Life@Home January 2013

Official Great Northeast Home Show Guide Inside!

A TIMES UNION PUBLICATION

january 2013

A DIY

Delight

plus… the scoop on Vern Yip’s new homegoods line · fireplace conversion tips · how clean is your remote? · winter weather strategies …and more!

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George Hearst III Editorial

Janet Reynolds, Executive Editor Brianna Snyder, Associate Editor Design

Tony Pallone, Design Director Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn, Designers Contributing Writers

John Adamian, Steve Barnes, Caroline Barrett, Valerie Delacruz, Melissa Fiorenza, Laurie Lynn Fischer, Laurie Freehafer, Jennifer Gish, Alison Grieveson, Alistair Highet, Suzanne Kawola, Megan Willis, Kim Messenger, Merci Miglino, Wendy Page, Colleen Plimpton, Lucianna Samu Contributing Photographers

Paul Barrett, Krishna Hill, Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn, Suzanne Kawola, Tyler Murphy, Mark Samu Sales

Shop January Sales for great bargains COME SHOP WHERE STYLE MATTERS, FASHION FLATTERS, AND THE EXCITEMENT IS DOOR TO DOOR. FOLLOW OUR SIDEWALKS AND YOU’LL DISCOVER 62 SENSATIONAL SPOTS TO SHOP AND DINE. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Kurt Vantosky, Sr. Vice President, Advertising & Marketing Kathleen Hallion, Vice President, Advertising Tom Eason, Manager, Display Advertising Craig Eustace, Retail Sales Manager Jeff Kiley, Magazine Advertising Manager Circulation

Dan Denault, Home Delivery Manager Business

Ray Koupal, Chief Financial Officer TimesUnion.com

Paul Block, Executive Producer life@home is published monthly. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of life@home magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or 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

ON WESTERN AVENUE WHERE THE NORTHWAY BEGINS.

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

Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation.

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home

content 19 FEELING ROBIN’S-EGG BLUE Color and your mood at home

21 WINDOW SHOPPING

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

27 HANDY HOME

A DIY delight in Gansevoort

34 DESIGN DEFINED

New year, fresh colors

36 PROBLEM SOLVED

Yes, backsplashes do matter

37 Great Northeast Home Show Guide 43 10 WAYS TO USE...

All those single socks whose mates the washing machine eats

46 DESIGN FOR A BUSY WORLD Vern Yip on his new housewares line

48 IN AND OUT

Accessible homes for all

50 THE HEAT IS ON Converting your woodburning fireplace to gas

53 POINTERS FROM THE POTTING SHED Polly Hunt’s functional pottery

56 WHAT LIES BENEATH

Scary things we (shouldn’t) forget to clean

58 ECORESOLUTIONS Live a greener life

61 Refurnished Living Tips for more ecofriendly living

62 Garden Path

Bewitching witch hazel

64 TOOL TIME Back-saving snowremoval strategies

68 DESIGN CLASSICS

A perfect storage system

◀ Form and function: Polly Hunt’s pottery. Read the story on page 53. Photo by Tyler Murphy. Cover photo by Mark Samu. timesunion.com/lifeathome

7

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life

content 71 HOUSE BLEND

Your home and meditation

72 PRIME TIME

Chef Ken Kehn prefers knives to calculators

76 THE VINEYARD

Alchemy in Valpocelli

77 CREATURE COMFORT Hot noodles for a cold winter’s day

80 SPREAD IT ON

The delicious hummus from 3 Chicks and a P

85 FIVE THINGS

What Alain Kaloyeros can’t live without

86 PHOTO FINISH Cooking with wood

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

— William Morris

◀ Perfect chick peas is the beginning of perfect hummus. Read the story on page 80.

Photo by Paul Barrett. timesunion.com/lifeathome

9

talk back

The story behind the story from our contributors Baby It’s Cold Outside Caroline Barrett  Writing this essay got me thinking about food and skiing. I realized that there must be a better way than cold sandwiches after being outside in the cold winter air all day!

See Caroline’s story on page 77.

Hummus Anyone?

Wendy Page  I learned hummus can be made without tahini and taste great, that you absolutely do need a mint after eating the 3 Chicks and a P “Garlic Breath” hummus, and that there are a lot of opportunities in this area for mentoring and help with growing your small business. Also, that a name can be catchy as well as meaningful! See Wendy’s story on page 80.

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

10

life@home

Tis a Gift to be Simple “Ordinary things can be repurposed to create extraordinary art.”

Laurie Lynn Fischer  Ordinary things can be repurposed to create extraordinary art. Horses use their tails to swat away flies and violin bows are made with horse hair, but I never knew that potters use it to create vein motifs in red-hot Raku-fired clay. I also learned that the metal coil from inside a pen makes a great tool for gouging rows of wavy parallel grooves into a slab built piece. Read Laurie’s story on page 53.

Winter Gardens Colleen Plimpton  Deep in the depths of a Northeastern winter, it’s difficult to believe that fragrant flowers could possibly bloom in January and February. But it’s true. See Colleen’s story on page 62.

A Year of Living Greenly Cari Scribner  I learned so much writing this column over the last year. I thought I was pretty savvy when it came to recycling, but the facts astonished me! I had no idea how much junk mail was created, that most parts of older furniture can be recycled, and that there are dozens of ways hotels can go green. I’m wiser for the New Year! See Cari’s story on page 61.

Home, Sweet Accessible Home Brianna Snyder  One thing I love about good design is that it’s universally functional. I was pleased to see that connection made so strongly in The Accessible Home, a book about making homes conducive to wheelchairs and disabilities. “Special needs” aren’t necessarily special: good design accommodates everybody’s needs.

See Brianna’s story on page 48.

We asked, you answered!  Fill in the blank, My home feels best when it’s...

Jennifer: Full of

Emily: Full of laughter!

Tom: …got power.

Rachel: Clean!

Linda: Clean!

Betsy: Neat as a pin. So that means that it feels “best” infrequently! <sigh> All my secrets are out.

Patty: Filled with family and friends!

Colleen: …filled with the warmth of a fire in the fireplace!

people I love, laughter and good food!

Emily: …got electricity!!

Michelle: Quiet and still, all tucked in.

JoAnn: Filled with family and friends!

 Planning a party?

What’s something you need help with?

Richard: Could always use help with what (and) how much to prepare from small to large groups of people.

Betsy: How to handle guests who want to chat with me in the kitchen while I’m cooking and preparing? I guess I can’t do 2 things at once!

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NUT s~äÉåíáåÉ oÇK ïïïKbãÉêáÅÜp~äÉëKÅçã `Ü~êäíçåL_~ääëíçå i~âÉI kv NOMNV `Ü~êäíçåL_~ääëíçå i~âÉ I kv NOMNV ERNUF PVVJURTQ ERNUF PVVJURTQ

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 by Chef Ken Khen, like Fall Fennel, Arugula and Apple Salad and Erin’s Banana S’mores Cake.

stories

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

Facebook

See more: An online photo gallery of a beautiful home in Gansevoort (story on page 27); more pottery from Polly Hunt (story on page 53) and more drool-inducing photos of the delicious hummus from 3 Chicks and a P (story on page 80).

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: One of our writers makes bacon — at home. Read all about it at timesunion.com/lifeathome.

Computer mouse illustration © Irina Iglina/Dreamstime.com.

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editor’s note

Exciting New Year T he beginning of a new year is always a time of such hope and promise. Some of us kick it off with resolutions aimed to help us improve on some level. Even those of us who prefer not to go that route still start the year with a clean slate. Who knows what the new year will bring?

What we can promise you, our loyal readers and advertisers, is this: February 2013 will mark the fifth-year anniversary of life@home and with that issue we will unveil a new look. That’s right. The issue you hold in your hands is the last one of life@ home as it was created five years ago.

The reasons to do a redesign are many.

Since we launched life@home, we have started four other magazines here at the Times Union: HealthyLife, EXPLORE, Vow: Your Wedding. Your Way, and Capital Region Women@Work. The division is

thriving, and marking this important anniversary with improvements is another way of celebrating this milestone.

We also have learned a lot as we’ve created these new magazines and so, just as we all switch up the pillows and the paint color in our family room or bedrooms periodically, it’s time to give this magazine, the one that started it all, a makeover.

The local focus will remain the same.

That will never change. Nor will the magazine’s focus on good, clean design.

You’ll notice some new content, though. We’re adding some new columnists and features. And we’re revising the overall look and feel of the magazine.

We’re pretty excited about what’s coming, and hope you’ll be pleased as well. 2013 is going to be a good year indeed. @

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Robin’s Egg Blue

by megan willis

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Linda Kloosterhof.

N

ot turquoise, nor powder blue. Not sky blue or azure or aquamarine. Robin’s-egg blue.

My husband and I awoke one morning to declare that we had grown sick and tired of every wall surface in the entire house. Choosing the spare guestroom/office for our first redo, I cruised hundreds of color swatches at the paint store and was hopelessly bored with everything. Having long relied on paint jobs to quickly change my surroundings, I have done the taupes, the blood reds, the terracottas and accent walls, the neutrals, the layered effects, the Martha palettes and the fashion trends. I was over them all. Only one color was going to do it this time. Everything else literally paled in comparison.

This wasn’t my first go-round with robin’s-egg blue. It began 20 or so years ago when a roommate and I set out to choose colors for an apartment in Somerville, Mass. We had struck a bargain with the landlord where we offered to paint the entire apartment for free if we got to pick the colors. He didn’t know us very well but that changed at the paint store.

The resulting majesty of hues was not bound whatsoever by the adjoining colors of nearby rooms or by the nuisance of restraint. Each room was its own creation: The office was cow funk, the kitchen retro-diner checkerboard, and the hallway gold “Van Gallery” where we hung endless prints of Vincent’s whirling wheat fields and swirling stars.

My room was robin’s-egg heaven. Our apartment was a converted 1800s house with gorgeous details such as canted walls (slanted in toward the ceiling). I painted the window recesses, wide floorboards and the entire door using a very expensive metallic emulsion paint that I can no longer find in stores. They looked as if they’d been dunked in melted ore.

The resulting style with gold accents was something like a gilded fish bowl. It was a touch gaudy. Well, perhaps more than a touch, but my address has always been at the intersection of Good Taste Ave. and Over-the-Top Street.

I

held off for weeks buying paint for my office, dreading the thought of repeating a color from the past, but nothing else was cutting it. I snagged the gallon of it and placed it in view of my paint-rabid husband. Part of what makes our relationship work is that within 72 hours of my bringing a gallon of paint into our home he has it up on the walls. Snap. Paint and Ben & Jerry’s haven’t got a prayer in hell of lasting a week in this house.

Coincidentally, Sherwin-Williams announced a quartet of color palettes as their forecast for 2013 and one of them, Vintage Moxie, includes a Bathe Blue that is pretty darn close to my blue. They have combined it with some lilac and minty green hues to form a mid-century modern palette that I would call “ugly pretty.” On their own, some of these colors are a 1960s bathroom-fixture showroom nightmare, but by adding a cocoa color that is grounding … the combo is ugly pretty.

Entering a room painted robin’s-egg blue, is, for me, an atmospheric sure bet. This color is a state of mind. It is both old and new, inside and outside, air and water. Her eggness is not lazy.

It is a 1940s kitchen adorned in enamels and porcelains populated by a purposeful people in tailored clothing who braise their meat and raise their breads. It is aunts in cat eyeglasses laughing at card tables with undershirted men. It is memories washed clean of malaise and purified in an ocean of nostalgia until all that remains is cool comfort and the lingering taste of a buttermint.

I loved this color so much, I felt the need to continue it on through the entire house — in varying shades, of course. In the master bedroom? A powder blue. In the living room, I proposed to my family, “Let’s do a mid-century modern thing and divide the wall with robin’s-egg blue on the bottom and taupe on the top!”

“No!” They cried out in unison. “No more blue!”

Well, OK then. It’s probably best. I have a tendency to do a thing until I have worn it out. But this one’s going to take a while, because it is sure lighting up this nest. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

19

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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 present two top spots in Rensselaer County.  Pipen Grove Desk Chair in cherry ($263) and Westmereland Black and Cherry Desk ($525). Find them at New Old Stuff. continued on page 22  timesunion.com/lifeathome

21

window shopping continued from page 21

➊

➋

➏ ➎

1. Two's Company handblown glass vases ($25.98 and $27.98) are perfect for flower arrangements or centerpieces, adding quirky charm to any room in the house. Find them at DeAnna's Country Shoppe.

2. Yankee Candle shade (18.98) and plate ($14.98) turn your candle 22

life@home

into an aromatic little lamp. More practically, the shade protects clumsy grownups and curious kids from the candle's open flame. Find them at DeAnna's Country Shoppe.

3. This Handwarmer Mug by Clay in Motion Pottery ($20) is broad enough to wrap your chilled

hands around. Fill with hot tea, grab a heated blanket and get cozy on a snowy afternoon.

Find it at New Old Stuff.

4. Bellecraft sofa mate ($89) holds books, drinks and computers at a perfect height. Keep the

➌

➍

➐

Shops featured: DeAnna's Country Shoppe 3991 Route 43, West Sand Lake New Old Stuff 615 Pawling Avenue, Troy

coffeetable a little less cluttered.

Find it at New Old Stuff.

5. The Crow Canyon Home enamel pitcher ($39) has an antique look, with swirls and spatters of paint. Fill with anything from water to lemonade to sangria.

Find it at New Old Stuff.

6. Two-piece baking dish and server by Park Designs ($34.99) is oven-, microwave- and dishwasher-safe. And it's a betterlooking alternative to a hot pad wedged beneath the dish.

Presentation is everything. Find it at DeAnna's Country Shoppe.

7. This Lancer ottoman ($409) is covered in Concord Ink fabric. All it needs is a soft, fringed throw. Then put it in the middle of your living room. Find it at New Old Stuff. continued on page 24 

timesunion.com/lifeathome

23

window shopping continued from page 23

our

facebook.com/lifeathomemagazine

bloggers

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!

shop

House Things by janet reynolds

Interested in global décor for your home but not sure where to start? Well, stop your mouse at Small Things After All and prepare to be wowed. The online site includes everything from occasional seating and rugs to lighting and gifts. This hexagonal Eco Honeycomb Shelf is made from repurposed furniture remnants. The blend of woods — teak, oak and mindi — make this distinctive beyond its unusual shape.

It's functional and makes a terrific wall accent. Set of three, $55. Available at smallthingsafterall.com.

Home Décor@518 by valerie delacruz Have you ever mixed something with your hands like cookie dough or meatballs and wished you didn’t have to get your kitchen faucet all greasy when it came time to wash up? Now you can do just that with Moen’s MotionSense technology. As shown here with the sleek Arbor pull-down kitchen faucet, you can turn the water on and off with a wave of your hand. Just move your hand under the spout or over the top of the arch and a sensor controls the flow.

Hand-free operation minimizes the spread of germs, and the Spot Resist stainless-steel finish resists fingerprints and water spots. Available locally from Security Supply (secsupply.com) this faucet just might inspire a kitchen renovation! Learn more at moen.com/motionsense.

24

life@home

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Open House: Thursday, January 24, 10 a.m. - noon

@home with

Handy

Home

a diy country home in gansevoort by brianna snyder | photos by mark samu

T

he early-19th-century Federal brick home of Rudy and Nancy Woykowski has, over the past three decades, been almost completely restored, with much of the work done

by Rudy, an able (and mostly self-taught) carpenter. continued on page 29 

timesunion.com/lifeathome

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@home with

28

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continued from page 27

“The house was in terrible condition” in 1981, when Rudy first purchased the home with his first wife. He says the “most challenging part of the project was to restore the house to somewhat of the era it was built.”

Keeping that style of the 1820s in mind, Rudy and Nancy, who were married in 1995, have balanced the new architecture of their home with the original, and they’ve decorated with an even balance of antique and contemporary furnishings.

They preserved much of the original foundation, notably the banisters of the front staircase. “They were handmade,” says Rudy, “and on the bottom part of the banisters, the spindles aren’t all exactly the same, which tells me two different people were making those spindles.” (Rudy delights in the hidden history of his home; he has a small collection of coins found beneath the floorboards — they’re nearly 100 years old.) The ceilings feature specially designed medallions, which Rudy found, refurbished and put up. continued on page 30  timesunion.com/lifeathome

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continued from page 29

“There’s a space between the medallion and the rim that was always painted a little bit darker, which was a part of the design (when the house was built),” says Rudy. He made sure to replicate those small 19th-century details in his own customized moldings and woodworking.

Rudy, who’s an investment adviser, and Nancy, a retired foreign-language teacher, have four children between them. Tallah, Rudy Jr., Leiden and Mike are all grown now, but their rooms remain intact upstairs. Rudy built the handmade toys that sit on the handmade shelves and benches he also built from the wood of a cherry tree he chopped down 15 or so years ago. (“That’s my project wood,” Rudy says. “I’ve been saving it ever since I cut [the cherry tree] down when I first moved in.”)

Because the house has two staircases, Rudy speculates that the upstairs rooms originally were rented out to tenants. The second floor’s original ceiling was only six feet high, so they raised it to eight feet. Rudy has photo albums of pictures of the second floor being ripped open and rebuilt. And the upstairs has a unique layout: bathrooms also serve as quasi-hallways into a couple of the bedrooms, and every child has an exit out of his or her window; the family had routine fire drills when the kids were growing up. continued on page 33  30

life@home

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@home with

continued from page 30

“We took it all off the top of the house,” says Rudy of the home’s original second floor. “We raised the roof, trying to keep the lines the same, to give us an eight-foot ceiling.” This was done largely with the help of friends, for whom the Woykowskis threw elaborate pig roasts — done at home on a spit Rudy built. They also recruited help from local vendors — John Borla of Glens Falls did some painting and Michele Conti of Designs

by Michele in Niskayuna recently helped replace the house’s original windows that could hardly be opened anymore.

“My late wife was an interior designer,” Rudy says of his first wife, who was killed in a car accident a few years after the couple had bought the house. “Our dream was to buy an old house in the country to raise our kids. We worked hard at it and we put up with a lot.”

Rudy and Nancy married in 1995, and Nancy has made her own mark on the house. A lovely old painting hanging prominently in the front stairwell is just one example. It was painted by a French artist who left many paintings to Nancy’s grandmother, who cared for the artist — Mademoiselle Crec-Riou — in her old age. “I hope I brought some wisdom to the whole process,” Nancy says. “And certainly (the children) brought their wonderful hearts.”

The kids come back regularly — with grandkids! — for big family dinners cooked in the wood-burning stove the Woykowskis ordered from Saratoga Masonry several years ago. The appliance is one of Rudy and Nancy’s favorites.

“I grew up in Germany for a couple of years,” says Rudy, “and my grandmother always had a wood stove. I loved the feeling of cooking on a wood stove, and my grandmother used to love it too.” @

For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

timesunion.com/lifeathome

33

design: defined

New Year,

Fresh Colors

Paint your wall a new color!

This is “Skydive”

by Benjamin Moore

by lucianna samu | photo by mark samu

T

he new year is always a time for resolutions and fresh starts. My own list of resolutions hasn’t changed much over the years and, in fact, I could easily reprise a list of suggested New Year’s resolutions I was determined to accomplish 15 years ago and still be on my game.

Still, I update the list, and always at the top is the promise of organizing my burgeoning collection of paint chips to make the most of the annual color forecasts that cross my desk every January. I consider the arrival of the paint industry’s annual color pronouncements a belated Christmas gift. I’m always hopeful a freshly minted color recommendation from the arbiters of color will spark both my paint chip organization project and a dreamy freshly-painted room.

Pantone, arguably the definitive color authority in the industry, has chosen Monaco Blue for its 2013 color of the year. Not nearly as quirky or spirited a color as I might have hoped for, Monaco Blue is a lovely mid-range blue that is reliable if understated. Monaco Blue is just the sort of blue that lives well with gray and neutral creamy whites.

Not exactly an electrifying color, but by all accounts people are seeking stability and calm in their lives these days, and, according to Pantone, Monaco Blue makes for mission accomplished.

For its belated Christmas gift of 2013 color, Sherwin Williams offers four collections, each decisively named to pique our interest: Midnight Mystery, Honed Vitality, Vintage Moxie and High Voltage. Of the four, Honed Vitality is probably the most whimsical collection. Each color is subtle and chalky with muted undertones, aptly described by the experts at Sherwin Williams as “organic.” Both blue suggestions from the Honed Vitality collection — Mountain Stream and Pool House — are 34

life@home

easy-to-live-with, mid-tone hues, and have just enough red to warm them up. Overall, they are a bit more complex than Pantone’s Monaco Blue.

A

nother reliable source for annual color predictions is The Color Marketing Group. This is the go-to authority for serious color hunters. In addition to a color of the year, the CMG color collection identifies 60 colors that the collaboration of 200-plus color professionals believe are what’s “next” in the world of color. I love this collection, which is brimming with effusive shades of my personal favorites, magenta and fuchsia. My 100 percent love and agreement with the CMG 2014+

What if…

There’ a better There’s insurance deal? collection is based more on experience than personal choice, knowing that the complex coral hues and striking lime green and chartreuse that comprise a big part of this collection will reliably make any room very exciting.

As with the experts at Sherwin Williams and Pantone, the Color Marketing Group also selected a blue as their 2013 goto color of the year. CMG does not offer brand information for their color picks, and their blue of choice can be described as a vibrant, ethereal, nearly turquoise blue-something I would describe as ‘tropical.” The Color Marketing Group believes “people want warmer more aqueous blues.” It’s possible the economics of manufacturing what color insiders would describe as a synthetic blue plays into this choice, although I myself would never perceive diaphanous shades of blue as “fake” looking. Even when compared to the richer indigo or mineralbased blues Pantone or Sherwin Williams picked for us this year, CMG’s “tropical” and vibrant watery blue is never a compromise in a room setting.

The outlier in the color forecast for this year came as a welcome surprise, from my friends at Benjamin Moore. It’s good to know somebody is feeling sunny and bright, and at Benjamin Moore, the happiest of all colors, yellow, tops the list for 2013.

Their pick is a delicious yellow at that — Lemon Sorbet, a clear, crisp and gutsy yellow that will brighten any room in the house.

Just as a tinge of red will warm up blue, the absence of green plus a dash of red keeps yellow friendly, warm and clear.

Benjamin Moore has paired Yellow Sorbet with its version of select blues, Van Cortland and Stratton Blue. All part of their 2013 Coastal collection, the palette is further softened with two very neutral whites, my favorite of which is aptly named Simply White. Three additional collections, named Traditional, Artisan and Urbanite, each have a version of the simpler, and similarly hazy, tropical blue the CMG highlighted for the year.

With Lemon Sorbet, Benjamin Moore brings us a color that we can easily incorporate into our design decisions, especially if we choose to pair Lemon Sorbet with its complement of blue.

Any of the 2013 blue selections will lend warmth to a room, and partner easily with any green, all golds, warm shades of orange and, of course, Yellow Sorbet.

For my part, now that I’ve created a dreamy “aqueous” blue guest room, it’s possible I’ll get to work organizing my color chips. If you would like explore the 2013 color palettes and get inspired on your own dreamy painting project, join me at the Great Northeast Home Show. I’ll bring the color chips! @

Design Defined columnist Lucianna Samu will give a seminar on color at the Great Northeast Home Show on Feb. 10 at 11 a.m. in the Empire State Plaza.

For details go to greatnortheasthomeshow.com.

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AFTER

your backsplash is no minor detail

by brianna snyder | “after” photo by emily jahn

ProbleM When this Latham homeowner replaced her formica countertop with quartz, she realized her backsplash needed redoing, too. With the new counters, the backsplash needed better-coordinated colors.

Solved Designer Paula McCormick set out to give the kitchen a minor update around the maple cabinets that were only five years old.

McCormick chose a quartz countertop “in a sleek pewter color,” she says, and ordered custom glass tiles from Top Tile in Latham to piece together (using glass grout) this colorful backsplash, which includes golds, whites and grays to complement the colors in the new countertop. “This design pattern lends itself to a more contemporary look, (which) the client was searching for,” McCormick says.

BEFORE 36

life@home

Top Tip “Your backsplash should be something that brings all of the palette of the room together,” McCormick says. “I believe the backsplash should tie all the colors of the space together.” @

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LARGEST HOME SHOW IN THE CAPITAL DISTRICT!

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FEBRUARY 8-10, 2013 Empire State Plaza And Times Union Center Free Seminars Comparison Shop Talk To The Experts See The Latest Design Trends

sponsored by

www.greatnortheasthomeshow.com

home show: exhibitors by category Alternative Energy, HVAC and Plumbing Aztech Geothermal, LLC Ballston Spa, NY 518-885-5383 Comfort Temp Voorheesville, NY 518-765-4507 Family Danz Heating & Cooling Albany, NY 518-427-8685 Kool-Temp Heating & Cooling Inc. Coxsackie, NY 518-731-6878 Solar Mobile Troy, NY 518-209-6727 Suburban Services Group Inc Burnt Hills, NY 518-399-6808 Sun Dog Solar Chatham, NY 518-392-4000

www.aztechgeo.com www.comforttempcorp.com www.familydanz.com www.kooltemp.com www.suburbanservicesgroup.com www.sundogsolar.net

Associations, Government and Non-Profits New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Albany, NY 518-862-1090 NYS Public Service Commission Albany, NY 518-474-1788

www.nyserda.org www.askpsc.com

Awnings, Gazebo, Sheds, Sunrooms Patio Enclosures Albany, NY

518-489-5101

www.patioenclosures.com

Banking, Finance and Insurance Ameriprise Financial Inc Albany, NY SEFCU Albany, NY Sunmark Federal Credit Union Latham, NY TD Bank Trustco Bank Glenville, NY

518-458-7200 ext. 109 518-452-8183 866-SUNMARK 518-563-7715 518-877-3311

www.ameripriseadvisors.com www.sefcu.com www.sunmarkfcu.org www.tdbank.com www.trustcobank.com

★ Exhibitors with three or more booths.

As of 11/26/12

home show: exhibitors by category Basements, Foundations, Insulation and Siding Adirondack Basement Systems Halfmoon, NY 518-371-9621 Basement Waterproofing Inc Rome, NY 800-439-4951 North East Building Performance Advisors Albany, NY 518-623-7011 Owens Corning New Windsor, NY 845-561-9000

www.adirondackbasement.com www.basementwaterproofinginc.com www.nebpa.com www.ckhindustries.com

Building Contractors, Material Suppliers and Remodelers Accessible Home Solutions Guilderland, NY 518-869-9372 www.accessiblehomesolutions.com Arxx ICF Alexandria Bay, NY 315-482-5253 www.arxx.net ★ Bennett Contracting Albany, NY 518-462-6731 www.bennettcontracting.com ★ Curtis Lumber Ballston Spa, NY 518-885-5311 www.curtislumber.com GNH Lumber, Inc Greenville, NY 518-966-5333 www.gnhlumber.com Habitat Post + Beam South Deerfield, MA 1-800-992-0121 www.postandbeam.com Harvest Homes Inc Delanson, NY 518-895-2341 www.harvesthomes.com Lajeunesse Builder and Remodeler, LLC Hoosick Falls, NY 518-588-2136 www.dalbr.com Otterbeck Builders Inc Castleton, NY 518-477-1438 www.otterbeckbuilders.com Saratoga Springs, NY 518-587-3385 www.sdatelier.com SD Atelier Architecture, LLC Suburban Construction Corp.

Albany, NY 518-456-5149 www.suburbanhi.com Westchester Modular Homes Wingdale, NY 845-832-9400 www.westchestermodular.com Valente Lumber Averill Park, NY 518-674-3750 www.valentelumber.com Decks, Fences, Patios and Paving Bruce Fence Co., Inc Cohoes, NY Concrete Creations Schenectady, NY George Brothers Inc, Increte of Albany Albany, NY Invisible Fence Capital District Wilton, NY Invisible Fence of the Tri Cities and Hudson Valley Galway, NY Top Dog Pett Fence Latham, NY ★ Exhibitors with three or more booths.

518-783-8792 518-810-5650 518-489-1489 518-587-0032 518-859-8254 518-783-5678

www.brucefence.com www.georgebrothersofalbany.com www.tricitiesny.invisiblefence.com www.topdogpetfence.com

As of 11/26/12

home show: exhibitors by category Doors and Windows ★ Champion Window & Sunroom Co. of Albany Comfort Windows ★ Crawford Door & Window ★ Harbrook Fine Windows, Doors & Hardware ★ Huff‘n Puff Kepple Glass Block LLC Madsen Overhead Doors Inc ★ Overhead Door Company of Albany, Inc. ★ R.M. Pena Inc Window World Furniture Direct Buy Lifetime Cedar Products

Albany, NY Syracuse, NY Rensselaer, NY

518-218-1953 315-457-0022 518-489-3780

www.championfactorydirect.com www.comfortwindows.com www.cdsales.com

Albany, NY Schenectady, NY Cobleskill, NY Spencertown, NY

800-735-1427 518-356-3026 518-231-3108 518-392-3883

www.harbrook.com www.huffnpuffinc.com www.keppleglassblock.com

Clifton Park, NY Burnt Hills, NY Colonie, NY

518-348-0444 518-384-7362 518-489-0889

www.albanyohd.com www.rmpenawindows.com www.windowworldcapitaldistrict.com

Latham, NY Utica, NY

518-782-9999 315-797-4802

www.directbuy.com www.cedarcreekfurniture.com

Gardening, Landscaping and Lawn Services American Design & Contracting, LLC Altamont, NY 518-365-3341 ★ Emerich Sales & Services Ballston Lake, NY 518-399-8574 Saratoga SOD Stillwater, NY 518-664-5038 Zappala Block Co. Rensselaer, NY 518-465-1685

www.adcmason.com www.emerichsales.com www.saratogasod.com www.zappalablock.com

Gutters and Roofing Apple Home Improvements, Inc Seamless Gutter & Supply Co.

Schenectady, NY Endwell, NY

518-374-0160 518-464-4705

www.appleexteriors.com www.gutterprony.com

Home and Food Products Cutco Cutlery Guido’s Frozen Desserts Juice Plus and the Virtual Franchise Lifetime Cookware Lustre Craft My Pillow Inc. Aerus Electrolux

Olean, NY Albany, NY Wynantskill, NY Victor, NY Mt. Dora, FL Shakopee, MN Colonie, NY

716-790-7181 www.cutco.com 518-436-ICES 518-283-5763 www.skhealthunlimited.com 800-724-5433 www.americanmadecookware.com 352-483-7600 x508 952-826-8599 www.mypillow.com

★ Exhibitors with three or more booths.

As of 11/26/12

home show: exhibitors by category Home Services and Repair Advanced Water Systems Arket Electric, Inc. Culligan Water Energy Construction Fridholm Painting & Remodeling LLC ★ Matchless Stove & Chimney Sears Home Services Stone Industries, LLC Upstate Rehabilitation Products Home Technology Symmetry Audio Video Time Warner Cable

Berlin, NY Schenectady, NY Troy, NY Glenmont, NY Schenectady, NY Glenmont. NY

518-533-9879 518-381-8818 518-272-1111 518-527-3888 518-330-9507 518-463-2085 888-830-3692 Saratoga Springs, NY 518-584-1048 Guilderland, NY 518-869-9372

Slingerlands, NY Schenectady, NY

Interior Design and Lighting Bio-Fusion Designs Clifton Park, NY California Closets Latham, NY Monkey Bar Storage Solution Latham, NY ★ Exhibitors with three or more booths.

www.advancedwaterHV.com www.arketelectric.com www.culligan.com www.energyconstruction-ny.com www.jfridholm.com www.matchless.info www.searshomepro.com www.stoneindustries.com www.upstaterehab.com

518-369-6851 866-321-CABLE www.twc.com

518-527-0426 518-785-5723 518-257-2818

www.bio-fusiondesigns.com www.californiaclosets.com/albany www.monkeybarstorage.com

As of 11/26/12

home show: exhibitors by category

As of 11/26/12

See us at the Home Show

Kitchen and Bath The Cabinet Shop ★ Bath Fitter Cabinet Doctor Casey Custom Kitchens ★ Creative Kitchens Custom Crafters NY INC ★ Earl B. Feiden Elegant Kitchen Design KBC Design Studio Kitchen and Bath World, Inc. Klassic Stone ★ MKS Industries, Inc. ★ Rebath of Albany RMG Stone Products

Ballston Lake, NY Albany, NY Mechanicville, NY East Greenbush, NY Glenmont, NY Albany, NY Latham, NY Hoosick Falls, NY Colonie, NY Albany, NY Albany, NY Syracuse, NY Clifton Park, NY Castleton, VT

518-383-0962 518-862-9901 518-664-6949 518-477-7340 518-432-1320 518-459-0037 518-785-8555 518-701-4520 518-388-8685 518-464-0660 518-482-4066 518-783-3864 1-800-Bathtub 802-468-5636

Pools and Spas Caribbean Pools ★ Concord Pools & Spas ★ Islander Pools & Spas Softub Express

Schenectady, NY Latham, NY Albany, NY E. Rochester, NY

518-810-5650 518-783-8976 518-456-0958 1-800-996-8827

www.caribbeanpoolsny.com www.concordpools.com www.islanderpools.com www.softubexpress.com

Real Estate Agency The Capital Team of Realty USA Silverleaf Resorts

Albany, NY Latham, NY

518-320-8008

www.thecapitalteam.com www.silverleafresorts.com

★ Exhibitors with three or more booths.

www.bathfitter.com www.cabdoctor.com www.creativekitchensofglenmont.com www.customcraftersny.com www.earlbfeiden.com www.kbcdesignstudio.com www.kitchenandbathdesign.com www.modernkitchens.com www.rebathofalbany.com www.rmgstone.com

1771 Route 9, Clifton Park 785 Route 9, Latham 661 Broadway, Kingston 518-383-2215 518-785-8555 845-331-2230 W W W. E A R L B F E I D E N . C O M

household tips 10 ways to use...

A Single Sock by melissa fiorenza

After weeks of wondering if an MIA sock will suddenly turn up and finally accepting that it has disappeared indefinitely into the washing machine abyss, what do you do with the lonely partner left behind? Here’s hoping you don’t give up on it, because when we asked Facebook friends what they do with single socks, out kicked a pile of ideas.

1. Get cozy yourself …

Britin suggests cutting it off at the heel and snipping a small cut about two inches down from the top, then “wear as arm/hand warmers.”

Perfect for this time of year.

2. … or warm up little ones Use single socks as “leg warmers for the baby! Mismatched is in!” says Diana.

3. Polish your heirlooms “I love cotton socks for rubbing lemon/ orange/furniture oil into my thirsty antiques,” says Julie Ulmer of Minding Your Manor, a local home organization company. “I keep all the single socks corralled with a rubber band on top of my dryer. If the oiling sock isn’t too dirty, I put the sock over the furniture oil container, ready for the next go.”

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/paleka19.

4. Make a cold or warm compress Follow these steps from Kenyatta on Facebook: “Use it to make a ‘rice’ sock; fill it with uncooked rice, knot it at the top, then stick it in the freezer for a flexible cold compress or heat in it the microwave for a warm compress.

Tube socks are great for that; it’s like having a heated neck pillow!”

5. Protect electronics “One of my socks who lost its buddy is now the case for my GPS,” says Kristen on Facebook.

6. Dust pretty much anything …

Why waste a paper towel or dirty a rag when you’ve got a single sock? Angela says: “Put it on your hand and clean the blinds.” We say: Don’t stop there! (See #7).

7. … and get the kids to help “I give the socks to my kids and let them dust with me. They put it on their hands and have a blast!” says Sarah of FunCycled in Troy.

8. Fill with powder

Spotted on urbanhomemaker. com: “Place baby powder into the toe of a sock, tie or sew the sock closed at the ankle and use to tap powder onto skin. Instant powder puff!” Smart!

9. Use it in your hair

By clipping off the toe of your sock, you can actually use it to create the perfect ballerina bun.

Visit YouTube and search for “sock bun” for a step-by-step video.

It takes just a few seconds, but looks like you spent a while on your new ’do.

10. Get yard work done

“Keep it in the garage to use as a handy glove (to pull weeds or open a bottle of weed killer). When it gets dirty, just throw it out.” Thanks for the tip, Donna! @

Never lose a sock again Rather have two matching socks than do any of the above?

Going forward, put socks into a small mesh laundry bag and then toss it in the wash — they’ll stay together for the entire trip.

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

timesunion.com/lifeathome

43

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home décor

Design for a Busy World

46

life@home

vern yip talks about his collection of housewares by brianna snyder | photos courtesy HSN

V

ern Yip is a busy man. When I called him at his Atlanta, Ga., home to discuss his new line of houseware he’d just gotten back from Jamaica, where he’d been designing a restaurant.

Yip, the popular interior designer from TLC’s Trading Spaces and HGTV’s Design Star and Bang for your Buck, has traveled all over the world, which he says has great influence on his design. “As a designer, it’s so important that one of the ways we continue to learn is through travel,” Yip says. “I always love to see something different and experience something different.”

You can see Yip’s home line at HSN.com, where it’s featured exclusively. This is Yip’s first collection of housewares.

“The goal at HSN,” he says, “was to try to touch on all aspects of the home.” Those aspects include bedding, drapes, various ceramics, end tables, lamps, rugs and more.

Yip has two young children with his partner, and he says managing his busy life of travel and child rearing also had an influence on this collection. “It’s more than just my aesthetic interpretation on things,” he says. “It extends to how parts are actually made and how functional they are.”

Yip says people don’t need to sacrifice style if they’re parents of two children under the age of 3 and four big, happy, slobbery dogs (as he is). “I still love living in a beautiful environment,” he says. “I want my home to be sophisticated and reflective of my taste. At the same time, my house has to be easy to clean.”

That’s why Yip included a dog bed with a removable and washable cover — something, he says, surprisingly hadn’t really been conceived of. (“Everybody’s comments have been the same: ‘I can’t believe no one’s thought of this,’” he says.)

Also part of the collection are duvets that are reversible so design-switching is super simple. And Yip has included an unconventional take on a headboard: Broken into square panels, the headboard comprises modular pieces meant to be added onto or played with, depending on how creative you want to get. Three or four panels can serve as a backdrop to a queen or king bed, but they also can be stacked or staggered or otherwise played with, something Yip says “has been a lot of fun.”

“We changed the way people think about headboards,” he says.

Yip’s line is fundamentally universal, with pieces designed to fit almost any home. He does this, he says, using neutrals complemented with “big punches of color.” Mostly, though, it comes down to functionality and convenience, with style.

“I’ve always maintained that great design is function and aesthetics,” Yip says. “I do things that work for my life.” @

let’s stay in touch

 Vern Yip’s household line includes a wide variety of items that carry the Vern Yip Home Décor signature, such as (clockwise from top left): Hand Carved Sunburst Mirror, $89.95; Hemstitch 500-threadcount sheet, $69.95; Ceramic Celadon Garden Stool, $179.95; Wood Lamp with Hidden Curio Cabinet, $189.95; Open-Work Hurricane with Flameless Candle, $39.95-$49.95

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home design

Think broadly This ramp is handy for wheelchairs as well as baby carriages or wheeled carts, and its wide landing allows plenty of room for turning and making a comfortable entrance in the door or onto the ramp.

In and Out by brianna snyder photos by kathy tarantola/the taunton press

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f you or a loved one with a recent physical setback feel the only options are unseemly ramps up front stoops or — worse yet — leaving a beloved home, architect Deborah Pierce offers other hope. Even a quick flip through the pages of her book, The Accessible Home: Designing for All Ages and Abilities, quickly illustrates that the “accessible home” is simply a house that functions very, very well.

Pierce is a Boston-based architect who’s been designing accessible public-building-access renovations and upgrades since 1991. She was inspired to start reworking houses for accessibility when she met a little girl named Jamie.

“Jamie was six when her parents decided it was time to stop carrying her up and down stairs,” Pierce writes in the book. “Diagnosed at birth with cerebral palsy, she used a power wheelchair for mobility and a talking board for communication. At school Jamie rolled freely through the building, but home was a different matter, where she needed help with everything from getting dressed to preparing snacks.”

Jamie’s parents recruited Pierce to rework their Colonial 48

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designing homes for people with disabilities doesn’t have to be a clinical task three-bedroom house, whose narrow hallways and rooms filled with overstuffed furniture got in the way of Jamie’s wheelchair.

The bathrooms, too, were too small and ill-equipped to accommodate Jamie’s needs. They extensively renovated the house, lowering counters and light switches, eliminating walls to augment shared spaces, automating doors, and expanding bathrooms to accommodate a power wheelchair.

But people have all kinds of needs, and Jamie’s don’t necessarily match those of, say, someone who is blind or paralyzed.

“One story is not a microcosm of the others,” Pierce says from her Boston office. “I think each of the stories (in the book) are slightly different: the people, the disabilities, the budget constraints or the opportunities that were presented by the particulars of the building.”

Some homeowners worry adding “ugly” modifications, such as wheelchair ramps or walk-in bathtubs, will diminish their house’s worth. That doesn’t have to be the case, Pierce says.

Ramps can be elegantly incorporated into the home’s exterior without being obstructive, elevators can be centerpoints of a

home and bath modifications can be functional for all users.

For the book, “we chose case studies that looked at the home in a holistic way, so that the bathroom and kitchen could apply to any situation,” Pierce says. “Having a wider, comfortable path of travel through the home is something that benefits everybody, whether people are in a wheelchair or a person needs to lean on someone’s arm to walk.”

“I think accessibility is very much about being able to get at things,” Pierce continues. “What I’m trying to do with the book is put accessibility back in the conversation.”

helpful to them,” she says.

Accessible design is an empathetic perspective on architecture — with a degree in sociology, Pierce approaches design “as a social issue,” she says. It’s an approach that’s every more relevant and contemporary today as we have increasing awareness of people’s needs and more respect for the importance of making a home easy to move around in.

“Accessibility is a design issue, an approach, a movement, more than it is a particular detail,” Pierce says. “It’s an attitude about design.” @

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nyone who’s broken a leg or cared for a parent with poor eyesight knows the challenges posed by many conventional home designs. The handle on a toilet, for instance, might be tough for someone with cerebral palsy to reach. An automaticflush toilet is a solution to that problem.

Pierce writes from her own experience. “I’ve had falls and mishaps over the years,” she says, “broken bones and the like have always raised my awareness of how we take so much for granted in our environment. With a broken wrist, I couldn’t brush my teeth and couldn’t turn the knobs on the faucet. … I think anytime circumstances force us to rethink the activities of daily living, it triggers a kind of creativity. At first there’s frustration, but there’s also this resilience we have as humans.”

Her father, for instance, had neuropathy in his legs and feet and had difficulty walking, while Pierce’s grandfather was blind from glaucoma. “I’ve looked at family members’ struggles with an eye toward how the environment could have been more

NONslip flooring promotes safety in the bathroom and wide benches ease the process of bathing while in a wheelchair, providing ample support for leaning and resting.

More Space and lower counters and sinks allow for maneuverability while seated. The windows here were also lowered so that anyone doing dishes from that height will have a nice view of the backyard.

The Accessible Home: Designing for All Ages and Abilities, by Deborah Pierce, The Taunton Press, 234 pages, $27.95.

timesunion.com/lifeathome

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hearth and home Traditional Wood Fireplace

Vented Gas Logs

The Heat Is On by laurie freehafer | photos by emily jahn

T

he very idea of retrofitting (some might say adulterating) a romantic wood-burning fireplace to gas can feel enormously disrespectful of our past.

Personally, I liken it to stovetop percolators — the appeal of their “honest coffee smell,” the nostalgic song of the bubbling lid. You can still use Grandma’s , of course, but why would you when safer, more efficient and convenient products are on the market?

• Wood smoke is a large contributor to air pollution — so much so that some municipalities ban the use of all wood burning, inside and out, when pollution reaches a specified level.

Consider these facts about wood-burning fireplaces, for instance:

• Finally, traditional fireplaces are highmaintenance time-eaters.

• Wood fires may warm your heart and soul, but they don’t actually heat a room. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a wood-burning fireplace sucks in as much as 300 cubic-feet per minute of warm, inside air. Then, with a crackle, out your chimney it goes.

Some homeowners eventually give up on their fireplace completely. Empty it sits, coziness only a memory. Doing a gas conversion can be a gratifying alternative since you regain much of the lost ambiance and, in some cases, the lost heat. Here are three “flip a switch” options:

• Wood fires may expose you to large quantities of toxic byproducts, including respiratory irritants, carcinogens and deadly carbon monoxide. The EPA warns of other health dangers, namely asthma, reproductive issues and birth defects.

Vented gas logs: $100 to $1,200 For a realistic-looking wood-fire substitute at a budget-friendly price, a vented gas log sets fit the bill. The logs can simulate many species of wood, and the flame and embers are convincingly cozy. They are convenient — no stacking, chopping or

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• Your house is in danger should the creosote, a tarry by-product of wood smoke, ignite in your chimney. Chimney fires are the cause of over 25,000 house fires a year.

Important Conversion Tips No matter how you convert your fireplace, here are some important considerations: • Always check with your local government for permits, fees, requirements and restrictions.

• Check with government agencies for applicable rebates or incentives; these come and go.

• All work involving gas lines should be done by professionals.

• Be sure you buy the correctsized log set or insert for the space. According to the Department of Health, “Using a heater with greater heat output than recommended may be harmful to your health.” Manufacturer’s size guidelines will be provided at the point of sale.

• Follow the manufacturer’s scheduled maintenance and inspection recommendations.

Wood fireplace Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Mikhail Kalakutskiy.

converting that wood-burning fireplace to gas

hauling of wood required. Some models come with remote-controlled ignitions and adjustable flame control, and none make a mess.

However, since gas-fireplace logs have the same open combustion as wood, many of the same dangers and health hazards exist. Nor do they provide more heat. The chimney damper must remain permanently open as the fire devours your room’s air, and manufacturers recommend keeping a window ajar during use. In addition to the obvious burn hazard of an open flame, older or defective vented logs can diffuse explosive gas into the air.

Bottom line: Vented gas logs are an economical, convenient replacement if you mourn the indelible memories of wood, but are practical only for their ambiance.

Vent-free gas logs: $100 to $1,200 Ventless heating appliances are banned in some municipalities and even in entire countries. Neither Best Fire of Colonie nor Countryside Stove and Chimney of Burnt Hills, for instance, sell them. Best Fire’s Mike Coyne explains why. “Ventfree is a misnomer,” he says. “Every byproduct is vented right back into the air you breathe.” In other words, not only do they draw air from the room, but they return irritants and vapors back into it.

According to Countryside’s owner Jodi Crouse, “[Ventless logs] have an unrealistic blue flame, give off an odor, and they create condensation on the walls.”

Consequently, owners complain of filmy residue on surfaces, and the water vapor introduced into the room — up to a quart per hour —may cause toxic fungus and mold.

Although vent-free gas logs don’t provide a realistic, roaringfire effect, they can be a good source of supplemental heat.

They are relatively easy to install and affordable. But make sure you completely understand their hazards.

Gas fireplace inserts: $2,000 to $4,000 Coyne says that a gas fireplace insert is the most appealing and sensible solution for a wood-to-gas conversion. Springing for a gas insert can provide a lovely fireplace that incorporates all of the desirable features that wood-burners lack.

Unlike vented gas logs, he says, “inserts are actual heaters [which] operate at around 85 percent efficiency.” They exhaust air to the outside, keeping by-products out of the house and

Gas Fireplace Insert

Retrofitted Contemporary Gas Insert

hourly operating costs to a few cents. As a natural gas product, it also adds little to outdoor pollution. Remote control operation adds another level of convenience.

We have one of these and I can attest to the authenticity of the ambiance. Their flames and glowing embers are every bit as hypnotic as a wood fire. No electricity is required to run most gas inserts — a plus during power outages. Just grab some wine and a friend, and snuggle up on a bearskin rug.

When you examine convenience, ecology, safety, health, efficiency and ambiance, converting your wood fireplace to gas can make sense. The first step is making peace with the past and accepting gas flame as your new source of a romantic, comforting hearth. Don’t worry; Santa won’t mind using your front door. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

51

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artisan

Pointers From the

Potting Shed the functional, textured earthenware of polly hunt by laurie lynn fischer | photos by tyler murphy

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beautiful pot, like a great hairstyle, can be admired from every angle. Polly Hunt has devoted her life to both.

“I have two studios back to back — a hair salon and a pottery studio,” the life-long Hoosick Falls resident says. “It just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Hunt launched her first salon at age 20. “I love doing hair and I love my customers,” she says 49 years later.

“They’re like family. I love making somebody feel good.” continues on page 54 

For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

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artisan

continued from page 52

Lately, she’s devoted more and more time to making pottery, which she displays and sells in Polly’s Beauty Salon.

“I could never get enough of clay,” says Hunt, whose ceramics studio was once an exercise room, sauna and tanning booth.

Now, instead of warming people with hot rocks or zapping them with ultraviolet rays, she bakes clay pots at 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit, rendering them dishwasher- and microwave-safe.

High-temperature firing creates color variations that make each piece unique. Hunt’s non-toxic, lead-free, food-safe glazes may be as white as the clouds, as blue as the sky, as brown as the soil or as coppery as autumn leaves.

“I love earth tones,” says Hunt, who has a keen sense of texture. A good dose of sand or “grog” gives much of her earthenware a grainy quality. She likes to flute edges, gouge curvilinear designs into the clay or place shiny and rough finishes side by side.

Hunt prides herself on making functional pottery. She designs everything from teapots to wash-and-serve berry colanders.

Her cone-shaped porch bells tinkle in the wind as far away as Hawaii and Lake Tahoe. More whimsical is her signature piece, the wish jar, which is a round-bellied vessel whose top is pierced with twigs and wild grape vines she’s gathered.

“You’re supposed to put your wish inside,” she says.

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arallel ridges adorning a slab-built dip-and-chip tray resemble sand ripples formed by the tide in the shallows. Hunt creates this effect by moving a coiled wire, such as the spring from a pen, over the surface of partially dried raw clay.

“I just love when the clay is at this stage,” she says. “When it’s leather hard, that’s when you do any of your texturizing. If I wake up at 2 a.m. and I can’t sleep, I’m downstairs carving. The thought of it gives me goosebumps.”

People buy her creations for occasions such as weddings, baby showers and housewarmings. Often, her pottery is made to order with personalized messages. Hunt sculpts the stamps herself, embossing clay surfaces with anything from single words, such as “believe,” to phrases, such as “This day, I will marry my best friend…The one I laugh with, live for, love.”

Prices range from $18 for a mug or trivet to $140 for a set of wedding bowls bearing the couple’s name and the date of their nuptials.

Each summer, Hunt moves her potter’s wheel from inside her house to the entryway of her backyard “potting shed” overlooking a tree hung with bird feeders, a pond and a stream. The mother of three named both the watercourse and her pottery business Shadowbrook after the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Mass., which she discovered in 1988 while facing the prospect of an empty nest.

“I was struggling,” she recalls. “It was my haven. When I went through those gates, I just left the world behind me. Years later, when I did my pottery out in the shed in the summer, I would get the same feeling. Making pottery is so meditative. I remember telling a very popular potter over in Lenox that it was my therapy. I felt that I could lose myself in it.”

Hunt constantly hones her skills at workshops as far as North Carolina. She’s always adored pottery, but it wasn’t until she took her dog to obedience school in 1996 that she met her first mentor.

“They were raffling a treats jar on the counter,” Hunt recalls.

“Bonnie Crego, who made it, was there with her dog. She said, ‘Come on over if you want to play in some clay.’ She lived in Shaftsbury, Vt. She found out that I did hair, so we bartered. I would go over once a month and color her hair and she would teach me pottery all day long. After six years working with her, the universe sent me Barbara Reeley.”

Reeley is one of nine ceramicists who run 3rd Street Potters in Troy. Recently, Hunt was minding the gallery when Morgan Baerga of Troy walked in, removed one of Hunt’s vases from a shelf and ran her hands over it, asking, “Oh, who makes this?”

“It’s a wonderful feeling when they pick it up and just feel it and admire the whole thing,” Hunt says. “As a potter, you want them to pick it up. For instance, a mug has to fit your hand. You want them to pick up a mug and feel that that’s right.”

Every year since its inception, Hunt has donated pottery to the Empty Bowls benefit. “Last year, we raised $15,500 for Troyarea food pantries,” she says. “It’s a heartwarming feeling to give back. That’s what it’s all about for me.” @ Polly Hunt belongs to the Collar City Clay Guild. Her pottery is on show at 3rd Street Pottery (3rdstreetpotters.blogspot.com) , located at 3 Third Street, Troy, and at Shadowbrook Pottery, located at 436 Hill Road, Hoosick Falls. She also participates in Albany Shaker Heritage Society craft shows. Her e-mail is shadowbrookgal@hotmail.com.

“I could never get enough of clay.” — Polly Hunt

timesunion.com/lifeathome

55

clean living

Beneath

… or, scary things we forget to clean

by brianna snyder

W

e all know the toilet needs to be cleaned regularly. We know the floors need to be swept.

And when we neglect these chores, the consequences are evident: Stuff sticks to your feet when you walk through rooms and your toilet bowl develops that special ring of mold under the rim.

But what about those less-obvious things in our homes that don’t scream at us to be cleaned? The lint behind and inside the dryer. The remote control. According to Food Safety News, a study of 30 vacuum cleaners found that half of them contained coliform fecal bacteria and 13 percent had E. coli. Food Safety News also reports that 65 percent of common colds are picked up from bacteria transferred through household items — such as remotes, light switches, doorknobs and faucet handles.

Erica Daugherty, office manager for The Maids of Albany, says when clients call for cleaning services, the Maids send a team of four in to give the house an initial deep clean. And we mean deep: the walls, the box spring, the light switches and that dreaded remote control.

“It’s pretty comprehensive,” she says. “It’s a 22-step ‘Healthy Touch’ process that pretty much gets it all. It’s a very, very detailed clean. After that, we maintain it on a regular schedule.”

Not everyone can afford a team of four super-cleaners to

Remote Control According to WebMD, the typical remote control holds 70 bacteria per square-inch.

And Daugherty says the remote can get even ickier in the colder months, when everyone’s more likely to be sniffly and huddled indoors. She recommends cleaning it “every one to two months, or, at the bare minimum, do it seasonally.”

The (awesome) blog How to Clean Stuff, howtocleanstuff.net, offers these instructions for remote-cleaning: Take the batteries out and get a screwdriver. Unscrew the back half from the front, and separate all the pieces. Store the screws and batteries somewhere safe (where they won’t roll away into oblivion) and gently pop the circuit board apart from the buttons.

Use a cleaner that’s made for 56

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execute a 22-step process on their hidden dirt, but Daugherty gave us some tips for when and how to keep some of the little things in check. “If you spread it out over time, it’ll make your job easier in the end,” she assures us.

Brace yourselves.

electronics, or a bit of rubbing alcohol, and gently wipe the circuit board off, making sure no remnants of the swab you’re using are left behind. Use another swab or an old toothbrush and, using a one-part-dish soap, two-part-water solution, give the buttons a good scrubbing. When they’ve dried, put everything back together. (The quick version of this is to not disassemble the remote, but use alcohol and cotton swabs to clean the button pad, and use a toothpick to get rid of any gunk in the crevices.)

Walls If you’ve recently been renovating your home, you may want to vacuum your walls to clear away sticky sawdust, dust and other particles. But for regular upkeep, wiping down the walls with a gentle degreaser will keep walls clean and fingerprint-free. Wipe them down every three or four months.

Dryer The lint catcher can get pretty dusty, but Daugherty also warns of lint buildup behind your dryer, around the hoses. “It’s important to check that occasionally,” she says. It can be a fire hazard. As for the lint catcher, a little soap and water should do the trick, about every six months or so.

Photos: iStockphoto.com. Dust, © TheCrimsonMonkey; Remote,© kenneth-cheung; Knob, © ugurhan; Vacuum, © Floortje; Wallet, © Sarah Salmela ; Plant, © Alex Bramwell.

What Lies

Front door This is probably a heavilytrafficked area of your home.

People bang boots on front doors to shake off snow and mud, hands grab handles and windows get peered into. Take a look at your door and clean as needed, Daugherty suggests. “We’ll do that monthly to seasonally, depending on the amount of traffic you have,” she says.

Light switches and door knobs Clean these every one to two months.

Light switches, doorknobs and remotes share a problem: A lot of people touch them, so be extra mindful of the switches and knobs (and remote) when someone in the house is sick.

Vacuum That pull-out dust bucket is literally a haven for dirt and dust.

So dumping and rinsing it each time you finish vacuuming will not only keep everything cleaner but also, Daugherty says, extend the life of your vacuum. And wash the filter every six weeks or so.

Box spring Every spring and fall, your box spring and mattress need a good vacuuming. Don’t forget to flip or rotate your mattress, too, a twice-annual chore that’s good for mattress upkeep.

Top of your fridge Just because no one sees it doesn’t mean you can ignore it. “That’s an area that gets missed very often,” Daugherty says. When the Maids go in for the big cleaning, they take all the clutter down from the top of the refrigerator and give it a good scrubbing. She recommends “at least every few months” reorganizing fridge-top clutter and wiping everything down.

Don’t forget these!

Houseplants “Some houseplants can get pretty dusty,” says Daugherty. “Wipe them down seasonally every three or four months.”

Purses, wallets, phones, debit cards We’re on our phones all day. And when we’re not on them we’re plopping them down on desks, counters, tables and wherever.

According to Keeping it Kleen, a commercial food-safety program, 16 percent of cell phones have poop on them.

“You can get a lot of germs from your phone,” Daugherty says. “I would clean it once a week, if not more.” Your debit and credit cards, too, are probably being handled by several people a week, so a good

weekly wipe will cut back on germs.

Purses and wallets are vulnerable to dirt and contaminants as well, so remember to give the outside of your bag regular wipe-downs. (Many bags, Daugherty points out, can also be laundered.)

Cleaning your phone and credit cards can be a delicate process. For both smartphones and credit cards, use a microfiber cloth and a half-vinegar, half-water mixture. Be sure to dampen the cloth — don’t spray the phone with anything — to minimize risk of ruining the phone with liquid.

For older phones, GeekSugar.com recommends buying special solutions such as iKlear (which costs around $20) or making your own cleaner using 40/60 waterto-alcohol mixture. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

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living: green

Eco-Resolutions

1

choosing to live a more environmentally-friendly life by cari scribner | illustrations by emily jahn

During 2011, I wrote for this magazine about ways to protect the environment and your family, with topics ranging from nontoxic paint to safer hair color. Here’s my list of New Year’s resolutions I plan to incorporate from these eco-friendly columns in case you want to include some in your own 2012 New Year’s resolutions. If we all take even one step, the impact on all our lives can be huge.

1 

Reduce paper waste: I felt good about my paper usage because I recycle newspapers and use both sides of paper in the copy machine and in my writer’s notebooks. Little did I realize how much junk mail I was allowing into my home. An incredible 41 pounds of junk mail landed in my mailbox in 2011 alone. Ditto a similar amount for every other adult in America, and you’ve got tons of wasted paper and millions of dollars in dumping fees. I’ve registered online at DMAchoice.org to stop junk mail — everything from credit offers to catalogs and retail promotions — from arriving at my door.

2 

Involving children in everything from conserving water to the importance of recycling is a great lesson for everyone in the family.

I will set a good example for my kids by always using my own shopping bags at the market, turning off the water when I brush my teeth, and unplugging household appliances, such as the toaster oven and my computer, when they’re not in use.

3 

One of the most surprising facts I learned researching a column on rechargeable battery disposal

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was that tossing them in the garbage is not allowed by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Another surprise: all stores selling batteries must accept used household batteries, up to 10 per day from any one person, whether or not they buy replacement batteries at the same time. I’ve tested this out by going to my local pharmacy that has an enormous battery display front and center, and asked the clerks to take my handful of AAAs for recycling. After they admitted they had no idea what I was talking about, I wrote to the company headquarters and included a copy of the DEC regulations. No word back yet from company reps, but I hope to go into the store one day and see a recycling box front and center as well.

4 

Watering my garden with a hose accounts for as much as 30 percent of my household’s water usage. Harvesting rainwater is one of the simplest recycling techniques around.

During the hot summer of 2011, I placed oversize buckets beneath my gutters and saved the fresh rainwater for the dry days. I resolve to find an even more efficient system in the summer of 2012.

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3

4

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5 

I now know there’s new life for old furniture. How efficient is the reupholstering process? As much as 80 percent of what’s already in old furniture can be reused during the reupholstering process. After the old fabric is removed, the springs, padding and wood frame are usually fine. Right now, I’m still using my older furniture, but when its shelf life is over, the blue couch is going to the reupholstery shop, not the curb.

6 

If you touch up your gray roots as I do at home, you’re also likely familiar with the pungent fumes that often lead us to throw open the windows. One ingredient widely used in permanent hair color is the chemical Paraphenylenediamine (PPD). Disturbingly, PPD can also been found in textile or fur dyes, photocopying and printing inks, black rubber, oils, grease and gasoline. Across the Capital Region, salons and spas have responded to women demanding safer hair care and beauty products, including hypoallergenic hair and body care cleansers and moisturizers that are 100 percent vegan, paraben- and sulfate-free, contain no ammonia, and no artificial colors. They’re either completely unscented or scented with organically-grown pure essential oils.

the Earth. Cotton linens can be doused in chemicals, including formaldehyde, to keep them wrinkle-free, crisp and looking brand new. A better choice: organic bedding that’s free from toxins, chemicals and pesticides, made with bleachand dye-free wool, cotton, silk, hemp and linen.

9 

Ceiling fans are one environmentally-friendly way to beat the heat inside the home. Today’s fans are quiet, efficient and attractive. I can attest to this personally, since my home has three glorious ceiling fans that run nonstop in summertime.

10 

I will use only safe paints for my home’s walls. Common household paint has traditionally been made with solvents and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that become dangerous air pollutants as the paint dries. Safe interior paints are out there — all it takes is some research.

Happy (green) new year! @

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7  8

I will think green while traveling.

There’s far more to be discussed than simple towel use when trying to stay at a more eco-friendly hotel. I’ll ask questions about the hotel’s recycling policies, and also use energy-saving measures in my family’s room, such as turning off the air conditioner/heater when we leave the room and using water glasses instead of paper or Styrofoam cups.

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8 

I’ll think twice about using cotton bedding, a popular choice for blankets and sheets. Cotton is often grown with liberal use of insecticides and some of the most hazardous pesticides to people, animals and

timesunion.com/lifeathome

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New Year’s Revolution by alison grieveson

G

oing green can sometimes be a pain in the neck, but making little changes and starting small can make a difference that adds up to a healthier, greener planet. Here are a few suggestions to help you start your new green year. @

Do, rather than buy. If you think back on 2012, I bet some of your best memories are of things you did rather than objects you bought. The museum and lunch with friends, the park and a movie with your kids. Keep this in mind when you need to buy gifts for friends and family. Tickets to the aquarium, an art show or a play are all great gift ideas that will be remembered for a long time.

Clear the air. I am fortunate enough to live close to where I work so if I wasn’t transporting two kids with me and schlepping who-knows-what on a daily basis, I would so ride my bike to work!

Cars in the U.S. release approximately 333 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. If we all tried to go car-free one day a week, imagine the cumulative impact we could have on the planet! This bike from Bike Friday is made in the USA and foldable!

— bikefriday.com

Paper or plastic?

Neither.

An oldie but a goodie.

Stop the cashier from putting your one or two items in a bag and you’ll be amazed how many plastic bags you will save. Go ahead; count and see.

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.

Clean with non-toxic cleaners. Ed Begley Jr. was one of the first celebrities to tout the importance of being green. He also practices what he preaches (watch episodes of his entertaining reality show at livingwithed.net).

Now he’s is taking his green lifestyle one step further with a new line of household cleaning products. — begleysbest.com

Hold the packaging. When you shop, buy the product with the least amount of packaging, or at least make sure the packaging is recyclable. Reducing the amount of plastic yet to be produced and other unnecessary garbage is one of the best steps we can take for our planet. These blocks are made from recycled plastic.

— greentoys.com timesunion.com/lifeathome

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down the garden path

Bewitching Witch Hazels

this plant can cast its spell on your garden

W

e gardeners are an optimistic lot, certain that spring will eventually show her pretty face, notwithstanding the current stew of snow, ice and scouring winter winds. Be patient, fellow tillers of the soil; the earliest blooms of the new season will presently appear on the hybrid witch hazels, dangling their long petals and draping the garden in scent and color. If you grow Hamamelis x intermedia (and you should!) trudge through the muddy snow piles and take a gander at yours. You may be pleasantly surprised to find fat flower buds.

This large, deciduous, winter-blooming, vase-shaped shrub appreciates sun but grows agreeably in half-shade, especially where the garden dissolves into woodland. It possesses a short trunk with a cluster of stems arising from the base. These easy plants are hardy to zone 5 and welcome a neutral soil. Depending on cultivar, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll grow to some 20 feet high, with as wide a spread.

Witch hazels are known for being cold-weather flowers, and having joyous color and an often-alluring scent. They delight in a place of honor in a large shrub border, as a screen or tall hedge, in transition areas, woodland gardens, or as specimens.

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Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an ideal choice for breaking up long boundaries against fence lines or stone walls; they make a natural addition to mixed deciduous and coniferous woodlands and are suitable for understory below aged shade trees. I grow mine beneath a vintage white pine, accompanied by leucothoe, azalea, hydrangea, fothergilla, hosta, and tiarella.

Popular cultivars include Jelena, Diane, and Arnold Promise.

At maturity Jelena rises to 15 feet by 10 feet and offers clusters of burnt-orange flowers accompanied by a heavenly fragrance.

Diane, a larger lady, can grow to 20 feet high by 10 feet wide, and has copper-red to red blooms, with razzle-dazzle orangered fall color. Arnold Promise sports cheery lemon-yellow flowers and is named for the Arnold Arboretum near Boston, where it was developed. It tops out at 12 to 15 feet high and wide.

Hamamelis x intermedia cultivars are a cross between Chinese and Japanese witch hazels, have no serious disease or pest issues, and are fairly deer-resistant (though mine are regularly dosed with my pungent repellent, just in case). They bear six-inch oval green leaves. The blossoms, early as they are, last for several weeks, but if the weather turns frigid, the shrub will hunker down, retract its petals and await more clement days.

Photo: Š iStockphoto.com/Eduardo Jose Bernardino.

by colleen plimpton

Witch hazels have modest moisture needs, though like all plants, in the interest of establishing sturdy roots, they must be watered well the first season. Prune for shape in spring after bloom and if colonizing is not desired, remove root suckers. Fertilize with a granular shrub formulation in spring, or simply apply a shovelful of compost close to but not touching the trunk.

A

different type of witch hazel, the old-fashioned native Hamamelis virginiana is hardy from zone 4 through 10 and tends to bloom a subdued yellow in late fall. It also possesses a striking perfume and is recognized for the astringent liquid produced from its leaves and bark. Did you know that at one time the Northeast was the world’s largest exporter of that elixir? Wild witch hazel was abundant in our area, and Native Americans taught colonists how to prepare and use the product, the sale of which often supplemented a meager farm income. By the mid 1800s, many towns manufactured witch hazel liniment, and to this day it’s distilled in northwestern Connecticut at the E. E. Dickenson factory. In recent years, though, the business has been sold to a German concern and much of the operation moved to North Carolina.

Witch hazels are an ideal choice for breaking up long property boundaries.

In bygone days forked or Y-shaped witch hazel branches were also used to dowse for hidden water, metals or treasure.

Considered a type of divination, dowsing has nothing to do with Beelzebub and brimstone but rather comes from the Old English word, wyche. Originating in Germany in the 15th century, dowsing is still employed by certain populations, though studies show the practice has a 50-50 success rate at best.

If you’re interested in furthering your witch hazel education, it’s worth a jaunt to famed Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, Conn. (brokenarrownursery.com). Owner and horticulturalist Richard Jaynes and company grow over 40 different kinds of hamamelis species and cultivars as well as a vast selection of mountain laurel, hydrangea and other hardy shrubs.

One more thing: Many witch hazel cultivars lend themselves well to forcing. In the bitter days of January and February, simply clip some budded branches and plunge them into a vase. Place in a cool area of your home, out of direct sunlight.

Within a few days you will be favored with sprightly colors and delicious scent of witch hazel. A true harbinger of spring.

So look beyond our frozen palette of sepia, snow and stone, and when the nurseries begin to stock their shelves, seek out witch hazel. Plant as soon as the ground will accept your shovel, and get set to embark on future gardening seasons under the pale blue sky of winter. @ Colleen Plimpton lectures on, writes about, coaches and teaches gardening. Visit her website at colleenplimpton.com.

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surviving winter

Tool Time

back-saving snow-removal strategies

I

f only you could afford that snowplow service. You could sit by the window sipping hot chocolate and watching someone else pull back the white blanket covering your driveway.

But instead, your snow boots call. And you’ll need a blanket when you return inside with aching back and tingling fingers after clearing one path for your car and one for the newspaper carrier.

Fortunately, the right tools can lighten the load on this heavy winter work. A few new products in particular can do a lot of the work for you, maximizing that hot-chocolate time.

One of the “hot” new items this year doesn’t even let the snow get comfortable. The HeatTrak is an electric mat that can be rolled out along a walkway and will melt snow and ice as it’s landing, says John Opitz, a sales associate with Home Depot in North Greenbush. Think of it as an electric blanket for your sidewalk — one that can be purchased in lengths of 3 feet up to 20 feet. You’ll need an outdoor electrical outlet and a deep financial commitment as the HeatTrak can be purchased at homedepot.com and in some Home Depot stores for $150 for an 11-inch-by-36-inch stair mat to $1,330 for a 2-foot-by-20-foot walkway mat.

Another fairly new tool eliminates the perilous task of clearing built-up ice or snow from your roof so that ice dams from trapping water don’t form on your shingles. In years past, Jon Phillips, owner of the Capital Region’s seven Phillips Hardware locations, has heard about homeowners stuffing ice melt meant for sidewalks into stockings and slinging them onto their rooftops like homemade grenades. Those ice melt products aren’t 64

life@home

necessarily safe for shingles, however, and could corrode them.

But they now make products designed to melt the ice without harming rooftops.

“It’s in the shape of hockey pucks, and you toss it like a baseball onto the roof,” says Opitz of Home Depot. “It will stay up there for quite some time. It dissolves as time goes on and keeps an open path for water to come off your roof.”

Buckets of 60 to 65 tablets range from $20 to $26. They work in temperatures as low as minus-25 degrees.

With all that time saved from not having to wrestle with a ladder and struggle with a roof rake, you might as well do some shoveling.

Electric shovels have been around for several years, but they’re growing in popularity because they’re easy to handle and can be stored in small spaces, says Garry Robinson, owner of Robinson’s Ace Hardware in Guilderland. “If someone has a very small driveway, they do make what they call electric power shovels,” he says. “They work phenomenally well on decks and sidewalks — no lifting — though they do have a power cord.” The shovels, which are like mini snow-blowers, cost about $100.

The designs for old-fashioned shovels, the ones that consume only your energy instead of drawing off the grid or gas can, have improved as well. Some shovels are designed to push snow like a plow while others are meant for picking up and slinging snow. The Mountain Mover, Phillips says, has an 18-inchwide blade designed for doing both tasks.

Back-saver units are ergonomically designed to take the strain off your spine. You may need to be a strongman (or woman) to

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/ Joanna Pecha

by jennifer gish

“When my car needs any service or repair, there’s only To Rock Salt or Not to Rock Salt

one place I trust.”

Yes, rock salt is cheap — and it will give you some traction when you’re trying to shuffle out of your car to the front door — but experts advise that if you cover your sidewalk and driveway with it, you will pay a price.

It can damage the pavement. It will leave you with brown plants and grass come spring. It can burn your pets’ paws and harm your kids. It doesn’t work as well when it’s colder than 20 degrees — a not infrequent event in these parts — and it will leave a white residue behind for you to track into your house.

“It’s important that the consumer not just go out and get the least-expensive thing, because you can harm your environment. You can harm yourself,” says John Opitz, a sales associate with Home Depot in North Greenbush.

Fortunately, the market is filled with alternatives.

Calcium chloride: Tends to create more “heat” than other ice melts, meaning it’s better at dissolving ice.

It will melt ice at temperatures as low as minus-25 degrees. It’s considered safe for concrete and vegetation, but plants can be harmed by over use, so be careful about how much you apply.

Magnesium chloride: Good at melting in cold temperatures and is considered safe for plants and concrete. It has been known to corrode aluminum and steel with prolonged use.

Magic Salt: Rock salt that’s been treated with a liquid to neutralize its harmful properties. It’s considered safe for grass, pets’ paws and homeowners’ hands and was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Design for the Environment Program for Safer Chemistry.”

Calcium Magnesium Acetate blends: Considered less corrosive than tap water and safe for concrete and plants. These blends work well in temperatures as cold as minus-15 degrees.

A word about pet-friendly: Although many bags of ice melt will say “pet-friendly,” Jon Phillips, owner of the Capital Region’s seven Phillips Hardware locations, recommends getting formulas designed specifically for pets just to be safe. Those ice melts, such as Safe Paw, are salt- and chloride-free, and are available both at your local hardware store and pet stores.

Sand and cat litter: Considered “natural” alternatives to ice melts, they won’t actually melt snow and ice, but they will give you needed traction. They also, however, leave behind a mess.

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surviving winter

◀ Electric power shovel

▲ Single-stage snow blower

▲ An electric mat that melts snow and ice as it lands, the HeatTrak is a hot new item this year. operate it, but Phillips says he carries a shovel that is 36 inches wide for those who are concerned about time and don’t want to make as many passes down the driveway.

B

ut if you really want to clear the driveway quickly, a snowblower is the way to go. Snowblowers come in two forms — single-stage or two-stage. A single-stage snowblower is lighter and easier to handle, picks up and throws the snow in one single motion, and has a rubber auger blade that scrapes the surface you’re clearing, leaving behind no residue, Robinson says. Most single-stage units cost anywhere from $300 to $600.

“The smaller machines, which are definitely the most userfriendly ones, are very easy to use for any person,” Robinson says. “They don’t have the tires that turn like the big ones, but they are propelled by the auger blade, so there’s no pushing involved. You just stand behind it and guide it.”

Two-stage snowblowers, which start at around $600, typically have more power and will bust through that wall of snow left when the municipal plow comes by and closes off your driveway. It can handle heavy and deep snow and works in two stages. First, it draws in the snow and breaks up it and any ice, then it spits it out, normally throwing it far into your yard or the snowbank. But because its steel blade sits up off the ground, the machine tends to leave residue behind.

Unlike single-stage units, two-stage snowblowers can go in

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reverse, and improvements to the wheels mean they are much more maneuverable than in the past. “The new machines have steering, and it allows just one wheel to turn,” Robinson says. “One wheel stays in neutral, and the big machines turn right around on a dime.”

Another improvement on many models is being able to turn the rotation of the snow chute with the flip of a lever or switch rather than having to do it with your hands, says Derek Melsheimer, who does sales and marketing for Abele Tractor & Equipment Co. in Albany.

The industry also has remedied early problems with snowblowers created when ethanol was added to gasoline. The ethanol would become gummy and also tends to eat away at lines and plastic, leading to a tremendous spike in repairs. So the experts always advise using a fuel stabilizer to your gasoline, meant to counteract ethanol’s presence.

“We always stress to every customer that a little bit of preventative maintenance goes a long way,” Melsheimer says, adding that most snowblower providers won’t cover ethanol problems under warranty now that good fuel stabilizers are available.

If you want to go green and not be as reliant on gasoline, Melsheimer says a new hybrid snow blower by Honda pairs a gas engine with electric motors. But it will cost you $8,000. And that could seriously tap into your hot-chocolate budget. @

Photos: HeatTrack, courtesy HeatTrack, Snow blower photos, Amazon.

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design classics

Going Mobil G

od I hate filing cabinets. I’m surrounded by them and they terrify me. I have no idea what is in them and I don’t want to know. I put my tax documents in there someplace, and I think my kids’ birth certificates are in there as well, and some other essential documents that I also hate.

I do have a system though: Whenever one drawer gets full, I put the next piece of important mail — home insurance or stock certificate — in the closest, emptiest, cabinet. So, archaeological stratification would seem to be my filing approach. There is a day of reckoning coming for me when all of those metal drawers will need to be opened like crypts and their contents exhumed when I need to prove that I went to high school or something.

I have a feeling that if I owned the Antonio Citterio’s Mobil storage system, all of this would change and my anxiety would turn to joy.

Citterio is one of those Milanese designers who live and breathe beauty. They all live close to one another and design beautiful objects and live in beautiful houses. OK, not us. But we get to borrow some of their style now and then. His resume is typical: Milan Polytechnic, Royal College of London, and then his own firm working for Vitra and Kartell. His favorite author is Hemingway. He used to have cats. His favorite bird is the sparrow. His favorite color is orange. Honestly, I read an interview and that is all true.

In 1993, Citterio and Glen Oliver Low designed these colorful, transparent, mobile shelving units (you can buy them with a 68

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by kim messenger photo courtesy madeindesign.co.uk

fixed base if you like). The structure is made of a light tubular steel frame. The shelves and drawers are made of semi-transparent methacrylate, and are available in 16 different colors, including citron yellow, orange, smoke gray, transparent blue, and so on. The units can be short — one level — and used as a side table, or they can be taller, several shelves high and used to store clothes, dry goods, and general stuff.

The design won the Compasso d’ Oro design awarded in 1994 — very big deal — and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. They can be ordered in a variety of styles, shapes and colors, and are manufactured by Kartell.

H

ere’s what I love. I love the idea of being able to sit at my desk chair and pull one of the storage units toward me. I imagine the sound of it rolling across the wood floor. I picture myself looking through the citron yellow transparent plastic and saying: ”Oh, that’s where my passport is,” before sending it back across the room with my foot.

I also think that mobile storage that is transparent and easy to access is the perfect complement to our smartphone reality — why should we have static, heavy, fathomless storage when the rest of our life is so easy to use and offers us multiple use strategies?

Despite being plastic, these are highly designed items and not necessarily cheap. To give you an example, a unit with three drawers and castors in Opaline Citron Yellow cost $1,124 at yliving.com. But a girl can dream. @

Good plating starts at the very beginning. Read the story on page 72. Photo by Suzanne Kawola.

family | food | wine pages 69 - 86

timesunion.com/lifeathome

69

Enjoy the Times Union magazine experience.

Online.

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

More photos. Links that take you where you want to go. All from the comfort and convenience of your own device.

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body. mind. spirit.

house blend

Meditation & Your Home by merci miglino

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/photoandvideostock.

I

am what you might call a moderate meditator. Some months I meditate twice a day, and then I’ll lose my OM and not sit quietly and reflect inward for weeks at a time. But no matter what phase I’m in, I am a big believer in the benefits of meditation.

My definition of meditation, by the way, has little to do with sitting cross-legged, Buddha-like, for hours on end. I define meditation as mindfulness. Mindfulness is becoming aware of what’s around us in the here and now. It’s the very opposite of what we normally do — rushing through endless tasks, reviewing relentless to-do lists, and spending way too much time on thoughts about the past or the future.

One of the few things I remember from the philosopher Cicero, who I was forced to read in my four years as a Latin student, is that we should resist the tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected. He was right.

Mindfulness teaches us to live in the present, to have more fully lived experiences, to focus on what we have, to accept our lives and ourselves as they are, to become aware and enjoy things around us, to enjoy each moment, to enjoy our lives.

A big and lofty pursuit, I agree, but one that starts, like many others, with baby steps. And it often starts in the place where you have the most control over your environment — your home.

Mindful meditating at home is about paying attention to what you are doing. Nothing can be dismissed as insignificant or unimportant. Every simple activity — house cleaning, cooking, brushing your teeth — becomes a chance to calm the mind and body. Not easy to do, perhaps, but with patience, perseverance and a sense of humor you can bring this kind of everyday meditation into your home.

Here are a few of my easy meditation starters: 1. Set the Trigger. Use triggers to remind you to pay attention to the now. A trigger could be water, for example. So every time you come in contact with water — wash your hands or the dishes, water the garden, bathe the dog, etc. — the trigger goes off and you are reminded to “pay attention to the now.”

2. Write It Down. It might be helpful to reinforce your efforts by reviewing them at the end of each day. Record them in a

meditation diary; just don’t make yourself good or bad based on how many times you were able to be mindful, or be discouraged by blank pages. Above all, this is not another opportunity to come up short. It’s about practicing something we will likely never do perfectly.

3. Stay in Bed. There is no purer time than those half-awake/ half-asleep moments before we open our eyes in the morning.

Enjoy them. Pay attention to them. Build these moments into your wake-up time. Start with seconds and then work up to minutes.

4. Make your bed. The state of your bed is the state of your head, someone once said. The five minutes you spend making your bed slows down a frantic morning scrambling and creates a calm retreat to welcome you home at night.

5. Time Yourself. If you’re distracted by what’s undone, set a kitchen timer and devote yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand before the bell rings. The time you’ll find hidden in a kitchen timer unleashes more of your attention to the things that matter most.

6. Shut down. Set a curfew on the Internet and TV and discover the natural balance between daylight and darkness, work and rest. Your enjoyment of the quiet will naturally increase and you will effortlessly begin to grant yourself a moment of pure peace at the end of each day.

7. Rest. Sleep when you’re tired. Pay attention to your energy ebbs and flows and be mindful of them.

Finally, once a month or so book yourself a mini-retreat right at home. A profound insight is not something we can schedule.

We can, however, set up the conditions in which such insights are likely to arise.

Retreats might include listening to a guided visualization or music designed to relax and revive. They could also be a time for educating yourself on working on your emotions, managing physical discomforts, dealing with difficulty concentrating, maintaining practice in daily life, and so forth. And, before you know it, you’ve built a resourceful collection covering all facets of mindfulness practice. @ timesunion.com/lifeathome

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chef@home

Prime Time

chef ken kehn prefers knives to calculators

by steve barnes | photo by suzanne kawola

W

hen Ken Kehn was in high school and worked for a pizza chain, his duties included throwing gift certificates and coupons to arena-football fans at the Times Union Center — while dressed as a slice of pizza.

As humiliating as the costume may have been, he found other parts of the job in72

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structive because, unlike another pizza chain he’d previously worked for, this one stressed the use of fresh ingredients. The emphasis appealed to his burgeoning food awareness. Though he would pursue engineering for the beginning of his college career before finding his true path, in the culinary field, Kehn showed a precocious preference for good food.

“Drag” Your Valentine to a Fabulous night out p�������...

“When Kenny was 10, he started ordering from the adult menu” at Ground Round, says his mother, Gail Christian, who would take her children and their cousins to the family-friendly restaurant regularly for dinner. And as a child he enjoyed playing grownup by drinking cranberry juice from a wine glass.

In contrast, Kehn’s sister, Justine, still prefers the crust be cut off of her sandwiches. Her big brother, the executive chef of the posh Angelo’s 677 Prime, the most expensive restaurant in Albany, accommodates her.

“Justine is not the gourmet eater at all, but Kenny caters to her,” says their mother.

“Cooking for me is heating up my frozen dinners,” says Justine, who is a nurse locally.

“Half of the (extended) family is in the medical field,” says Christian, adding that Kehn’s interest in food is more closely connected to the vocation of his parents, who both pursued careers with supermarket chains.

On tonight’s menu is a favorite salad of Justine’s — tomatoes with Gorgonzola — along with rack of lamb, mushroom risotto and green chili from a recipe by Kehn’s late father, also named Ken, who died last fall.

Kehn is cooking in the Colonie house in which he spent his teen years with Justine and their father, after their parents’ divorce.

Speaking of their father, Justine says, “He should not have let us pick out the colors for our bedrooms.”

Kehn: “I don’t want to talk about your room.”

Justine: “My Pepto-Bismol room? That was the worst.”

T

he house was the starting point for vacations with their father to American history sites. “I think we stopped to look at every plaque in Gettysburg,” says Kehn.

During a trek through the Smithsonian Institution, the young siblings, less enthralled than their dad, wouldn’t stop pestering one another. After yet another squabble erupted despite an ultimate warning from Ken Sr., “He just put us in the car, drove straight back to Albany and went back to D.C. to finish his vacation,” Kehn says. continued on page 74 

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chef@home

continued from page 73

Says Christian, “He dropped them off with me and said, ‘Here’s the kids.’ I said, ‘Why are you back early?’ He said, ‘Ask them.’ And then he drove back to Washington.”

Kehn took over the house from his father, and the elder Kehn’s collections mingle with his son’s in the home office: Time-Life book series on cooking and World War II, two encyclopedia sets, baseball cards and memorabilia, a variety of classic and contemporary cookbooks and a smattering of whimsies including a book titled Butt Rot & Bottom Gas: A Glossary of Tragically Misunderstood Words. Kehn shares the home with his wife of six years, Erin, plus a tank of fish, a pair of cats and Rugger, a 5-year-old beagle named after Kehn’s sports of preference.

“She doesn’t bark much,” says Kehn of his dog, “but when she finds something, she howls.” Over the summer, Rugger alerted Kehn that his presence was required in the backyard.

“It was a bee,” he says. “She was howling because she’d found a bee, and she wanted me to come out and see it. Then she came inside, walking around all proud.”

As a hunting dog led by her nose, Rugger on occasion takes off after a scent. Following one such disappearance, Kehn tried his usually effective tactic, driving up and down the street holding a can of dog treats out the car window, shaking the can and calling the dog’s name. No Rugger.

“She went up to Planet Fitness,” says Kehn. “I get there, and she’s in the parking lot with people all around, lying on her back” to solicit belly scratches.

“Rugger,” says Erin affectionately as she looks down at the dog, who’s been eyeing the dinner table. “Did you do that? Yes, you did.”

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Erin is the daytime kitchen supervisor at 677 Prime. Their shifts overlap for a few afternoon hours, but she’s basically a 9-to-5er while he works nights, including Saturdays. Sunday is their day together, when Erin will say, “What do you want to eat?” and Kehn will say, “I don’t care,” and maybe they’ll get some takeout or, if they’re going to a family member’s home for dinner, he’ll make a batch of Grandma Kehn’s goulash. Before dinner, however, says Kehn, “There’s usually a trip to WalMart or PetSmart in there somewhere.” (The cats have a multilevel climbing and dozing apparatus that’s almost the size of the refrigerator.)

The couple met at Paul Smith’s College, northwest of Lake Placid in the Adirondacks. Kehn transferred there after stints as an engineering major at Clarkson University and Hudson Valley Community College.

“I was always interested in engineering — there’s a lot of engineers in the family, and math comes naturally to me — but it just wasn’t for me,” he says.

“But he’s still really good at fixing stuff,” says Erin. A baker by inclination and training, Erin, who grew up in Tennessee, enrolled in Paul Smith’s without visiting or learning much about its location. “That first winter was cold!” she says.

Kehn’s romantic intentions were unclear the first time he suggested they do something socially. “Technically, I didn’t know it was a first date,” says Erin. Her roommate, she told Kehn when he arrived, was going to come along.

“I shot (the roommate) a look and she was like, ‘Oh, no, I think I’ll just stay here,’ ” says Kehn. “And, well, here we are.” @

Wild Mushroom Risotto ingredients: • 1 pint arborio rice • 2 shallots, finely minced • 6 tablespoons butter • 5 ounces wild mushrooms, coarsely chopped • 7 cups chicken broth or stock • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano • Juice of 1/2 lemon method: In a medium pot, heat the chicken broth to a simmer and keep warm.

Cook the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of the butter until soft and caramelized. Add 2 ounces of the chicken broth to help plump the mushrooms and reserve for later.

Rosemary- & Dijon-crusted Lamb Rack ingredients: • 2 lamb racks, 28 to 32 ounces each • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard • 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, stems removed and minced fine • 1 large egg • 1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs • Salt and pepper to taste method: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients besides the lamb, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until well incorporated and then allow to sit for 10 minutes for the breadcrumbs to absorb some of the liquid.

Season the lamb racks with salt and pepper. Then pack a generous coating of the mustard and rosemary mixture onto the racks (about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick).

Place the racks in an oiled roasting pan or rectangular heavy cake pan with the bones standing up. Roast racks in oven for 30-45 minutes depending on the desired internal temperature.

(Remove at 125 degrees for medium rare.) Allow the racks to rest for a minimum of seven minutes before carving.

In a large saucepan melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and sweat the shallots over medium heat, being careful not to brown the shallots, approximately 3 minutes. Add the rice and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, until the rice kernels become translucent around the edges, but being careful not to brown the rice or the shallots.

Reduce heat to medium low and add just enough of the chicken broth to cover the rice barely. Stirring often, simmer until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. Then add another batch of the liquid, again just enough to cover the rice. Repeat this process until the rice is tender with just a very slight bite to it.

(The rice should not be mushy.)

Once the rice is almost to the desired doneness and the liquid has cooked all the way out, add the mushrooms, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the grated Pecorino to the rice and fold together until all the ingredients are incorporated and the butter has melted in.

Serve and garnish with chopped fresh herbs such as chives or parsley and more grated Pecorino.

For more recipes by Chef Ken Khen like Fall Fennel, Arugula and Apple Salad and Erin’s Banana S’mores Cake: visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

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vineyard

Alchemy in

Valpolicella story and photo by alistair highet

Y

ou can be excused for ducking Valpolicella when you see bottles of it on the shelves. Bulk wines from this region near Verona, east of Lake Garda in the north of Italy, are among the most disappointing I’ve ever experienced.

It always pays to remember that Italian winemaking is a largely anarchic affair, despite all the rules, and cheap wine from Italy in particular seems to be very disappointing as a result. On the other hand, this most ancient of wine-producing cultures is in constant ferment, and innovation and higher standards are generating terrific bargains these days.

So you’ve got to be careful. The bulk, low-cost wines from Valpolicella — made in a Beaujolais style — are very thin, can be a blend of many different grapes, and range from the pleasantly youthful to the gaseous and acidic.

The better sort of wine made in this hilly landscape of volcanic stone and marble are among the most potent and seductive I’ve experienced. They are going through a period of rapid improvement, and I’m speaking now particularly of the Valpolicella Superiore DOC — wine from which must be aged for one year — and more potent and concentrated cousins made in the DOC in the ripasso style, or the wines designated as Amarone.

This is one of the oldest recognized winemaking regions in the world. You argue that if there is one place on Earth that can be said to be sophisticated, it is this region of Italy near Venice, since Venice was the gateway to the East from the age of antiquity. Certainly the Greeks made wine here, and in the sixth century the Roman writer Cassiodorus took note that the wines from this valley of the cellars were the favorites of the Ostrogoths, who ran things at the time.

Now, it was commonly held that it was the Greeks who developed the Amarone method — which is to use partially dried grapes in the process of winemaking. This 76

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process seems to have been gone on largely underground for centuries — if you had a bunch of grapes that dried on the vine in warm vintages, you chucked them in the vat with the rest of the grapes.

In the 1950s producers started to make wine this way intentionally. Bunches of grapes — Corvina is the major variety — are left to dry on the vine, and then picked and hung up in drying barns for a couple of months. Unlike other late harvest wines, these grapes are not intentionally allowed to become overrun with the botrytis rot. What is desired is the intense, raisiny concentration of sugars.

The result is red wines of great headiness — alcohol content around 16 percent — rich raisiny and port-like fruit, and loamy, rich, mocha flavors. They are powerhouses but very smooth and still with enough acidity to give them structure.

It was only in the last years of the last century that winemakers started making ripasso wines — they added the pressings from the Amarone wines to the regular Valpolicella Superiore. The result is that some of the tannins, complexity, and flavors from the skins of the dried grapes blend with the fresher juice.

I tried a number of these wines. I highly recommend all of them, but try the ripasso wines — to me they are the best, with lovely fresh fruit in balance with the richer, darker, headier traces of Amarone. @ Zenato, Valpolicella Superiore, 2009 ($15) Zenato is a huge producer in the region.

This wine was truly lovely — ripe cherries, with smoky, loamy aroma, vanilla and mint, and good, bright acidity.

Zenato, Valpolicella Superiore, Ripasso, 2009 ($30) So much deeper and richer, with currants, ripe black plum, blackberry, wood smoke, leather, tobacco, all in a rich integrated nectar.

Tenuto Sant’ Antonio Amarone della Valpolicella, 2009 ($47) Heady, literally and figuratively intoxicating, blackberry fruit, explosive flavor, velvety and gorgeous.

Castellani San Michele Valpolicella Superiore, Ripasso, 2009 ($30) My favorite, with orange, cloves, and spice on the nose, warm velvety mouthfeel, black and tart cherry fruit, with leather and mushroom and loam.

Very deep and smooth and yet alive.

table@home

Creature Comfort

after long days outside, warming up with a popular thai noodle dish by caroline barrett | photos by paul barrett

“I

t’s you!” Elliot jumped up from his chair and pointed a finger at me. “I knew it was you!”

This yelling startled me from my dreamy gaze out our back door. With a steaming cup of tea in hand, I was watching the gray sky, hoping for some snow. Any snow. So far, I saw none.

“YOU are the mystery reader,” he announced.

While I was gazing dreamily at the sky, I had murmured, “I can’t wait for snow. I love snow. And I can’t wait to go skiing.”

Darn. I was busted. At our elementary school, teachers ask parents to be the “mystery reader.” A week before the assigned reading date, the mystery reader sends in five clues about herself. One is read each day, keeping the class in suspense about who is showing up on Friday. continued on page 78 

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table@home continued from page 77

Since I’m not a mysterious person, my clues are always obvious. I do love being the mystery reader in my kids’ classes. But it’s the clues that are hard for me.

When Lucy was in first grade, she came home and pointed her finger, just as Elliot had. “Mom. No other mother likes to cook and loves frogs!” She knew. Honestly, it wasn’t that hard to guess.

This time around, these were my clues: My favorite cake is chocolate. I would rather read a book than watch TV. I love animals. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. And the one that gave it all away: I love snow and can’t wait to go skiing.

The clues are all true. I do love chocolate cake and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And, as Elliot knows, I love to ski with my family.

My husband is an avid skier, the guy who has perfect form and rarely falls. He is our motivation for skiing. I am the lady who cautiously makes her way down the mountain, happy to be outside but still wary of falling. My children are somewhere between the both of us.

Elliot started skiing as a little guy, and we never put him in lessons. When he was hooked up to the harness Paul built for him, we could ski the whole mountain, together. Now, it’s a sweet sight to stand at the top of a trail and watch Elliot confidently

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skiing in Paul’s wake.

Zoe is fearless, too, weaving back and forth between the snowboarders and people stopped on the trail. Lucy hangs in the back with me, not looking for thrills and slowly making her way down.

We don’t ski as we’d like (lift tickets for a family of five can run up to $250) but we do try to get out now and then. After a long morning of chair lifts and beautiful white snow, our fingers are frozen and we head in for warm food and drink.

N

ow, I wish I could tell you all about a warm stew I make and bring to the mountain in a slow cooker. I’ve seen those mothers, carrying in a big pot of something delicious-smelling and steamy. They are generally more put-together than I am, their children in coordinating ski clothes and their lunch thoughtfully planned.

My family tends to show up looking rag-tag. Lucy usually forgets her mittens. One day last year, Elliot made it to the mountain without socks. And their ski clothes never match.

Our lunches are peanut butter and jelly, potato chips (a must for skiing) and fruit. We buy hot chocolate and savor the warm sweetness before heading back out to the cold. I always look longingly at those big, warm pots of soup and stew, wishing I had thought

Caroline Barrett is the author of the Table for 5 blog.

of doing it. Just the feat of getting three children fed, packed and on the mountain is enough accomplishment for me.

Arriving home after a long day, all are tired and hungry. Paul organizes the kids and they put away skis and wet clothes. I head straight to the kitchen, pulling out pans and bowls. We crave something hot and flavorful. It’s usually something like spaghetti and meatballs. Occasionally, I look to my pantry and cook up a quick Asian noodle dish. Long, slurpy noodles are just right to warm up a body after a day spent in the winter air.

A favorite after-ski dish is Pad Thai with a handful of bitter greens. The greens are a balance to this typically sweet noo-

dle dish. I cut back on the sweet, ramp up the ginger, and add a touch of spice. These Asian ingredients can easily be found in the grocery store, and bitter greens, such as bok choy, can still be found at the indoor farmers markets.

I’ve been trying to think of better clues for my next mystery reader stint. Next time, I’ll write down vague clues, things like I have brown hair. Or, I like to read books. The clues that give too much away — like I love spicy Asian noodles, or I love snow and I can’t wait to ski — those clues I’ll just keep to myself. @

Pad Thai Noodles with Bitter Greens ingredients 1 14-ounce package rice noodles boiling water canola oil 5 eggs, beaten for the sauce: juice of 1 lime 1 4 / cup sweet chile sauce 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated 1 teaspoon crushed chiles (or to taste) 3 tablespoon sesame oil 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced 2 large handfuls bok choy or other green, chopped bean sprouts 1 handful cilantro for the garnish: chopped toasted peanuts chile garlic paste method Pour the boiling water over the rice noodles and let rest for 20 minutes (or cook according to package). Drain and rinse under cold water. Place in a large serving bowl with a bit of sesame oil stirred through to prevent sticking.

In a large wok, heat the canola oil over medium heat.

Cook the eggs in 2 batches, without stirring, tilting the pan. Slide the eggs onto a work surface and slice into long strips. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small glass bowl and set aside. Add the sesame oil to the wok and cook the scallions for a minute. Then add the bok choy, bean sprouts and cilantro. Cook until just wilted.

Add the sauce, cook until heated through, and pour over the noodles. Serve immediately, with the spicy chile paste and peanuts to pass.

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locavore

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Spread It On the delicious hummus and tapenade from 3 chicks and a p by wendy page | photos by paul barrett

T

o say 3 Chicks and a P went from zero to 60 in no time flat is an understatement. Based on timing, talent, and co-owner Jennifer RittnerPaniccia’s ability to jump at every opportunity put in her path — and to run with it — in 18 months, the hummus, tapenade and salsa company has grown from an idea to an award-winning business featured in numerous local farmers markets, co-ops and specialty stores.

It began when Rittner-Paniccia attended a friend’s hummus-and-winethemed holiday party. The following year, she hosted her own party, making the hummus herself. The positive feedback from her friends, mixed with the realization that no hummus was sold at the Schenectady Green Market — “We’re big supporters of farmers markets,” Rittner-Paniccia says of herself and her husband/co-owner, Matthew Paniccia — set the seeds. Matthew getting laid off from his job turned into their opportunity to “stop talking about it and just do it,” Rittner-Paniccia says. “I filed the DBA in May 2011, took the summer to work on recipes, got licensing, and got my logo.

We took our tax return and invested in the business.”

The business, 3 Chicks and a P (more on the name later) boasts fresh, homemade hummus, tapenades and salsas, all sold in local venues (see sidebar). Their packaging comes from local suppliers. They even squeeze their own lemons and limes.

After market research indicated that sesame is one of the most common food allergies, especially in children, the Paniccias decided to make their products tahini-free. (Tahini, a sesame seed paste, is a common hummus ingredient.) “We did this without sacrificing flavor or texture,” Rittner-Paniccia says.

They use locally-grown herbs whenever possible (when not in season locally, they still won’t use dried herbs), low-sodium garbanzo beans, and freshly peeled garlic. They’d love to go organic, but it’s not presently cost-effective. The hummus is naturally vegan and gluten-free.

3 Chicks’ standard hummus flavors are Italian herb, roasted red pepper, their best-selling spicy black-bean dip, and, their signature flavor, garlic breath. (The latter is served with mints.)

Flavors of the week can include sun-dried tomato and roasted pine nuts, jalapeño and cilantro, and garlic and chives.

In addition to hummus, the company also sells a three-olive tapenade and an artichoke tapenade. “I don’t add oil to them,” Rittner-Paniccia says. “I try to keep everything fresh, and not to have to add extra oils and salts. Ours is a little more … it’s not as oily as you’d buy in a jar in the store.” The salsas — mango black bean, pineapple habanero, and peach black bean — are produced seasonally so they can be made from local produce.

The Paniccias achieved their initial goal — acceptance into the Schenectady Farmers Market —in November 2011, just in time for the winter market. Acceptance to the Honest Weight Food Co-op followed one month later. “That gave us some credibility,” says Rittner-Paniccia. “That got us into the Meat House.” continued on page 82  timesunion.com/lifeathome

81

locavore Where to find

3 Chicks and a P products

Gade Farm 2479 Western Avenue Guilderland 869-8019 Honest Weight Food Co-op 484 Central Avenue Albany 482-2667 King Brothers Dairy 311 King Road Schuylerville 695-6455 The Meat House 22 Clifton Country Road Clifton Park 371-1200 Niskayuna Co-op 2227 Nott Street Schenectady 374-1362

continued from page 81

The next step found Rittner-Paniccia at the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur Boot Camp, where she learned from her mentor, Janet Tanguay, about the camp’s business-plan competition. Not having a business plan didn’t stop her; Rittner-Paniccia wrote one and won the competition, and the $1,000 prize.

Tanguay next informed her of The All Over Albany/Sunmark Startup contest, which 3 Chicks also won, in August 2012. The $1,500 winnings from that is going toward nutritional labeling for their products, timed to introduce new flavors Indian Spice and Fire Dancer (named after the Dave Matthews song), which 82

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contains three different hot peppers “that kicks up the flavor,” Rittner-Paniccia says. “It’s the hottest one yet. It satisfies hotness but won’t burn your tongue off.”

The duo introduced pumpkin hummus for fall, and a cranberry/sweet potato for the holidays. “We’ll keep introducing new ones on a regular basis and see what works,” she says.

S

o what’s up with the name? “It represents us as a family,” Rittner-Paniccia says, crediting Matthew as the mastermind behind it. They have two daughters — hence the “three chicks.”

Their family name, from Matthew, begins with P. Plus, there’s

For more photos, visit timesunion.com/lifeathome.

ACT NOW TO LOOK & FEEL BETTER

Hummus is more than just dip...

Hummus is high in protein and fiber, incorporating fresh juices and herbs. Here are some other suggestions from Rittner-Paniccia for serving hummus besides as a dip or with crackers.

Make loaded potato skins with spicy black bean dip. Vegan customers use spicy black bean dip with soup broth.

Garlic breath makes a healthy version of garlic bread.

Use on sandwiches and wraps as a condiment instead of mayo.

Thin hummus down with extra virgin olive oil or water and make a salad dressing with it.

People toss the tapenades on garden salad, or spread it on a sandwich. “Or there’s always the option to eat it out of the container with a spoon,” Rittner-Paniccia says.

the obvious play on words, since chick peas are the main ingredient in hummus.

Cooking is practically in Rittner-Paniccia’s genes. “I grew up in a house that constantly smelled like meatballs and lemon meringue pie. I would wake up at my grandparents’ on weekends and the whole house smelled from cooking. We’d have our house filled with family for breakfast and dinner.”

3 Chicks’ inspiration can be summed up as “food, family and fun,” Rittner-Paniccia says. The company’s tagline sums it up: “From our family to yours. Share it, spread it, love it!”

While the plan called for Matthew to run the business, a position surfaced that he couldn’t pass up — both Paniccias have full-time jobs — so they changed their plan. They use the kitchen at the Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club, in what Rittner-Paniccia calls “a great partnership.” (One of the company names considered? “Rotter Damn Good Hummus!”)

Thursday evenings, “we whip out batches for our orders.

Then we clean everything up, go home, and do it all again the next week.” Because they don’t use preservatives, they need to process as close to the weekend as possible so the products are freshest for their deliveries, farmers markets and festivals.

While the business is a nice supplement to their income, “the goal is to have something for my girls’ future, and for them to run the business someday,” says Rittner-Paniccia. They’re looking to hire staff who can work the farmers markets, as they’d like to be in more markets, and ultimately to have larger distribution, such as supermarkets. Wholesale is a possibility, branching out to local cafes.

Rittner-Paniccia sums up their philosophy: “One step at a time. When you love what you’re doing, that makes it worth it. The farmers markets don’t feel like work. The social aspect with our customers and the other vendors makes it fun.” When she stops to think about all she’s said, Rittner-Paniccia takes a rare moment. “I can’t believe everything we’ve done within a year. It’s been great.” @

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five things story and photos by suzanne kawola

Kaloyeros’ “five Esses,” as he calls them, are: 1. Sushi: “We have some of the best sushi (locally) of anywhere! There are these unique rolls, that are really good, that you can’t find anywhere else.”

five things

i can’t live without

Alain Kaloyeros

Vice President and CEO, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering

A

s a boy, Alain Kaloyeros was fascinated with science and engineering. “I remember when Apollo 11 was going to the moon. I would get every newspaper. I would listen to everything on TV. I had coloring books. I had catalogs full of the stories and photos. I was absolutely fascinated with science,” he says. Today Kaloyeros is the vice president and CEO at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

With a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois, and many job offers, Kaloyeros was impressed with New York’s investment in research and, following a conversation with thenGovernor Mario Cuomo (which had been part of the interview process), Kaloyeros accepted the position at SUNY Albany as assistant professor.

“Science is so complex and it involves so many different disciplines to any issue,” he says. “That’s why we had to build this, to become the biggest nanotechnology innovation and education hub so that we can go after any talent … attract them here, and help them be part of an ecosystem to innovate and educate.”

Kaloyeros says the purpose of CNSE is to live beyond the individual. “It’s the idea of integrating talent, from private and public sectors, and (having) professors, researchers, and students exchange ideas, colocate, innovate together,” he says. “Because with nanotechnology the problems are so challenging and so exciting … you need team efforts. Every moment is something new, something exciting, something different.”

2. Starbucks: Kaloyeros describes with laughter that the power of Starbucks’ coffee is rooted in the willingness to wait in any length line to get it. The one detail that makes his Starbucks habit slightly different than most is the 40-50 Splenda packets he adds per cup. Seriously, that many packets?

“Seriously, I’m addicted to Splenda. They make a joke there every time I walk in, they say, ‘You’re here to take all of our Splenda.’”

3. Spiders (the car, not the arachnid): Spiders are convertible Ferraris. What color are his machines? “All black, the Italian metallic black, oh my God! You are one with nature, top down, music blaring, driving to Lake George … it’s healing. It’s an amazing experience. The sound, the experience, the handling — it’s like a symphony.” Laughing, he describes a time when he stopped at a rest stop and came out to find a group of people standing around his car admiring it. Returning to his car, he excused himself through the crowd and a man turned to him and said, “Wait your turn!”

4. Songs: “I run about five miles a day and I can’t do it without dance music. I’m on a treadmill with music blaring.”

5. Sweets: “Sweets! As in chocolate! Sweets, chocolate, is one of my weaknesses … dark chocolate, melted, especially. Oh my God, I can put it on anything!” He indulges weekly, because, he admits “I have a wicked sweet tooth. So, if I’m gonna splurge, I’m gonna splurge and then the next day I run a gazillion miles.” @

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85

photo finish

More than just dĂŠcor: The small replica atop this stove is what salesmen carried on the road to give potential buyers a sense of the real thing. Read the story on page 27. Photo by Mark Samu.

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