life@home february 2013

February 2013

Cabin Fever Projects

7 pieces of furniture EVERY home needs

StovetopTrends

Island LifeTaking down walls

in Guilderland

Official Great Northeast Home Show Guide inside!

5 th

anniversary issue!

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ON WESTERN AVENUE WHERE THE NORTHWAY BEGINS.

PublisherGeorge Hearst III

EditorialJanet Reynolds, Executive EditorBrianna Snyder, Associate Editor

DesignTony Pallone, Design Director

Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn, Designers

Contributing WritersJohn Adamian, Steve Barnes, Caroline Barrett,

Betsy Bitner, Valerie DeLaCruz, Melissa Fiorenza, Anne Fullam Goeke, Jennifer Gish, Alison Grieveson,

Alistair Highet, Ann Hughes, Suzanne Kawola, Colleen Plimpton, Lucianna Samu, Cari Scribner

Contributing PhotographersPaul Barrett, Alistair Highet, Krishna Hill, Emily Jahn, Suzanne Kawola, Mark Samu

SalesKurt Vantosky, Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Kathleen Hallion, Vice President, AdvertisingTom Eason, Manager, Display Advertising

Craig Eustace, Retail Sales Manager Jeff Kiley, Magazine Advertising Manager

CirculationMark Vinciguerra, Director of Circulation

Dan Denault, Home Delivery Manager

BusinessRay Koupal, Chief Financial Officer

TimesUnion.comPaul Block, Executive Producer

Life@Home is published monthly. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of Life@Home magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or e-mail [email protected].

For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358.

Life@Home is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union

645 Albany Shaker Rd, Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694

The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2013 by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any

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timesunion.com/lifeathome | 7

ContentsHome

19 @HomeCat scratch fever

34 Design DefinedLove for well-worn tables

36 Problem SolvedA Niskayuna kitchen gets a makeover

46 10 Ways to Use ...Chopsticks!

56 Living GreenWhere to recycle your old cell phone

59 Refurnished LivingEco-friendly goodies we’re loving this month

60 Down the Garden PathLovely, luscious lilacs

62 Dollars & SensePreventing headaches at tax time

64 Tech TipsAre your passwords secure?

In Every Issue10 Talk Back

12 On the Web

14 Editor’s Note

20 Window Shopping

In This Issue25 Island Life

A home in Guilderland opens up

39 Any Way You Cook ItWhat’s new with stoves and ovens

42 A Fish TaleWhat you need to know to get your aquarium up and running

47 Great Northeast Home Show Guide

53 Just the Essentials, Ma’amThe 7 key pieces of furniture you only need to purchase once

February 2013

Cabin Fever Projects

7 pieces of furniture EVERY home needs

StovetopTrends

Island LifeTaking down walls

in Guilderland

Official Great Northeast Home Show Guide inside!

5 th

anniversary issue!

On the cover: Photo by Mark Samu

25

Features

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68

In This Issue68 Taking It Up a Notch

Knitting projects for your home

70 Bored to DeathGot a bad case of cabin fever? Why not do some house projects?

82 Pressure DropThe case for buying and learning to use a pressure cooker

Features67 Help Me ...

Write a love letter

73 Kitchen CrumbsTasty tidbits for your cooking life

74 Dish@Home with Chef Alex Ursprung

79 The VineyardA look at Brouilly and Beaujolais

80 Table@HomeA fire, a book and a pot of sauce bubbling on the stove

85 My SpacePhilip Morris’ favorite place

86 Photo FinishFlights of fancy

ContentsLife

lots of new

columns!

10 | Life@Home

Password Protected Brianna Snyder The other day I got an e-mail warning me someone from Germany had tried to log into my account and that I should

change my password immediately. And you know what? It’s hard to just come up with a new password. So I did what Cliff Rohde at GoatCloud Communications suggested: I looked around and basically constructed an entire password from what I saw in my living room. Hopefully that’ll keep the Germans out! See Brianna’s story on page 64.

Tax Time BluesAnn HughesDocument everything, and start doing it now. I never made a log of cash donations or miles I had driven to and

from volunteering my time to charitable organizations. They all add up, but not unless I write them down as the year goes on. See Ann’s story on page 62.

We asked ... you answered Here’s what our readers said this month on Facebook.

• My least-favorite thing to clean is …Julie: The litter box and refrigerator.

Shelley: Toilet.

Linda: Oven & refrigerator.

• The worst part about a big snowstorm is ...Sue: The cleanup after.

Linda: All the hype preceding the storm!

• If you could have one superpower, what would it be?Rachel: Remember when Samantha Stephens would wiggle her nose and then watch her house clean itself? That power. Big time.

Susan: I second Rachel. Wholeheartedly.

Brianna: Yeah I think a lot about Mary Poppins’ similar superpower. I wish there was a superpower that would just make dinner appear out of nowhere, too, for nights when I’d rather kill myself than cook anything.

Merci: The power to make people love themselves.

Feeling PressureJohn Adamian

Pressure cookers are amazing. Anybody who’s spent any time preparing food in the kitchen has probably spent minutes and

hours fretting over the fact that things aren’t cooking fast enough — you’ve got some ribs and you’ve got a dinner party, but you don’t have time to get everything cooked in time. Pressure cookers don’t necessarily solve all of those problems, but they’re a great way of speeding up the cooking process. And if you eat a diet that’s heavy on the legumes and the whole grains, then you really want to have a pressure cooker. See John’s story on page 82.

Love LifeJennifer GishWant to write a good love letter? Skip the “I love you.” Like any good piece of writing, poets say you’ll need to look for

sense-tickling descriptions and run from cliches. See Jennifer’s story on page 67.

Luscious Lilacs Colleen PlimptonFor an all-around flowering shrub, not much beats the lilac. It possesses beauty, fragrance, critter resistance, food for butterflies, structure in the garden,

and if cultivars are chosen wisely, six weeks of color. See Colleen’s story on page 60.

Stovetop TrendsCari ScribnerI can’t look at my kitchen range now without thinking “clunky.” I also re-learned a bit of high school chemistry lingo about the meaning of the word “ferrous.” See Cari’s story on page 39.

Read below about how our contributors learned new things while working on this month’s edition of Life@Home.

The story behind the story ... from our contributors

Talk Back

Join the conversation!facebook.com/lifeathomemagazine

There’s always something happening on Facebook. Click to add your two

cents and enter contests.

http://facebook.com/lifeathomemagazine

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12 | Life@Home

STORIESPillow Pop Want to give your bedroom an instant update? Get some tips on easy fixes with pillows and shams. (Online only!)

PHOTOSCheck out more photos online from this month's @home feature (page 25); our aquarium story (page 42) and the delicious dish from Chef Alex Ursprung (story on page 74).

VIDEOSNot sure how to cook a goose breast? Chef Alex Ursprung shows you how.

moreONLINE

Find more at timesunion.com/lifeathome

Pinterestpinterest.com/timesunionLike our photos? Follow us on Pinterest,

where we pin all our original photography and more!

YouTubeyoutube.com/TimesUnionMagazinesWant to go beyond the

pictures in the magazine? Check out our behind-the-scenes videos.

Life@Home Blogstimesunion.com/lifeathomeFollow our 518 blog

for great local finds and our House Things blog for gems dug up around the Web.

LIFE@HOME ONLINE Facebookfacebook.com/lifeathomemagazineLike us! Join in

our conversations! Win free stuff! And stay on top of all our lateststories and news.

Explore more content — photos, stories, recipes, videos and companion blogs — all in once place.

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Janet ReynoldsExecutive [email protected]

Five years ago, when I was hired to come to the Capital Region, Life@Home was just the tiniest seed of an idea.

The magazine did not even have a name.Fast-forward to today. With this issue,

Life@Home celebrates the beginning of its sixth year. The magazine, which distributes 408,000 copies annually, is now part of a stable of five different magazines: HealthyLife, EXPLORE, Vow: Your Wedding. Your Way. and Capital Region Women@Work. All told, the Times Union magazine division distributes 1.1 million magazines annually. Not bad for something that began as a hunch and was launched at the beginning of one of our country’s most significant recessions.

This anniversary milestone seemed like the perfect time to celebrate by redesigning Life@Home. While the original will always have a special place in our

hearts, we’ve learned a lot as we’ve launched new titles over the past few years. We’ve got a new design team with terrific ideas. Why not tweak the magazine and take it to the next level?

The magazine you see is the result of these efforts. As with all of our magazines, the content remains local. That will never change. Making sure that you can actually go to the advertisers who are in our pages and that Capital Region residents have a chance to show off their expertise is vital to our company’s mission.

We’ve tweaked some of the magazine’s editorial content, though, adding some new local columnists and features. Ann Hughes from Fox23 News, for instance, will be doing a monthly column on finances and money-saving strategies. Times Union Features Editor Jennifer Gish will be writing a monthly column helping readers figure out the best ways to do a particular task. First up? Writing a love letter.

We’re adding more content to the lifestyle part of the magazine, too. With crafting and hobbies playing increasingly important roles in people’s lives, we’ll regularly cover the latest trends here.

With our redesign comes additional ways to connect with you, our readers. We are using Facebook more and more to get reader suggestions for how to live their best lives in their homes.

We hope you like the changes and look forward to hearing from you. Send along your ideas for homes or features. Because Life@Home is, after all, your magazine.

Let’s Celebrate!

Editor’s Note

Welcome to the redesigned Life@Home

A blast from our past! Look how far we’ve come!

february 2009

Walls of WonderErin Lonergan works magic with her paintbrush

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february 2009

Plus check out the Great Northeast Home Show guide inside

PLUS: painting tips galore! • how to build a terrarium • behind the scenes at Perrotta’s Bakery • what’s cooking with Chef Brian Mollino • and MORE!

february 2010

second anniversary issue & great northeast home show guide inside!

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The Animal Shelter Annex at Clifton Park Center seemed harmless enough — a storefront filled with

cages containing cats and kittens in need of a home. I’d made it clear before we went inside we weren’t adopting one. We were just going to take a quick look to see if any cute cats were inside. Of course, that’s like saying I’m just going to try crack cocaine to see if it’s as addicting as everyone says. Either I was naïve or an idiot. Quite pos-sibly I was both.

No one, with the exception of me, was surprised when we ended up signing the adoption papers for an orange tabby. My family, apparently having used up our origi-nality quota for the year, decided to name him Tiger. Of course, we couldn’t take him home right away. We needed to buy some supplies first because our house wasn’t ready for a cat. After all, when I woke up that morning, adopting a cat was the very last thing on my to-do list — right after sending all my personal information to that nice man in Nigeria who e-mailed me about sharing his billion dollar fortune.

Still, taking care of a cat didn’t seem as if it would be too hard. Unlike a dog, you don’t have to take cats for a walk or play endless games of fetch. And cats can clean themselves and arrive knowing how to use a litter box. That’s a lot more than I can say for any of my kids.

One stop at the pet store was all it took to add hundreds of dollars to the cost of our free cat. My purchases included a cat condo so spacious I was disappointed to discover it didn’t come with its own washer/dryer hookup. Tiger took one look at it, though, and made it clear he would have pre-ferred a timeshare in Orlando.

Nevertheless, I remained con-vinced that one cat would be sim-pler than three children. OK, so we’d needed a zoning variance to install the aforementioned condo.

But there were no childproof locks on cabi-net doors, no covers on electrical outlets. Compared to a baby, getting ready for a cat seemed easy. It wasn’t long, however, before Tiger let me know my efforts were inadequate.

The houseplants were the first to go. Initially I thought it was an accident

and perhaps cats aren’t as nimble as I’d been led to believe. But then I realized the plants had been sent crashing to the floor on purpose. Apparently I’d thoughtlessly placed my African violets on the sunny win-dowsill without realizing Tiger had called hi-hosey on it as his napping spot. When Tiger wasn’t napping, he supplemented his diet by grazing on my larger houseplants until they were nothing more than pots of dirt and twigs.

With “watering the plants” no longer on my chore list, I credited Tiger with simplify-ing my life. I further streamlined my décor once Tiger showed me that throw rugs were a mistake. When not napping or destroying

my plants, he scratched the rugs into a heap

where I could trip over them.

The floors be-came hazardous in other ways, too,

once I realized

Tiger viewed the litter box as optional. Finding a little “present” on the living room floor didn’t mean Tiger forgot to use the litter box. It was just his way of letting me know I’d done something that annoyed him. Like vacuuming without his permis-sion. Or breathing.

Once he’d shown me the value of keeping every horizontal surface in my home bare, he convinced me stairs were hazardous to my health. Either Tiger was playing some twisted game in which his score was based on the number of bones I’d break or else he was under the impression he’s a benefi-ciary of my will. I told myself not having to clean the second floor of my house more than made up for not having access to little things such as my clothes and my bed.

Eventually I’ll get used to life confined to the first floor. To make the transition easier, though, I’ve decided to come down with Stockholm Syndrome. That’s when you have positive feelings toward your captor. At least I think it’s called Stockholm Syndrome. I’d verify it but, since Tiger’s arrival, I no lon-ger have access to the Internet. Every time I approach the computer, he drapes his body across the keyboard. Come to think of it, the mouse is missing, too.

As a result, I’ve had to barricade myself in the bathroom in order to write this; it’s the one place Tiger has yet to claim as part of his domain. Yet, as he thrusts his small orange paw underneath the door, I know

those days are numbered. I’m glad we adopted this adorable addition to our family. But looking back, I think

it would have been less trouble to just try crack.


There’s a new boss in town

Phot

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Cat Scratch Fever@Home

By Betsy Bitner

20 | Life@Home

In each issue, Window Shopping highlights interesting and unique items available at area stores. This month we present two great spots to find antique and handcrafted wooden furnishings.Photos by Krishna Hill

Shop SmartShop Local

Window Shopping

“3 in 1”Talk about multi-use: This piece is a booster seat, a child’s desk, and a rocking horse all in one. Shown in maple, also available in oak. Measures 32" x 16". $205 at Blue Hen.

Plantation DeskWalnut Victorian drop front plantation desk measures 65" x 30" x 17". $795 at Black Sheep Antique Center.


continued on 22

360˚ Rotating Bedroom StorageThis unique elm wood storage system rotates on its base. Features a mirror on one side, clothes hooks on two sides and a storage cabinet around back with adjustable shelves and small accessory hooks inside the door. 72" tall, 15" square. $695. Find it at Blue Hen.

Vintage SleighVintage “Davos Germania” snow sled/sleigh, wood with metal runner guides and braces. Measures 32" x 10" x 14". $85 at Black Sheep Antique Center.

FeaturingBlue Hen4608 State Highway 30Amsterdam518-843-2705All furniture is handcrafted solid wood furniture made by the Amish in Penn. and Ohio

Black Sheep Antique Center7608 Western TurnpikeDuanesburg518-895-2983

Rocking Chair1820s New England country rocker, $125. Find it at Black Sheep Antique Center.

22 | Life@Home

Are you a design and décor junkie? We’ve got your fix at timesunion.com/lifeathome. And check out this month’s picks from our local and national bloggers. There’s more where these came from!

Our Bloggers Shop

Window Shopping

House ThingsBy Brianna Snyder

STACK ’EMS: Our homes are complex and easily-cluttered spaces, which puts extra value on furniture that can function in multiple ways. The Kartell Modular Bookshelf is one example of high-functioning furniture: Easily augmented and moved around, the bookshelf comes in 14-inch blocks that lock together and can be stacked any way you want them to be. You can also purchase “cubic containers” to turn modules into drawers or cubbies. Blocks come in black and white; bins come in several different colors. $32-$148. Visit module-r.com.

Home Décor@518By Valerie DeLaCruz

SWAN SONG: Add a touch of country warmth to your home with this carved wooden swan, fashioned after a hunter’s decoy and painted to look aged with a white antique finish. Bird decoys are one of America’s original forms of folk art. This medium-sized swan replica is about 15" long and costs $34.99 at Kugler’s Red Barn in Schenectady. The store is located in a real barn and features country-themed décor and furniture. Visit at 425 Consaul Road or online at kuglersredbarn.com.

moreONLINE

To stay in our bloggers’ design loop 24/7, go to timesunion.com/lifeathome.

continued from 21

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A home in Guilderland opens upBy Brianna SnyderPhotos by Mark Samu

Island Life When the Stutos moved into

their Guilderland house in 2003, everything was new.

The previous owners had only been in the house a year before the Stutos bought it.

“They really hadn’t done anything with it,” Anne Stuto says. “No window treat-ments, no paint. It was brand-new: white walls, no window treatments. So we’ve done everything in here.”

26 | Life@Home

That everything includes quite a lot. The living room — cozy, sunken and nestled next to the kitchen — initially reached only to the wall of what was once a closed-off

office. Now, the walls are gone and the for-mer office is now a TV room elevated a few steps above this cozy social space.

“I had been thinking of taking out that

back wall,” Stuto says. “It was supposed to be a study with the option of being a bedroom. (But) I wanted a more open feel. We wanted it to flow a little better; I like

continued from 25

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Stuto faced a number of obstacles when she started this ambitious project, which a

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continued on 28

28 | Life@Home

“Big and bulky” columns closing in the liv-ing room and separating it from the kitchen were another concern. “I had a few people say, ‘Those are load-bearing columns. You can’t take those out,’” but, says Stuto, she did, and “it was no big deal at all.”

Stuto says the result has been, paradoxi-cally, more privacy. Those watching TV in the TV room are far enough away that they’re not forced to listen to kitchen con-versations; also, anyone in the kitchen has a clear view of the TV.

This crown molding was painted a shimmery black, referencing the banisters and bookshelves.

continued on 31

continued from 27

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All of these big changes are fairly recent. It wasn’t until last year that

Stuto consulted interior designer Paula McCormick of PMY Interiors in Loud-onville. The kitchen had flooded and Stuto decided it was an opportunity to change a few things. “I had to refinish all the wood floors,” she says. “I wanted to change the color.”

The living room had been carpeted, but Stuto and McCormick replaced the flooring with black bamboo. The kitchen island — once a horseshoe shape — was converted to a longer, broader shape.

The former office has been moved, too, to the front room of the house. McCormick took the built-in bookshelves from the office and moved them to the front room, painting them black in the back, referenc-ing the gorgeous black molding in the

This backsplash is

custom-done, assembled

and installed by hand.

continued from 28

32 | Life@Home

foyer, which Stuto says was done by Polito Homes in Albany. “It was nice that we could salvage those shelves,” Stuto says. “Originally, that room was a formal living room that we never went into.”

Stuto, an accountant who works regular-ly from home, says this space is perfect for her. (Tim Stuto, her husband, also runs his own business.) “My goal was to try to use more of the house,” Stuto says. “Before, it seemed like all we did was use the kitchen area. Nobody ever used the study except for me.”

The family — comprising Victoria, 22 (who’s usually off at college), John, 17, and Samantha, 13, and the two family dogs, Cru and Cody — eat dinner around the island now, which Stuto likes. The din-ing table has been relocated to a formal dining room and the kitchen is a livelier communal space.

“We never sat at the table,” Stuto says. “Now we all stand around the island.”

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34 | Life@Home

Design Defined


By Lucianna Samu | Photo by Mark Samu

I hope to end 2013 with one successful resolution to my credit. Inspired by a message embroidered onto a well

-worn throw pillow I recently passed over at an antique shop, I mean to dedicate my-self to the deceptively simple inspirational message the pillow proclaimed: Don’t complain; don’t explain.

Finishing the year with one new working philosophy feels do-able right now. Still, I’m as much a realist as I am an optimist. In or-der to have this end well, both for me and for the pile of furniture I regularly liberate from antique dealers, I’ll need to squeeze some new words onto the vocabulary list when describing the merits and the imper-fections of my furniture finds.

Making my way around antique shops with my phone set to video is my way of capturing the possibilities of the day. Shop-keepers smile their approval. In the end, the sheer volume of potential purchases I’m able to collect mitigates the poor produc-tion value of my hastily gathered videos.

Two indisputable facts come to light when I audit my personal archive of antique-shop video. First, I’m near useless with a camera, whether still or rolling, and second, the world is filled with an awful

lot of well-priced and seemingly unwanted drop-leaf and gate-leg tables.

Thinking I’d missed something and that drop-leaf tables were now considered déclassé, I did some research. To my relief, tastemakers and trendsetters agree these ingenious classics remain a design basic.

So was it only the gate-leg table, with its interesting cacophony of legs and spindles and articulation, that had fallen from favor? Wrong again. In every corner of the High Point, N.C., furniture show, and on the pages of freshly printed home-furnishing catalogues, there they are — all of them — the Pembroke, the Butterfly, the drop-leaf and the gate-leg. So why are there so many of these tables in the antique shops?

Most antique drop-leaf or gate-leg tables wobble, either a little or a lot,

and sag, also a little or a lot. To test one theory — that all of the tables captured on my video adventures were inferior to those considered high-quality — I checked out the auction sites. There were early walnut and maple drop-leaf tables for less than 200 dollars. One particular beauty I hap-pened upon — a well-worn, bleached pine Country French gate-leg table — had me wishing I had one more corner in the house needing a little something special.

Everywhere I searched I found the dar-ling of them all — the 19tu-century mahog-any Pembroke occasional table, with two demilune sides that drop effortlessly out of the way from their solid brass hardware. Yes indeed, plenty around, and by far the most reasonably priced of the lot.

Mahogany anything can be had for less than the price of any table with a painted finish, old or new. I am sorry to discover this and, in fact, I can’t explain it even if I were still in the explaining business.

Following the pricing indications for what’s hot and what’s not, it appears, too, that oak is not in the hearts or minds of those currently hunting around for an old table. I’m reminiscing now, about an unusu-ally deep, square-topped drop-leaf table, with sides so long they nearly touched the floor. The complexity of the color, made possible only when high-quality maple is subjected to years of painstaking waxing,

still haunts me. I recognize my finger in the camera work, pointing to the tag that clearly states $150 in my video. Why did I leave it there? How many gate-leg tables can or should I buy?

It could be that table wobbled a bit or it might be that it sagged. Possibly the narrow stature, some 20 inches deep if not less, is a challenge for some to place. In practice, its narrowness makes it perfectly suitable as a nightstand or sofa table. Deep enough for a lamp, a few books and/or accessories, the merits of turning such a ta-ble into a place to write, have a cup of tea, or dare I say sit with a laptop, is worthy of note with or without the wobbles. The common width and shorter 28-inch height too is often considered less than desirable. But balanced by a simple chair, even its shorter height would prove an ergonomi-cally pleasing discovery.

The most troubling observation is that dastardly little sag these tables often have when both sides are brought to the open position. This is a function of the wearing away of the wood, at the top of the leg, from years and years of loyal service as the legs were moved from open to closed, then from closed to open, for, oh, let’s say 75 years. Some sagging is hardly a reason to leave such a table behind, when the place-ment of a shim, or filler strip tucked under the leaf, could easily straighten things out.

As part of my loyalty to those who follow my musings here, I believe I must be hon-est with those who may not have the time or desire to walk the floors at night worried that antique shops are littered with sagging and wobbly drop-leaf tables. And, as part of my determination not to complain or explain in 2013, it’s proving a bit harder for me to make the case that we should all go out today and buy an old gate-leg table. Hopefully you’ll repeat my cheerful disclaimer, that the shortcomings any of these beautiful tables exhibit as they get on in age is, in fact, the very thing that makes them so desirable. One thing I know for sure — they are easy enough to find.

For the Love of Well-Worn Tables

Lucianna Samu is an interior designer and project expert for Aubuchon Hardware. For more of Lu’s musings, go to luciannasamu.com.

36 | Life@Home

Making Spaces

PROBLEM: This Niskayuna kitchen was 15 years old and the client wasn’t happy with its cabinets. “There were cabinet struc-tural issues and inefficient uses of space,” says interior designer Andrea Langford of Andrea Langford Designs, LLC inc.

SOLUTION: “We designed the cabinetry to minimize the stacked contents within some of the cabinets, thereby protecting dishes, pots and pans and glassware,” Langford

says. The cabinets were found in Toronto and the stone for the countertops was found at a shop in New Jersey. The back-splash is made of tiles from Modena, Italy. They also installed drawers for storage containers, shelving in the pantry with glass sides (so you can see what’s on the shelves), cookbook storage and spice shelves. “There is no need to bend over and hunt for lost items in this kitchen with everything pulling out, rolling out or turn-

ing out,” she says. Another striking change is the modifi-

cation of the windows, which went from a three-panel series to a picture window. “The layout was driven by the use of the space and its orientation,” Langford says. “Improvements were made to the light-ing. We increased the natural daylight and gorgeous view by removing multiple windows and replacing with one large expanse of glass.”

By Brianna Snyder | ‘After’ photo by Randall Perry

Problem Solved

A Niskayuna kitchen gets a makeover … and a lot of cabinet space

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What’s new with stoves and ovens By Cari Scribner

Any Way You Cook It

Second only to the refrigerator, a kitchen range is the largest of the major appliances in the room. The

traditional range is a combined oven and stovetop unit, sturdy, serviceable and — until recently — somewhat boring as a design element.

Enter the age of aesthetics and func-tionality, when the traditional kitchen floor plan has been cast aside for a layout with more visually appealing, smart use of available space. The clunky range can be replaced by a separate oven — sometimes built into walls like popular pizza places — while stovetops can be on counters or freestanding islands that can be moved

when needed.At the same time, the way food is cooked

is changing. While cooks often have defini-tive feelings about cooking with gas versus electricity, today’s cooks can now add an-other form of cooking to the mix: magnetic induction, a method that, while not new, is gaining in popularity as the prices drop.

“Gas burners make it easy to control the exact temperature by the size of the flame,” says Dana Gordon, sales associate at Cocca’s Appliances and Home Electronics in Albany. “They’re preferred by profes-sional and aspiring gourmet chefs who want to adjust temperatures instantly with the touch of a button.”

Photos: (Top) Wolf 30" Induction Cooktop (Bottom) Wolf 36" Gas Range with Griddle


continued on 41


Drawbacks to gas stoves are that they must be professionally installed to connect with a gas line, and adults must keep an eye on children around the flame. Depend-ing on your energy provider, gas may be pricier than electricity.

Electric stoves are easier to clean than gas stoves. There are fewer places for oil and cooking ingredients to collect, so you can typically clean the surface of an elec-tric stove quickly. The heat of an electric stove is distributed more evenly than that of a comparable gas stove, which can make it easier to cook foods like omelets and crepes. Electric stoves also have lower installation costs, since they plug into an electrical outlet.

Magnetic induction stovetops are similar in appearance to stovetops with ceramic glass burners, offering smooth surfaces that are easy to clean and are attractive. But the similarities between these two types of stovetops end there.

Induction elements use electricity to pro-duce a magnetic field that reacts with the iron in metal cookware. Magnetic induction stovetops only work with ferrous pots and pans, which are any pans that will attract and hold a magnet. The result? Only the pot and its contents heat up, allowing the rest of the surface unit to remain cool at all times.

Local appliance dealers are singing this technology’s praises. “It’s amazing,” Gor-don says. “Reaction time is faster than gas,

and there’s no open flame. You can pick up the pot and the burner is still safely cool.”

Guy Jordan, sales associate at Earl B. Feiden Appliance in Latham, is similarly impressed with the technology. “These stovetops are safer and more efficient than electric and gas stoves,” says Jordan. “They’re fast. They can boil water faster than any other fuel source. They’re also pre-cise. They can melt chocolate, simmer, or keep food warm without cooking it more.”

The stovetops are sleek, in black with stainless-steel trim or mirrored for a light-re-flecting effect. Digital controls in the cooktop offer added style, control and convenience.

The more powerful magnetic induction stovetops with wattages upward of 3,500 watts can generate instantaneous heat in as many as 20 different cooking settings.

While overall prices have dropped in the last decade since its inception, magnetic induction stoves remain more expensive than other stovetops. Additionally, if you’re making the switch, you’ll need to consider whether or not the pots and pans you cur-rently own will work with this type of appli-ance. You may need to replace them with cooking vessels with magnetic properties.

Along with a stovetop for pan sear-ing, frying, boiling, sautéing, brown-

ing and poaching, no kitchen is complete without an oven for baking, broiling and, of course, warming up leftover pizza. Today’s ovens are often found in places other than below a stovetop in a traditional range.

“It’s a popular option to have a separate oven and build it into a wall or cabinet space,” Gordon says. “You can cut a space in a countertop for the oven, but you will still need a ventilation system to protect the cabinets. Still, the flexibility is incredible.”

Cooks can opt for a compact oven or more than one baking chamber. “You don’t need an entire wall; you can have a very ef-ficient 24-inch oven,” Jordan says. “Or you can put double ovens in the wall.”

Photos: (facing page) GE Cafe 30" Free-Standing Gas Double Oven with Convection Range; (top left) GE Profile 30" Built-In CleanDesign Electric Cooktop; (top right) induction burner illustration (note that only the pot is warm; that’s ice on the cool side); (bottom) Wolf 30" Built-In Double Oven

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42 | Life@Home

What you need to know to get your aquarium up and running

By Anne Fullam Goeke | Photos by Emily Jahn

A Fish Tale

When a clownfish grabs your heart, what are you going to do? Slow down and look

around, advises Kate Veitch, director of marketing and sales at Eddie’s Aquarium in Menands, the local go-to store for all things aquarium.

“Avoid rushing,” says Veitch. “You must have patience when setting up any aquari-um. Do your homework and always ask an expert if you have a question.”

So where does the homework lead for most folks? “As for saltwater, the ocellar-is clownfish made popular by the movie Finding Nemo are by far our best seller,” says Veitch. “They are easy to care for and can be kept in small tanks. We have a huge selection of marine fish, inverte-brates and corals.”

Finding Nemo, the computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film released by Walt Disney Pictures on May 30, 2003, tells the story of the over-protective clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) who, along with a regal tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), searches for his abducted son Nemo (Alexander Gould) in

Sydney Harbour. Wildly popular, Finding Nemo is the best-selling DVD of all time.

“That movie started the biggest trend in aquariums,” says Steve Colletti, owner of All Bright Aquariums, a company that installs and maintains large aquariums across the country and has clients over-seas. “It’s huge.”

“There are companies that do nothing but raise clownfish and seahorses,” Colletti says. “The animals are easier to keep, the coral and vertebrae are more adaptable, and the new technology makes it real easy.”

Colletti, a New Jersey native and house builder by trade, started installing fish tanks in new homes back in the 1990s. He sold that business and, in 2002, he moved his family to the Capital Region, where he concentrated on installing and maintaining large aquariums, in residences, businesses and universities.

“The trend toward big tanks started about 30 years ago,” says Colletti. “It’s slowed recently due to the economy, but there’s still nothing like a 1,000-gallon tank. It’s another environment, and once people have it, they want it.”

Most people want saltwater reefs in their aquariums, and Colletti builds

and installs acrylic tanks with all the latest gadgetry, pumps, filters, motors and lights, and he fills them with creatures and water. The salt water used in the tanks is created from water treated by reverse osmosis and mixed with dried sea salt.

Colletti’s tanks range from 1,000 gallons and upward to 5,000 gallons. Cost aver-ages around $30,000, depending on how the aquarium is stocked. A few of Colletti’s tanks cost $100,000 to install. A more typi-cal set-up — a 55-gallon tank — will cost about $400, according to a saleswoman at Davey Jones Locker in Albany.

Once installed, aquariums need to be maintained. Colletti charges a $65 hourly service fee to maintain the pumps, filters, lights and change the water. Saltwater reef water needs to be changed every month.

Residential clients who buy a 4,000-gal-lon tank can expect to pay $2,500 a month to have All Bright Aquariums maintain it. Most of the tanks Colletti has installed in the Capital Region are 1,000 gallons and clients pay $110 per month.


Clients who want to pay less for maintenance can be trained to care for their reefs. Colletti offers a training course for $2,000. Afterward, he’s available by phone to talk over emergencies. He also makes house calls.

“Ecosystem emergencies can mean the pump, the filters, the pH or salinity is off,” says Colletti. Catching maintenance problems right away saves fish and money, he says. An alarm system is attached to each of Colletti’s aquariums, and he’s alerted by phone to problems.

With three employees, Col-letti maintains aquariums from one end of New York State to the other. With 113 tanks to care for in the Capital Region alone, Colletti says he’s dubbed it “the clownfish capital.”

For those who can’t make up their minds between saltwater

and freshwater aquariums, there’s a solution. Combination tanks, the most popular being a 55-gallon model split in two.

Customers do saltwater set-ups on one side and freshwater on the other side or plant both sides in the same environment but they put aggressive fish in one tank and passive fish in the other. Combination tanks require two filters but use only one light.

Perhaps the biggest trend at the moment is saltwater reef tanks with live corals. Mostly rimless, the banks have built-in filters and LED strip light fix-tures, also wildly popular.

“The tanks are very modern, very easy to maintain,” says Veitch, citing factors such as quality of light, lower power consumption, low heat and long life. “They’re environmen-tally friendly.”

moreONLINE

For more photos of unusual fish tanks and stylish beginner tanks, go to timesunion.com/lifeathome.

FISH FACTSA more traditional approach

to stocking aquariums is to use freshwater and fish that live in it. “The popular trend in freshwater is community fish. Community fish are tropical, colorful and very active. They also breed in captivity which is always fun! Community fish are also a great way for kids to learn about biology, chemistry and geography,” says Kate Veitch, director of marketing and sales at Eddie’s Aquarium. “My 8-year-old son takes care of three tanks in my home. It has taught him so much and provided the whole family hours of fun.”

If you want to go the saltwater route, the good news is clownfish are easy to feed. An omnivore, it will accept most foods, including marine flake food complemented with different types of frozen and live food. Algae in the aquarium provides

grazing when the fish get hungry between feedings, which should be done three to four times a day.

Breeding ocellaris clownfish is easy (for a saltwater fish) and can be done without the presence of an anemone in the aquarium. Sexing clownfish can be done by noting that males are smaller and less aggressive than females. All clownfish are born as males. When they pair off, the dominant fish turns into a female.

The eggs are laid on a flat surface, such as a rock. The fry are small and more sensitive than the adult fish. They need very small food and should be fed every two to three hours.

Besides fish, freshwater tanks can be stocked with colorful critters, such as freshwater shrimp. “The cherry shrimp are also a cool little critter for planted tanks,” Veitch says. “They are small, active and bright red. We also sell freshwater clams and snails.”

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46 | Life@Home

Find yourself with leftover chopsticks from last night’s Chinese takeout? Don’t toss ’em — these wooden utensils are actually quite

handy around the house. As always, we took to Facebook to ask for your suggestions, and then piled them in with ours. Here’s what we came up with.

By Melissa Fiorenza

1 STIR THINGS UP Drinks, that is. “They are my (too lazy

to get a real one out) cocktail-stirrers,” says Althea.

2 REACH SMALL PLACES We got this idea from diylife.com:

“Use the end of a chopstick to maneuver a cloth around inside a dirty baby jar, bottle, or vase to clean it.” Genius!

3 START A SKEWER STASH If you start collecting leftover chop-

sticks now, you won’t have to spend a dime on bamboo skewers come summer. When you’re ready to whip up meat and vegetable kebabs on the grill, soak the chopsticks in water for 10 minutes, then slide the food on.

4 GET WARM AND COZY “Use them as kindling,” says Olga.

She’s right — chopsticks are great as fire starters. (Use the paper they’re wrapped in as tinder, too!)

5 LABEL YOUR HERBS Write down on index cards what herbs

and plants you’ve got growing on your win-dowsill. Then tape the cards to chopsticks and insert in the soil so you know exactly what’s basil and what’s parsley.

6 ACCESSORIZE YOUR HAIR “We use them to part hair and twist

hair in them to make a cute, messy bun,” says Alayne Curtiss, owner of Make Me Fabulous.

7 BRING OUT YOUR INNER KID Got a good amount on hand? Use

them for “a good game of pick-up sticks,” suggests Brendan. Why not?

8 MAKE A DOORSTOP We give credit to curbly.com for

this one. Visit now and search for “30 second chopstick doorstops” for direc-tions.

9 CREATE INDIVIDUAL SERVINGS

Freezing a bag of meat? Press down on the bag with a chopstick to make clear divisions you can break apart when you’re ready to cook.

10 AND OF COURSE … “Buy more takeout!”

says Adrienne. Got a go-to local spot for sushi, Thai, Chinese or other? Tell us on Facebook!

Did you know? The word “chopsticks”

is derived from kuai-tzu, the Chinese word for

“quick ones.”

10 Ways to Use …

Chopsticks

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Want to join in the 10 Uses fun? Stay tuned to our Facebook page for upcoming questions: facebook.com/lifeathomemagazine.

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Building Contractors, Material Suppliers and RemodelersAccessible Home Solutions Guilderland, NY 518-869-9372 www.accessiblehomesolutions.comAdam Ross Cut Stone Co. Inc Albany, NY 518-463-6674 www.adamrosscutstone.comAmvic Building Systems Toronto, ON www.amvicsystem.comArxx ICF Alexandria Bay, NY 315-482-5253 www.arxx.net★ Bennett Contracting Albany, NY 518-857-3943 www.bennettcontracting.com★ Curtis Lumber Ballston Spa, NY 518-490-1307 www.curtislumber.comGNH Lumber, Inc Greenville, NY 518-966-5333 www.gnhlumber.comHabitat Post + Beam South Deerfield, MA 413-665-4006 www.postandbeam.comHarvest Homes Inc Delanson, NY 518-895-2341 www.harvesthomes.comKoppenhafer Construction Ballston Spa, NYLajeunesse Builder and Remodeler, LLC Hoosick Falls, NY 518-588-2136 www.dalbr.comLinwood Custom Homes Milton,WA 800-451-4888 www.linwoodhomes.comLogix ICF Sprakers, NY 518-857-9983 www.logixicf.comMacMillen Construction& Design Services Chestertown, NY 518-494-3616 www.macmillenconstruction.comOtterbeck Builders Inc Castleton, NY 518-477-1438 www.otterbeckbuilders.comSD Atelier Architecture, LLC Saratoga Springs, NY 518-587-3385 www.sdatelier.comSeason’s Best Painting and Contracting Caslteton, NY 518-729-2445 www.aaaseasonsbest.comStoriedBoards Albany, NY 518-227-0899 www.storiedboards.comSuburban Construction Corp. Albany, NY 518-456-5149 www.suburbanhi.comValente Lumber Averill Park, NY 518-322-5225 www.valentelumber.com★ Westchester Modular Homes Wingdale, NY 845-832-9400 www.westchestermodular.com



Decks, Fences, Patios and PavingBruce Fence Co., Inc Cohoes, NY 518-783-8792 www.brucefence.comConcrete Creations Schenectady, NY 518-356-4364George Brothers Inc, Increte of Albany Albany, NY 518-489-1489 www.georgebrothersofalbany.comInvisible Fence Capital District Wilton, NY 518-376-4939Invisible Fence of the Tri Citiesand Hudson Valley Galway, NY 518-859-8254 www.tricitiesny.invisiblefence.comTop Dog Pet Fence Latham, NY 518-783-5678 www.topdogpetfence.com

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Home and Food ProductsAerus Electrolux Colonie, NY 518-221-9347Cutco Cutlery Olean, NY 716-790-7181 www.cutco.comGuido’s Frozen Desserts Albany, NY 518-436-4237Juice + and the Virtual Franchise Wynantskill, NY 518-283-5763 www.skhealthunlimited.comLifetime Cookware Victor, NY 585-924-9393 www.americanmadecookware.comLustre Craft Mt. Dora, FL 352-483-7600 x508My Pillow Inc. Shakopee, MN 612-210-5520 www.mypillow.com



Home Services and RepairAdvancedWater Systems Berlin, NY 518-533-9879 www.advancedwaterHV.comArket Electric, Inc. Schenectady, NY 518-381-8818 www.arketelectric.comCulliganWater Troy, NY 518-272-1111 www.culligan.comEnergy Construction Glenmont, NY 518-527-7355 www.energyconstruction-ny.comFridholm Painting & Remodeling LLC Schenectady, NY 518-860-0041 www.jfridholm.comKeys To Fun Guilderland, NY www.ktfny.com★ Matchless Stove & Chimney Glenmont. NY 518-463-2085 www.matchless.infoSears Home Services Longwood, FL 407-551-5508 www.searshomepro.comStone Industries, LLC Saratoga Springs, NY 518-584-1048 www.stoneindustries.comUpstate Rehabilitation Products Guilderland, NY 518-869-9372 www.upstaterehab.comWaste Management Albany, NY http://www.wm.com/index.jsp

HomeTechnologyHear for You Albany, NY 800-942-4327 www.hfu.comSymmetry Audio Video Slingerlands, NY 518-369-6850TimeWarner Cable Schenectady, NY 518-646-8662 www.twc.com

Interior Design and LightingBio-Fusion Designs Clifton Park, NY 518-527-0426 www.bio-fusiondesigns.comCalifornia Closets Latham, NY 518-785-5723 www.californiaclosets.com/albanyMonkey Bar Storage Solution Latham, NY 518-257-2818 www.monkeybarstorage.com



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The seven key pieces you need to purchase only once

By Janet Reynolds | Photos by Lucas Allen

Just the Essentials, Ma’am

Suzanne and Lauren McGrath, the mother/daughter interior design/blogging/book author team, have

one overarching belief. “For us,” they write in their new book, Good Bones, Great Pieces, “decorating is not about the quick fix or about chasing the latest trend. It’s about following one simple rule: Almost every piece you purchase should have the ability to take on more than one role in your current or future home.”

And that, in a nutshell, is the driving force behind the popular, practical design duo. While our human inclination may be to as-sume that every time we move we need to start from scratch, in reality purchasing the

right furniture from the beginning will save us a lot of time and money. The right pieces — the seven essential pieces the McGraths have helpfully honed down for us — can move from a weathered Victorian to a mod-ern home and back again.

The key, they write later in their helpful book, is realizing that “furniture pigeonhol-ing,” as they call it, is a “creative buzzkill.” In other words, a dresser does not, in fact, only belong in the bedroom.

“The concept of the book is really all about flexibility but also practicality,” says Suzanne, a former style editor and produc-er at Martha Stewart Television. Her family moved often when she was growing up, as

did she when she was a young mother. Liv-ing on a budget was an economic reality.

“But every time we moved, I’d move our love seat to a different room,” Suzanne says, “and people would say, ‘Is that new?’”

She began talking to her interior design clients about this concept. “Don’t focus so much on the accessories and the color. You just need to get the right pieces,” she would tell them. “Those pieces should be flexible enough so they can move from room to room and from home to home wherever you go.”

The seven essential pieces that were left standing after a much longer furniture list are, Suzanne says, the most flexible. They’re

Not just for the bedroom, a dresser like the one here can add an interesting touch to a dining room. Plus you get instant storage for linens.

54 | Life@Home

also, not coincidentally, the ones people often find the hardest to pick themselves.

“Everyone can pick their kitchen table,” Suzanne says, “But these pieces make the house a home, a comfortable or more inter-esting place.”

Nor do the McGraths stop at merely stating that slipper chair is an essential. For each of the seven pieces, they offer a helpful glossary complete with pictures of various types and styles of each of the es-sential pieces in their book.

In other words, teaching people how to choose quality goods is another part of the McGraths’ raison d’etre. “The biggest

question people ask us is what to get and what does it look like. What does a good occasional chair look like?,” Suzanne says. “So we put a few pages in the back (of each chapter) that said if you see one like this, get it. It has legs, no pun intended.”

Each glossary features actual types of a slipper chair, for instance, that can be easily tracked down. “I didn’t want to put an antique in a glossary,” Suzanne says. “If you want this, you can get this at each one of (the retailers listed). They’re all classic and you won’t be sorry.”

“That’s why the book is meant to be a guide,” Suzanne adds. “It’s not meant to

just have pretty pictures but it’s meant to be a guide to demystify a bit.”

While Suzanne and Lauren have only “officially” been working together

since they started their blog almost three years ago, in some ways they’ve been working together forever. In the preface, Suzanne writes about bringing Lauren with her to a client’s home as a newly-single working mom. As she was trying to decide between three shades of yellow for a wall, she heard Lauren pipe up behind her, “Number two. It’s the palest and shines like the sun.” Number two it was.

The many lives of a bench: This weathered farm bench had its first life on an Ohio farm. The McGraths discovered it at an antiques show in New York. In the winter months, it’s a perfect focal point in the living room; in the warmer months, move it outside to create a cozy nook on the porch.


“I’ve been doing this with my mom her whole life,” says Lauren, now 27. “I watched her and I was always a big part of when she was redecorating our house. I was always interested in it.”

Part of the duo’s appeal is that they write from two perspectives, making their blog popular with 20-somethings and empty-nesters alike. As an apartment dweller, Lauren, a former fashion features writer at Teen Vogue before she teamed up with her mother fulltime, is a big fan of the love seat in part because of its size.

“That’s the first piece I bought,” she says, noting it was also the only piece that

they bought in a retail store when outfitting her post-college apartment. “Everything else handed down and we repurposed (it) or it was something from our basement.”

It was important to get something well-made and upholstered, Lauren says. “For me I understand why people my age buy things at IKEA. I would rather have less fur-niture and less stuff and have things that were well made and I’ll have forever than have a lot of stuff I will have to throw away in a few years.”

To follow the McGraths’ design tips, check out their blog: goodbonesgreatpieces.com.

So you’ve decided to get a bench. Here’s what the McGraths suggest keeping in mind:

• The most versatile benches don’t have a back. That will give you maxi-mum flexibility.

• Get one that’s upholstered. “For a couple of yards of fab-ric you can re-cover repeat-edly,” says Suzanne. “That’s a great opportunity to make a statement and change things up a bit when you need a little something. It’s not like reupholstering a sofa, which can really break the bank.”

Good Bones, Great Pieces: The Seven Essential Pieces That Will Carry You through a Lifetime, by Suzanne and Lauren McGrath, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 205 pages, $29.95

56 | Life@Home

Disposing of your old cell phone

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Cell Service

Living Green

By Cari Scribner


I took a count: My two teenage sons and I have four unused cell phones lying in dresser drawers. My kids upgrade to

a newer model every birthday; I have my trusty cell from a few years ago that I like because it’s simple and efficient. But I have a duplicate of it on my own nightstand, albeit with a couple broken keys from years of use.

One reason we hold onto our old cell phones is we know we can’t just toss them in the trash. Sure, they’re small, and who would know if we slipped them beneath some orange peels in the kitchen trash-can? The Earth — and our consciences — would know.

Here are some of the materials common-ly found in cell phones that are dangerous to landfills:

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene polycarbonate Copper Aluminum Iron Silicon dioxide Epoxy Polycarbonate Silicon Polyoxymethelyne Polystyrene Nickel Liquid crystal polymer

According to Phones4Charity, over 800 million retired cell phones sit unused in U.S. homes. Worse still, more than 140 mil-lion enter the waste stream each year after being thrown away. This pattern seems particularly useless given that an easy — and gratifying — way to offload that old cell phone in an eco-friendly way is just a phone call or mouse-click away. Non-profit organizations all over the region and country are always interested in receiving unused cell phones. Some provide print-able mailing labels online at their websites,

while others are at a drop-off site near you.The following is a sampling of places to

donate. If you have your own favorite char-ity, check with them directly to see if they accept used cell phones.

● Even without cell phone service, used cell phones can be used to dial 911 in emergencies. Equinox, Inc., is Albany County’s

primary provider of services for victims of domestic violence. All services are confidential, free of charge, and avail-able to all, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Equinox collects and distributes used cell phones to victims. Any donated cell phones that can’t be used are recycled by a company that works with shelters, with proceeds going directly to the program. Contact Equinox, Inc., at (518) 434-6135, or log onto equinoxinc.org.

● Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services of Saratoga County (DVRC) has been providing servic-es to victims of domestic

violence and sexual assault in Saratoga County for over two decades. To donate cell phones, contact DVRC at (518) 583-0280, or log onto equinoxinc.org.

● Cell Phones for Soldiers Inc. is a nonprofit organiza-tion dedicated to providing cost-free communication services to active duty

military members and veterans. Since its inception, the program has provided more than 168 million minutes of free talk time. Donated cell phones are sold to a recycling partner, ReCellular. The money received from recycling cell phones is used to purchase calling cards

and other communication tools for the U.S. military. For information, log onto cellphonesforsoldiers.com.

● Phones4Charity part-ners with many charitable organizations whose work has benefited hundreds of thousands of people all over

the world. They work with charities in-cluding the National Wildlife Federation, American Cancer Society and Feed the Children, just to name a few. However, they also let you decide directly where your money will do the most good. Send your favorite charity’s name and infor-mation, and they will contact it about the cell phone fundraiser program so that they can start benefitting as well. Log onto phones4charity.org, or call (888) 846-0818.

Donated phones are tax-deductible as an in-kind donation. Also, consider launch-ing a cell phone drive to collect unused phones from your friends and neighbors.

Before you donate, make sure that the service on your phone has been discon-nected and that any personal information you may need has been copied and then erased. Be sure to remove the following data: phone book, any lists of calls (re-ceived and made), voicemails, sent and re-ceived e-mail and text messages, organizer folders, Web search history and photos.

Deleting data usually requires several steps. You can remove the memory or subscriber identity module (SIM) card from the phone yourself, but you may need to do more to erase all the personal data on your device. Check your owner’s manual or wireless provider’s website, or the manu-facturer can provide information on how to permanently delete information, and how to save or transfer information to a new device if needed.

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Refurnished Living

For the month that celebrates love, I thought I’d share a few items I’ve recently discovered that I think are pretty swell. Coincidentally, they would also make great gifts for that special treehugger in your life!

By Alison GrievesonWhat I’m Lovin’

Stanford engineer Debbie Sterling wanted to create a game that would cultivate an interest in engineering among girls. Call it the anti-Barbie: This game requires its players to follow basic engineering principles in order to get ahead. You can pre-order it (with an expected ship date of April 2013) and by doing so, help support a small company doing great things. goldieblox.com

Chic mommies with infants rejoice! Chewbeads has come out with a line of chewable jewelry that is BPA-, PVC-, phthalates-, lead-,

cadmium- and heavy metal-free. They have a variety of adorable necklaces and bracelets that your little one will also appreciate! chewbeads.com

The green techie in your life will love this Bluetooth bamboo keyboard. You can even get a matching iPad or iPhone case! izenbamboo.com

For the literature buff in your life, this scalloped lantern made from vintage books could be a hit. Suspend three of these above a long

dining room table for a splendid look that’s a real conversation-starter. etsy.com/shop/thePathLessTraveled

Potting Shed Creations has created these genius, beautifully-designed planters made from recycled wine bottles. Check their website for other super-clever designs. pottingshedcreations.com

Alison Grieveson is a graphic designer who enjoys exploring the greener side of the design and decorating industries. For more green tips, check out RefurnishedLiving.com.

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60 | Life@Home

Something to look forward to come spring

By Colleen PlimptonPhoto courtesy Proven Winners

Lovely, Luscious Lilacs

Directly below my bedroom window in the ramshackle farmhouse in which I grew

up stood a stately purple lilac. My grandparents, who owned the home in rural Livingston County, had no idea who’d planted it or how long it’d been there, but in the 1950s and ’60s, it was mine. Each May its deep violet blossoms unfurled, casting perfume into the air and providing armloads of bouquets for my mother. And often, a nesting home for Robin Redbreast.

I loved that overgrown old shrub so much that I papered my bedroom walls in lilac print; I asked for and was given a lavender bedspread one Christmas, and I routinely doused myself in lilac co-logne (probably Avon). And from that day to this, wherever I’ve lived, I have never been without America’s favorite flowering bush. I’ve had tall lilacs and small ones, white ones and pink ones, doubles and singles, and even rebloomers.

Along the way I’ve learned quite a bit about these woody plants belonging to the olive family. Native from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia in woodland and scrub areas, they date back to the mid-1750s in America. They were grown in our first botanical gardens. Both Thomas Jeffer-son and George Washington raised them at their estates, and they were especially popular in the Northeast. The late 1890s saw a European renaissance in lilacs. French flower breeder Victor Lemoine and

his family developed over 200 different types of lilacs. Breeding has continued; to date, over a thousand varieties are known around the world.

But despite their heritage, lilacs aren’t prima donnas. Whichever ones you choose for your own garden, give them as much sun as possible and good garden dirt. Drought tolerant, these powerhouses need no supplemental water after their first year. They appreciate an alkaline soil, so toss on an annual dusting of lime.

Pruning should take place right after flowering so as to not sacrifice next year’s blooms. If your lilac gets too big for its britches, an overgrown shrub whose flow-ers are out of reach can be rejuvenated by taking out one third of the oldest, thickest canes each year for three successive years.

Depending on size, lilacs can be used for hedging, as a specimen, a flowering privacy

barrier or included in the perennial border. Hardy to zone 3, they vary in height from 3 to 30 feet. They resent wet feet, though, and therefore perform best on hillsides or flatlands with good drainage.

In my current garden I grow seven dif-ferent varieties, all of them fragrant.

(Though nonfragrant lilacs exist, for me that’s a nonstarter. Why grow lilacs if not to enjoy their scent?)

The oldest shrub in our yard, referred to as “Grandma’s lilac” was taken from the Midwestern farm where my husband was born. Originally planted by his great-grandmother in the 1930s, it flourished by the fence next to the apple orchard. We transported a rooted sprig to our former home in New Jersey decades ago, and it has traveled with us to subsequent abodes. A fragrant pale lavender, it’s a flo-

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Established alongside an arbor is the deep purple, intensely fragrant Ludvig von Spathe. This venerable shrub resembles the lilac of my child-hood and I cherish its blos-soms. Nearby is early bloomer Pocahontas, and behind that, a nameless old French white variety. For season extension I have Miss Kim, a soft lavender, exquisitely scented cultivar that blooms weeks after the usual specimens. Even later is Paladin, a very dense dwarf Korean cultivar.

For the last few years I’ve enjoyed the new, re-blooming lilac from Proven Winners, Bloomerang Purple. Skeptical at first that such a creature ex-isted, I am now convinced. This little guy commences bloom at lilac time in May, but continues to re-bloom at regular intervals right up until frost. Amazing!

Lilacs are enchanting in the vase, but often don’t last very long. Here’s how to remedy that. Snip them in the evening, when the stems are full of moisture. Make a clean cut; don’t crush the wood. Imme-diately strip off all the leaves and plunge the cuttings into lukewarm water.

Now, here’s the real secret. Take the container and place it, chock full of your lilacs, into a cool, dark place, where it’ll stay overnight. (I employ my bedroom closet.) The next morning, remove the whole kit

and caboodle and enjoy the floral flaunt for days.

One of the many attributes of lilacs is that the shrub is still lovely once bloom is over. Think of them as one of the “bones” of your garden. And remember, they provide early nectar for butterflies. All in all, lilacs are a good bet. They’re deer resistant, most are fra-grant, all are cold-tolerant, and they come in fabulous colors. Are there any negatives? Only one worth mentioning: Pow-dery mildew can sometimes disfigure the leaves in midsum-mer. It doesn’t harm the plant. I ignore it.

Nowadays most lilacs are purchased in containers, but the home gardener may multiply her favorites by stem cuttings or layering. Or simply remove a rooted sucker in early spring and plant in its new home. What could be simpler? For new cultivars, the catalogs are full of opulent choices, and local nurseries will soon have their own selections.

If you wish to visit a sumptu-ous assembly of lilacs, Roches-ter has the largest collection in the world and their Lilac Fes-tival has been held each May since 1898. The annual festival at the Arnold Arboretum near Boston is a good runner-up.

I have no idea if that lovely purple lilac outside my bed-room window still graces my childhood home. But its beauty, grace and fragrance will linger in my memory forever.

Garden communicator Colleen Plimpton lectures on, writes about, coaches and teaches gardening. Visit her website at colleenplimpton.com.

http://colleenplimpton.com

62 | Life@Home

By Ann Hughes

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Tax Time

You may have a folder clearly labeled with every possible document inside. Or you may be

scrambling around at the last minute for those W2s, 1099s and documentation of the clothing you gave to Goodwill last year. Either way, it’s tax time. We turned to local tax experts for five things to keep in mind before your taxes are filed. Their tips may even save you money this year.

1. DON’T BE IN A HURRY TO GET YOUR TAXES DONE.

Government tax documents are still being mailed out mid-February. If you’re chomp-ing at the bit to do something, make sure

everything else is in order — information on deductions, proof of charitable donations and other unreimbursed expenses. “You’re going to want solid proof in as many cases as possible,” says Kristen Berdar, CPA, CMA of BST Financial and Management Consul-tants. “If you can go through your bank statements and find your cancelled checks for donations, ask for receipts for things and stop donating in cash so you have a trail, it’s going to be that much easier.”

2. MAKE SURE YOU AREN’T OVERLOOKING ANY DEDUCTIONS.

We hear a lot about deductions for items such as charitable donations, home mort-

gage interest and medical expenses, but how about money you spend when you volunteer? Michael Lurie, CPA, president of Lurie & Co. Certified Public Accountants, says that includes mileage. “If you’re driv-ing to events on weekends to help volun-teer, those are miles you can deduct. It’s not as generous a deduction as a business mile, but it’s still a deduction.” The rate is 14 cents per mile. He suggests creating a mileage log to document your travel.

Also, New York State offers a 20 percent credit for long-term care insurance premi-ums. “If something costs you $5,000, you’re going to get $1,000 right back on your returns,” he says.

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3. CONTRIBUTE TO AN IRA.

Even though the tax year has ended, contributing to an IRA can still save you money up until the due date of your tax return. Contributing as much as $6,000 if you’re 50 or older or $5,000 if you’re under 50 is a way to defer taxes. “It’s basi-cally a way to say I have $6,000. I don’t want to pay taxes on it today, so I’m going to put it in this vehicle for retirement and then I don’t have to pay the taxes until I take the money out upon retirement,” Lurie says. There are rules on income limits, so be sure to check first to see if you qualify.

4. REMEMBER, THE GOAL ISN’T TO GET A BIG REFUND.

“That’s not the best use of your money,” Berdar says. “You’re giving the government an inter-est-free loan. They’ve had use of your money all year and now you’re waiting to get it back.” While you’re waiting for your refund, she also recommends not taking a refund anticipation loan. “The charge on that can be extremely high,” she says. “If you have your refund directly

deposited from the IRS and NYS, it typically happens within three weeks.”

5. IF YOU OWE A LOT, COME UP WITH A PLAN.

If you can pay it, then pay it, but Lurie says if you can’t, get an extension. “An extension does not give you an extension for time to pay. You’re going to incur some interest and penal-ties, but if you can wrap that up within six months, that’s not usually a time where they’re go-ing to be coming to you to put a lien on you or anything like that.” Adjusting your withhold-ings so more tax is taken out of your paycheck may make a difference at tax time next year.

Both experts agree that if your tax return is straightfor-ward, you can probably do it yourself. There are good soft-ware programs that help, and the IRS even has a program on its website called freefile. But Berdar has a reminder about one thing: double check your work. The IRS lists math errors as the most common tax mis-take that Americans make.

Our experts agree the most important thing you can do is be organized, and that’s a year-long process. Kristen Berdar recommends having a designated envelope or folder somewhere in your home where everyone can put receipts and other tax-

related documents.Michael Lurie says

now is a good time to commit to document-ing potential deduc-tions, too. “A lot of things that you do every day, like donat-ing to a charitable organization, are going to create deductions,” he says. “There’s noth-

ing wrong with doing things like that in a more formal manner and getting an accep-tance letter and using it as a deduction.”

By the way, if you paid property taxes in January, a copy of the real estate tax bill should already be in your folder.

Do this now to save money next year:

Ann Hughes anchors FOX23 News at 10 and 11. She has been covering the Capital Region for more than 14 years.

64 | Life@Home

How to pick a secure, hard-to-crack password

By Brianna Snyder

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Password Protected

We all know someone who’s been hacked. You get a kooky e-mail from a friend that’s

formatted strangely, contains odd misspell-ings and usually invites you to open a link or an attachment. Many of us have learned what a “phishing” e-mail looks like — a bogus message that pretends to be from a friend, a social-media site or a bank — but even the savviest of us have been fooled.

What’s the smartest thing you can do to ensure the security of your e-mail, social media and bank accounts? Be vigilant with your passwording. We did some research and talked to Cliff Rohde, of GoatCloud Communications in Albany, for some tips on managing passwords. The fundamental rule of passwords, though, is this: Use dif-ferent passwords for every site. This is an annoying but necessary must-do.

The question is how to do it when we have to make passwords for everything and trying to remember 20 separate logins is not only a nuisance but nearly impossible. But using one password for everything is what gets a lot of people in trouble: Once your Gmail password is discovered, now your hijacker can access your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and, heaven forbid, your bank account, too. Here are some suggestions:

1. AVOID WORDS

“If your password can be found in a dic-tionary, you might as well not have one,” according to the New York Times. Hackers are in possession of fairly sophisticated programs that, in seconds, run through popular or likely words or terms you may have used in your password. They

don’t even break into the system to see your password; they actually just guess. If your password is a mix of letters, numbers and characters, your chances of your password getting guessed are significantly lower.

2. IF YOU HAVE TO USE WORDS, USE A LOT OF THEM.

When picking a password, think deep. Think abstract. But also tie it to an off-line thing that’s memorable. “Say, for instance, that this morning a squirrel stuck his head in a tin can on top of your garbage can,” says Cliff Rohde. “Make a password that is something like ‘squirrelonthegarbagecan-withatincanonhishead.’” That password is many characters but you’ll also be able to remember it fairly easily.

3. MAKE A MNEMONIC

Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that the phrase approach to password-making can be taken one step closer to tight security.

“Turn your phrase into an acronym,” he writes. “Be sure to use some numbers and symbols and capital letters, too. I like to eat bagels at the airport becomes Ilteb@ta, and My first Cadillac was a real lemon so I bought a Toyota is M1stCwarlsIbaT.”

This approach is a good one if you’re trying to manage several passwords across various sites. Manjoo continues: “You can even create pass phrases for specific sites that are coded with a hint about their purpose. A sentence like It’s 20 degrees in February, so I use Gmail lets you set a new Gmail password every month and still never forget it:i90diSsIuG for September, i30diMsIuG for March, etc.”

4. GET A PASSWORD MANAGER

Certain subscription services and free services will automatically generate pass-words not even you know for all of your sites. You just remember the one master password to access the rest. Rohde uses Last Pass, which is free for desktop use but costs just $12 a year for mobile security, too. “It’s a very slick little piece of software,” Rohde says. “What you do is you remember one password to log into Last Pass and then you kinda let Last Pass take over for you in terms of remembering passwords and pass-word generation.”

5. NEVER, EVER, EVER USE THE PASSWORD “PASSWORD.”

“Never use the word ‘password’ as your password,” Rohde says, “or never use 1-2-3-4 or something as simple as that because that’s just the easiest thing. It doesn’t take any computing power or brain power to try that.”

Tech Tips

Top 10 Most-Used Passwords (to be avoided)

10. “Baseball” 9. “111111” 8. “dragon” 7. “letmein” 6. “monkey” 5. “qwerty” 4. “abc123” 3. “12345678” 2. “123456” 1. “Password”

source: digitaljournal.com/article/335497

http://digitaljournal.com/article/335497


Life

Mmmm, fried potato salad with arugula and lemon. Photo by Paul Barrett. Get the recipe and the story behind it on page 80.

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Help Me …

Write a Love Letter

Struggling to put your devotion to your sweetheart into words? A couple of poets and a relationship

expert will help you channel your inner Cyrano.

LET IT FLOW.

“The way that I would advise starting is with free writing,” says Barbara Ungar, an English professor at The College of Saint Rose and author of three books of poetry, including Charlotte Bronte, You Ruined My Life. “Give yourself a set amount of time and once the pen touches the paper, you can’t stop writing. You try to be as brave as you can and write all the things you are afraid of saying or think are inappropriate.” Then, go back and edit yourself, she says. Expect that you’ll scrap 90 percent of what you wrote, leaving only the sweetest of sweet nothings.

BE ORIGINAL.

“Throw out everything that is clichéd — things that sound like Hallmark, things that sound like any pop song,” Ungar says. And try to avoid abstract terms, such as … yes … love.

BE BOLD.

“Love is a gamble, but it’s worth it. I’ve never had a love letter written — many dirty e-mails — but never a love letter,” says Mary Panza, vice president of Albany Poets. “And it’s something that if I ever got, I would hold very dear. Love’s always a risk worth taking.”

BE YOURSELF.

“Your partner loves you for yourself,” says Larry Wilson, founder and CEO of the Delmar-based Oppositesconnect.com, an online dating site with 80,000 active members. “Don’t try to be something else. They know you don’t wax poetically like Shakespeare. They know you don’t talk like Spider-Man. Just be yourself.” (Upside-down kisses, though, totally welcome.)

USE YOUR SENSES.

Good writing includes vivid imagery and evokes all senses. “This is how po-etry works: You feel things in your limbic system,” Ungar says. “We don’t want to awaken the brain. We want to awaken the feelings and emotions.” So share what you love about how your partner sounds, smells or even — send the kids to the babysitter — tastes. Song of Solomon is a great example of a body-part-by-body-part breakdown, she says, with lines like “nose like the tower of Lebanon” and “teeth like a flock of sheep.” OK, compliments were different in Bible times.

PLAY IT STRAIGHT.

“Don’t try to be funny,” Panza says. “No woman in her right mind wants a funny love letter.”

LESS IS MORE.

“Make it short. It’s got to be sweet, and there’s a lot of romance in desperation. So act a little desperate,” Panza says.

Time it right. “Do not send love letters to make up for an argument or a disagree-ment. Those issues are only really solved face-to-face,” Wilson says. “The best love letters are ones sent spontaneously without an an-niversary or without a milestone. They’re written on a Wednesday afternoon sitting at work and your mate or your lover is on your mind.”

THINK AESTHETICS.

In the Japanese tradition, the whole letter has to touch the senses, Ungar says. Write it by hand. Use nice paper, maybe with a scent on it. Attach a flower when you deliver it.

DON’T GO ALL DR. SEUSS.

“For most people I’d say avoid rhyme,” Ungar says. “Unless you’re really skillful, in which case you won’t be reading this article because you won’t need help.”

Jennifer Gish is features editor at the Times Union.

68 | Life@Home

By Janet ReynoldsPhotos by Jody Horton/Chronicle Books

Taking It Up a Notch

If you’re a beginning knitter or a so-so knitter, Step It Up Knits can help take your knitting to the next level — and

give you some killer items for your home or wardrobe.

The book by Vickie Howell, who is the host of the DIY Network show Knitty Gritty and who, ironically, knits from Texas, a land not exactly known for cold weather, is aimed at the busy woman (or man gutsy enough to admit he knits). “I assume every-body is as crazy busy as I am,” she says. “I’m a working mom but I also want to be creative and you can get in a creative rut when it comes to your skill level. I wanted to help people raise their skills without a huge time commitment.

“If you start another thing that you can’t finish because of time, there’s another thing that piles up,” she says. “Nobody wins that way.”

Step It Up Knits, Take Your Skills to the Next Level with 25 Quick and Stylish Projects, by Vickie Howell, photography by Jody Horton, Chronicle Books, 144 pages, $22.95

Knitting projects for your home

Learn to make mitered squares and make someone in your life happy with a hat.


Want to learn to lace but afraid of starting something too big? This lacy iPad sleeve is a safe place to begin.

The book is generally aimed at people ready to be intermediate knitters -- people, Howell says, who have a few projects under their belt. The book is also perfect, however, for more expert knitters who want a quick gift that isn’t boring to make.

Step It Up Knits offers projects for the home as well as the body. “When people are making gifts, they love to have some-thing they don’t have to worry about size or taste,” Howell says of the projects like the iPad cover. “These are a little safer.”

Knitting something like a pillow is also a way to bring a trend into your home without making a major commitment. “Maybe buying a couch in hot coral is not the best choice for everyone, but you can make a vase with a great flower arrangement,” Howell says. “You’ve got your trend and you haven’t made a big financial commitment.”

Want to check out other Vickie Howell projects? Look for her at vickiehowell.com.

A good bag is hard to find but not necessarily hard to make.

http://vickiehowell.com

70 | Life@Home

Got a bad case of cabin fever? Why not do some house projects?

By Brianna Snyder

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Bored to Death?

The weather is disgusting. It’s icy and slushy and the wind is pain-fully cold. Everyone in the house

is antsy. Every game has been played four times over. We’ve all got cabin fever.

So what better time to tweak some old furniture, modify a bedroom or change the look of your kitchen? We rounded up some project suggestions from local designers and a little help from Pinterest.

1. REFURBISH AN OLD COFFEETABLE

“Find a great piece that you want (look at

area junk shops or used furniture places),” Michele Conti of Designs by Michele in Ni-skayuna, writes in her blog. “Pieces vary in price, but a little work and you can create a treasure!”

Conti started by sanding this cof-feetable with 220 grit sandpaper, “just quick to clean off any dirt or build-up of old wax,” she writes. “I really like to use Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 primer sealer latex. It doesn’t smell as strong as the oil-based product and cleanup is easy, with warm water and soap.”

It also “eliminates the need for sanding,” Conti adds. “If you don’t want to sand, this is the product you should use. I still recom-mend making sure the surface is clear of any debris or dirt, so wipe down your sur-face before you apply the primer. It should be clean and dry.”

Conti says to let the primer set for 24 hours before painting; she gave the table three coats of paint using Rust-Oleum spray paint. “Now this was certainly an easy project,” Conti says. “Just a couple of hours and some paint!”

BEFORE

AFTER


2. CHANGE A ROOM!

Painting is “the best thing you can do to update your home and make yourself happy,” says M.J. Bortugno of B. Designs in Latham. “That is something that is a quick fixup to your space and completely transform it.”

Not up to painting the whole room? Painting one accent wall is enough to brighten any space. Remember 2013’s color is emerald green, which might not be a color to make a lifetime commitment to but one wall in wintertime? Why not?

But don’t stop with the wall. Rearrange the furniture, Bortugno says. “Get some fresh pillows and throws, add some bright color to your space, change the pictures on your wall!”

3. WINDOW TREATMENTS

“Windows come in all sizes, and there’s a drapery or shade for every situation,” Conti says. “Long draperies generally cre-ate a formal effect, while short curtains or shades look more casual. Curtains can create an illusion, altering the look of the window dimensions.”

For this project, Conti made a small win-dow look like a bigger one. Using layering

treatments, Conti was able to build this illu-sion. Rather than hanging curtains along the line of the window, Conti layered the window, flanking it with long panels. This creates width and length and goes a long way in brightening the room.

“The features and functions of window treatments are many,” Conti says. “They create a sense of style, visual interest, soft-ness and warmth.”

PINTEREST FIND!

Jamie Dorobek, at CreatingReal-lyAwesomeFreeThings.com, details this great approach to reupholstering an old chair.

The chair Dorobek worked on had springs in the cushion. Ripping out all the material surrounding the springs was the first step. Then came prying out the hundreds of staples and nails, Dorobek writes.

“Gut the entire thing before painting, and don’t try to keep the springs,” she says. After it’s gutted, paint it.

Once it’s painted and dry, create

the chair’s seat with a piece of foam and a piece of plywood. Cut the foam to fit in the seat of your chair. Then use it as a template — and later as the seat cushion. Place it over a piece of plywood and cut the shape of the seat out from there.

“Once the board is cut, you’re almost done! It’s time to actually upholster. You’re going to lay every-thing out nice and pretty. ... It’s an upholstery sandwich. Lay fabric, bat-ting, foam, and then board on a flat surface. Use the staple gun to staple the batting to the board. Then use the staple gun to attach the fabric to the board. Pull the fabric as you go, and

don’t just do one side at a time.” Cut off the excess fabric and

nestle your new seat in!

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By Caroline Barrett | Photo by Paul Barrett

Tasty TidbitsFoodie FlickIs there anything better on a wintry night than a blanket and a good movie? Soul Food (2007), starring Vanessa Williams, is the story of how a family comes together over good, home-cooked meals. Warming for the heart — and perhaps it will inspire you to gather your family around the table for a rich, warm bowl of black-eyed peas.

Recipe February is a great month for curling up with a really good movie — and a bowl of popcorn. Tired of the same old butter and salt? Try these different takes on your

freshly popped bowl of popcorn:

Combine olive oil and butter, drizzle over top and shake a bit of sea salt over top. A richer — and healthier — take on buttered popcorn.

Add Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper.

Toss in curry powder and sea salt.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar, and shake over lightly buttered popcorn.

Candy makes up 45 percent of the gifts given on Valentine’s Day and is the number-one gift given to sweethearts in the U.S. statisticbrain.com/valentines-day-statistics

Kitchen Crumbs

“ I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.” – Erma Bombeck

Have you ever wondered ... What farmers do in the winter? The off-season gives farmers the opportunity to fix equipment and repair buildings. The off-season is also used for planning next year’s crops.

Kitchen Thing An immersion blender is a kitchen must in any season. Use an immersion blender for light and fluffy scrambled eggs, quick fruit smoothies and sauces pureed right in the pan. Our favorite use this time of year? Silky, delicious pureed soup, made with potatoes, onions and plenty of garlic.

Wellington’s Island TeaNot planning a winter getaway to a warm and sunny white sand beach this year? Try just one sip of Carolyn and Frederick Wellington’s Island Tea, and you will be transported to an island where the breezes are warm and the sun shines all day long. Find the sweet, coconut-y and mildly spiced tea at area markets and retailers. Find more info on their website: wellingtonsherbsandspices.com

to brighten up your cooking


http://statisticbrain.com/valentines-day-statistics

http://wellingtonsherbsandspices.com

Dish

74 | Life@Home

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Although Alex Ursprung has no formal culinary training, by age 25 he has risen to supervise nightly operations in the kitchen at Yono’s restaurant and its casual sibling,

DP: An American Brasserie, in downtown Albany.A native of the Coxsackie-Athens area just south of Albany,

Ursprung moved with his brother to the capital city after high school. He soon found a job at Marché at 74 State, where he worked with the chef Brian Molino, himself then a 25-year-old running the kitchen of a high-end downtown restaurant. Ursprung followed Molino to The Brown Derby, then transferred two blocks south after finding a position at Yono’s, where he’s grown into the slot of top lieutenant to chef-owner Yono Purnomo.

By Steve Barnes | Photos by Suzanne Kawola

At Home with

Alex Ursprung

continued on 77

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For a video demonstrating how to cook a goose breast, go to timesunion.com/lifeathome. Have a smartphone? Scan the QR code at left to link directly to our Life@Home videos on YouTube.

Ursprung shares an apartment overlook-ing Albany’s Washington Park with a high school buddy who’s tangentially involved in the hospitality industry — he works for a beer distributor. Located on a middle floor in a big old brick building, their two-bedroom space is an under-furnished, under-equipped, mismatched and utterly endearing bachelor pad. A much-sat-upon couch faces a TV, and a coffee table holds both video-game controllers and glossy food tomes including Thomas Keller’s in-stant classic The French Laundry Cookbook. A poster on the wall celebrates the rude, low-brow wisdom of Al Bundy in the 1990s

TV series Married … with Children, a Fox sitcom that debuted its 11-season run the year Ursprung was born but has remained in heavy rerun rotation ever since.

Ursprung likes goose breast because it’s a hearty red meat that’s sort of like beef sir-loin with the thick, fat-capped skin of duck breast. He sears it on the stovetop, roasts it in a hot oven and then brings it back to the stove for a quick baste in butter and herbs. The result is crispy, seasoned crust that gives way to a rosy interior of lean, slightly gamey meat. Served with a ragout of beans and root vegetables, it’s an easy, bones-warming winter dish.

Roasted Goose Breast2 16-ounce goose breasts (duck

breast may be substituted)2 sprigs thyme1 tablespoon salt2 ounces cold butter

Method Heat oven to 400 degrees. Score skin of goose breasts in a crosshatch pattern, cutting deeply enough to go through the fat but not into the meat. Season with salt and sear in hot sauté pan, skin side down, until fat starts to render, about 5 minutes. Do not turn over. Put in oven and roast for 12 minutes. Check doneness. If using a meat thermometer, breast should be no more than 120 degrees; like duck breast, goose is a red meat that many people prefer cooked no more than medium, and the temperature will continue to rise as the goose is basted and then rests.

If breast is at desired temperature, put pan back on stove at medium heat and add butter and thyme

to pan. Tilting the pan to pool the melted butter, spoon foaming butter over goose for 1 minute. Remove from pan and let rest, skin side up, for 5 minutes. Slice and serve over winter vegetable ragout.

Winter Vegetable Ragout1 cup diced onion1 cup diced carrot1 cup diced parsnip2 cups diced Hubbard squash2 cups diced celeriac 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves

stripped and chopped1 quart cooked flageolet beans1 tablespoon kosher salt

Method In large saucepot or Dutch oven, sweat all vegetables till tender, about 15 minutes on medium heat. Add rosemary, beans and salt, and stir to mix well. Cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with goose breast.

continued from 75

Dish


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC4yjRLaiWQ&list=PL5760B5EC3D5F988D&index=1

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The Only White Wine that Happens to be Red

The Vineyard

The “nouveau Beaujolais” craze was already passing out of fashion when my friend Tim and I drove across the

English Channel in a rainy and gray November — well, we took the ferry — in his mufflerless Mini Cooper and returned with a case of the fresh, fruity wine from the Beaujolais region in the southern end of Burgundy and the north-ern tip of the Rhone.

You see, Beaujolais is the weirdest red wine in the world, and despite being truly a bizarre beverage — with a largely concocted reputa-tion — there is also no wine that can lay claim to being so essentially French.

Let me explain. The wines that come from this granite-y soil have served as the bistro wines of France for generations. Order a pot of house wine with your lunch in a brasserie and it is likely to come from here —thin, tangy, purple, but undeniably drinkable. This is the region that makes the workaday plonk. Because it was cheap and plentiful and served young, right after bottling, a bit of an excitement arose when the new vintage became available. This was briefly turned into what was called the “Beaujolais run,” as Brits, in particular, would race to see who could be first to bring a case back to the sceptered Isle (again, Britain). The Japanese went for this as well, and I understand the tradition still has some traction there.

So can you actually drink this stuff? Well, it depends. Because of the hype and the volume, and the fact that the Gamay grape is probably the sourest damn grape on the planet, there has been a traditional tendency to include sugar in fermentation, and quality is variable.

But there is an effort now to create a more serious image and make better wines, and I dove in recently — and I’m mostly glad I did.

The Gamay grape is definitely not to everyone’s taste. It is thought to have appeared first in the village of Gamay in France in the 1360s — in the wake of the Black Death — and its principal virtue was

that it ripened early and was abundant in fruit and low-maintenance. Obviously, with most people dead, low maintenance was a good thing. The post-plague Beaujolais rage incensed the Duke of Burgundy, who banned the grape from his region, which is why it became concentrated to the south.

A variety of factors contribute to the grapes’ high acidity, so to preserve fruit and freshness, it has been the tradition to use carbonic maceration in fermentation — tra-ditionally, this means the grapes are thrown into the tank uncrushed and fermented inside the skins, as the grapes at the bot-tom send up carbon monoxide to inhibit rot. Easy, is what you’d call it. Other methods exist now, but the idea is that the wine has fewer tannins from the skins this way and the fruitiness is thus preserved.

Despite some variations across the zone, the best description comes from wine writer Karen MacNeil, who has described it as the “only white wine that happens to be red.” These wines are light, translucent, purply, with straw-berry and blueberry fruit, zest, lemon peel and steel. They are real tongue strippers.

I was sick of heavy Rhones and deep Span-ish reds, and these wines really turned my head. I’ve never tasted so much pleasant bitterness and tartness in red wines, but they have captured my imagination for now.

Chateau de la Chaize, Brouilly AOC, 2009, $19Brouilly is one of the Crus in Beaujolais that encircles the extinct volcano of Brouilly. This is one strange but intoxicating sucker with strawberry and white pepper, leaving a burn on the lips. There are dark flavors of bark and charred wood, but racy acidity and a bitter stony flavor that resolved like silk. Fascinating.

Trenel Fils Cote De Brouilly, 2010, $17On the foothills of the mountain, this was softer with sour cherry, red currants, tart Macintosh apple, but also steely and sleek.

Trenel Fils “Cuvee Rochebonne,” Beaujolais, 2010, $17Tart, sleek, with the strawberry and blueberry notes, fresh lemon, granite, thirst quenching.

Henry Fessy, Moulin-Au-Vent Crus Du Beaujolais, 2008, $18Another Crus in the Beaujolais with high manganese in the soil. This was softer, and I even wondered if there was merlot, so a much fuller, with blackberry fruit and a flannelly mouth feel. This is a richer take on Gamay and worth returning to.

Wine Tasting

A look at Brouilly and BeaujolaisStory and photo by Alistair Highet

80 | Life@Home

A fire, a book and a pot of sauce bubbling on the stove

By Caroline Barrett | Photos by Paul Barrett

Imagine this: it’s 22 degrees outside. The afternoon sun is almost gone and the black, leafless tree limbs bend

against the fierce wind. Inside, it’s a differ-ent scene.

The cat is curled up tight in his favorite chair. Stretched out blissfully in front of the fire is Agnes, our black lab. I’ve chosen the sound of the wind and crackling fire over any TV or music. Paul is snoozing on the couch after a long day of work. Elliot sits with us, limbs draped over our big chair. The girls are squirreled away in rooms. I don’t call them down.

A pot of tomatoes, onions and garlic simmers on the stove. I’ve pulled out a box of pasta and a good chunk of Parmesan cheese. This is life as it should be.

And then, shattering the peace: Lucy. My oldest comes bounding down the stairs in the way that only she can do. Sometimes I tell her that she sounds like the Russian army passing through. Other times it’s a herd of elephants. Either way, it’s loud. Especially if she’s excited.

“Mom?” she says in a super-sweet voice. “Can I go to the movies tonight?”

I looked up from my book. Sure, I thought. Of course you can go to the mov-ies. But the mother in me knew. Something was up. This wasn’t just a plea to see a flick with friends. She wanted more.

“None of the other parents can drive,” she continues.

I waited. “Either way,” she finishes.

Table@Home

There’s NoPlace Like

Home


Fried Potato Salad with Arugula and Lemonserves 6, with leftovers

1 pound small potatoes, rinsed1/4 cup sea saltcanola oil1/2 pound arugula

for the dressing (with enough for leftovers)

1/2 cup olive oiljuice of 1 lemon1 small shallot, mincedpinch of sea salt, plenty

of black pepper

Method Boil potatoes and the sea salt with enough water to cover by an inch or so. Cook until just barely tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Can be prepared a day ahead.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake well. Keep leftover dressing refrigerated for two weeks.

Dress the arugula with desired amount of dressing, toss and separate onto 6 small plates.

Heat a large skillet over a medium flame. Gently press the potatoes on a cutting board, until about ½ inch thick. When the oil is hot, slide the potatoes in, without crowding. Cook for 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels for a minute or so, then place on salad. Best when piping hot and crisp.

I go back to reading my book, trying to pretend she isn’t there. Perhaps, I think, she will go away. But she doesn’t. Instead, she smiles and cuddles up a little.

“Will you drive us both ways? Please?”Lucy knows I like my fire, my pot of

bubbly warm sauce and my book on a cold night. I don’t want to go out. Going out means leaving my warm paradise. Boots, hat, gloves. Starting the car. Navigating icy roads. Yuck.

She blinks her beautiful green eyes and waits. No, she isn’t going away.

“Yes,” is all I say. I’m a sucker for those pretty green eyes.

On cold February evenings, it’s not just Lucy’s social engagements I

don’t want to leave the house for. It’s anything. A really good band playing? I’ll catch them the next time they’re in town. Friends meeting at a coffee shop? They know I love them, but I pass on the invite. The dark and bitter cold nights make it hard to leave the house.

Some evenings I do shake off my cabin fever and go out. Occasionally we go out to dinner or see friends. It’s almost as good as the fire.

Not too long ago, a friend invited us to an intimate dinner party. Three couples, candles, a warm fire and good food. It

sounded like my kind of February evening. I was forced to take off the pajamas, trade my slippers for my good boots and paint on cheery lipstick.

All six of us are food lovers, so we ate very well. Someone brought a cheese tray and olives. We ate crusty bread with pesto, pulled from the freezer. It reminded us of summer and tasted so good. I brought this salad, made with little potatoes purchased at the farmers market. I boiled the potatoes in plenty of salt, pressed each slightly flat and fried them in a bit oil.

The last part we did just before serving, so each plate had a small circle of greens, and then crispy, piping hot potato bites on top. It was indulgent, all of it. For dessert, we poured glasses of port. Our hostess carried out a cutting board with nothing more than big chunk of dark chocolate and a mini butcher’s knife. We cut off chunks for ourselves, savoring the rich chocolate and sweet wine. Even I had to admit, it was good to be out of the house.

The week before, though? The night Lucy begged me to drive her to the movies? After dinner, I kicked off my blanket, pulled on the warmest clothes I own and started the car. We picked up her friends and delivered them to the theater for the 7:20 movie. I hung around, ran an errand, and was there when the movie let out.

Back home, Lucy was very grateful. She looked at me with her big green eyes and thanked me, sincerely. I was happy to unite her with friends. Deep down, though, I knew there’s no place like home.

Caroline Barrett is the author of the Table for 5 blog. Visit blog.timesunion.com/tablefor5.

http://blog.timesunion.com/tablefor5

82 | Life@Home

The case for buying and learning to use a pressure cooker

By John AdamianPh

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Pressure Drop

Pressure cookers freak people out. In a kitchen filled with sharp knives, open flames, mixers that

can make a mess of a misplaced finger, and other potentially dangerous tools, somehow the mysterious — and gener-ally benign — hiss of the pressure cooker is enough to intimidate even seasoned

grill-scarred cooks. I’ve seen people hunch and duck at the sound of a pressure cooker emitting its steady whistling steam, as if they’d spotted a grenade on a stove.

But cutting cook time in half for pre-paring tasty stew, braised short ribs, or cooking dry beans is enough to make most strapped-for-time cooks learn to master the

pressure cooker and get over any hang-ups. Quick stocks, bread puddings or risottos are also possible with a pressure cooker. It’s the only way you’ll make braised oxtail in 45 minutes.

It might be the black-box element of using a pressure cooker that makes some cooks get a little squeamish: you put the


stuff in there, get the contraption up to steam and pressurized, and you basi-cally leave whatever you’re cooking in the cooker until it’s done. Pressure cooking speeds up otherwise time-consuming tasks, so you sort of undermine the whole point if you keep reducing the pressure on your pot of beans to see if they’re finished. It’s that speeding up of normally slow process-es that makes pressure cookers so cool. But in the age of the slow cooker or the Crock-Pot, pressure cookers have a hard time competing. There remains a public-relations gap.

Today’s pressure cookers have release valves, so concerns about uncontrolled build-up — and potential explosions — are unnecessary. Modern pressure cookers are also designed so that it’s impossible to open them while the contents are under pres-sure, so you can feel pretty comfortable delving into the world of the pressure cooker without fear. But you will need to recalibrate some of your methods.

Cooks need and want to taste, to smell, to see what they’re making. Pressure cook-ers largely thwart those crucial senses. You mostly hear. (That steady hiss.) That’s the main way of gauging your progress with a pressure cooker. You can smell things, too. The only problem with that is that sometimes you only begin to really smell an overcooked batch of pressure-cooked brown rice when it starts to get slightly burnt on the bottom.

Pressure cookers work by allowing us to raise the temperature of boiling water to above the normal 212 degrees F/100 degrees C (at sea level) by trapping steam and increasing pressure. In a pressure cooker you can get things up to around 250 degrees F/120 degrees C. The main reason to resort to the pressure cooker may be because you’re pressed for time,

but who’s not pressed for time these days? And who wouldn’t want to be able to make their cooking water 35 degrees hotter? (If I could make my oven go up to 535 degrees, I’d be happy, and I think my pizzas would show it.)

The pressure cooker was invented in the 17th century by a French physi-

cian, but the general principles of increas-ing pressure to speed up cooking times had been known probably since people started boiling things over an open fire. Most people know that putting a tight lid on a pot of water will make it boil faster. And

many of us have experienced how cooking at high altitudes just takes longer — less pressure, water boils away at a lower temp, etc. The Japanese have understood this for centuries. Rice cooking there routinely involved heavy stones placed on top of the pot lid.

A pressure cooker isn’t as versatile as a skillet or a roasting pan. It’s more like a microwave. There are certain things you’ll use it for that — once you get comfortable with the pressure cooker — you’ll wonder what you ever did without out it. Minus a pressure cooker, many of us don’t ever just think of throwing together a dish made from dry beans. It’s not an option, because pintos or black beans or chick peas are going to take half the afternoon to cook on the stove. The reasons to avoid canned beans are many: The selection is limited (good luck find-ing canned adzuki beans, for instance), and canned beans are often overcooked and/or oversalted. And concerns over things such as BPAs in can linings are a

good excuse to not make canned beans a regular part of your diet.

For vegetarians, the pressure cooker is almost a must-have kitchen utensil. We all know we’re supposed to be consuming more whole grains in our diets. But, for vegetarians, that recommendation be-comes something close to an imperative. And if you’re making brown rice or barley or wheat berries regularly, you’ll be want-ing a pressure cooker. Brown rice made in a pressure cooker can sometimes seem to have a nuttier flavor, as if the grain has cooked without soaking up as much water as it does in a regular pot.

If you already have a pressure cooker and you use it on an electric stovetop, you may want to in-vest in a flame deflec-tor. (If you’ve noticed that sometimes the bottom of your pots

of brown rice get a little overcooked and stuck to the cooker, it’s because your stove top’s lowest setting is not low enough for the ideal low heat pressure cookers use for grains; the flame deflector, which is sort of a like a little piece of layered metal with holes punched in it, serves to absorb some of that heat just at the point of contact with your pressure cooker.)

For meat eaters, a meal of braised short ribs is probably exhibit A in the case for owning a pressure cooker. Short ribs can be very tough, and they take a long time to get right. Try this, though: Brown some short ribs in a little oil. Then saute some onion and garlic and a little tomato paste, throw in a bottle of beer, a little chicken stock and maybe some thyme and throw that all into the pres-sure cooker for 45 minutes.

With the time you’ve saved, you can either figure you’ve squirreled away enough extra minutes to clean the dishes, or maybe you’ll want to tackle one of those bread puddings for dessert.

“The main reason to resort to the pressure cooker may be because you’re pressed for time, but who’s not

pressed for time these days?”

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Story and photo by Suzanne Kawola

WHO: Philip Morris - CEO, Proctors

FAVORITE SPACE: Schenectady Greenmarket, Winter Market at Proctors.

Claiming to be one of the only performing arts centers in the world with an indoor market, the Schenectady Greenmarket, Winter Market at Proctors, is a community — not farmers — market run by an all-volunteer community board. The original seasonal outdoor event became a year-round affair when Philip Morris offered Proctors as its November-April home. Morris has no official role in the market other then his self-titled role as “co-conspirator.”

WHY: “This market represents to me what we do ... there’s music, there’s food, there’s quality, there’s local, there’s community, there’s neighbors, there’s people of means, there’s people of not means — this is who we are. We are the community’s living room. We’re a cultural center and that’s manifest when the community comes to eat, buy food, good food from their neighbors. I love it, I love it!”

My Space

We all have favorite spots, places where

we feel most comfortable or at home. Sometimes it’s a favorite chair or nook in a room; other times it’s outside the house. Wherever it is, it is where we are most at home.

86 | Life@Home

Photo Finish

Birdy long-legs. Read more about the home that houses this little statue on page 25.

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