This kitchen remodel shows off one of our favorite tricks in making a kitchen look bigger. It also happens to make the kitchen much more functional. Do you know what it is? We talked about it here, too.
Author: Elizabeth Passarella
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This Rivals Ranch: Two-Minute, Creamy Salad Dressing
Sometimes a basic vinaigrette just won’t do. Sometimes we need a velvety, white dressing drizzled on our greens. And yet ranch is often a little, how do we say this, salad-bar-at-the-steakhouse? Occasionally, yes, we love it. But this dressing, well, this is a more oo-la-la, less yee-haw, creamy dressing. And it’s so, so easy.
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Smear it On: Add Cream Cheese to Your Sandwiches
It’s not just for bagels, you know. We have almost given up mayonnaise, cheddar, and muenster in favor of a thick layer of cream cheese on many of our sandwiches (and not just our favorite sprouts sandwich pictured above). Wanna know why?
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Individual Peach Ginger Hand Pies You Can Pack for Lunch
We’re not even sure we’d risk sending this to school in our child’s lunch bag, lest it get traded for an Oreo. These sweet, summery, little handheld pies we’d keep for ourselves…
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12 Cozy, Charming Breakfast Nooks
Why are these called breakfast nooks? Sure, sipping coffee and enjoying toast while reading the paper in the morning light seems the fitting activity in one of these smallish spaces. But we’re sure the owners of these homes tuck in to meatloaf there, too. Either way, we love nooks. The nearer they’re nestled to the kitchen, the better.
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You Can Sleep In! Tips for Making Brunch Ahead of Time
Here’s the thing about brunch parties: You have to forget about pancakes, waffles, and omelettes, even scrambled eggs (although these look divine). Hosting guests a mere hour or two after you wake up requires make-ahead dishes. These tips will allow you to breezily greet your friends with a mimosa rather than bedhead and a flour-covered nightgown. -
Recipe: Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes
This past weekend, we looked at the leftover lemon curd in our refrigerator and thought, “That lemon curd needs a friend. That lemon curd needs a pancake.” And so, these extra fluffy, delicious ricotta pancakes were born. The recipe was perfect on the first try, and seeing as that’s a rare feat for us, we had to share.
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Breakfast Bubbly: 5 Alternatives to the Classic Mimosa
The mimosa is just about the most virtuous cocktail we know; nothing nefarious about orange juice and the dainty effervescence of champagne. But as far as pre-noon brunch drinks go, it’s not the most inventive. Enter these five adaptations that up the danger a bit.
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Party Tip: Use Rubber Bands to Mark Your Beer Bottles
This doesn’t need much explanation, does it? They’re like wine glass charms for the Budweiser set. Wondering which beer is yours? Why, it’s the one with last week’s asparagus rubber band around it.
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Crowd-Pleasing Quiches You Can Make Ahead for Easter
Last weekend, we ate a quiche. It had been a while. And when we dug in to our slice, we remembered how much we love this savory breakfast pie. Frittatas are lovely (and easy), but sometimes you want those crumbly, buttery nuggets of crust falling off the edge of your fork. These five quiches are perfect for an Easter brunch. They’re filling, easy to serve, and can all be made in advance.
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How To Make Individual Easter Egg Cakes
When we were growing up, my sister and I always got Easter egg cakes on Easter. They came from a bakery and had our names across the tops in delicate icing script. I insisted on chocolate frosting, which meant mine was always a very un-Easter-like dark brown while hers was pink or yellow. But that egg cake was The Thing in our house. Now, I see them at New York City bakeries for an unforgivable amount of money. I could bake my own with a special egg-shaped pan, but I don’t have room in my cupboards for a pan I might use once or twice a year. So I set out to make egg cakes with nothing more than a loaf pan and a sharp knife.
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This Takes Guts! Monochromatic Kitchens from Miles Redd
Miles Redd is a decorator known for his brave use of color, often in unexpected places. Take this kitchen: kelly green lacquer from wall to wall, even on the refrigerator (and the roller shade!). We love the cohesiveness it gives a tiny space, and it’s not the only example we found. Click below for another all-over-color kitchen.
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10 Colorful, Spring Kitchen Goodies for Less than $20
We don’t have room for one more glass, plate, or napkin in our apartment, and yet it’s hard to resist when stores start trotting out all of the bright, cheerful kitchen items for Spring. They know how hard our winter was! We need colored straws! Here are 10 pretty, inexpensive items we’re loving right now.
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Brunch Upgrade! Crunchy, Deep-Fried “Eggs Benedict”Fine Cooking
We have to admit, making regular eggs benedict at home is somewhat of an undertaking for us, so pulling off a deep-fried version may be asking too much. But it’s so incredible looking! The soft, silky egg flecked with crispy bacon and covered in glistening, fried English muffin crumbs… Are you up for a challenge?
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Got Hives? Beekeeping Now Legal in New York City
Having a honeybee hive in your backyard (should you be lucky enough to have one) or on your rooftop has been trendy for a while now, as the urban farming movement has grown and flourished. But until last week, having bees in New York City was illegal.Not anymore! The New York City Board of Health recently voted to amend the health code and lift the ban on beekeeping. So all of those secret beekeepers can lift their big, screen masks and proudly show their faces.
Think you’re interested? We’ve got links to detailed information about how to keep bees in the city, plus one Brooklyn resident’s firsthand experience.
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Print and Hang! Menus from the New York Public Library
The New York Public Library has a breathtakingly vast digital archive. You can browse botanicals, photographs, historic apartment floorplans, and (our favorite) old menus. It’s addictive! And here’s the best part: You can order prints, framed or unframed, or print them out yourself for free. We can so see a row of these whimsical menus in a kitchen.
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Frozen Banana-Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Milkshakes
If you’ve visited this site in the past couple of months, you’ve read about one-ingredient ice cream, made from frozen bananas that have been whipped furiously into a smooth, dreamy dessert. Well, the same science applies to milkshakes, and it led us to this: a thick, creamy, chip-studded shake that’s entirely ice cream-free (i.e. OK for breakfast).
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Need a Go-To Cake? 5 Easy Recipes to Make Your Own
go-to cake: n. A deceptively simple cake, often single-layer, made over and over, usually from memory, always for last-minute affairs. Repeatedly pleases crowds. Does not require special ingredients (see: marzipan).
What? You don’t have one? Ok, steal one of these.
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Same Layout, Different Kitchens: Which Do You Prefer?
These kitchens are in identical apartments, owned by two sisters who live on the same floor of a building in Manhattan. One is crisp and elegant; the other slightly rustic and casual. We’re loving both (and the idea of living down the hall from one’s sister), but we’re leaning towards the kitchen on the right. See full-sized photos below.
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How to Level Your Stove Top So Your Pots Don’t Rattle
For two years, we listened to the clank-clank of our pots and pans rocking on the stovetop grates as we stirred. We thought it was something we had to live with- an ever-so-slightly off-kilter stove that made it impossible for pots to sit flat and still. Guess what? There’s a way to fix it. So easy it’s embarrassing, really.