editor’s note...

Hello all! It’s another issue of Michiana House and Home. As you flip through the pages, the main theme is everyone involved in this publication is ready for spring. It doesn’t matter that we haven’t had a lot of snow this winter. We’re done with the grey dreary days and are ready for warmer, sunnier days, to get outside and play in the dirt (literally!)

Home show season continues, this time the Builders Association of North Central Indiana will have two shows in Warsaw and Plymouth. Both shows have expanded this year with more vendors participating.

Home shows are a great opportunity to see what’s new and chat with vendors about those upcoming home improvement projects. Both BANCI shows will also be offering educational seminars for those attending.

Writer Dani Messick did an article on how to update the bathroom on a budget, a project I will hopefully be undertaking in the near future. My faucets are slowly but surely starting to come apart due to the hard water and lime scale. But it makes no sense to replace the faucet unless I’m also willing to get a water softener.

BethAnne Brink-Cox wrote about creative ways to garden, regardless of how much space a person has or doesn’t have. I found the article really interesting since I have a lot of trees and not much sun on my property. I tend to do a lot of container gardening for things such as herbs and tomatoes since the sunniest spot is part of my driveway.

BethAnne also did an article on composting and how to do it correctly to get the most bang for the buck.

For the recipes this month, I included a granola recipe from my cousin, Daniel Birch. Daniel and his wife are excellent cooks and their daughter, Jojo is eager to get in on the action when they’re in the kitchen. While Jojo is still a bit young, Daniel thought the granola recipe would be a good one to do with kids- they could toss the ingredients into the bowl while a grown up mixed everything and handled the hot oven.

The second recipe is from “The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook.” I am an avid mystery reader and noticed some of the private eyes I read about know their way around the kitchen. This is a fairly simple, but delicious, sounding chicken recipe that sounded perfect for a weeknight supper.

So enjoy this month’s issue of Michiana House and Home and I’ll see you next month!

By Dani Messick House and Home Feature Writer