Home and Garden

BY DESIGN SIGNATURE SCENTS

SIMPLY OUTRAGEOUS ART

Viva Magenta

THE POWER OF COLOR

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome back, readers,

Go outside. Now. It’s springtime in the Florida Keys, and there’s still a breeze in the air. Hurry, before it gets too hot, and we all retreat to the air-conditioned interior for the summertime.

Welcome to the latest edition of our Home & Garden magazine, a tribute to the bright, sunny and still (for a month or so) breezy outdoors that surrounds us, as well as the interiors we create, based on our own taste, style and budget.

In this issue, Alex Rickert explores with the experts the intricacies of outdoor sound systems. In a place like the Florida Keys, where so much of our life is lived outside, music is a must, whether by the pool, on the porch or aboard the boat.

We also introduce the basics of butterfly gardens — what plants attract caterpillars and which nectar providers will keep the adult butterflies flitting around in the backyards for our own enjoyment.

Moving inside, contributor Amy Patton embarks on an olfactory adventure with Emily Shipman, whose handmade candle company, Bella Laine, offers signature and specialized scents for every customer. She’ll also save your preferred scent and keep it on file for when it’s time to refill your candles.

Karen Newfield starts off our summer reading list with some boat-worthy books.

Erin Stover Sickmen acknowledges the intrinsic messiness and clutter of life while reassuring us that even the most ardent organizer, Marie Kondo, threw in the towel (just a bit) once she found herself with three kids. If Kondo can give herself permission to ease up on herself, certainly the rest of us can.

Mark Hedden reminds us of the late Key West artist Captain Outrageous, whose colorful, often cartoonish paintings have adorned everything from mopeds to mannequin heads in the Southernmost City. Much of the captain’s art and memorabilia ended up in the home of collectors Eli and Kenna Pancamo, who let Hedden in to explore.

Our resident astrologist Chris McNulty interprets the cosmos for us, especially the way our personalities and astrological presence influence the art we love, and Master Sommelier Elizabeth Schweitzer deftly pairs wines with the summertime staple of barbecue.

This issue also includes some delicious whipped feta recipes and an all-instrumental playlist carefully curated by our creative director, Stephanie Mitchell.

Now, take this magazine with you and head outside — before the ice melts in your drink and the breeze leaves the Keys for a few months.

— Mandy Miles

Publisher Jason Koler jason@keysweekly.com

Managing Partner

Britt Myers britt@keysweekly.com

Creative Director

Stephanie Mitchell stephanie@keysweekly.com

Art/Design

Irene de Bruijn irene@keysweekly.com

Editors

Mandy Miles mandy@keysweekly.com

Jim McCarthy jim@keysweekly.com

Alex Rickert alex@keysweekly.com

Copy editor

Mike Howie mike@keysweekly.com

Director of Sales

Manuela Carrillo Mobley manuela@keysweekly.com

Account Executives

Stephanie Mitchell stephanie@keysweekly.com

Patti Childress patti@keysweekly.com

Jill Miranda Baker jill@keysweekly.com

Production Manager

Anneke Patterson anneke@keysweekly.com

Art/Design

Javier Reyes javier@keysweekly.com

Web Master

Travis Cready travis@keysweekly.com

Executive Administrator

Char Hruska char@keysweekly.com

Contributors

Tiffany Duong, Mark Hedden, Chris McNulty, Karen Newfield, Amy Patton, Elizabeth Schweitzer, Erin Stover Sickmen

Cover photo

Mr. Borys (freepik.com)

Digital Support Overseas Media Group

By Stephanie Mitchell

Spring has sprung and summer is just around the corner. It’s that beautiful time of year in the Florida Keys where every tree, flower and blossom takes on an intense and vibrant hue that reminds us all, yet again, why we live here.

For this edition of Keys Home & Garden we’ve highlighted in our pages the magical beauty of creating your own butterfly garden – and that is the inspiration for this playlist.

As you sit in your yard watching these light, airy and silent butterflies flit about, let them set the tone as you flip through our pages. No words, just a string of melodies in the background as you relax and dive into pages that are also bright and beautiful.

Learn which plants attract our lovely friends and as you read through hopefully you pick up a tip or two to beautify your home or next houseparty.

We hope you enjoy the easy, breezy sounds of a slow-moving spring or summer day. Thank you for reading and enjoy the groove.

Scan here for Home & Garden playlist

By Mandy Miles

BRING ON THE BUTTERFLIES

“Do you think roaches and mosquitoes wish they were butterflies? No one likes roaches and mosquitoes, but everyone loves butterflies.”

Bemused, my mom turned from the stove to see what homework I was doing at the kitchen table all those years ago to prompt her 8-year-old’s monologue. My third-grade chapter on metamorphosis in class that day — a worm-like caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon, then emerges as a butterfly — had sounded more like magic than science to me. Honestly, it still does.

Now, more than 30 years later, my opinion about the near-universal popularity of butterflies hasn’t changed, and the proliferation of butterfly gardens, planted specifically to attract these colorful insects, is proof that they continue to spark wonder and delight.

Butterflies are ethereal and optimistic creatures. Their paper-thin delicacy and intricate paint jobs seem to defy both nature and science.

So it’s no wonder that butterfly gardens, or just a few plants that attract both caterpillars and their adult butterfly counterparts, have become an immensely popular addition to backyards everywhere.

Here in the Florida Keys, those gardens need not be dormant for months at a time, and several local nurseries sell both host plants that attract caterpillars and nectar plants that encourage the adult butterflies to stick around after they hatch.

“You just need those two things — one or more host plants and a few nectar plants,” said Susan Wilson, a vocational trainer in horticulture at the Monroe Association for Remarkable Citizens MARC) in Key West, where the nonprofit organization operates a nursery and plant store.

“Caterpillars are very specific in which plants they choose to consume and then build their cocoon on,” WIlson said, pointing out milkweed plants that the MARC Plant Store sells to attract the caterpillars that will become the iconic, autumncolored monarch butterflies.

“Remember, you’re not choosing or using host plants to look pretty in the yard, because the caterpillars will destroy them with their eating,” Wilson said.

For an in-depth and fascinating lesson on the metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies, visit the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservancy, which in addition to thousands of freeflying butterflies in its atrium, features two education rooms that provide an up-close look at caterpillars and hatching cocoons.

Once you’ve selected a few host plants to attract caterpillars, it’s time to select the pretty plants — the nectar plants — whose brightly colored, often tubular, flowers attract butterflies, who sip the nectar from the center with their long, protruding proboscis while the insect perches on the stem or a petal.

“The flowers of nectar plants often have small, compact heads with those tubular flowers,” Wilson said, pointing out fiery bright flowering plants called pentas that come in white, fuschia and pink. Firebush is another popular nectar plant for butterflies, though large ones can look more like a small tree than a flowering bush. The long, orange and reddish tubular flowers are wildly popular with butterflies, Wilson said.

In the Upper Keys, Island Home Garden Center in Tavernier offers countless colorful options for butterflyattracting plants, whether planted in the ground or in containers. And their knowledgeable staff can help with suggestions and strategies for butterfly gardening.

“The most important thing is native plants, and we offer a lot of options for both Florida native and Florida Keys native plants for host plants and nectar plants,” garden associate Gina Cuba said. She, too, added that the host plants will be eaten by ravenous caterpillars, “but the cool thing is those plants are adapted to be eaten, and they’ll come back even stronger.”

Island Home Garden Center is also in the process of creating the Island Butterfly House directly across the street from their garden center, at MM 88 on the Old Road.

Finally, don’t miss the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden to see butterfly-attracting plants in full bloom, as the magical insects flit from flower to flower.

The botanical garden also offers monthly plant sales and plenty of skilled volunteers and staff to help novices and experienced gardeners fill their garden of earthly delights with plants that will lure these supermodels of the insect world to your own yard.

And in answer to my own 8-yearold question, yes, I believe every insect wishes it was a butterfly.

1. The flaming orange blossoms of a firebush tree at the MARC Plant Store in Key West attract butterflies. MANDY MILES/Keys Weekly.

2. A monarch caterpillar feasts on a milkweed plant. MANDY MILES/Keys Weekly. 3. A butterfly sips nectar from the fuschia flowers of a penta bush. CONTRIBUTED. 4 & 5. White and purple pentas offer the small flowers that provide nectar for butterflies. MANDY MILES/Keys Weekly

By Tiffany Duong

MYTH VS. TRUTH

RECYCLING IN THE FLORIDA KEYS

Myth: The Florida Keys don’t recycle. Truth: “Absolutely, the Keys recycle,” said Cheryl Sullivan, director of Monroe County Solid Waste Management. All residential areas of the Keys have single-stream recycling bins. Contents are transported by truck to the Waste Management Reuter Recycling Facility in Pembroke Pines, where the recycling is sorted and prepared for processing.

Myth: Everything goes to the trash; the same trucks pick up trash and recycling.

Truth: Because the Keys are a chain of islands, we have to haul all our trash and recycling from our homes to transfer stations and then up to the mainland. The county arranges for this. Similar-looking trucks do pick up trash and recycling, but on different days of the week. Recyclables and trash do go to the same transfer stations but remain separated in different areas for proper recycling and landfilling, respectively.

SO, WHAT’S THE LIMITING FACTOR?

Myth: Recycling doesn’t matter. Truth: Recycling makes a big difference for the planet because we can reuse materials. It also makes a huge difference for our tax dollars: Monroe County pays a higher rate to haul out trash than recycling, so, the more we recycle, the more we end up saving ourselves in county taxes, Sullivan explained. She added, “it’s important to recycle, but the bigger picture is we need everybody to reduce. That’s the bottom line.”

Myth: Things are getting worse. Truth: Over the last four years, Monroe County has seen an approximate 14% increase in recycling – up to about 8,400 tons of recyclables processed in 2022. “We want to thank residents for that,” Sullivan said. “I think we’re getting there because of education. Waste Management is doing a good job talking about it on the radio, and schools are doing a good job talking to students. The awareness is out there.”

“When people participate in curbside recycling programs, it’s important to understand that recycling facilities are designed to only process materials from that area’s ‘acceptable list,’” said Shiraz Kashar, outreach and education manager for Waste Management of Florida. “Sometimes, people do ‘wish-cycling,’ and they include lots of things they hope are recyclable – but aren’t.”

He continued, “People think every type of plastic can be recycled, but residential recycling programs only accept a very small window of recycling.” These programs are designed around the most popular consumer products in households.

Erroneous items include everything from hangers to batteries; plastic lawn furniture to old clothes. These things are not recyclable in the Keys’ single-stream blue residential recycling bins. Moreover, adding these items into bins “contaminates” the load; sorting machines aren’t designed to recognize those items, so human workers have to manually pick out erroneous items. This is inefficient and a potential safety hazard.

“Contamination has been getting really bad since the pandemic,” Kashar said. “Contamination slows down the recycling process and increases processing costs.” He also noted that food waste is a big problem and that plastic bags are “tanglers” because they jam

When it comes to recycling in the Keys, there are tons of myths and misunderstandings. The Keys Weekly is here to help you comb through the confusion.

up machines and require someone to go in and manually cut them out. “They’re a bigger contamination problem because people bag their recycling,” he added.

When we start thinking about recyclables not as a secondary trash stream but rather as a commodity that gets upcycled and resold, it makes more sense. Food, other contaminants, erroneous items and plastic bags all make the process more inefficient. They also pose a danger to recycling handlers at facilities who have to remove jams. So, when we recycle in the Keys, we can help ourselves and others by learning what can and can’t go into our blue bins.

WHAT CAN WE ACTUALLY RECYCLE IN MONROE COUNTY?

PLASTICS

• “Narrow neck” bottles whose neck is narrower than the body are generally recyclable.

• #1 (water bottles, 2-liter soda bottles) and #2-type plastics are recyclable (milk jugs, laundry detergent, lotion, shampoo, etc.) Look for the number in the triangle recycling symbol on the bottom.

• Some plastic “clamshells” that fruit/nuts/snacks come in are recyclable as long as they are type #1 or #2 plastics.

• Yogurt cups are recyclable if empty/rinsed.

• For pump bottles, take out the pump mechanism and throw that away, but recycle the bottle itself.

• It doesn’t matter whether you leave bottle caps on or off.

• Plastic bags, cling wrap and other plastic films are not recyclable in blue bins.

Note: It’s very important to empty all food/liquid out of bottles and containers and rinse them out.

PAPER

• Paper, mail, cardboard, newspapers and magazines (including shiny UV-coated ones) are recyclable.

• Staples, tape, packing labels and the clear cellophane window on envelopes are okay to leave on and recycle.

• Clean parts of pizza boxes are okay IF you rip off all parts with food residue.

GLASS

• Clear, green and brown glass colors are recyclable.

• Beverage containers and jars are recyclable; windowpanes, windshields, etc. are not.

• Note: Do not put broken glass in the recycling bin; it’s technically recyclable, but poses safety hazards for workers.

METAL

• Aluminum, steel and tin cans are recyclable.

• Take the lids off cans, empty and rinse them, then put lids back into the can to recycle the whole thing.

• Aluminum foil is not recyclable in the blue bins.

• Note: Make sure cans are empty and rinsed.

OTHER

• Note: Do not bag your recycling in a plastic bag; throw it directly into the recycling bin. Plastic bags tangle sorting machines.

• Tetrapak cartons (juice boxes, nut milks) are recyclable. Just empty/rinse them, flatten, and put the caps back on.

• Batteries, garden hoses, light bulbs, electric cables and appliances are not recyclable in the blue bins.

• Household hazardous waste (bleach, chemicals, rechargeable batteries, oil, acids, etc.) should not be included in recycling bins for safety reasons.

1. Waste Management’s Shiraz Kashar shows common household plastics that are recyclable. 2. Bales of cardboard, newspaper and mixed paper are condensed and prepared for shipping to a paper recycling facility. 3. When non-recyclable items get mixed into single-stream recycling bins, like the residential bins in the Keys, humans have to sort the items by hand. The process can be dangerous. 4. After recyclables are sorted, they’re packed for shipment to processing facilities. 5. Plastics must be separated into their respective types (denoted by the number in the triangle) before they can be packed and shipped to the right recycling facility. 6. Sorting sometimes has to be done by hand by a human; therefore, broken glass, needles, hazardous waste and other dangerous items should be omitted from recycling. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly

By Irene de Bruijn

VIVA MAGENTA

Since 1999, the Pantone Color Institute has chosen the Pantone Color of the Year. The goal was to engage the design community and color enthusiasts in a conversation around color.

And that worked. Color nerds around the world wait every year for the big announcement.

This year’s Color of the Year –Pantone 18-1750, also known as Viva Magenta – is powerful and empowering, Pantone said in its announcement, calling it “a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying and a boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement.”

Eat your heart out, Very Peri (Pantone color of the year 2022).

INTERESTING AND A LITTLE CREEPY

“Viva Magenta is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known.” – Pantone

What is a cochineal, you may wonder. It is a bug – yes, a bug. It feeds on the prickly pear grown throughout Mexico, South America, the southwestern United States and the Canary Islands, according to howstuffworks.com.

The male cochineal plays its own unique role in nature, but it’s the wingless, legless female that interests dye makers. It takes about 70,000 cochineals to create one pound of dye.

So we owe a big thank you to all those female cochineals, for Viva Magenta, and all the beautiful reds we get to enjoy on a daily basis.

THE POWER OF COLOR

Rooted in the primordial, Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter, said Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Invoking the forces of nature,” she said, the color “galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.”

The Pantone Color Institute team represents a variety of backgrounds, but all the members are experts in color and design.

by Mark Hedden

KEEPING IT OUTRAGEOUS

ance salesman, newspaper editor, financial analyst, developer, and/or several other things of that white collar, 9 to 5 ilk. Details are fuzzy.

He came onto most Key Westers’ radar in the early 1990s, when he opened a restaurant on White Street that was properly called The Last Straw, but which most people I knew referred to as Bad, Bad, Bad Burger (because it was painted in very bright lettering on the front of the place). The one time I ate there the walls were covered with promotional album covers of acts you’d never heard once and would never hear again. The only beer was draft Old Milwaukee in a plastic cup for 50 cents. The food was as advertised.

It was a low-budget affair, so the owner painted all the signage himself in over-the-top neon paints that definitely caught the eye. Then he painted his old truck in similar Day-Glo colors.

Text and photos

The restaurant did not survive, and Outrageous was then broke. But people started showing up at his apartment, asking him to paint objects they owned the way he’d painted the front of the restaurant – bicycles, lamps, pith helmets, guitars, manakins, more bicycles, old radios, old telephones, and the occasional chunk of plywood or other durable substrate.

He expanded beyond the milieu of just text and developed a visual style that lifted heavily from R Crumb and Roy Lichtenstein, both of whom worked in a context that lifted heavily from the old-school funny pages. Outrageous made distinctive work that working people could afford.

For a while he lived in an Airstream trailer, painted in his signature style, in a lot by Key West Bight, until the property was developed into what would become the Conch Republic Seafood Co. He met a woman who would later be known as Lady Outra geous at the coffee place across the street. He legally changed his name to Captain Outrageous to make an unsuccessful bid for Key West mayor. Later he opened a gallery that he ran for several years at 525 Caroline St. in Key West.

He cultivated a personality that has been alternately described as ornery, irascible, warm and funny. All the while, he got up every morning and grabbed his brushes. By his own estimation he painted at least 1,500 bikes, 200 scooters and 100 cars. He painted so many things that he came up with a stencil for his big loop of a signature to keep it consistent.

When he died in 2007 friends and supporters held a second-line procession for his funeral. Hundreds of people showed up, many riding his bikes or carrying pieces he’d painted. He is memorialized in the Key West Cemetery by a fairy-topped plinth that sits on about 1 square foot of land, but rises up about 6 feet. Around the fairy’s neck hang dozens of strands of shiny beads from Fantasy Fest.

You still see his work around town, though not as often as you used to.

CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE

Eli and Kenna Pancamo’s collection of Captain Outrageous artwork includes comic-inspired paintings with text as well as a painted Zippo lighter.

ELI PANCAMO & CAPTAIN OUTRAGEOUS ELI PANCAMO & CAPTAIN OUTRAGEOUS

Eli Pancamo didn’t know Captain Outrageous well. He stopped into the gallery on Caroline Street around the year 2000, just after moving to Key West, and met him. Pancamo was a budding art collector at the time and ended up buying his first Outrageous piece that day — a wooden box painted with the image of a man getting punched in the face by a disembodied fist, the word “POW!” emblazoned atop it all in big red letters.

He didn’t realize he was at the start of something.

Pancamo and his wife, Kenna, opened the highly successful Garbo’s Grill, and later sold it (but not the rights to the name north of Monroe County), and then opened Sinz Burritos. In the years since, he has collected a number of artists, including locals — John Martini, Andy Thurber, Letty Nowak, Susie Zuzek de Poo — and a number of street artists from more urban areas – Momo, FAILE, Eric Fuss, Cash4. Their home is literally packed to the rafters with original artwork, as well as collections of toy robots, colored glass power line insulators, two pinball machines, and at least one giant clear filament bulb from an old Key West street light.

“But the Captain is one of the people who got me into this whole art thing,” Pancamo said.

“It wasn’t like I had some epiphany. I think over time, when I started to understand Key West, I was like, man, I really like his stuff. It’s just fun. So every now and then I would find a piece at a yard sale. And then it became this thing where I would get phone calls and people would be like, ‘I have something. Do you want to buy it?’” Pancamo said.

Over the years Pancamo acquired several paintings, at least one mannequin, a pair of Mary Janes, several painted denim jackets, several bicycles, a motorcycle gas tank, at least one car hood, as well as other items. While we were talking he pointed out a set of Outrageous-painted leather motorcycle saddle bags that someone – he’s still not sure who – dropped off at the restaurant for him. He has acquired so many pieces that he has to keep a good bit of it in storage.

He said his most unexpected encounter was with the Captain’s girlfriend, Lady Outrageous, who stopped by and talked for several hours. She was leaving town and sold him several pieces, and then gave him several pieces, as well as one absolutely unexpected item.

She told him that Outrageous never wanted to leave the island. “She’s like, ‘Hey, I want to give you him.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ And she goes, ‘Here’s his ashes,’” Panacamo said. “I’m like, can you say no to ashes? It was an honor for her to offer them to me.”

Pancamo has kept them in a painted wooden box on a high shelf ever since.

“Key West is changing around us. And it’s losing something. And at least I know when I come home, I have a chunk of it that I can look at. And that I have everything that I ever wanted when I first came here, and everything that makes me feel like this is Key West,” said Pancamo.

“I would love to have a restaurant that had his works up, to be able to showcase them. Because they need to be seen. I gotta find a way to do that somehow,” he said. “This stuff will all go to one place if I

Eli Pancamo shows off just a smidge of his Captain Outrageous collection that includes painted hands, mannequins, shoes and wooden boxes.

AVOID THE LONG DRIVE TO MIAMI AND HAVE ALL YOUR CHILDREN’S NEEDS MET RIGHT HERE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS.

Dr. Christina Smith DDS is now accepting new patients and is thrilled to be part of the 7-time Bubba Award-winning Doc Guzman’s o ce.

Family owned and operated by Damien, Cathy, Tiffany & Nikki.

By Alex Rickert

IN PURSUIT OF TONE

Summer days in the Florida Keys are meant for the boat, but after a great day on the water, when it comes time to return home and grill the day’s catch or simply enjoy an evening with friends and family, outdoor enjoyment is a must – especially with hurricane-resistant buildings that don’t always feature much indoor space.

Perfect tunes are the ideal complement to these evenings, and thankfully, the Keys are blessed with a high-end authority on outdoor and whole-home sound. We recently sat down with Franco D’Ascanio Sr. and Jr. of Coastal Source, a company offering complete solutions to outdoor lighting and audio needs, to discuss the factors distinguishing a true, yard-filling outdoor sound system from an underwhelming Bluetooth speaker you plop on the table. As we learned, with the rise of more home technologies controlled by familiar user interfaces – our beloved phones – exceptional sound and

lighting outside the home are more accessible for consumers than ever before.

CONSIDER THE SOURCE

A high-caliber system is nothing without a consistent connection to deliver the high-quality source material. With the rise of streaming services and wireless connectivity, this becomes even more crucial. Map out your system ahead of time, making sure that components can either be hard-wired with weatherproof connections and “direct burial” cables or are well within their listed wireless ranges. If you plan to control your system with your phone or a remote, be sure that your home’s wireless network extends to all areas where you’d need to control the system.

THE TEST OF TIME

With an abundance of heat, sunlight, humidity, salinity and wind, the Keys are a textbook example of a damaging environ-

ment for outdoor technology. Although many quality brands may command respect indoors, using a budget product or one that’s not rated for outdoor use may find you wasting more money as you replace ruined equipment within a year or two.

“There are other brands that we used before we had our own brand, and they’re huge brand names, but they just don’t last in our corrosive environment,” said Franco Jr.

To illustrate this point, the Weekly was invited to tour Coastal Source’s “salt lab.” As the name suggests, it’s where the company puts its products through hell on earth for electronics, throwing every damaging condition possible at them in order to test their resilience. While Franco Jr. said Coastal Source’s products are engineered to withstand the brutal test chambers, shelves on the salt lab’s walls were filled with comparison products that were barely recognizable after the same trials.

HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT OUTDOOR SOUND SYSTEM, STRAIGHT FROM THE PROS

QUANTITY AND PLACEMENT, NOT VOLUME, DRIVE QUALITY

When it comes time to map out a system, focus on a larger quantity of full-range speakers to evenly spread the sound, rather than two smaller speakers and a subwoofer or a few massively powerful units. You’re looking for ambient space-filling music that still allows for conversational tones around the yard, not a DJ stand.

“The problem is, if you have a subwoofer and then a bunch of little speakers, as you walk away, if the main speakers don’t have any bass, it thins out,” said Franco Sr. As opposed to “point source” speakers, which create a hemisphere of sound that quickly dissipates with distance from the point of origin, he pointed to “line array” technologies that use a ribbon of speakers to create a directed cylinder of sound.

“With a point source speaker, a lot of that sound is going by you in every direction, rather than delivered to you,” he explained, cranking up the volume on one of Coastal Source’s flagship offerings. “What’s cool about these is that they play very loud, but they’re extremely even. As you walk towards the speakers, you’ll notice they don’t get a lot louder.”

“You want to have a volume level where you can hear in front of them,” added Franco Jr. “If you have two big speakers in a corner, you don’t want to go to that corner, because it’s so

loud that you can’t hear people. You can take that same amount of money and spread it across multiple speakers to create zones and give so much more control.”

If you’re looking to fill a large space, consider speakers with a wide dispersion angle, added Franco Sr. The wider the angle, the easier it is to cover a larger area with fewer speakers and maintain high fidelity.

PLAN AHEAD

A budget ultimately drives most systems, but if you think you may want to expand in the future, go ahead and lay the low-cost groundwork ahead of time to avoid repeat disruptions of your yard and walls. While you may not buy all the speakers for your dream setup at once, “instead of running two pairs of wires, run four pairs, and just have them come up in some location,” Franco Jr. suggested, adding that an established central “trunk line” for wiring that can be tapped into from multiple locations makes modifications much easier down the road.

“Make sure if you dig up that planter bed or go under some pavers, you can put them down and you don’t have to go into them again.”

By Elizabeth Schweitzer

BBQAKA BARBECUE

The English word “barbecue” comes from the Spanish word barbacoa. In 1526, a Spanish explorer to the West Indies came upon a Caribbean Indian tribe called the Taino. They cooked their food on raised wooden platforms over fire and called it barbacoa. Etymologists believe this to be derived from barabicu, found in the language of the Arawak people of the Caribbean and the Timucua people of Florida.

(The Taino were also known to smoke and dry meat in the sun, which could then be taken on long journeys or reconstituted with boiling water – the basis for modernday jerky.)

The words “barbecue” and “grilling” are often used interchangeably, but the fact is that barbecue is a type of grilling. Grilling is the use of a high heat to sear the food or to cook it quickly over direct radiant heat, while barbecuing is a much slower process over a lower dispersed heat that integrates the smoke.

Before we delve into specific wines for barbecue menus, let’s review some basic food and wine pairing “rules.” They’re mostly common sense, light food with light wine, heavy food with heavy wine. Remember the basics: fat with tannins, salt with acid. Especially with BBQ, there are specifics in every sauce. Carolina-style sauce, Kansas City, Texas, Alabama, Memphis, Nashville and, yes, Florida with its Cuban citrus and Caribbean spices. Each has its own signature sauce and each claims theirs is the best.

Carolina sauce has heavy vinegar with mustard. Kansas City is thick and sweet with molasses. Alabama is made with mayonnaise and apple cider vinegar. Memphis is tangy and thin with tomato and vinegar. Texas sauce is tomato based with sweetness. Nashville is ketchup, mustard and paprika. Florida is ketchup, orange juice, lemon, lime, onion and honey.

Keep in mind, these are generalizations, and every recipe is subject to the creator’s own imagination.

A classic across the board is Lanson Champagne, easy to drink and the perfect refreshment while waiting for the main course.

Muga Rose’ from Rioja, Spain will drink perfectly with salmon and chicken. Veggie kabobs and bean burgers are a match with Loimer Lois Grüner Veltliner and/or Pierre Sparr Crémant d’Alsace Brut Reserve

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir with lamb chops and Chave “Mon Coeur” Côtes-du-Rhône with hot dogs and burgers.

The heavy hitters are for the ribs and steaks and pork. Robert Foley Cabernet Sauvignon Napa, Manifesto Zinfandel from Lodi and Ontañón Rioja Reserva will not disappoint and hold up to the spices and sauces with the meat.

Keep in mind that beer is also a common drink at BBQ. Pilsner Urquell with veggies, salad and grilled fish. An IPA pairs with lamb and beef.

Just remember that the time spent at a BBQ is precious; slow down, sit, chill. Enjoy whatever is in your glass and the people around you.

President George Washington was a big fan of barbecue. He wrote in his diary about going to a barbecue in 1769: “Went in to Alexandria to a Barbecue and stayed all Night.” And he hosted one in 1773: “a Barbicue of my own giving at Accatinck.” On hand were 48 bottles of French claret. That sounds like a recipe for a good time.

May you always be surrounded by good friends and great barbecue. Nobody has friends over to microwave.

Until next time, Cheers!

Slow down, sit and chill.”

By Chris McNulty

MUSEUM OF THE SKY

ArtisticexpressionsoftheZodiac

ARIES - GRAFFITI

Each sign of the Zodiac is an archetype, meaning there is no end to the number of associations, characteristics and expressions embodied by each sign.

However, that doesn’t mean each sign is just a randomized mishmash of everything and anything. Each sign has a distinctive personality that shines forth through all the historical descriptions and modern representations.

Art is perhaps indefinable, but if anything, we can say it expresses the spirit of the artist. In much the same way, art can express the spirit and personality of each Zodiac sign. Here are some suggestions for art styles that can help you incorporate your sign into your life or home decor and enhance your insight into your personal astrology.

Aries is associated with quickness, spontaneity, selfexpression and a bit of foolhardiness. A fire sign ruled by Mars, the planet of action, Aries represents movement, youthfulness, and new beginnings. Graffiti art, with its bold statements, speed of creation, and reputation for a disregard of legal consequence typifies Aries energy. Start shakin’ that spray can!

TAURUS - POTTERY

Pottery is sensuous, earthy and practical. It is made from clay, fashioned by human touch, and usually destined to serve food/drink or to display flowers. Taurus is an earth sign ruled by Venus, the planet of luscious beauty and sense experience. Mud and shapeliness, earth and Venus. Get your hands dirty and let your fingers create.

GEMINI - COMIC BOOK ART

Comic book art is versatile and expressive, much like the sign of the twins. It often accompanies written narratives and communicates clear ideas. As an air sign ruled by Mercury, the planet of thought, Gemini loves a good story to read and ponder. But mostly, Gemini loves a good story to share, and comic book art is meant to be passed around.

CANCER - IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING

Impressionism transports you into a moment of the immediate, subjective feeling of the artist. Cancer, as a water sign ruled by the intuitive moon, is led by the wisdom of emotion and stays immersed in the flow of life. Impressionism snapshots that flow without objectifying it. Monet all day!

LEO - PERFORMANCE ART

Leo is a fire sign ruled by the sun, and like the sun it loves to hold the center of attention. Bold theatricality is characteristic of Leo, and performance art allows the viewer to reflect on human creativity and human potential. Whether a flash mob or an interpretive dancer, the art of a Leo should be expressive and emblematic of human nature.

VIRGO - CALLIGRAPHY

Highly detailed. Thought materialized. Practical beauty. Calligraphy takes patience, focus and intention – all characteristics of Mercury’s earth sign, Virgo. Not only is calligraphic art lovely to behold, it has the function of direct communication. Whether it be poetic or instructional, calligraphy inherently serves a purpose. Virgos seek purpose.

LIBRA – JEWELRY

Wearable art not only allows Libras to look beautiful, it also gives them a conversation piece while they are sashaying around a party. A sociable air sign ruled by Venus, the planet of beauty, Libras maintain the communal balance in any situation. A signature piece of jewelry is the perfect tool for maintaining and directing a friendly discussion. It also lends that Venusian glam.

SCORPIO – TATTOO ART

Scorpio is deep, edgy and embodies themes that society sometimes considers taboo. Tattoos make the person the canvas in a display of individualism within the tribe, a permanent expression of personal truth, and a bucking of “polite” society. Scorpios don’t mince words or split hairs – they tell it like it is. Both tattoos and Scorpios get below the surface.

SAGITTARIUS – TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

A fire sign ruled by joyous Jupiter, Sagittarius is always seeking to expand its world through new discoveries. Travel photography in the home is a perpetual reminder of the bigger world out there, that there are always sights unseen. Photos of world destinations are reminders that horizons are not limitations, and that is the lesson of Sagittarius.

CAPRICORN – ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Capricorn is an earth sign ruled by Saturn, planet of boundaries and limits. Capricorn seeks success within the parameters and rules afforded to it, and the architectural design of a space literally determines what is possible within it. It sets the stage for everything else. Whether simple or ornate, architecture is highly functional, and Capricorn loves nothing more than being high-functioning.

AQUARIUS – EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC

Experimental music can sometimes be jarring because it doesn’t follow traditional rules of harmony and meter, but it propels the genre forward by finding new ways of organizing sound. Aquarius is a quirky, avant garde air sign that moves us into the future. Both experimental music and Aquarius remind us that nothing is settled and we should always be trying something new, even if it is uncomfortable. Don’t be square!

PISCES – SURREALIST ART

“Piscean” and “surreal” could be synonyms. Pisces is a water sign ruled by expansive Jupiter, and it brings forth dreams, hallucinations, and spiritual possibilities. Nothing is quite as it seems in the land of Pisces because reality is ill-defined. Surrealism defies reason and makes visual the illogic of dreams and nightmares. Melting clocks are just the beginning.

By Erin Stover Sickmen

MARIE KONDO SAYS, F@*K IT

OKAY, SO MARIE KONDO, THE FAMED AUTHOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERT, HASN’T EXACTLY THROWN HER HANDS UP IN THE AIR AND SAID, “F@*K IT.” RATHER, SHE’S ADJUSTED HER OWN LIFE, OUTLOOK AND DAILY ROUTINE AS MANY OF US DO ON A REGULAR BASIS. THE PROCLAMATION TO EASE UP ON HER OWN EXPECTATIONS ONLY FEELS REVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERING THE SOURCE.

Illustration: Yuko Uramoto

Marie Kondo, also known as Konmari, is a well-renowned consultant, business owner and star of her own Netflix series. She rose to prominence in 2014 in Japan following the release of her instructional videos and by 2019, was a household name in the U.S. Her patented Konmari Method is characterized by her wellknown mantra asking oneself if an item “sparks joy” when determining whether to keep or pitch it. Her advice was simple – tidy your house by category (clothes, then books, etc.), keeping only the items that excite you. As for the rest, “thank them for their service – then let them go.” Kondo partially attributes the roots of her system to Shintoism, a religion in which determining, and caring for, the divine purpose of objects is a spiritual practice. For disjointed American households, Kondo’s calm demeanor and bright aesthetic was a breath of fresh air. She sold millions of copies of her books and broke Netflix viewership records, while carloads of objects were being driven to local Goodwills across the country.

In 2021 though, following the birth of her third child, Kondo had a change of heart, or at least a change of priorities. In a post that has since been deleted from her website (the link now leads to a page stating, “We’ve been tidying

up — and we let go of this page with gratitude.”), Kondo reflected on motherhood, noting that she had “eased up on herself” in terms of keeping a tidy abode. “My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this stage of my life,” Kondo added.

Followers looked up from their piles of detritus in wide-eyed bewilderment. Had the messiah of mess abandoned them? Well, no. What Kondo had done is what every mother, everyone really, should be allowed to do. She had taken a step back, reevaluated her life, then taken steps that would make her dayto-day movements more enjoyable. The Shinto roots of her practice prioritize behavior over a doctrine, stating that the path to well-being is found in things that can be done, rather than things that should be believed. Philosophically, she was just expanding on her belief system, employing the Japanese idea of kurashi (way of life) to align the elements of her life in a way that brings her joy.

When viewed through the lens of prioritizing happiness, nothing about Kondo’s recent statements feels the least bit contradictory, let alone hypocritical – a word screamed from message boards at the time. In fact, there’s arguably better

advice buried in these statements than in the meme-friendly conceit of “sparking joy.” Women are taught that consistency is control, and control is king. Changing tack makes others uncomfortable and women, especially, are often criticized for changing their opinions. But why do we exalt those who remain steadfast, in spite of the constantly, wildly shifting world around them? It’s a very rigid path. In reality, humans are built for adaptability. We (hopefully) grow wiser as we age and learn new information. Opinions change, priorities change.

So yes, of course it makes an easy punchline when the always-poised queen of clean shrugs and essentially says, “meh.” It’s funny. But if we’re laughing off Kondo for reprioritizing her life, then the joke is on us. Because shouldn’t we all be open to reevaluating what brings us joy? If we keep our heads down and our eyes on our little piles of cast-off objects, we’re missing the point. All women, Kondo included, should be afforded the opportunity to change their minds. So, whether it’s the first-edition book your grandmother gave you, or the chance to spend time with your messy tantrum-trilling toddler, there’s power in finding, and acknowledging, the things in life that spark your joy.

I am busier than ever after having my third child, so I have grown to accept that I cannot tidy every day – and that is okay.”

MONDAY: Closed

TUESDAY: Jumbo Gumbo Bowls

Tacos and Tequila

Live Music: Roger Jokela

WEDNESDAY: Wine Time Wednesday

($15-$20 bottles)

Live Music

THURSDAY: Prime Rib Night

Live Music: John Bartus

FRIDAY: Abstract Radio

SATURDAY: Brunch

BOGO Mimosas & Sparkling Wine

SUNDAY: Brunch

BOGO Mimosas & Sparkling Wine

By Karen Newfield

NAUTICAL NOVELS

SAIL INTO SUMMER WITH HISTORICAL FICTION, ROMANTIC COMEDY AND A SPINE-CHILLING THRILLER. THERE IS NO BETTER

THE CUBAN HEIRESS

By Chanel Cleeton

Elena Palacio lived a privileged childhood in Havana. When her parents died tragically, Elena’s tia sent her to college in New York City. Beautiful and possessing a considerable inheritance, Elena falls into the arms of a charismatic businessman. After a horrific fire, the world assumes she is dead. Meanwhile, Catherine Dohan, a seemingly sophisticated heiress, is engaged to a high-society man who pays her little attention. She is the doting girlfriend, secretly scrutinizing his every move. These women are traveling on the SS Morro Castle from New York to Cuba. This luxury excursion during Prohibition provided non-stop partying and late night entertainment for the well-to-do. Elena is out for revenge. Catherine is not who she appears to be. And Harry, the ship’s irresistible jewel thief, quickly calls her out. As the Morro Castle crosses the Atlantic, it’s clear there is something far more turbulent and sinister on board than the stormy surrounding seas. Romance, mystery and revenge reminiscent of another time.

JASMINE AND JAKE ROCK THE BOAT

By Sonya Lalli

Since childhood, Jasmine has been a disappointment to her parents. Challenging teenage years followed by the wrong job, the wrong boyfriend – the wrong everything. Desperate for change, she accompanies them on a South Asian community cruise to Alaska – an opportunity to eat, drink and avoid bumping into her ex and his parade of one-night stands. The first person she spies younger than 50 approaches her. While she mistakenly assumes this handsome fellow works on board, he reminds Jasmine she was his babysitter. Jasmine can’t reconcile the nerdy Jake Dhillon with this sexy lawyer. To add to the comedy show of her life, it appears this is a seniors cruise. Jake will remain the only young person for her to socialize with. As the aunties circulate gossip of Jasmine’s failures and spinster status, she and Jake secretly reconnect. Even though the consensus concludes she is not good enough for their golden boy, the couple’s chemistry says otherwise. Set sail with this laugh-out-loud modern day Love Boat.

SETTING THAN THE SEA.

THE LAST LIFEBOAT

By Hazel Gaynor

In 1940 Alice King was leading an ordinary life. At 30, she still lived with her overbearing mother in their family home. By trade a teacher and librarian, her world shrinks as war with Germany escalates. Alice dreams of doing something meaningful, making a difference like a character in one of her cherished novels. When an opportunity arises to chaperone children being evacuated to Canada, Alice signs up. Lily Nichols, recently traumatized by the loss of her husband, cares for her young children in London. The bombings have them uncomfortably trapped in shelters every night, uncertainty terrifying even the bravest souls. When the “seavacuees” program is offered, Lily could not resist the chance to spare her son and daughter the dangers that surround them. Alice is named to be their “auntie” on the S.S. Carlisle. What begins as an adventure at sea turns into an unimaginable nightmare when the ship is torpedoed by a Nazi Uboat. Inspired by a true story, this spellbinding novel is filled with unparalleled courage.

RECKLESS GIRLS

By Rachel Hawkins

Lux and Nico appear to be the golden couple – but looks can be deceiving. Lux is frustrated scrubbing hotel rooms while Nico does odd jobs at the marina. All this work to fix up the Susannah, Nico’s sailboat. Lux didn’t leave much behind in California besides a miserable past. After meeting sun-kissed Nico, she quickly agreed to travel with him to the islands. When two random girls hire Nico and his boat offering a ridiculous sum of money, it’s too good to refuse. A two-week stint to Meroe Island and enough cash for Nico and Lux to finally be free. Once anchored, they meet another couple, Jake and Eliza, sailing a magnificent catamaran, only too happy to share expensive food and wine. They learn this location has a murderous history, including tales of cannibalism. When another unsavory sailor enters the cove, Lux grows suspicious and is determined to find the truth. In this modern-day “Lord-of-the-Flies”-like thriller “The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.”

By Amy Patton

SCENTS &

Sensibility

Strolling into Bella Laine, the Key West candle shop and art studio, you’ll be met by the intoxicating smells of dried flowers, sandalwood, peppermint, cinnamon, lavender (I don’t know a soul who doesn’t love lavender) – or even the scent of fresh laundry or a day at the beach.

Emily Shipman is behind all these great olfactory treats and she’s an expert at bringing the art of aromatherapy into wherever you live and work. Hotels and Airbnbs are also clients, striving to make “scents” of the short-term rental spaces.

On a recent morning at Bella Laine, I found Shipman inside her studio at the Shops at Mallory Square busily melting 100% soy wax and blending it with all kinds of fragrant essential oils. Take “WInd and Sea,” a crisp and clean hand-painted 8.5-ounce jar of pure ocean goodness. “I do a blend of plum, musk, sea salt and ozone,” Shipman said. “I love the scent of sunscreen. It reminds me of the San Diego beaches in La Jolla where I lived for a time.”

DON’T FORGET FRAGRANCE AS AN ELEMENT OF DESIGN

When simply lighting a candle of your favorite fragrance and hoping for it to work its magic in your home isn’t always enough to add that extra “oomph” of ambient goodness that we all love and crave, call Shipman and her team for expert advice.

“Home is so important to us. The way we think and feel and our sense of wellbeing is often tied to our sense of smell,” she says. Shipman’s real passion is creating a personalized design scenting profile for your space, be it a house, apartment or even a shared living arrangement.

A big chunk of Bella Laine’s success, she said, is catering to special requests for weddings and other special events. “I had a groom bring me a bar of soap that he especially loved. He told me if he ever got married, he would want his wedding to smell like that. I copied the orange blossom, powder and lilac notes in the candles I designed for their day.”

Scientists have long documented the effect that strong scents have on our moods and emotions. And it’s no secret that everything and everyone looks better by flickering candlelight. It’s a warmer, softer light than LED bulbs or fluorescent lighting.

Surrounding scents also do something unusual to humans: they can bypass our conscious thinking and go directly to the brain to invoke an unconscious ethos or stir sentiments of a time or place – or person – from long ago.

Burning soothing candles, using scented diffusers and setting out bowls of potpourri can help people sleep or heal and can change how a family interacts.

Recovering from a nose dive after the coronavirus plunged many of us into a smell-deprived zone sparked a marked uptick in the national and international sales of all types of home fragrance. The after-effects of the pandemic show that surrounding ourselves with fragrance is clearly tied to creating moods, especially those of comfort.

At Bella Laine (the name a hybrid of Shipman’s 6-year-old daughter Isabella and her grandmother, Elaine), an unforgettable sensory experience awaits visitors in the “scentsational,” retreat-like shop. Check out “Nine Miles to Cuba,” a candle with notes of sweet tonka and mellow teakwood, a nod to the Southernmost Point’s famed buoy. “It conjures up what my idea of a cigar factory might smell like,” she said. And if a craving comes on for the experience of Key lime pie sans the calories, Bella Laine has just the thing: a freshly-poured jar of Coconut Lime Verbena, a perfect balance of subtle and sweet.

In addition to Bella Laine’s retail offerings and the custom home fragrancing design arm of the business, Shipman’s team hosts private parties and other types of group get-togethers at the shop where guests can mix and mingle while trying out the art of candle-making. With all the tools of essential oils, soy wax and jar sizes

right there, “It’s a fun process for people to see what combinations of scents they love and to be hands-on in the making of their own style of scenting.”

But the 30-year-old artisan learned early on in her business venture that crafting fine candles isn’t as easy as melting a bit of wax into a jar and adding a few drops of fragrance oil.

“When I first started doing this in my kitchen in 2018 I was making a lot of mistakes. Then I started reaching out to candle companies in California. I asked questions like, ‘Why is my candle forming so mushy,’” Shipman laughed. “I learned the art of precise measuring between the soy wax and the fragrances. It’s literally a balance of weight and volume to get the whole product just right.”

So when it comes to your living space, think ambient “scentsibility.“

“Just like we spritz on fragrance to reflect our moods and memories, our homes need that too,” Shipman said.

Bella Laine is located at The Shops at Mallory Square (291 Front St., Key West). Check out Shipman’s live candle workshop and artist studio where she mixes and pours soy wax and fragrance in sizes from tealights to 16-ounce containers. Online sales for handpainted jars of her original creations are always available at bellalaineart.com, as are variable shop hours through the weekday and weekends. The website is the place to visit to book Shipman’s team for a special event, party or wedding.

Fragrance is the art that makes memory speak.”

– Francis Kurkdjian

Payable with your monthly electric bill

Interested in Solar? Finance with FKEC!

To help Florida Keys Electric Cooperative members have financial access to solar power generation, FKEC offers Solar Loans with a streamlined application process and the convenience of having your loan payment payable with your monthly electric bill.

HOW DO I QUALIFY? Qualifying is based solely on your credit history with FKEC. Residential members must have a minimum 12-month clean billing history with FKEC and commercial members must have 24 months.

HOW DO I APPLY? Start by calling FKEC at 305-852-2431 to see if you are eligible, and to learn more about the terms of the loan. You can also find the terms and steps to obtaining a solar loan at www.FKEC.com.

305.852.2431 • www.FKEC.com

By Stephanie Mitchell

If, like me, you’ve been on the “grownup” fence and still haven’t made the move to purchase a food processor, the next few recipes might make you want to up your kitchen ante.

During a recent trip off-island I started noticing a delightful addition to many menus: whipped feta. I love feta, and I love whipped things. Topped with salty pistachios and honey, how could I not order it, over and over again, all weekend long?

Once home, I wondered, how hard could it be to recreate this delicious delight? To my surprise, it’s not that difficult at all. But I did need to purchase an appliance that had always been on my, “I’m not sure I’ll use/know what to do with this thing” list.

All I can say is it was worth every penny. So if you love cheese and need a wonderful side dish to bring to a summertime barbecue, might I suggest one of the options below?

Get out your food processor and start whipping things up.

Whippin’ Whippin’

Photo:

it up!

it up!

WHIPPED FETA WITH HONEY & PISTACHIOS

INGREDIENTS

- 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

- 4 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- ½ teaspoon minced garlic

- ¼ cup honey

- 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

- 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives

- cracked black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

- In a food processor combine feta, cream cheese & olive oil until combined and smooth in texture. Add garlic and blend well again.

- Scoop cheese out of the food processor and into a shallow bowl. Use a spoon or spatula to create a well in the center of your cheese mixture and fill the well with honey. Garnish the cheese portion with chives, pistachios and black pepper.

- Serve with vegetables, pita bread or crackers.

WHIPPED FETA TZATZIKI DIP

INGREDIENTS

- 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

- 4 oz. Greek yogurt

- 2/3 cup finely diced seedless cucumbers

- 1/3 cup diced yellow onion

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

- 1 teaspoon minced garlic

- ¼ teaspoon salt

- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

- Finely dice the cucumbers and lay them on a paper towel to absorb the extra moisture; place another paper towel over top and press lightly to remove as much moisture as possible. Remove the top paper towel, sprinkle with salt and let sit.

- Finely dice your onion.

- Put feta, Greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, garlic, salt & pepper into your food processor and blend until smooth.

- Add cucumbers and onion to the smooth mixture in the food processor and pulse 1-2 more times.

- Spoon mixture into a serving dish and chill 30 minutes before serving.

- Serve with sliced veggies, pita bread or potato chips.

ZESTY LEMON PEPPER

WHIPPED FETA

INGREDIENTS

- 8 oz. block of feta, drained

- ¾ cup Greek yogurt

- 1 lemon’s zest

- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (add more as needed for consistency)

- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like to take the heat up a notch)

- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint

- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

- 2-3 tablespoons pine nuts

INSTRUCTIONS

- In your food processor combine feta, Greek yogurt and lemon zest. Blend and while the food processor is running drizzle in your olive oil until the mixture is smooth.

- Transfer whipped feta to a serving dish and distribute evenly over the dish’s surface.

- Drizzle olive oil over the mixture and garnish with red pepper flakes, mint, parsley and pine nuts.

- Serve with pita chips or warm pita wedges.

The things we do

Ah, springtime. The time of year we all tend to take a look around our homes and realize the space is beginning to close in around us. Apparently, ‘tis the season to get squeaky clean and organized. Or is it?

We all know we should do a bit of spring cleaning, at least that’s what the old “Good Housekeeping” magazines and Hints from Heloise told us. Out with the old, in with the new; onward and upward; fresh air, fresh start, yada yada yada. But all the trite tropes in the world don’t make the springtime purge any more enjoyable. In fact, we at the Keys Weekly are starting to wonder how necessary the whole thing actually is.

Always here to help, we’ve compiled a list of acceptable excuses NOT to ruin a perfectly good weekend — and a few rationalizations that’ll enable us to postpone the punishing springtime spruce-up.

Day drinking or spring cleaning?

That’s a dumb question.

Doing the dishes counts as spring cleaning, right?

WE LIVE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS; IT’S NOT AS IF WE’VE BEEN COOPED UP INSIDE ALL WINTER. OUR WINDOWS HAVE BEEN OPEN, SO WE’RE GOOD.

I’LL POSTPONE SPRING CLEANING UNTIL AFTER SUMMER THIS YEAR — IT’S GETTING TOO DAMN HOT.

Only spring clean when friends are staying at your house.

We don’t spend much time indoors during daylight, so no worries.

Open the jar of Fabuloso; the house will smell fantastic.

IF MARIE KONDO CAN SAY “F@*K IT”, SO CAN I.

Finally in a cleaning mood, but out of supplies, oh well…

Call a cleaning service. Problem solved.

WE’VE BEEN HABITUALLY HAND-SANITIZING SINCE COVID, SO, REALLY, WE’RE BRINGING A LOT FEWER GERMS INTO THE HOUSE THESE DAYS.

I’m taking the advice of renowned declutterer Marie Kondo. Spring cleaning doesn’t “spark joy in my life,” so I’m letting it go.

It’s just too hot for cleaning, let’s go on the boat instead.

Design Your Dream Home & Outdoor Space