apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Our seeds sprouted too fast! We had to shove them ignominiously into too-crowded pots before going away for a week; we're crossing our fingers and hoping that they stay healthy and safe while we're gone. Here's a peek at our planting...

Read More...

We love shopping for food - it can be an adventure into something new, or it can be an experience for the senses.

Read More...

Has anyone tried our recipe for Cheddar Olives? Perhaps for a cocktail party? Well, we were at a wedding a few weeks ago, where they passed around something called a Black-Eyed Susan. We recognized the crust as something very, very similar to that of the Cheddar Olives, but the inside was a surprise...

Read More...

Whenever we encounter someone who likes cooking but doesn't quite love it, one of two things is almost certainly true. Either they're not cooking with a sharp knife, or they don't really know how to use it. Often its both.

Having confidence in your knife will bring you so much joy in your cooking, as chopping, slicing and dicing will be both faster and more meditative. You'll be able to be more precise in your cuts, leading your food to cook more evenly and be prettier on the plate. Perhaps best of all, your confidence there will translate to confidence in other areas; we know, we've seen it happen.

This weekend, New Yorkers have a free chance to pick up some new knife skills from a master teacher.

Read More...

We've been weaning ourselves off of prepackaged convenience foods from the grocery store. But so far, we just haven't managed to get away from snack bars. They're just so dang convenient!

We've tried a few recipes here and there, but they're often packed with fat or depend on corn syrup as a binder (something else we've been trying to cut back on). When we saw this this recipe on Chow.com for Dried Fig and Nut Bars, we hardly dared hope that our wish had finally been granted!

Read More...

We've been covering space-saving garden solutions this week, and today we're sharing another great space-saving idea: the strawberry growing bags.

Read More...

Our Cure has come to an end. Eight glorious weeks of scrubbing and culling cupboards, learning new culinary skills, shopping for fresh foods and stocking the pantry. All with an eye on planning a dinner to celebrate.

A huge congratulations to all of you who completed the Cure. And for those who didn't participate this time, or those who didn't make it all the way through, you'll have another chance this fall when we begin again.

Please take our survey. In the comments below, let us know how the party-planning is going, and be sure to post your photos (with captions!) to the Flickr pool.

Read More...

Last weekend, we went mushroom hunting for the first time, near Nashville, Ind. We'd love to tell you that this is our bounty, but the truth is, we came up empty handed. The only mushrooms we found were inedible, and looked nothing like the conical, honeycomb-like morels we were hunting. We had a good time, nevertheless, and returned to Chicago to get our morels the old fashioned way – for $48 a pound at the farmer's market.

Read More...

Gift: One green and white Mystic Garden pattern tea set from Yedi Houseware

Our giveaway this week is a spring garden tea set from Yedi Houseware and Classic Coffee & Tea. We are thinking this is a lovely way into your Spring Cure party, if you haven't planned one yet - why not a classic garden tea party? To enter, read on...

Read More...

Here is something new and exciting - four Microplanes in one! This box grater has four of Microplane's patented stainless-steel cutting blades in one tool.

We are huge fans of the Microplane graters (silky smooth grating for lemons, cheese, and more) and we're curious what you think about this all-in-one tool. More convenient, or too bulky for apartment-sized drawers? Take our survey then read on for a little more about this grater and purchase information.

Read More...

I just love rosé wines. I get so excited at this time of the year, as the new vintage arrives on the shelves, and I know that I have a whole four to five months to enjoy them.

Over the past four to five years sales of rosé wines worldwide have exploded. Call it the Rosé Renaissance! Whatever, it’s great. Despite this I am still surprised when people tell me again and again “I don’t like rosé wine”, “I never buy rosé wines”. Perhaps there are lingering memories of Lancers, Mateus or even white Zin; or maybe people feel it is cooler to like red or white.

Read More...

The sleek kitchen in the stylish West London Victorian we visited recently at AT Europe is built for a no-fuss cook who cares about form as much as function. But that doesn't mean it isn't a cleverly thought-out and usable space with ideas to steal.

Read More...

We're just about to crank up our barbecue for the first time this season, and we're already dreaming of what we'll cook on it this summer. Sure, we could stick to burgers and dogs, but the grill has a lot more potential than that. So we went hunting for a few new gadgets that will really help us get the most out of our barbecue.

Read More...

But at least he wasn't bickering or arguing with the judges or his fellow contestants. We almost felt uncomfortable watching last night's episode. Can't we just all get along?

Note: We reveal the winner and loser after the jump.

Read More...

Seeing those first seedlings peek up out of the soil is a proud moment for novice and veteran gardeners alike.

Which makes it all the more dispiriting when a late-spring cold snap blows through or a squirrel decides your container garden is a good place to look for dinner.

An easy and inexpensive way to protect your wee plantlings is with a plastic pop-bottle cloche!

Read More...

Last night, Sara Kate and I went to a Gastronomica forum on Faith and Food at the Astor Center. Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh spoke about the challenges of farming while holding to their religious beliefs.

One attendee asked how we city people can help farmers? Yes, blogging and emailing our state and national government representatives came up, but do you know what Zaid's number one suggestion for helping farmers was?

Read More...

One of our favorite herbs is shiso, which is also known as Japanese basil, perilla and beefsteak. It's been showing up in big, healthy bunches at the Alemany Farmer's Market recently - this bunch in the photo above cost only $1!

Read More...

We frequently show you what's popping up at the Union Square and Grand Army Plaza Greenmarkets, but there are many small markets tucked into corners of the city that deserve a mention.

One of these is the Green Flea on Columbus Avenue and 76th Street, which is open on Sundays, year-round. It is primarily a flea market, but there is one section devoted to fresh produce, flowers, and baked goods. Click below to see what we found on Sunday...

Read More...

After two weeks away from our kitchen, we returned last week to find the market positively brimming with spring vegetables. When we'd left there were only the first signs of ramps, but now there was an abundance of asparagus, rhubarb, peas in the shell, and even fiddlehead ferns.

After filling our basket, we quickly started dreaming of recipes that would show off our bounty to its best, especially those rare fiddleheads. The resultant risotto was bright and springlike, while still being warm and hearty enough to enjoy outside in the cool evening air. We enjoyed it so much that we've made it twice since then, tweaking and improving until it was just right.

Read More...

There's abalone. And then there's the geoduck.

On Good Food this past week, Evan Kleiman had a captivating (and a bit giggle-filled) interview with filmmaker Justin Bookey on his documentary, 3 Feet Under: Digging Deep for the Geoduck Clam. Bookey explains that there's more to the geoduck than...er...meets the eye.

Read More...

On Monday we wrote about growing potatoes in a bag. While browsing around on the same website for space-saving gardening solutions, we came across the Freestanding Four-Arm Plant Hanger.

Read More...

We're ready to hit the Chicago farmer's markets this week and stock up on all the super-fresh local produce we've been craving since last fall. We'll most likely be bringing home as much as we can carry and then faced with the happy task of find ways to prepare and eat it.

This is one recipe we know we'll be turning to, especially because it can be so easily adapted to use whatever ingredients look best.

Read More...

We obviously have pizza on the brain, because it was just yesterday we posted Breakfast Pizza and now we're practically salivating over this very expensive beehive pizza oven from Williams-Sonoma.

Read More...

While searching for strawberries last Sunday at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market, I saw mountains of this unusual looking cauliflower. Blowsy and loose, like a somewhat slovenly maiden aunt to the crisply compacted everyday variety, I was assured by the mostly Chinese-speaking farmer that it was even better, less bitter.

Read More...