batteries or non-rechargeable batteries such as common alkaline batteries.

Is the recycling law and disposal ban working? One local business owner says his collection bin, sitting just inside the front door, is virtually ignored. “We use (the collection bin) as employees, but I don’t see customers bringing batteries back,” says Tony Nightingale, manager of Kamco Supply in Albany. “I don’t know if people just throw them away or what. People are busy and recycling seems to go by the wayside.” @

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Outside the Box by alison grieveson

O

h brown cardboard box, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You’re super-sturdy, recycled and such a lovely, natural shade of brown … oh yeah, and all those lovely qualities are the reason you can be upcycled so brilliantly.

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fancy a quick game of bowling to get through the 3 p.m. slump? Pick up the “Office Bowl-Bowling Game” by Cardboard Safari. This company is doing amazing things with lasercut cardboard. You must see the human skull! And though I’m not a fan of hunting, I would proudly display their “Bucky, Deer Trophy Head” on my wall! All designed and manufactured by Cardboard Safari — and made in the USA to boot!

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love rings. The bigger, the funkier, the better. Trust me, you’ll get a lot of “Oh, cool!” when you wear one of these laser-cut, hand-finished rings from N-PRODUCT. Each ring is made to order and water-, chemical- and ultravioletresistant. n-product.com

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am enamored with Scraplights by graypants. These layered, sculptural beauties (available in all kinds of shapes and sizes) are made exclsively from recycled cardboard! Watch the video on their website to see how it’s done. Wait ’til you see the cluster of the Scraplights hanging to create a warm, cozy ambiance. graypants.com

Alison Grieveson is a graphic designer who enjoys exploring the “greener” side of the design and decorating industries.

For more green tips, check out www.RefurnishedLiving.com. timesunion.com/lifeathome

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Tulips in Autumn by cari scribner

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time to prep your bulbs and plant for spring

s the days grow shorter, the sun shines with less intensity, and that first nip of autumn hits the air, greenthumbers start to feel blue. After a brilliant spring and summer season when annuals and perennials alike blaze with color, the gardening season must go on hiatus. But take heart: the sun will come out (next spring) and you can take steps now to ensure everything comes up roses (or daffodils, or hyacinths ...) next year.

Matt Cunningham, manager of Hewitt’s Garden Center in Guilderland, says fall is a great time to take stock and see what you might like to change for next year’s spring display. Looking for different colors in your garden out front? Tired of seeing the old reliables, such as tulips and daffodils, in the same flowerbed near the shed? For inspiration, thumb through catalogues, head to your favorite garden center, or take pictures of some of the flower gardens you’ve been admiring all summer around your neighborhood.

“Definitely plan ahead and visualize what you want to look at next spring and summer,” Cunningham says. “Think about what plants are already in that area, and if they’ll fit the bill. Fall is a time when you can get new bulbs and dig them in for winter.”

Cunningham recommends doing a bit of research to find out if bulbs are hardy enough to plant in autumn, or if it’s best to save them for spring planting. If they are fall-hardy, it’s best to plant them when the ground becomes cool but not near freez58

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ing. Once tucked underground, the knobby, brownish bulbs, like bears in winter, will be cozy and warm.

“The bulbs hibernate and store energy throughout the winter,” Cunningham says. “You can plant them right up until the ground freezes, at which point you probably couldn’t dig a hole anyway. No matter how much snow and ice and cold winter brings, they’ll come up in spring.”

How deep into the soil should bulbs be planted? Probably not as far down as you think.

“It varies, but the general rule is to bury two to three times the diameter of the bulb itself,” Cunningham says. “We have hundreds of fall bulbs at our garden center, and fall’s a great time to think about what you’ll want to see come next spring.”

Some avid gardeners go through the process of unearthing bulbs and stashing them away for the winter, usually in a dry, cool basement. If you swear by this process, by all means continue, but one expert says this is a step you can likely skip.

“True gardeners may uproot summer bulbs like dahlias and put them in a cold spot, but you can leave them in the ground and give them a good mulch cover,” says Alan Decker, owner of Decker’s Landscaping and Aquatics. “In the fall, when the leaves of perennials go brown, cut them back. Then, rake up leaves from the lawn and use that for mulch.”

Keep in mind that bulbs don’t come with a handle-withcare warning. “People worry if they dig them up, they’ll de-

PHoto: © iStockphoto.com/Christian Carroll.

gardening

Changing the Quality of Your Life stroy them,” Decker says. “They’re not fragile. You want to dig around them, of course, but they’ll hold together. They’re not fragile like roots.”

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opular flowers, such as hyacinths, tulips and amaryllis, seem to come back every year like clockwork. There’s also the brave crocus that often peeks through the last of winter’s snow cover. But Decker says even these perennials peter out after a few years, so fall can be a good time to replace them with new bulbs.

Barbara Millington of Saratoga Lake had her hands in soil most of the summer as president of the Ballston Spa Home & Garden Club. Her philosophy is to let nature determine what her home gardens will look like from year to year, and to appreciate everything that sprouts in the springtime.

“I laugh to see what blows in or the seeds animals bring in,” Millington says. “I had a long, snaking vine this year that I thought was a pumpkin and it turned out to be a bunch of small gourds that I’d never planted. The birds drop seeds and contribute to my gardens.”

Millington is among the group of gardeners who don’t dig up and store bulbs in autumn. “The only real danger is squirrels eating them in the winter, but I’m a firm believer they’ll all sprout in spring,” Millington says.

She does take time in fall to dig out her hyacinth, tulip and daffodil bulbs, but rather than storing, she moves them to different areas of her gardens. “I like my tulips in one area to be purple and yellow, and also different colors of daylilies in another area,” Millington says.

Millington has a great way to turn the solitary hobby of gardening into a reason to socialize. “I dig up bulbs and swap them out with friends,” she says. “If some of my flower beds have grown too thick, I take out some of the bulbs and trade for something new and different. Everything comes up beautifully the next season.” @

What Not To Do With Bulbs

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• Don’t wait until the snow falls to plant bulbs.

Remember, you have to dig into the ground about 5 to 8 inches. Bulbs should be planted as soon as the ground is cool, when evening temperatures average between 40° to 50° F.

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• Don’t plant bulbs all in a straight row.

Picture what they’ll look like in bloom.

• Don’t forget to label your bulbs. If you’re digging up bulbs to store for winter, mark the bags so it’s not a mystery what will blossom come spring.

Without the labeling, you can’t tell the red tulips from the white ones just by looking at the bulbs.

• Don’t plant bulbs indiscriminately. If it’s not an established garden bed, turn the soil until it’s loose and workable, and consider adding some organic matter such as compost or peat moss.

• KNOW which end is up. Plant the pointy end up.

But in most cases, even if you don’t get it right, the flower bulb will still find its way topside.

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Z Z

Z Z Z Z

Goodnight, My Garden prep for next year’s garden starts now by colleen plimpton

I

t’s been a long, hot summer, but, thankfully, it’s time to think about putting the garden to bed. Though the days can still be relatively warm, they are significantly shorter and the rays of sun much less intense. Not only is this a perfect time to plant and transplant, but it’s also prime time to plan next year’s plot.

First, assess how this season went and jot in your garden diary what strategies you have for next spring. (You do have a garden diary, right?) Your notes might include anything from new bon vivant plants to try and shrubs and perennials to move to ideas on hand-to-hand critter-combating.

squirrels and excavating skunks will let them be!

Take cuttings from favored annuals such as abutilon, coleus and begonia before frost blackens them.

Subsequently pull frost-melted annuals and place in the compost. Empty containers into the compost pile and store pots upside down in a protected area.

Here’s a list of to-dos in the autumn garden: Start or add to the compost pile. Nothing supplies organic material like compost. To build richness, gather those fallen leaves, twigs, and pine cones. Toss in most spent-plant garden material, but omit anything diseased.

While you’re at it, set up a winter compost operation.

Since the compost pile is frozen from December to March, I use instead an uncovered 30-gallon plastic garbage can with holes drilled into the sides and bottom. This is placed on the patio outside the back door and filled with all manner of kitchen scraps, layered with leaves or coffee grounds from my local funky coffeehouse.

Decide where to plant spring-flowering bulbs, so that you’re not (like me) wandering around the yard, big bag of bulbs in hand, muttering “What was I thinking?!” Once you’ve decided where to place your future floriferous flings, remember to soak tulips, crocus and other tasty morsels in Ropel for one minute and let dry thoroughly prior to planting. Digging 60

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Prepare for frost in the vegetable garden. Get out the row covers and ready the cold frame. Light frost occurs at temperatures between 28 and 32 degrees; hard frost is anything below that.

Likely damaged by light frost: beans, cucumber, eggplant, muskmelon, New Zealand spinach, okra, pepper, pumpkin, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, amaranth and winter squash.

Able to withstand light frost: artichokes, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, endive, lettuce, parsnips, peas, Swiss chard, escarole, arugula, bok choy, mache and radicchio.

Able to withstand hard frost: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips, leeks and sorrel.

Cut down most perennials with a garden sickle or hedge trimmer after frost. For winter interest and

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Diana Taliun; photo illustration by Tony Pallone.

Mow the lawn short going into the winter, and bag the clippings /fallen leaves mixture. Add this to the compost pile. Consider aerating the lawn to assist root growth, and continue to yank perennial weeds such as dandelions, plantains and violets.

ZZ

bird food leave standing astilbe, tall sedum and coneflower. Also spare late bloomers such as boltonia, aster, Montauk daisy and sedum seiboldii. Ornamental grasses, heuchera, perovskia, lavender, buddleia and caryopteris should be cut back in spring.

Dig and store tender bulbs such as canna, glads and dahlia. Once frost hits, place corms and tubers, stripped of their foliage, in a box full of slightly damp peat moss. Place the receptacle in an area that gets neither freezes nor rises above 50 degrees and let give them a long winter’s nap until March.

largess. And don’t forget the water for them to drink and bathe. Use a de-icer to keep the birdbath available.

One caveat: If you have bears in the neighborhood, wait until they enter hibernation before filling bird feeders.

Set out the driveway markers before the ground freezes, to warn the snowplow away from the garden beds and lawn.

As the seed catalogues arrive, (and they seem to turn up earlier and earlier each year), stockpile them in an orderly fashion, marking your “vava-voom must-haves” with sticky notes.

Wait to prune shrubs and trees until after dormancy sets in. You don’t want to push new growth that may winter-kill.

If your garden is plagued by deer, continue to apply deer repellent to susceptible shrubbery once a month throughout the winter.

If your yard boasts an ornamental fish pond prepare a place for frogs to winter by sinking a plastic dishpan of clean play sand into the depths. Butyllined and rigid-plastic-formed ponds don’t possess the mud sides for these amphibians to burrow into, so it’s important for the gardener to lend a hand.

Gather attractive material for winter bouquets. Consider the seedpods of nigella, poppy, and baptisia; the dried seed heads of sea oats grasses, sedum, astilbe and lunaria as well as the dried flowers of hydrangea and annuals such as salvia Victoria Blue. Combine these to make an interesting and long-lasting bouquet.

Autumn is a good time to plant and transplant. Just be sure to complete the work by November 1 so plants can get their roots established before frost. A repeated freeze-thaw cycle like we had last year can heave plants up out of the soil, leaving them to desiccate and die.

One more thing … autumn is a perfect time to launch the aforementioned garden diary. List all the chores you successfully completed and pat yourself on the back. Then start your to-do list for next year! @

Set up the bird feeders. Our avian friends need a nutritious mixture of seeds, fruits and nuts to weather the cold. But if you begin feeding the birds, please continue all season; they’ll come to depend on your

Colleen Plimpton’s most recent book is Mentors in the Garden of Life, an award-winning garden memoir about coming of age in upstate New York. For more information, visit Plimpton’s website at colleenplimpton.com timesunion.com/lifeathome

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design classics

Free-wheeling Beauty the gae aulenti table

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by kim messenger | photo courtesy of bukowskis auctioneers

ave you ever been to the Musee d’Orsay in Paris? Ahh yes, I remember it well. I was living as a student in England and having a nervous breakdown. My friend Michelle came to visit, and we decided to go to France. We took the boat over to Dieppe and went to a bar, waiting for our train to take us to the boulevards and cafes, etc. Well, somehow — our miserable French and my deteriorating mental condition — conspired so that we missed our train and ended up walking down country lanes in the dark, vaguely in the direction of the City of Light. We spent that night in what might be called a “residential hotel,” in the middle of no place, with someone violently coughing in the room across the hall.

So, it was all going wrong until we went to the Musee d’ Orsay. I had never beheld such beauty. A Beaux-arts train station converted to house perhaps the greatest collection of fine art in the world. Every statue, every painting, was placed just so, and the cavernous space with the high vaulted ceiling gave me a feeling of much-needed tranquility and immediate relief. I didn’t know any space could be made to feel so perfect.

Well, I had no idea that Gae Aulenti designed the layout until I started to write this piece. She is the designer responsible for the smartest table ever designed — the table on wheels. Her design for the museum incidentally, completed in 1986, made her an international celebrity as designers go, and she was named a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. She also designed the Contemporary Art Gallery at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Palazzo Grassi in Venice and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, which opened in 2003. Major talent.

And part of what makes it so gratifying is that she is a woman 62

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— one of the view bona fide women designers to have been entrusted with major national showcases. She was born in 1927 and trained as an architect at the Milan Polytechnic in 1959.

At first, she worked as a graphic designer for magazines and taught at universities, all the while writing theoretical texts and designing furniture and interiors for Knoll, Olivetti and Zanotta.

She also worked with theater design and museum installations that won plaudits. She once told Vogue magazine that her advice to anyone “whoever asks me how to make a home is not to have anything, just a few shelves for books, some pillows to sit on. And then, to take a stand against the ephemeral, against passing trends … and to return to lasting values.”

I

think you can see the purity of her vision in the “Tavolo con Ruote,” literally, the table with wheels, that she designed for FontaneArte, and which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. What could be more elemental? A thick piece of glass, with industrial fittings that secure four rubber casters. It has everything you need in a coffee table — right size, portability, elegance (think of how it would show off a few magazines, perhaps an orchid, and yet it looks perfect as it is) — and it has nothing that you don’t need. No attitude except cool, beautiful functionalism. Hard to stain. Obviously, it’s not ideal for a carpeted floor but if you want one of these you probably don’t want carpets on the floor anyway.

The table comes in seven sizes — 40 inches by 40 inches to 60 inches by 60 inches — and stands about 10 inches high. The website allmodernoutlet.com had the cheapest price that I saw, starting at $1,865. @

The allure of fennel. Read the story on page 85.

Photo by Paul Barrett.

family | food | wine pages 63 - 90

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house blend

Your Fall Maintenance

To-Do List S

eptember’s jolt back to reality has finally subsided and we’re looking forward to the crisp and colorful days of October. In between apple picking and leaf peeping, we’ll be preparing our homes for the winter weather, making sure there’s shelter from the cold, ice, snow and wind of the storms ahead.

But what about our personal lives? What are we doing to shelter ourselves? I don’t mean getting your favorite sweaters out of the attic or looking for those all-weather boots you bought last year (where the heck are they anyway?). I’m talking about providing emotional shelter, spiritual shelter. Think Bob Dylan not Bob Villa.

We spend a lot of time preparing our homes for the elements.

But we don’t invest nearly as much time or other resources in fortifying our mind, body and spiritual frameworks.

This autumn consider making a fall maintenance to-do list for your home and your self. Shorter days and longer nights are perfect for conducting an internal inspection, to review what needs attention in the “house” of our self-care so we can weather emotional storms as well as external ones.

To make this internal to-do list easy and efficient, make it on the same sheet of paper, computer task list or phone app as your house winterization to-do list. For example, alongside each chore for your home, add an item on your personal maintenance list. Make them relate to each other in some way so when you do one, you’ll be reminded to do the other. Perhaps even cross them both off at the same time.

Here are some suggestions to get you started: Inspect Foundation House List: Inspect your foundation for significant cracks, settling or sliding.

Self List: Check your values and beliefs. Check for misalignment. Eliminate artificial supports offering only an illusion of security. Work on poor habits that threaten stability.

Clean Out Gutters House List: Hose out gutters. Look for leaks and misaligned pipes. Make sure the downspouts are carrying water away from the house’s foundation to avoid flooding or water damage.

Self List: Wash away any built-up resentments. Look for your role in a troubled relationship. Repair it. Clear away any debris preventing the friendship or love from growing stronger.

Hit the Roof House List: Rake or blow off fall leaves and pine needles. Repair damaged, loose or missing shingles. Hire a handyman or a roofer.

Self List: Rake or blow off cynics, haters and doubters. Be more 64

life@home

positive. Rely on others. Ask for help. Remember there is power in community.

Trim landscaping House List: Clear gunk between and along the foundation.

Cut back tree limbs hitting the house or roof. Cover vulnerable shrubs and plantings.

Self List: Clear out your cluttered mind. Text and e-mail less.

Meditate more. Cut back on bad-for-you habits that threaten your serenity.

Block Leaks House List: Block or seal obvious leaks around your house, inside and out.

Self List: Don’t waste precious energy. Block people, places and things that don’t inspire or enthuse you. Stop the energy leaks that occur when you say yes when you really want to say no.

Check Attic Insulation House List: Check the depth of your insulation. Add more than the minimum required to under-insulated areas. Seal air ducts to lower energy bill.

Self List: Check your reserves. Book more time, save more money, and bank psychic energy for the winter when you’ll need it.

Check Furnace House List: Change dirty filters.

Self List: Change polluted perspectives. Replace with new, more efficient ones. See through new eyes. Let in fresh air and insight.

Check Pipes House List: Make sure pipes and wall cavities are well insulated.

Check location and operation of water shut-off valve in case pipes do freeze.

Self List: Protect yourself from negative vibe merchants. Have plenty of buffer zones. Know when to shut out the world.

Switch Out Windows House List: Take down screens. Clean and install storm windows.

Self List: Eliminate anything that blocks your brilliance. Let your light shine.

Check Alarms House List: Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Change batteries.

Self List: Check in with your early warning systems. Stay connected to friends who detect any harm to us. Listen to them even when you don’t want to.

If you’ve gone into panic mode just reading these lists, take a deep breath and realize autumn lasts 90 days. If your tasks spill over into winter, only you and your house will know. @

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/photoandvideostock.com

by merci miglino

Holy Names students STAND OUT from the crowd.

Confident. Accomplished. Prepared.

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Empowering them to succeed.

It’s not like other schools. We celebrate achievement and individuality and encourage students to embrace challenge. We emphasize faith, respect, and service to others. We are small enough to respond to the individual and large enough to offer a myriad of academic opportunities at every grade level. Is this the school you’ve imagined for your daughter?

It all starts here.

Learn more about our unique approach to educating girls PreK 3 Grade 12 at one of our Open Houses or call to schedule a personal tour. Students from Clifton Park and Saratoga are welcome and can be served by our Northway bus.

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Open House: Tuesday, October 30 at 7p.m. • Grades 6-12

education

Good School Hunting by brianna snyder

E

ducation is a tricky minefield in today’s climate of continued cuts, standardized testing and No Child Left Behind.

Where once private school was the assumed education choice for families generationally associated with this kind of education, today parents concerned with what they see in their local school districts increasingly are considering pay-for-education options long before college.

According to the local news website PressConnects.com, some New York counties have lost as much as 7 percent of their student bodies. In Albany County, public school student enrollment dropped by about 350 kids between 2009 and 2011.

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In Columbia, enrollment dropped by about 400. In Rensselaer and Saratoga, it dropped by more than 600 (each) in those two years. Between the 2008-09 and 2010-11 school years, according to the August 2012 report, statewide enrollment dropped .7 percent. Faculty was cut, too — a 4.6 percent drop in that same time period.

The Capital Region is home to over a dozen private pre-, elementary, middle and high schools. The choices range from samesex and day schools to boarding schools, each with special focuses on various programs and curriculum. So how do you find the right one for your child? Here are some points to consider.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/ Hongqi Zhang.

some pointers if you’re considering private school

Consider the child

are two separate (but complementary) same-sex schools that merge into co-ed classes by the time students reach their final two years of high school.

“Boys and girls develop at different rates,” North says. “Boys, in co-ed situations, they clam up. In many educational settings, it’s not cool for boys to be smart.” And girls often feel as if they shouldn’t “act intellectual” around boys. So separating the boys from the girls “is actually very productive on either side of the street,” North says.

Robert Bangert-Drowns, dean of the School of Education at the University of Albany, says all children today should be on a path toward college. And all students — at public and private schools alike — should be getting an education that prepares them for a university education.

“In the future, college education is going to be the new high school,” says Bangert-Drowns. “It’s going to be an assumption of people’s educational backgrounds.” continued on page 69  In the public vs. private debate, Bangert-Downs says that children with special talents or needs may find private schools include more programs addressing Area Private Schools esoteric skills and interests than a public school can provide. But just because a school is private, he says, Albany Academies Robert C. Parker School doesn’t necessarily make it superior.

Preschool-12, same-sex/co-ed PreK-8, Coed “I think there are some very conventional, dull, dead135 Academy Road, Albany 4254 New York 43, Wynantskill ening private education institutions out there that are 518-429-2300 518-286-3449 just poor environments for learning,” he says. “I think albanyacademies.org parkerschool.org everybody should walk into a school with their eyes open, get a sense of the school and the kinds of things Brown School Saint Gregory’s School they support.”

Nursery-8, coed Nursery-8, All Boys In considering your child’s needs, Patti Vitale, head 150 Corlaer Ave., Schenectady 121 Old Niskayuna Road, Loudof the Brown School, a Schenectady day school for 518-370-0366 onville children from nursery age through 8th grade, says brownschool.org 518-785-6621 class size is the number one question families ask. At saintgregorysschool.org Brown, the student population is around 180, so class Darrow School size is small (as they are in most private schools).

9-12, Coed, Boarding Saratoga Independent School Smaller classes, private school proponents say, mean 110 Darrow Road, New Lebanon PreK-6, Coed teachers can more easily focus on individual students, 877-432-7769 459 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs various special needs and interests. “We’re able to taidarrowschool.org 518-583-0841 lor an education to (the students), rather than enact siskids.org a standard form of education upon them,” says Dr. Doane Stuart School Douglas North, head of the Albany Academies. “I think Nursery-12, Coed Susan Odell Taylor that every student … has his or her individual genius 199 Washington Ave., Rensselaer School for Children that can be brought forth, but you can only do that if 518-465-5222 Preschool-6, Coed you have a school and classrooms of a certain size.” doanestuart.org 116 Pinewoods Ave., Troy Vitale cites from examples at Brown. “This year, we’re 518-274-4994 starting a program called ‘Ignite,’” says Vitale. Students Emma Willard School taylorschool.org will have their own sets of achievable goals, which will 9-PG, All Girls, Boarding “push their individualized education forward.”

285 Pawling Avenue, Troy Waldorf School of Sara“We can partner not just with the students but with 518-833-1300 toga Springs the students’ families,” she says. And families are more emmawillard.org Pre K-12, Coed and more a part of their children’s educations, too, says 122 Regent St., Saratoga Springs Vitale. “It’s a family community. … That’s a very imporHawthorne Valley School 518-584-7643 tant part of the Brown School: its community feel.”

PreK-12, Coed, Boarding waldorfsaratoga.org Private schools also can fill in the holes left in extra330 County Route 21 Hillsdale curricular programs after public school cuts. In addi518-672-7281 Woodland Hill Montion to robust fine-arts programs, Brown’s curriculum hawthornevalleyschool.org tessori School also includes Spanish courses beginning in kindergarPreK-8, Coed ten and continuing all the way through eighth grade.

Hoosac School 100 Montesorri Place, Rensselaer

T

hose considering single-sex education have plenty of options in the area. North says gender segregation in the classroom has many benefits. The Albany Academy for Boys and the Albany Academy for Girls

8-12, Coed, Boarding 14 Pine Valley Road, Hoosick 518-686-7331 hoosac.com

518-283-5400 woodlandhill.org

(source: NYSAIS.org)

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education

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Steve Debenport..

continued from page 67

Jeff Pilgrim, director of admissions at Emma Willard, an all-girls boarding school in Troy, also points to social pressures as a hindrance in co-ed classrooms.

“Girls who go to all-girls schools do better in math and science,” Pilgrim says. As a result, they’re also more likely to major in math and science in college.

Why the dichotomy from public school?

Pilgrim says one of the ways girls tend to approach education is through relationships with their teachers. Boys prefer to go it alone. And in a public school, educators are forced to “teach to the middle,” making it harder for girls (and, for that matter, boys) to get what they need from their teachers.

Another asset for girls at Emma Willard, says Pilgrim, is the opportunity to learn all kinds of different leadership roles and responsibilities. Without boys around to muck up the popularity contest that these elections can be in co-ed environments, girls can actually put themselves forward in a wider variety of positions they might not have considered in public school.

“Girls can find leadership roles that they are most comfortable in,” Pilgrim says.

The same is true with boys. “Hands go in the air much more frequently in situations when (the students) are in single-gendered classrooms,” North says.

Another important consideration is, mostly at the high school level, whether to send a child to boarding school or choose a day school. Boarding school can be a scary concept for children and parents. Adding in room and board increases costs and long distances can be difficult to stomach.

Parents should keep in mind their child’s overall maturity and ability to handle new situations without a lot of hand-holding.

Though counseling and coping services for homesickness exist at most schools, the boarding experience can be much harder for some children than others. (In the U.K., where going to boarding school is a much more common practice, there’s debate over whether it’s positive or negative for an underprepared student. Some eventually adjust and adapt and excel; others are miserable, according to the British publications the Daily Mail and the Independent.)

Pilgrim, of Emma Willard, says some girls adapt immediately to life away from home while others struggle and lean on the school’s support systems in place for slower-to-adapt girls.

Emma Willard encourages parents to drop in whenever they like and girls are encouraged to mingle with off-campus friends (even if those friends are boys) and day students on the weekends. The inclusion of Skype on everybody’s computer means girls can talk to their family and friends as frequently (or infrequently) as they like.

According to Pilgrim, who himself went to a boarding school, the benefits of living away from home accumulate in all areas of life and academia. Girls learn to keep their spaces neat, eat healthily, exercise, study conscientiously and stick to good routines, which gives them a distinct edge when entering the chaotic, anxious ecstasy of college freshmen freshly released from the nest. In other words, boarding school “prepares them not only for college but for life afterward.”

Bottom line, the decision to attend private school is, well, private for each family. Vitale began to work at Brown when her own two sons attended. She moved up through the ranks, beginning as a 2nd-grade teacher and eventually becoming head of school. “What was important was that they had an education program that intrigued (my boys),” Vitale says. “We have a very strong music program and that was important.”

Vitale says to walk carefully through each school you consider and make sure everything meets your own personal standards of education. Talk to your child. Ask her what she wants and sees for herself in her academic future. “Your child has to feel engaged or feel a part of his or her learning,” Vitale says.

“They need to feel connected to that school.” @

Money Matters Each of the school administrators we talked to discussed financial aid and the many options available to parents. Last year the Albany Academies distributed close to $3 million in aid, according to North, while Emma Willard gave out nearly $4 million, according to Pilgrim. “Nearly 54 percent of our girls are on financial aid,” he says. For more information on how to finance a private school education, see our story online at timesunion.com/lifeathome.

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family life

Seniors on the Move senior move managers can help ease downsizing stress

J

oan and Bob Bullock are in their 80s and lived in a home with many flights of stairs. Joan broke her hip in February, so everyone in the family agreed it was time to move to a one-story apartment.

The Bullocks’ daughter, Laurie, who lives in Massachusetts, discovered Onward & Upward, a senior move manager business in Saratoga Springs. Owner Laurie Cornell and her partner Neil Bindelglass helped the Bullocks with everything from sorting to packing to organizing to unpacking.

“I feel like Laurie and Neil will always be our friends,” Joan says. “When they had to go through all our stuff, you feel like these people are part of your extended family. You just build 70

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this great relationship with them.”

Senior move management is a relatively new but quickly growing business concept created to help older adults and their families with downsizing, organizing, home staging or other services. They can offer specific services that include customizing floor plans, hiring professional movers, arranging for unwanted items to be sold or donated, supervising the entire move, cleaning the old residence for sale, and setting up of the new home. How much they do is up to the client.

The clientele range from someone who needs a more organized home to someone who is moving to a smaller home, retirement community, assisted living or nursing home facility.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/ sturti.

by lee nelson

Sometimes a family hires senior move managers after a parent dies and the home needs to be cleaned out.

“The hardest part is the emotional attachment,” Cornell says.

“When we sort their stuff, it all comes down to do you really, really love it or do you really, really need it? That’s tough to do with so much stuff that has been accumulated for so many decades.”

According to the National Association of Senior Move Managers, industry growth can be traced in part to the aging baby boomer generation. As more of this generation retires in the next 18 years, the U.S. population for those ages 65 and older will jump nearly 80 percent.

Unlike the nuclear family of yesteryear, today’s families are spread all over the county and world. Additionally, both the husband and wife work and juggle their children’s activity-filled lives. All this makes it even more difficult for them to get involved with a senior’s move.

Concerned adult children call Kathy Bowen all the time asking who can help them and their parents with moving to her adult senior living community. “I’m seeing more and more of those in their 40s and 50s who are still raising their own children needing help to move their elderly parents,” says Bowen, marketing director of Preswick Chase in Saratoga Springs. Preswick Chase offers independent living with apartments and cottages. The largest unit is under 1,400 square feet, which means those who have lived in a large two-story house will have to get rid of a lot of furniture and accessories to fit into their new home and lifestyle.

Bowen keeps senior move manager company brochures in her office for people inquiring about downsizing and moving help. “I’ve watched senior move managers firsthand on moving day. They are here helping with the movers and how to arrange the furniture for maximum fit and comfort. They help these people decide what to donate to charity or to their kids, what to sell and what they can live without,” she says. “Many of our residents are coming from the New York City area, which is three hours away. They want to move here to be near the kids.

They are coming out of a totally different atmosphere from the city. It’s overwhelming for the seniors, and the adult children don’t have time.”

Senior move managers can also work with realtors, bankers, attorneys, staging professionals and others assisting with the changes. Many of those who have started their own business in this industry have come from a variety of backgrounds, everything from nursing and social work to marketing. Cornell was motivated by wanting a change from the corporate world where she worked 20 years, moving to 10 different locations in six years.

“I wanted something fun and something that I could make a difference in. The senior move manager industry is so collaborative. It’s not cutthroat. You get very close to your clients,” she says.

P

rofessional organizer Debreen Oliva of D.O. Organize in Saratoga Springs has been helping people get their homes and offices organized for seven years. She had been doing senior moves the entire time but recently decided to join the National Association of Senior Move Managers. continued on page 73 

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family life “It doesn’t matter if we are 25 or 85.

Photos: iStockphoto.com. Woman, Edward Bock; Men packing, CandyBox Images;

continued from page 71

We all have emotional attachments to our stuff.” — Debreen Oliva

The association, which began in 2003, examines applicants’ experiences and insurance capabilities before approving them for membership. The organization also developed a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for all its members and offers ongoing educational programs and a yearly conference to keep members updated on issues. More than 600 senior move management companies in the U.S. and Canada are now part of NASMM. “It doesn’t matter if we are 25 or 85. We all have emotional attachments to our stuff,” Oliva says. “But when I have older clients, it’s tough for them physically to lift the boxes, or go up and down stairs without assistance. And sometimes it is just mentally exhausting to sort through all those memories by yourself.”

She asks every client what their top three priorities are in their lives. “The top one is always their spouse, family, kids or other people in their lives. It’s not stuff.

If this stuff is preventing them from doing what they want to do, then that is a shame,” she says.

Oliva helps her clients to decide what is important, what can be given away and what has value that can be sold.

She works one-on-one with clients but also brings in a team of assistants she calls “clutter counselors” to help make the process go faster. Many of them have master’s degrees in psychology or social work. They are not counseling the clients, but rather are that extra person who can help process a client’s emotions and feelings that may be getting in the way of progress.

Many senior move managers have a contract specifying the tasks they will cover and how much each will cost. Some charge one price for an entire job. “It’s hard to give an average price, because everyone is so different. It all depends on what they want done and how many hours it will take,” Oliva says.

Some jobs can be just a few hundred dollars while others will be well into the thousands, she says. Someone with a fourbedroom, two-story home will pay a lot more to have it sorted than someone with a one-bedroom apartment. Many times, the cost can be counteracted by a big tax deduction from the objects donated to charity or sold online or at an estate sale or auction.

“We count all the stuff donated and put it on a donation worksheet,” Cornell says. “One of our clients had over $7,000 in tax donations.”

Sometimes the job involves a lot of research to help clients offload their collections. One of Cornell’s recent clients, for instance, was a widow whose husband, an opera lover, had accumulated more than 2,000 opera albums.

“Vintage record stores don’t want opera. Libraries didn’t want them.

My boyfriend is an audiofile guy, and he found someone through blogs that bought them all from her,” she says. “What I’ve learned through all of this is that people truly think their stuff is worth more than it really is worth.” @

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chef@home

The

Mac-N-Cheese

Master

paul valente is a wizard in the kitchen by steve barnes | photos by suzanne kawola

A

fter Paul Valente and his wife, Kim, returned from their honeymoon, they moved into a new apartment he’d found in Manhattan. They met in Watervliet, at Valente’s Restaurant, which has been owned by Paul’s family since 1958.

After they began dating, Paul moved to New York for a postcollege adventure in the big city. They maintained a long-distance relationship for a while, with Paul and a roommate sharing a different pad in New York.

Before moving in, Kim never saw the apartment Paul found for their first place as husband and wife. She knew it was on the Upper East Side, which has the reputation of being a nice place to live. However, Paul hadn’t mentioned the apartment’s size: 300 square-feet.

“She walked in and was like, ‘Where’s the rest of it?’” says Paul with a laugh. Their newlywed home would almost fit inside the back screen porch of the Valentes’ Loudonville home.

The porch overlooks a grassy rear yard surrounded with oldgrowth trees, and, save for the ringing voices of kids from their cul-de-sac, the place is quiet. It feels like an Adirondack retreat, not a home four miles from downtown Albany.

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“We’re so lucky to be here,” says Paul. “It’s been such a good place for us.”

They’ve lived on the street for 25 of their marriage’s 28 years; for the first 11, they were just two doors down from their current home. They bought this house as a one-story ranch, but after adding a second floor, a casual dining-family room contiguous to the kitchen and their beloved screen porch, the home is a roomy 4,200 square-feet.

“This is where we spend almost all of our time,” says Paul, standing in the kitchen and gesturing toward the open room and living spaces. The kitchen features a large island and a sixburner, pro-style stainless range, complete with a faucet in the wall behind the stove for filling large pots with water for pasta or stocks.

The five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath house, built in 1959, was originally part of the former Aspinwall Farm — the main stone house still stands at the end of the road. While perusing the deed for the property, Paul noticed that legendary Albany Mayor Erastus Corning III had owned the land before the house was built.

“Lord knows how he got hold of anything, but apparently he once owned it,” says Paul.

As is the case with many older homes expanded and adapted for contemporary living, the Valentes’ place has a formal dining room, but it is used these days more to store cases of Paul’s homemade wine than for communal meals. (Some bottles in a recent batch suffered a chemistry mistake and exploded, claiming as their victim the house’s nearby wireless Internet router.)

“The formal dining room — we eat in there on Christmas,” says Paul.

H

e is one of five children who grew up in an apartment attached to the family restaurant, falling asleep to the sound of dishwashers cleaning plates and pots on the other side of their bedroom wall, and all of the siblings and their parents still live locally. The clan gathers at different members’ homes for holiday meals, coming to Paul and Kim’s house every Dec. 25 to populate the underused dining room.

But the kitchen is busy much more often, including most Sundays, with various combinations of family and friends.

It’s where Valente developed his recipes for award-winning mac-n-cheese, which for three years won the Table Hopping/timesunion.com Mac-n-Cheese Bowl. A fundraiser for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the event, held every winter, features 30 restaurants competing for honors from judges and attendees.

Valente’s has had such success with its mac-n-cheese — now the restaurant’s most popular appetizer, a couple of hundred pounds’ worth are consumed each week — that Valente was inspired to produce it commercially.

Rolled out in summer 2011 in independent grocers and specialty-foods stores in the Capital Region, the frozen product was picked up this year by Price Chopper. continued on page 76 

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75

chef@home

continued from page 75

“This is where it all began, right here in this kitchen,” Paul says.

“We’d make it, have everybody taste it, tweak it, try it again the next week. We must have gone through 50 iterations.”

“As far as research goes, it was a lot of fun,” says Paul’s brother Jack, who runs Valente’s Restaurant and is a regular visitor at Paul’s home. He’s here today with his daughter Emma, 8, and he tells Paul that the two went golfing earlier in the day.

“She just wanted to go to the (course) pond to catch frogs,” he says.

“That’s what you used to do,” Paul says. “But I never expected my daughter to do it, too.”

Although he cooks at home and developed mac-n-cheese for retail sale, Paul doesn’t cook by day. He’s represented at the restaurant by his son Andy, 23, who works there as a barback.

Now 54, Paul was in the restaurant business for about 15 years, owning a variety of pizzerias, ice-cream shops and other casual eateries around the region. His specialty was marketing, and among his strokes of genius was boosting the business of his Guilderland pizza location by including free condoms with pizzas delivered to the University at Albany campus.

“There’d probably be a backlash today if we did that,” he says.

“But this was pre-Internet, and we only advertised it at SUNY, so word never really got out beyond the students.”

One day, Valente says, “I realized I was pushing 40 and working 100 hours a week. So I sold everything” and took a job with the state, working in a division involved with municipal bonds.

He didn’t think he’d be in food service again, but the oppor76

life@home

tunity to capitalize on the success of Valente’s frozen mac-ncheese has refired his old marketing instincts. Price Chopper’s initial commitment is to carry the product in four dozen of its supermarkets, and an equal number of independent stores currently sell it, from Kingston to Lake George. Valente has also signed with a national distributor.

“If this thing really takes off …,” he says, not finishing his sentence. His twinkling eyes suggest retirement from his state job might be one consequence, or perk, of hawking mac-n-cheese.

Besides, there are more Yankees games to get to. The Valente family has owned season tickets since 1961; they’ve now got eight seats to every home game, including four in the third row on the Yankees’ dugout side, but Paul and Andy make it to just six or eight games a year now. On the back porch sit a pair of seats from Yankee Stadium, the original ones the family sat in, which as longtime ticketholders they had the opportunity to acquire when the old stadium was renovated years back.

“We’ve been incredibly lucky, Kim and me,” Paul says again.

“Being able to raise Andy here was important. But who knows?

If the mac-n-cheese works out, maybe it’s time to downsize.

We just have to make sure we’ve got room for everyone to get together.” @ For more of Chef Valente’s recipes, including Pumpkin Soup and Calamari Marinara, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

Braciole: ingredients: • 10 (2-ounce ) slices top round or top sirloin • 1/2 cup Italian–style bread crumbs • 2 garlic cloves, chopped • 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped • 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped • 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted • 1/3 cup raisins • 1/2 teaspoon sage, rubbed • 1 teaspoon thyme • 2/3 cup sharp provolone cheese, grated • 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded • Salt and pepper to taste • 1/4 cup olive oil • Marinara sauce (see recipe) method: Use one slice of top round for each braciole. Combine filling ingredients and mix together. Spread ingredients on meat slices, roll them up, secure with string or a toothpick.

Brown beef rolls on all sides in oil. Add marinara sauce (see recipe), cover and simmer for 30 minutes or bake covered in 350-degree oven.

Marinara Sauce: ingredients: • 1/3 cup olive oil • 3 cloves garlic, diced • 28 ounces pomodoro strips (canned whole tomatoes, sliced) • 8 ounces crushed tomatoes • 1/2 teaspoon basil • 2 tablespoons butter • 3 ounces marsala wine • Salt and pepper to taste method: Use a 4-quart saucepan. Place in olive oil and garlic. Brown lightly on medium heat. Add remaining ingredients. Heat on medium-high, then heat to low. Let cook 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove and serve.

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Eligible members must credit qualify and have automatic payments made from an HRCCU share draft checking account. Checking account must remain active otherwise HRCCU may increase the A.P.R. by .25%. Annual percentage rate is fixed for 5 years and reprices every five years thereafter. The A.P.R. cannot increase more than 2% per 5-year adjustment period and not more than 6% over the initial A.P.R. during the life of the loan. Other A.P.R.s and terms available.

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the vineyard

and culture Mendoza conquest in the wine world Cabernet I story and photo by alistair highet

n many respects, the history of wine is the history of war.

The roads that the Romans cut through Gaul into the dark forests of Germany were quickly lined with vineyards. When the British took over Australia, they drank so much rum that an enlightened late Victorian thought it better for general morals to replace the rum with wine, and so the vines came.

One of my favorite stories is of the origins of the Rhone appellation Hermitage: Returning wounded from the Albigensian crusade in 1224, the knight Gaspard de Sterimberg was given permission to build a small hermitage and to live a life of contemplation, and it is said he planted grape seedlings he had procured from Persia called shiraz. While the story is probably part myth, the wine grape may be the most successfully adaptive plant in all creation — it follows us wherever we go and particularly when we go to war.

Take the Mendoza region of Argentina, arguably one of the great winemaking regions of the world and certainly one that is in the ascendancy, producing 75 percent of the country’s wine.

In the eastern foothills of the Andes mountains, which shield it from the vineyards of Chile and from the sea, it boasts some of the highest grape-growing altitudes in the world, around 2,500 feet and more. It is very dry, though temperate, and requires irrigation. Water drawn from mountain rivers such as the Diamante and the Tunuyan (lovely names) are drawn into irrigation channels, some of which have been around since the 16th century.

The Spanish crossed into this region from what is now Chile, lead by Pedro del Castillo in 1561, and without too much trouble brought the native tribes, including the Inca, under their boot.

The natives had already been irrigating to grow their corn, and the Spanish adapted these irrigation channels and built their own in order to grow vines, varieties of the Chilean Pais and Criolla Chica. The native tribes proved hard to put to work, and so they were pushed into Chile and replaced with slaves. Time passed, and Argentina became an attractive destination for immigrants from rural Spain and Italy — many of them wine lovers who knew a good thing when they saw it. The region proved to be particularly well suited to the French vine, Malbec and other French stocks such as Cabernet Sauvignon. Now, more than 450 years or so since Pedro del Castillo started pushing the Inca around, the wines of Mendoza can be found in your local package store.

Well, that’s history. What of the wine? I was moved to write this by a bottle of Domaines Barons de Rothschild “Amancaya” Gran Reserva (2010, $23), a blend of 65 percent Malbec and 35

percent Cabernet Sauvignon.

I am not a Malbec fan — it always seems so over-charged — but these people know how to make a wine and I thought the Cabernet might bring it to heel. Well, this is a powerhouse, and for those of you who like powerful fruit and creamy texture, this is a wine you should try. After that I went to Cabernet Sauvignons from the region and found wines more to my taste. The best of my samplings are below. @ Domaines Barons de Rothschild “Amancaya” Gran Reserva, Mendoza, 2010 ($23) Named after a flower from the Andes, with very ripe black cherry, blackberry, and red plum fruit, with licorice and sweet mocha. A viscous, creamy, vanilla texture.

Perfumed with spices. A big wine, low on acidity, soft tannins.

Dona Paula Estate, Mendoza, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 ($15) More to my tastes, with better acidity, leaner. Red currant and blackberry fruit, with coffee and hints of caramel, good minerality and citrus for a bracing finish.

Angula Innocenti, “La Consulta,” Mendoza, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 ($18) Highly recommended, made by descendants of a Spanish and Italian winemaker. Bright blackberry fruit, strawberry, dried, toasted plums and dark chocolate. Beautifully balanced.

BenMarco Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza, 2009 ($30) The best, with a blend of 5 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Merlot. Concentrated ripe blueberry and black currant fruit, notes of anisette, good mature finish, oaked but not overwhelmed. Smooth and balanced. timesunion.com/lifeathome

79

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locavore

Taste Sensation

by wendy page photos by paul barrett

saratoga olive oil takes this kitchen staple to new heights

S

ome storeowners put up signs warning visitors not to touch. At Saratoga Olive Oil Company people are encouraged — indeed expected — to touch and taste.

“We think it’s important that people are greeted and educated when they come into the shop,” says Barbara Braidwood, who owns and operates the store with her husband Clint and his brother Chad.

Glossy fustis (stainless-steel containers that protect the balsamics and oils, keeping out sunlight and oxygen) sit among bottles and plastic cups. Products, which are sectioned off for easy navigation, include oils: varietal, infused, fused and gourmet; red and white balsamics; and sea salts. Each product also has recipe cards, available at check-out and at saratogaoliveoil.com.

At the entrance, a Flavors of the Month section introduces patrons to select products where “they can get the hang of helping themselves to samples,” Braidwood says. “The experience of tasting oil is so similar to a wine tasting, it’s unbelievable.” (See sidebar for the proper way to taste a varietal oil.)

“It depends on the olive used, the region where it’s grown, when it’s picked, when it’s crushed,” she continues. “People don’t realize how much goes into it. There’s a lot of education that needs to get out there.” Because they follow the olive crush in the northern and southern hemispheres, their olive oil is always at its freshest and, thus, healthiest (see sidebar).

The varietals — from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Tunisia, and California — range from mild to robust. The more robust, the more the natural pepper flavor zings (Braidwood describes it as similar to tasting an unripe banana). Mild varietals have a sweet, fruity taste but not as high an antioxidant count as the robust, which contain more nutrients.

Infused oils contain nothing artificial, no sugar and no preservatives. “Organic Tuscan Herb EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) is our number-one best seller. We can’t keep it filled and on the shelf,” Braidwood says. Fused oils are different from infused in that the whole lemon or the whole blood orange is crushed with the olives. continued on page 82 

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81

locavore continued from page 81

White and red balsamics are imported from Modena, Italy, and are aged through a method called Solera, which works by blending liquid from the oldest barrel with some from the next year’s barrel, and so on, ensuring that there’s always a balsamic whose average age (in this case) is 18 years. “It’s super sweet, really nice and syrupy, but doesn’t make you pucker up,” says Braidwood of her favorite, Cinnamon Pear Balsamic. “I mix it with Blood Orange Oil and pour it over a salad. Heaven.”

White balsamics, also great with salads, are aged a little less. “It makes the greens pop,” she says. “People go nuts for Cranberry Pear White Balsamic.” The 15 sea salts (great as a rub) are also being snatched up, in flavors such as Lime and Hawaiian Black Lava. “We can’t keep the Truffle Salt on the shelf. They fly!”

T

Olive Oil Basics • EVOO stands for Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Olive oil needs to meet certain criteria to be called virgin.

Extra virgin is from the first cold press of the olive, and virgin is from the second press. First press is the freshest and best press you can get from an olive.

• Olive oil does expire. A year to a year-and-a-half from crush is the expiration time. Add heat to that and you’re doing yourself more harm than good.

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hough the Braidwoods’ backgrounds are in clinical research, Barbara and Clint’s trip to Rockland, Maine, two years ago changed everything. “We saw an olive oil shop and absolutely fell in love with it,” she says. “We always loved olive oil, and we didn’t stop talking about this idea.”

Pregnant at the time and wondering how they were going to travel and do their jobs with a baby, it was an overheard conversation that sealed their future: Braidwood heard women speaking of an olive oil shop and wishing they had something like that in Saratoga. “I knew we had to do it,” she says, so she and Clint contacted a distributor in Oakland, Calif.

Six months from their visit to the shop in Maine, they opened Saratoga Olive Oil on Broadway. (Oh, and she gave birth to her first child a month before the store opened.)

Asked if she was nervous, she waves off the question with an emphatic, “No! I had this gut feeling. I thought, ‘This is gonna be huge.’” Saratoga Olive Oil Company opened in April of 2011, and has already opened a second shop in Burlington, Vt., managed by Chad.

Keeping the business family-run is important, as is partnering with local merchants. The artisan bread and crackers used for tasting are locally made; they’ve added gourmet pastas for sale, with the possibility of adding olives. They also sell localmade olive oil-based beauty soaps and lotions, accessories in the form of pottery and wood (cruets, salt boxes), and artwork.

Their bottles are on tables in Max London’s, Capriccio, The Wishing Well and Mouzon House, and local chef David Britton features Saratoga Olive Oil in his Pies on Wheels rig (where he brings the rig to your house party to make wood-fired oven pizza). Last summer, they joined with a gelato store on Broadway, pouring the balsamics on top of the gelato. “It was beyond good,” Braidwood says. They host in-store tasting parties throughout the year, where a trained chef presents food demonstrations using, of course, their products.

But the Braidwoods don’t want to get too big. “We’re always looking for new areas. We also like the concept of taste-beforeyou-buy, so we have some ideas brewing,” Barbara says. “We’re so focused on educating the public that we don’t want it out of our hands.”

Then she smiles. “This has been a great success, way more than we had anticipated. We are thrilled.”

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E.v.o.o. Health Benefits A section of the SaratogaOliveOil.com website is devoted to the health benefits of olive oil. Barbara Braidwood offers her own thoughts on the benefits: “The main benefit is how it helps with cardiovascular disease. They have found that if you take at least two tablespoons of olive oil a day, it will help lower your LDL, the ‘bad’ cholesterol, and help boost up your HDL, the ‘good’ cholesterol. It helps prevent stroke and heart attack.

Some of the other benefits, from other studies that have been done, show it helps prevent the recurrence of cancer. They’re linking inflammation with cancer, and they find that olive oil has a lot of anti-inflammatory properties, so, in turn, it helps prevent cancer. The antioxidants also help with the cancer process, with preventing it and helping to reduce cell damage.

“A lot of diabetics think they need to steer away from balsamics because of sugar. It turns out, though, that it reduces the glycemic index. So balsamic is a good way for them to flavor food and get a little sweetness.”

How to Properly Taste Olive Oil • To taste the varietals properly, pour a little oil into the plastic cup, heat the oil in your hands by rubbing them over the cup to release the aroma and flavor.

• With open hands, smell the oil a bit, then take a sip, letting it roll over your tongue, bringing in air to release the flavor.

• Use a kind of a slurping method at the end. “It’s done by a one-, two- or three-cough system,” Braidwood says. “The more coughing you do, the better the oil.” Braidwood’s favorite, the Spanish Hojiblanca I tasted, was high on the cough meter.

For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

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table@home

Rules are for Breaking … except for the one about food by caroline barrett | photos by paul barrett

T

here aren’t a lot of rules in our house. We do have a few, however, that you wouldn’t expect.

Tops must be put back on markers. It’s pretty annoying to sit down with a fresh sheet of crisp white paper, only to find the markers all dry. So we have that rule. And I hate it when doors are slammed. It makes me jumpy. It’s rule number two.

Don’t slam doors.

Then there’s the stuff we don’t have any rules about. Beds always go unmade around here. I haven’t been able to shake the same feeling I had as a child: Why make your bed when you are just going to mess it up again in a few hours?

Kids are allowed out of the house in bare feet, and if they don’t want to wear a coat in winter, so be it. I always remind them as we leave the house, “See my coat? My warm and fuzzy fleece? I will not give this up if you are cold!”

We tend to be pretty relaxed and sometimes even forget the rules we had in the first place.

Take the shoes rule. No one is supposed to leave shoes by the front door. But they pile up there anyway, everything from Zoe’s flip-flops to her soccer cleats and my high heels that she swiped to play dress-up. They sit there, a heap of shoes, until

I break down and call everyone into the living room to collect their shoes. I scratch my head and mutter about how we should have a rule regarding shoes and where they are left. But then it just happens all over again.

My rule about homework is broken again and again. The way it should be, I believe, is that kids come home from school, put shoes away (in the mud room, of course), hang up backpacks and get right down to doing homework. They each help themselves to a healthy snack and chew thoughtfully as they do math worksheets and study for French quizzes.

Except it doesn’t always happen this way. Because the sun might be shining. Or the neighborhood kids are out riding their bikes. Or the dog wants to play. You get the idea. The back door opens, kids run out, backpacks on the kitchen floor and homework forgotten.

There is one absolute rule, however, put in place when children were very small: They are not allowed to make rude remarks about the food set before them. Elliot is not to point at a bowl of lentils and yell, “that looks like dog barf!” It all started years ago, when Zoe told me just how gross the beets looked.

And tasted. continued on page 86 

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85

table@home

The mellow anise flavor of fennel draws me in and I savor every forkful. continued from page 85

So I told her how it felt: It hurts my feelings. And I told her that whenever she brings home a drawing from school, I always find something kind to say. Even though, I told her, I might not love the way she used color or the composition might not be the best.

I asked her how she would like it if I acted just as she does.

If she came home from school, handed me her drawing, and I started yelling, “Oh my, this drawing is terrible! It’s disgusting! I hate this drawing and I can’t believe you made it for me! Make me another drawing right now!” I said this in a high, fussy voice.

And flapped my arms around for good effect. I plugged my nose and made retching sounds.

Doing this imitation of myself, even today, draws huge giggles. Maybe they understand. Maybe they just like the story and the way I act, pretending to look at a drawing and throwing a fit. Either way, I tell them not to comment on the food I’ve made. Unless it’s a sweet and thankful remark.

J

ust last week, I filled my cast iron skillet with fragrant, golden brown, sauteed fennel. We served it alongside meatloaf. To me, it was heavenly, rich and slightly crisp in just a few places.

86

life@home

The mellow anise flavor of fennel draws me in and I savor every forkful. I ate it in small bites, a little bit of Paul’s meatloaf, a little bit of fennel. Lucy is like me and took a heaping scoop.

Zoe and Elliot didn’t like the look of it. Without comment, they politely refused a serving. I smiled and knew that they were just following the rules. How each of them would have loved to tell me how terrible it looked! Smug and satisfied, I passed the plate back and forth, offering them each a serving every time.

Right now, fennel is at the end of its season. What was once small and tender is now big and very flavorful. Small and tender is nice, but I love the deep, robust flavor of late-season fennel. I buy up the big, fragrant bulbs while I can and saute the slices for a side dish, bake cubes into a potato casserole and slice, grate and chop them every way I can imagine. My favorite, though, is raw fennel. The raw bulb gives the crunch of cabbage with mild sweetness and the flavor of licorice.

Of all the different fennel salads we make and eat, my favorite involves shredding the vegetable and tossing it up. This ensures that every bite of salad will include a bit of crunchy, wonder-

Green Salad with Fennel and Tomatoes

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serves 4 ingredients 1 head of leafy green lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces 1 large tomato, cored and chopped 1 /4 cup nicoise olives, pitted and chopped 1 /4 cup shaved Parmesan 1 fennel bulb, grated for the dressing 1 /3 cup extra virgin olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 1 /4 cup white balsamic vinegar sea salt, black pepper to taste method In a large bowl, combine the lettuce with the tomato, olives and Parmesan. In a small glass bowl, whisk the lemon and vinegar into the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the grated fennel and let sit for a few minutes. When ready to serve, pour the fennel and dressing over all.

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Tasha Tudor:

Around the Year

October 1 - December 31

ful fennel. If you get to the farmers market early enough this month, chances are good that the farmers will still have fresh greens, ripe tomatoes and a few bulbs of fennel.

Zoe likes her salad plain: tender lettuce, a bit of tomato or cucumber, balsamic vinegar. This dish is bold: salty olives with the fennel and sweet tomatoes. So when she stood with me at the counter, chopping tomatoes and tearing lettuce leaves, the big pile of grated white fennel made her stop. She couldn’t believe I was going to put it into the olive oil and lemon she’d just whisked. And despite her dismay, she turned and carried the salad to the table, not saying a word.

From where I stood, I could see the big pile of shoes sitting by the front door. And I was glad to have my children following one rule at least. @

Around the Year illuminates the changing seasons and special annual celebrations with outstanding, rarely-seen examples of Tudor’s original art for greeting cards, children’s books, and holidays.

Tasha Tudor: Around the Year has been organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachuse�s

Overlooking Otsego Lake, the Fenimore presents a variety of compelling art exhibitions April through December.

(Detail) Untitled, 1973, Illustration for a Christmas card (1973) and Drawn from New England (1979) by Tasha Tudor, Watercolor on paper, 8.5” x 9.25”, Collection of Jeane�e and Gerald Knazek ©1973 Tasha Tudor. All rights reserved.

5798 State Highway 80 | Cooperstown, NY 13326 | 607-547-1400 FenimoreArtMuseum.org

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Flip through the virtual pages of our Times Union magazine titles, accessible from anywhere online. The same award-winning layouts.

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body. mind. spirit.

five things story and photos by suzanne kawola

Putnick’s Five Things: 1. My Bicycle: As an adult, Putnick initially started running to lose weight, but eventually switched to cycling as his main sport because, he says, “As long as you stay vertical, biking is really easy on the body.” He owns three bikes and and picks one to suit each ride.

2. Helmet Cow: Putnick has been a cycling coach for Team in Training for about 10 years. Team in Training is a fundraising organization that raises money for leukemia and lymphoma.

One of Team in Training’s upcoming events, The Peak Season Century, a 100-mile ride around Lake George, falls on Oct. 12 this year. “Each chapter finds something that identifies with their region and they put that on their helmets,” Putnick says.

“We have a (small rubber) cow on our helmets because we are from upstate New York and Vermont. And we call ourselves ‘The Herd.’”

five things

i can’t live without

3. Times Union: “I couldn’t live without my Times Union!

And, I’ve got a great carrier! The paper’s always there at 6 a.m. Every morning is started with the Times Union.” He reads the front page with his breakfast and the rest at night. “I know people don’t buy newspapers anymore, and I don’t know how they eat breakfast!”

4. Books: “Gotta have books. I always have one started, sometimes two. And, I have my Nook as part of that.” He buys some

Dr. Leonard Putnick Mathematics / Computer Science Professor, Siena College

B

efore coming to RPI in 1966 to study mathematics, Dr. Leonard Putnick had been studying physics. But he quit, he says, because he hated it.

His wife, Joan, convinced him to switch gears. “If it hadn’t been for Joan, I’d probably be an unhappy physicist right now. I was much, much, much, much happier in mathematics than I ever was in physics. I just really like solving math problems. In many ways it’s more of an art than a science. I was just happier sitting in my corner with pencil and paper.”

He was offered a position at Siena College as an assistant professor in 1970, and says he never expected to stay at the school for 40 years. “I figured I’d be there for two, three years,” he says. “Forty years later I’m still there and still loving it very much. The place has changed a lot, but I still really, really enjoy the students. The students are what keep me going ... especially the math majors. The math majors have just been a great bunch.” And he says they expect to see him outside of class. “You feel like they’re another son or daughter coming through. It’s just a very, very friendly place to be. As long as I have been in a classroom I’ve been happy.”

This fall is the professor’s last semester teaching at Siena.

What will he miss most? “The students,” he says.

books but gets or downloads most from the library. As long as he can remember, Putnick says, he’s read himself to sleep. “You can escape into the book. So a lot of the things that might keep you awake go away,” he says.

5. A Math Problem: “It’s the way I make a living, but I just like the problem-solving experience, working on a problem that you’ve never worked on before and confident that you’ve got the solution to it. That’s really a cool feeling. It doesn’t have to be particularly hard, but it just has to be something I’ve never seen before,” he says. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

89

photo finish

School Pride: this statue of a jockey is painted in High Point University colors.

Read the story on page 27. Photo by Mark Samu.

90

life@home

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1771 Route 9, Clifton Park 518-383-2215

www.earlbfeiden.com 785 Route 9, Latham 518-785-8555

A+ Rating

661 Broadway, Kingston 845-331-2230