apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We have two fall traditions in our kitchen: making applesauce and adding one beautiful All-Clad pan to our collection. We haven't had the chance to make the applesauce just yet, but we are thinking about the All-Clad sale. Are you?

Attention All-Clad shoppers!! The annual Cookwarenmore.com fall sale is on now. Here's our chance to save an additional 20% off their already discounted prices.

Pepper makes its way into just about every dish that passes through the kitchen so make sure you're using good quality pepper. After all, the good stuff doesn't cost more than lesser pepper.

You don't use pre-ground black pepper, do you?

A & S Pork Store in Park Slope, Brooklyn is closing on October 1. This real butcher shop is our source for sausages, roasts, and the best homemade mozzarella and ricotta we've ever tasted.

A&S is closing because they can't afford a huge rent increase.

We're wondering if you have more reports of family food businesses near you that are closing down as prices for almost everything increase? And, we ask more hopefully, have you heard of a business model that keeps family owned food businesses at work in their neighborhoods as real estate costs escalate?

When we were kids, mom kept our pop up books on the top shelf -- far away from our grubby, curious hands. We'd never be allowed to play with the book full of pop-up castles and bridges during dinner.

Now the guys from Publique Living are breaking all the rules with their new PopMat Paper Placemats.

Whole Foods wants the name calling to stop. Yep, that's right, with the economy slipping Whole Foods just doesn't want to be known as Whole Paycheck anymore. Whole Foods insists they can be an economical place to shop and we're wondering what you think.We stopped at Whole Foods yesterday to buy chicken thighs to make a new Jamie Oliver recipe and were plain flabbergasted to see a chicken thigh sale posted at the door to the Chelsea store. It was like they knew we were coming.

Was joining a CSA on your to-do list this spring? As we head toward August, most CSA slots in New York City have been sold out for months, but we have a find for you this afternoon.

If you didn't find the time to sign up or got shut out because you didn't reserve early enough, there's still hope. We just found out that Stoneledge Farm's Chelsea CSA still has 8 shares to sell this season ...

Maxwell and Chris are meeting Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse this afternoon. Martha's people just called to bump up our interview by a couple of hours, so we're heading up to her studio at Sirius Radio in an hour and we're still on a hunt for the best questions to ask them ...

Amazon's holding a Kitchen One Day Sale today. We jumped in first thing and started bargainhunting. There's a Kitchen Aid Pro Mixer for $299 and deals on cast-iron by Lodge, Rachel Ray and Le Creuset.

We always stop by the Bestselling Cookware List while we browse Amazon sales. We've noticed that the Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Everyday Pan is the top seller, as usual. Anyone know why this pan is so popular?

We've been invited to interview Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse on Monday afternoon. We (Chris) will get five minutes to toss them two of your questions ... maybe three if we're lucky.

What should we ask Emeril and Martha?

Please post the questions you think we should ask in the comments for this post. We'll pick our favorite questions, get Martha and Emeril's answers on Monday night, and post their responses on Tuesday.

Grocers are pulling tomatoes from the shelves on news of a salmonella outbreak, reports today's Wall Street Journal and the always alarmist New York Post.

The FDA says the specific type and source of tomatoes causing the salmonella outbreak are still under investigation, but preliminary research suggests that raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw round red tomatoes are the cause.

We weren't loving Episode 2 of the Next Food Network Star. It all felt rather rote, but things sure got spicy in the last few minutes. Were you watching?

Spoiler alert: We want to talk about details of the show, so if you haven't seen it yet, stop reading now.

Rosé has been the Pink King of picnic baskets and pool-side cafe tables the past few summers. Again this summer we see rosé displays blooming in wine store windows.

While rosé is still enjoying "newfound status" among the trend-conscious, we think a new summer wine trend is afoot ...

Incoming! Another food reality show ... The Next Food Network Star starts on Sunday night. Adam Roberts, The Amateur Gourmet, interviewed each contestant here. Any early favorites?

Ah, Campari. Campari brings herbal excellence to grapefruit sorbet and slides into some soda water for an inspired aperitivo.

Yet, we must admit, we forget Campari's excellence and do not serve it often enough. In our little liquor cabinet, we lose the Campari behind the vodka and gin and the wine we're saving for special occasions. Take our survey then read about this pop-up Campari store we just saw...