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KITCHEN SMARTS:
In the Garden
Now’s a good time to savor the subtle beauty of trees’ barks Autumn’s fiery-colored leaves have fallen, so now let’s look for more subtle beauty in trees and shrubs. Like a developing photographic image, the textures and colors of bark come into view in the increasingly stark winter landscape. Paper birch isn’t the only tree with bark worth looking at. COLORFUL BARK Take a look at the spectrum of colors in bark. There are reds ranging from the fire-engine red of the shrubby redosier dogwood to the coppery reddish-brown of the Nanking cherry to the dulled red-brown of Cryptomeria. Individual trees of river birch each have their own bark hue, some cinnamon-brown, others reddish-brown or grayish-brown. If you think pale gray is a boring color for bark, look at the bark of a hundredyear-old beech: The trunk and limbs seem alive enough to start moving. The bark of some trees is decoratively dabbled LEE REICH with colors. Sycamore is one of the most familiar of such trees, but lacebark pine and stewartia also are worth planting for their bark alone. The pine’s bark is richly mottled in browns and greens. Stewartia has a gray bark daubed with cinnamon and dark olive-green. TEXTURE TOO Let’s not be so wowed by these colors that we overlook barks’ textures. Fine, papery peelings curl away from the bark of the paperbark maple and the abovementioned river birch as their trunks expand in girth. Except for an occasional interruption of warty lenticels, the bark of Nanking cherry shines as if it has been buffed daily with a shoe-shine cloth. The reddish-brown of cryptomeria bark is intensified in warmth as it peels away in long, soft shreds. The gray bark of the European beech is fine enough to appear uniformly smooth, but rough enough so there is no gloss. It looks like elephant hide, an effect enhanced by the folds and creases at its limb “joints.” OR TEXTURE ALONE With some trees and shrubs, the barks’ textures are a show in themselves. Long, vertical strips of shagbark hickory bark remain attached to the trunks at their middles, their upper and lower ends curling away to create a shaggy trunk from top to bottom. The little blocks of the bark of persimmon and flowering dogwood give the trunks the texture of alligator hide. American hornbeam, a small understory tree common in our Eastern woodlands, has a bluish-gray, close-fitting bark whose smooth surface is broken up by sinewy ripples. It looks like muscles, and “musclewood” is one common name for this tree. The bark of the hackberry has a subtle yet, to me, very beautiful color and texture. It’s gray, with corky warts and ridges breaking up a smooth background. When lit by the low, winter sun, these warts and ridges shadow light on the smooth part of the trunk with a clarity that reminds me of photos of craters on the lunar landscape. Trees and shrubs are everywhere, so the beauty of bark can be appreciated on sycamores on a city street as well as on shagbark hickories on a woodland hike. The plants I’ve mentioned are only a few of many with noSee Garden p. 2D
In this 2015 file photo, shoppers fill containers in the bulk department at Honest Weight Food Co-Op in Albany, N.Y. There are shortcuts you can take at the supermarket that will help you get dinner on the table faster throughout the week. They range from choosing vegetables that are already prepped or frozen to taking home the occasional rotisserie chicken to buying bulk. (AP photo)
6
SUPERMARKET SHORTCUTS that save time later
By KATIE WORKMAN Associated Press If you’ve had one of those days, and you find yourself glancing at the clock only to discover that it’s already 5 p.m. (What!?) and dinner is not simmering cheerfully on the stove, then you may feel like you have limited options. Yes, there is the frozen meal or take-out route. And sure, you can still start from scratch, shopping and cooking and sitting down to eat late and exhausted. Or, you can brush up on some little food shopping hacks that can significantly cut your prep and cooking time, and get you and your family to dinner faster. Here are six tips for the next time you’re in the supermarket, whether the dinner clock is ticking or you’re just paying it forward. MAKE THE SALAD BAR YOUR SOUS CHEF Walk on over to that salad
In this 2008 file photo, a butcher spreads out rotisserie-roasted chicken at Costco in Mountain View, Calif. There are shortcuts you can take at the supermarket that will help you get dinner on the table faster throughout the week. They range from choosing vegetables that are already prepped or frozen to taking home the occasional rotisserie chicken to buying bulk. (AP photo)
bar and take a good look at it from an ingredient perspective. So many prepped foods to choose from! Sliced peppers, diced onions, cubed zucchini, shredded chicken, cooked beans, washed baby spinach leaves, broccoli florets . a bounty of prepped items, all ready to turn into a stir fry, vegetable lasagna, frittata, soup — and sure, maybe
even a salad. And the nice thing is, you can buy exactly how much of each item you want. EXPLORE OTHER PRECUT/WASHED/PRE PPED PRODUCE Next to the whole fruits and vegetables you can find a section of other prepped produce, usually uncooked. Shredded carrots, spiralized sweet potatoes, peeled gar-
lic, shelled peas, bags of washed salad lettuces, and so on. I know I’m not alone when I say that peeling, seeding and cubing a winter squash at the end of a busy day can feel like a real obstacle to dinner, but a container of peeled, cubed squash is a game changer. ROTISSERIE See Shortcuts p. 2D
MARKET WATCH
US pending home sales slipped 0.7 percent in November
This undated photo shows shagbark hickory bark in New Paltz, N.Y. Bark of the aptly named shagbark hickory tree decoratively peels away in shaggy strips to liven up the winter landscape. (AP photo)
By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON — Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in November as higher mortgage rates and prices continued to squeeze would-be buyers out of the market. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that its pending home sales index dipped 0.7 percent last month to 101.4. The index based on contract signings has dropped 7.7 percent over the past year and has recorded 11 straight year-over-year decreases. The rate on benchmark 30-year, fixed rate mortgages was 4.55 percent this week, down from 4.62 percent last week but up from 3.99 percent a year ago.
“The latest decline in contract signings implies more short-term pullback in the housing sector,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. All four U.S. regions have reported annual drops in pending home sales: The West is down 12.2 percent, the South 7.4 percent, the Midwest 7 percent and the Northeast 3.5 percent. From October to November, sales rose 2.8 percent in the West and 2.7 percent in the Northeast but fell 2.7 percent in the South and 2.3 percent in the Midwest. Pending sales are a barometer of home purchases that are completed a month or two later. So the November index suggests that sales will possibly decline through January.
A realtor sign hangs in front of a home for sale in Pittsburgh. Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in November as higher mortgage rates and prices squeezed would-be buyers out of the market, especially in the West. (AP photo)
2D The Mining Journal
Thursday, January 3, 2019
House to Home Mortgage Index 30-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pts.
15-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pt.
High rate
4.750
1
5.375
1
Low rate
4.375
1
3.875
1
Average rate
4.562
1
4.344
1
This graphic represents a Tuesday survey of regional lending institutions. Figures are based on rates at Range Bank, mBank, First Bank of Upper Michigan and Marquette Community Federal Credit Union.
Computer scientists study security threats to smart homes By TAMARA DIETRICH The Daily Press AP Member Exchange WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Say you’re on your laptop at Starbucks, minding your own business, when an acquaintance of yours across the room isn’t minding his. Unbeknownst to you, he’s using the same store Wi-Fi as you to conduct a virtual invasion of your smart home: accessing your light switch app and using it to disable your home’s security camera so real thieves can break in — or walk in, if he’s disabling the smart lock, too. And you’re none the wiser — until you get home and discover your home’s been hacked. And burgled. This is just one scenario demonstrating one of many inherent flaws that computer scientists at the College of William and Mary discovered in internet-connected smart home devices during tests they conducted over the summer. This particular flaw allows hackers to attack a smart home’s low-security device — a light switch or thermostat, for instance — and use that access to attack a high-security device they could not otherwise access. It’s one example of what’s called lateral privilege escalation, and experts warn that such smart home hacks are easier than you might think. They can lead to all kinds of potential mischief, if not outright harm, from switching off your security system to cranking up your smart oven until it overheats and burns the house down. “The possibilities are limitless,” said Adwait Nadkarni, lead investigator and assistant professor of computer science. “There are so many devices in the home that affect your security, affect the integrity of your home.” Experts say that in just two years there will be 20 billion smart home products in use. “You can imagine the possible combinations of these kinds of attacks will obviously increase as we’ll have more interconnected devices,” said associate professor Denys Poshyvanyk. “At this point, it’s hard for us to imagine what else people will do.” Nadkarni and Poshyvanyk co-authored a paper on their work that they’ll present at the 9th annual ACM Conference on Data and Application Security and Privacy in Dallas in March. Student co-authors include Kaushal Kafle and Sunil Manandhar and post-doctoral fellow Kevin Moran. In the paper, they lay out the potential misuses of the computer routines or portions of code that control smart home products and offer 10 key findings with “serious security implications.” “The diversity of these products is staggering,” the paper states, “ranging from small physical devices with embedded computers such as smart locks and light bulbs to full-fledged appliances such as refrigerators and HVAC systems.” And the risks, it states, can be rather alarming. “Because many of these products are tied
Shortcuts from 1D
CHICKEN — BEST DINNER SAVER EVER Cold, warm right out of the container, or reheated, there are few supermarket gifts as happy-making as a rotisserie chicken. Add a salad and something starchy and you are done. BUT shred up that meat and you have a springboard for a bazillion other dinners: chicken salad, quesadillas, enchiladas and burritos, soups, stir fries, casseroles. I buy a rotisserie chicken often because I know that it will get me to some chicken dinner in the coming days, and usually a different one every week. STOCK UP Once a month, do a little inventory of your mostused ingredients and make sure you’ve got a good stash of all of them. Pasta, beans, rice, broth, canned tomatoes, and fridge staples like eggs and grated cheese — having a full inventory saves you lastminute dashes to the market. Bonus points if you can stock up when these items are on sale. BUY BULK Buying in the bulk-food aisle definitely saves money, and offers you some nice whole-food choices.
In their East Hampton, N.Y. home shown here, Mark and Kristen Zeff have embraced black both inside and outside. “Black has several properties that make it ideal for interior design. It's calming to the eye, elegant and it underscores organic beauty,” Kristen Zeff says. “We used Black Jack paint by Benjamin Moore applied over pine, so the grain can come through to develop a texture that deepens the shade.” Black can open up a small space by disguising the edges of the room. Using black furnishings and accents can add drama, as well as punctuating the depth of other colors and textures in a space. (AP photo)
William & Mary computer science associate professors Adwait Nadkarni and Denys Poshyvanyk and their students have identified security vulnerabilities in smart home devices. Weakness' in the security of a web enabled light bulb could give hackers access to web enabled cameras and security devices, allowing them to be disabled. (AP photo) to the user’s security or privacy (e.g., door locks, cameras), it is important to understand the attack surface of such devices and platforms in order build practical defenses without sacrificing utility.” For their research, Nadkarni and Poshyvanyk focused on two of the most popular smart home platforms — Google Nest and Philips Hue — that implement home automation “routines.” Routines are the interactions between smart home devices and the apps that control them. They are becoming the heart of seamless home automation. According to the paper, there are two broad categories of routines: one that allows users to “chain together” a variety of devices using a third-party app interface, and one that uses a “centralized data store” as a sort of switchboard where devices and apps can communicate with each other over the internet. Both are intended to make smart home automation more seamless for the user, and both were found to be vulnerable, giving hackers the ability to attack all the internetconnected devices in the home. For the centralized data store platform, for instance, when you use your mobile app to communicate with a low-security device — say, a light switch — the device accesses your smart home using an authorization token. “Anybody can steal that access token,” Nadkarni said, and use it to, say, make your smart home think you’re inside and turn off the security camera. The scientists insist it’s not that hard. “You don’t need any specialized education,” said Poshyvanyk. ‘You just need to know how to run certain programs. Even a high schooler could do that.” They blame the vulnerabilities on consumer demand and the headlong rush to meet it. “Manufacturers race to release these systems without having a good understanding of how they will be used in the wild,” Poshyvanyk said.
But it can also save you time once you get it home. Decant all of your bulk items — quinoa, lentils, rice, oatmeal — into containers, preferably clear ones, and label them. Organize them by category in your cabinets or pantry closet — for example, whole grains, cereals, baking ingredients. Then when you are ready for them, there they will be, easy to find and easy to access. It’s also easy to see when you are running low on any of them. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE FREEZER AISLE Yes, you will want a carton of ice cream and maybe
a frozen pizza for backup, but there are so many ingredients and meal components in the freezer aisle that can help you get dinner on the table faster. Frozen vegetables are of really high quality, often quite economical, cook up super quickly, and don’t have to be defrosted before using. Peas, corn, edamame — all of these are quick ways to get vegetables onto the plate or into a dish. Many now come in microwavable pouches. Frozen fruits make quick smoothies; frozen hash browns aren’t just good with eggs but also as a pot-pie topping; and frozen shrimp and fish cook up in a flash.
RIGHT AT HOME: Black walls make a quiet comeback By KIM COOK Associated Press There was a time when black walls were mostly the purview of goth teens and indie movie theaters. But the color has been quietly cultivating a broader following among designers and homeowners who want a cozy, enveloping ambiance that’s still got theatrical flair. Bedrooms, libraries and bathrooms clad in inky or charcoal tones can be relaxing retreats. If you’ve got loads of windows, the color helps frame exterior views. And if the space is mostly walls, black creates a cocoon-like setting that can showcase a collection of objets d’art, vibrantly patterned rugs and furniture, or meditative warm woods and textures. Laboratory-white kitchens are also yielding ground to kitchens dressed in dark hues. Houzz.com editor Mitchell Parker says black is having a moment in the cooking space. “Our community of homeowners is embracing a heavy dose of dramatic color with large swaths of black range hoods, island accent colors and full-on, all-black cabinetry,” he says. For a kitchen in Brentwood, California, Shannon Wollack and Brittany Zwickl of Studio Life.Style wanted to add a little more punch. “The kitchen’s allblack palette, infused with a large slab of black-and-
white marble and bold brass accents, warms and fills the space without feeling too heavy,” says Wollack. LG, GE, Kitchenaid, Bosch, Frigidaire, Smeg, JennAir and others are offering suites of charcoalblack appliances with either a matte or satin smudgeproof finish. And there’s black cabinetry, countertop gadgets and cookery as well. Designer Mark Zeff and his wife, Kristen, have a home in East Hampton, New York, that celebrates black in several ways. The exterior is half-white, halfblack. Inside, black serves as a narrative thread for large design elements including a floating fireplace, a stained pinewood wall in the master suite, and a glass wall in the shower. Punctuation is added with black cowhide rugs; curvy Bibendum chairs by Eileen Gray; and Eero Saarinen Womb chairs. “Black has properties that make it ideal for interior design: It’s calming to the eye, it’s elegant and it underscores organic beauty,” says Mark Zeff. “Some may think white is a more ‘natural’ choice, but it’s actually much starker in comparison to black when blended with an environment. Because of the use of black, our home appears to hunker down and stay closer to the earth, like a natural landmark.” Adds Kristen Zeff: “We also like that black can para-
doxically open up a smaller space when applied as a paint, to make a room feel much larger than if white is The illusion is used. achieved by tricking the eye into not knowing where a room ends, by disguising the edges.” She says they painted pine with Benjamin wood Moore’s Black Jack. “The grain comes through, to develop a texture that deepens the shade.” Kristen Ekeland of Chicago-based Studio Gild also likes adding black, using Benjamin Moore’s Midnight in a recent bedroom project. “We wanted to create a space that’s calming and cozy. It’s dark, but it has an ethereal feeling,” she says. Along with the paint, the designers selected a black sideboard from Sabin to add depth and texture. Dee Schlotter, PPG’s senior color marketing manager, says using black on feature walls, interior surfaces and furniture serves as an anchor to neutrals, patterns and mixed materials, and provides a solid, classic element in any room while creating a sense of space and quiet. Her color team liked the hue so much that they chose Black Flame as PPG’s 2018 Color of the Year. Glidden picked Deep Onyx, another black, as theirs. “Black reflects the current state of rebelliousness and contentiousness in the world, but it also provides a feeling of privacy and protection,” says Schlotter.
Garden from 1D
for bark to develop character. Even paper-birch bark is smooth and reddish brown until age turns it white and peeling. But time is not wasted waiting for a young tree and its bark to mature; while you’re waiting, enjoy the way the smooth bark of young twigs glistens in the light of the low-hanging, midwinter sun.
More online: http://www.leereich.com/b log http://leereich.com
table bark. If I’ve succeeded in convincing you to plant a tree or shrub just for its pretty bark, something you might admire in winter through a window or as you walk outside, then go to an arboretum to see mature specimens. With most plants, it takes some time
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Land Brokers
NEW LISTING! 280 Acres, Section 2 , Rock
280 acres of private, heavily wooded hunting land in Delta County MLS#: 1112393 $199,900 ROB SULLIVAN
6343 F Road, Bark River
Upper Peninsula log home with 6000 sq. ft. of living space on three acres with additional acreage available
MLS#: 1106010
$449,000
Large, affordable block of hunting and recreation property bordering State lands on two sides with additional public lands on the other sides
MLS#: 1111579
Hunting Lodge with 90 acres on the Whitefish River in Delta County MLS#: 1110761
ROB SULLIVAN
N4270 Powell Lake Road, Wetmore
Beautiful year round 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home on 100’ of Powell Lake sand frontage MLS#: 1111087
$199,900
BOB SULLIVAN
W504 Co Road 426, Arnold
Custom built log home on 22 acres on the north branch of the Ford River MLS#: 1108256
$395,000
ROB SULLIVAN
Chippeny Lodge 30th Rd, Rapid River $299,900
$430,000
ROB SULLIVAN
240 Acres, Chain Of Lakes Rd, Republic
$139,000
3557 Co Rd FFB, Champion
Private Estate-type property with approximately 700’ of frontage on Fish Lake MLS#: 1109420
BRIAN OLSON
TBD US2 Highway, Naubinway
Nice wooded parcel approximately five miles east of Naubinway in Mackinac County with 93+ feet of frontage on the Black River MLS#: 1112037
$22,500
SUE FELDHAUSER
400 Acres, N Fence River Road, Crystal Falls
Big acreage tract with a user-friendly camp and a drilled well MLS#: 1106277
$299,900
DON WILLSON
BOB SULLIVAN
N106 Corner Lake Rd, Wetmore
Family style cottage on popular Corner Lake in the Chain of Lakes near Munising MLS#: 1108361
$299,900
BOB SULLIVAN
13 Acres, Blind 35, Big Bay
Great hunting location to build your camp with public land in close proximity. MLS#: 1110831
$25,000
BOB ANDERSON
N4950 Manistique Lakes (aka H-33) Road, Curtis
Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn in Curtis is well known and an extremely popular bed and breakfast, restaurant, bar, and gift shop on the shore of Big Manistique Lake MLS#: 1099205
$749,900
SUE FELDHAUSER
680 Acres, Long Lake, Republic
Nice trail roads, pond, lake frontage on Long Lake, a small gravel pit, a wonderful rustic log cabin on the pond with a terrific sauna on a scenic site with old growth red pines MLS#: 1097145
$495,000
BOB SULLIVAN
116 Riverdale, Harvey
Fish or drop your kayak in the Chocolay right out your backdoor at this Stunning Chocolay Township turnkey home MLS#: 1108143
$328,000
BRIAN OLSON
NEW PRICE
1761 Lake Haven Drive, Little Lake Year round camp/home with 600’ of frontage on Little Lake MLS#: 1106231
$249,900
Love the Land!
BOB SULLIVAN
Bob Sullivan
Associate Broker/ Owner Cell: 906-361-4212
875 Brookton Road, Marquette
New price. Commercial building in Marquette Township near US 41 zoned in a Development District MLS#: 1107388
$899,000
Rob Sullivan
Associate Broker, Office Manager Cell: 906-362-3337
Brian Olson
Associate Broker Cell: 906-869-6446
ROB SULLIVAN
Sue Feldhauser Agent Cell: 906-360-2891
640 Acres, Co Road 601, Republic
640 acres containing a 30-acre private lake in southwestern Marquette County. MLS#: 1096040
$899,000
Charles Drury Agent Cell: 906-235-3198
BOB SULLIVAN
Bob Anderson Agent Cell: 906-362-8388
Don Willson
Agent Cell: 906-202-0457
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