apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Now that summer is officially here and the weather is indeed getting hotter, we're putting a lot of cool pasta and grain salads on the menu for lunch and dinner! This recipe is a variation on the Roasted Beet and Barley Salad we enjoyed so much last summer. It uses sweet golden beets and adds a little green for good measure.

Or rather, under it! We love the little bursts of smoky fragrance that come when herbs from a dry rub or marinade fall onto the hot coals, so we figured why not do it on purpose?

For reasons of competition, store policy, or who knows what, some stores just offer better prices on certain items than other stores. Shopping strategically across several stores means that we can really save ourselves a few bucks in the long run! Still, we don't want to spend all day hopping from one store to another, so here's how we manage it:

We started cold-brewing our iced tea after hearing about the method on a recent episode of the Splendid Table, and we've got to tell you, it's been the best discovery ever! The tea is so smooth and tasty that we may never drink plain water again. Don't believe us? Try it for yourself!

The majority vote on our unidentified berry last week was that it came from a mulberry tree, and we agree! Thanks for chiming in, everyone. While we wait for enough berries to ripen for us to make something, we thought we'd take a closer look at the treasure we've found. What do you like to make with mulberries?

In his latest book Ratio, Michael Ruhlman makes a very strong argument for passing on the store-bought stuff and making your own stock at home. He says (and then repeats again and again), "So much of great cooking and soulful dishes begins with stock, the extraction, distillation, and concentration of flavor." It's true. We know it's true. So why don't we do it?

For us, the chewy skin that forms on the top of puddings has always been a special treat. It actually wasn't until culinary school that we learned it wasn't as universally desirable as we'd thought! Why does this skin form and how can it be prevented? Get the answer below:

When we start getting up in years, our experience of taste starts to change. As Lynne Rossetto Kasper of the Splendid Table put it on this past week's episode, "It's like wearing earmuffs and you have to have the music turned up even louder because it has to get through the earmuffs." She has a few suggestions for how we can turn up the volume when cooking for elderly loved ones. Do you have any tips of your own?

This weekend, we were halfway through assembling ingredients for a yellow cake when we realized that we'd forgotten to set out butter to soften. Again.

We keep sticks of butter in the freezer, so setting them out to soften them ahead of time takes a little more foresight than we usually seem to have.

Never mind! We've picked up a few tricks to quickly soften butter when we forget to plan ahead...

The more guests you invite, the higher probability that someone will get stuck in traffic, forget the time, or have an emergency. Whatever the reason, dealing with late guests can be just as frustrating as dealing with the early ones. What do you do when guests are running late?

You've heard us say it again and again: always cook pasta in a large amount of well-salted boiling water until al dente. But when it comes to pasta salads that will be served cold or room temperature, we've actually started taking a slightly different approach.

Going camping and just want to take a few cooking spices without weighing down your gear? We spotted this ingenious solution over on the Instructables website. Take a look!

No ice cream maker? No problem. Make granita instead! All you need is a little freezer space and a mound of the freshest fruit you can find. Here's how!

Trail mix is the undisputed king of outdoor snacks! Whether you're hiking the Appalachians or just going to a nearby park for some time in the sun, a bag of trail mix in your backpack is insurance against low-blood sugar. What's your favorite mix?