WHEN YOU CREATE WHITE SPACE AND ELBOW ROOM In your home, you also create it in your mind. You have space to think and space to move and you don’t spend precious time searching for things you need.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

White Space, when successfully executed, draws the eye to the message. In the case of a home, White Space frames and sets off the things that are important to you.

Elbow Room refers to that personal space you need to function in a room.

Here are four tips to help you achieve these concepts:

• Start with the garage. If you organize here first, you are less likely to store unwanted items from your house.
• Organize room by room. Tackle one room at a time. Keep what you need and what you enjoy. Toss what can’t be reused. Take the rest directly to your car to be recycled or donated. If you’re unsure about some items, pack them neatly away ― you may soon discover that you don’t miss them at all.
• Tackle paperwork. The key is to not let it pile up. Carve out a nice space to sort your mail, pay your bills and file important papers. Keep your system simple and you’ll be more likely to keep up on it.
• Clean. After you’ve gone through each room, give your house a top-to-bottom cleaning. Take your time and enjoy your newly organized spaces.

You’re done! And you’ve probably discovered your mind is clearer because your home works as it should. Now, do something you’ve always wanted to do ― you have the time.

Remember, your home is your sanctuary. It’s your spot to unwind and rejuvenate. When it functions well, so do you.

IF YOU ASK ME, MOST ICE-CREAM SANDWICHES aren’t very exciting. They’re usually two tasteless chocolate cookies filled with bland vanilla ice cream. Summer calls for much more rewarding treats. Here’s one to make: fab ginger cookies filled with soft peach ice cream.

Ginger-Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches
Makes about 12 sandwiches

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Demerara or turbinado sugar
1 pint peach ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl stir together the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Stir in the egg.
2. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir into the butter mixture.
3. Place the Demerara or turbinado sugar in a bowl. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball with your hands. Coat the ball with the Demerara sugar by rolling it in the sugar and place it on a parchment or Teflon-pad-lined cookie sheet. Repeat this process, spacing the balls approximately one inch apart on the sheet.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Transfer them to cooling racks and let cool completely. Sandwich peach ice cream between cookies and serve.

I BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE GREAT limonatta bottles (with the attached plastic cork and metal cage/hinge) at Trader Joe’s a while back — so classic Euro-looking and fun. Once the bubbly beverage was gone, I washed the bottle and set it aside.

Fast-forward to some neighbor kids swinging by to play in the yard on a hot afternoon. No lemonade or Izze to be had in the house — nothing “fun”.  So, quick, I pop some chilled water into that cute bottle (pouring it through a frosting tip as I can’t find a funnel), pop the stopper back on top, put out some tiny juice-jar-like glasses (the ones us adults use for wine so our kids’ footballs or the Labrador’s tail doesn’t knock ‘em over) and set them on a tray with paper cocktail napkins and pretty slices of apples.

Me?  Walk outside with it, all nonchalant-like, and pop it on the porch.

The kids? Four boys and girls, ages 3 to 10, in an hour (bladders busting, no doubt) drink four bottles of that plain chilled water. They play, come back, sit in the shade of our dogwood tree, and pour more for themselves and one another. The ritual and style clearly make it special and they’re all giddy with excitement.

And me? I just pretend not to notice, as I keep popping back into the kitchen to fill up that same recycled bottle with plain old chilled water from our Britta pitcher. Shhhh.

WORRIED ABOUT SUMMER BRAIN DRAIN (the age-old idea that if your kids don’t keep their minds active, they’ll forget what they learned in the previous school year)?

There’s an easy (and fun) way to avoid it: Play games with your kids! Here’s how to make it happen:

Make sure your game closet is updated with both classic games and newer ones. This is a great job for the kids: Assign each a couple of game boxes and task them with making sure it has all the pieces and is neatly organized. (There is nothing more annoying than opening Monopoly and seeing the money all mixed up!)

Establish one night of the week as family game night. Games are more fun to play with more people. Invite your neighbors or the grandparents to join in the fun.

Choose games that are fun and challenging for all ages. Depending on the ages of your kids, games will have different challenges, but you can make adjustments so it works for everyone.

Here are some of the games our family likes to play and the educational benefit they provide:

• Scrabble: Obviously this is great for spelling and vocabulary skills. If you are playing with younger kids, make a rule that everyone can use only three-letter words. (Have an iPhone? Download Scrabble for word fun wherever you are.) A great variation of Scrabble is the hugely-popular Bananagrams.
• Yahtzee: Everyone loves to roll the dice, and what better way to keep those math skills alive?
• Monopoly: Make sure everyone gets a turn at being banker, and everyone reads his or her own cards. Math and reading, check!
• Apples to Apples: This is our new family fave, and it’s a great way to work on vocabulary.

I DON’T THINK I HAD EVER PAID MUCH ATTENTION TO RADISHES before I went to cooking school. Of course I’d eaten them, the ones that were thinly sliced and then forgotten on the bottom of the salad bowl. But in a cooking lesson on crudités, we slathered crusty slices of bread with good butter and topped it with paper thin radish slices. And just before we ate them, we sprinkled the radishes with coarse sea salt. The combination was truly astounding, the combination of textures and flavors transforming. I never looked at a radish the same way again.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

Radish Crostini
Makes 8 slices (serves 4)

2 (or more) tablespoons European-style butter
8 thin slices crusty French or Italian bread
2 radishes, thinly sliced
Coarse sea salt

Spread the butter on the bread slices, dividing evenly. Cover with the radishes (this can be done up to an hour ahead, just cover with a towel). Just before serving, sprinkle liberally with salt and serve.

THE INTERNET IS CROWDED WITH ALL SORTS OF ADVICE FOR RAISING CHICKENS in a small-scale environment, such as an urban backyard. You can watch a bevy of You Tube videos on DIY coop-building, selection of rare and exotic breeds, and the care and feeding of chicks.

SOURCE: MODERNCOOP.COM

But it wasn’t until several of my design-savvy friends became hen owners that I realized how cutting-edge chickens can be. No longer the domain of the alternative set, chicken ownership is indeed a mainstream phenomenon. Eat an omelet made with just-gathered eggs and you’ll be persuaded, too.

Chicken-coop design is an important consideration. My friend Kathy owns a fetching structure affectionately called the Palais de Poulet (yes, it has a turret and leaded-glass windows). Another gal pal, also named Kathy, decorated her coop with a colorful mosaic mural of handmade tiles. I’ve seen chickens take up residence in a converted children’s playhouse and live in a beautiful piece of miniature architecture — cupola included.

Then there are prefab coops. The explosion of prefabricated architecture doesn’t relate only to homes for humans. Here are some of the most interesting ready-to-go chicken abodes around:

Henspa: Egganic Industries, a mom-and-pop coop-maker in Virginia, sells a wide range of easy-to-assemble wood kits, including the “Henhut,” which for a little more than $300 can house a small backyard egg-production operation.

Eglu: Imported from the U.K. and now available to North American chicken owners, this futuristic hut is attached to a wire “chicken run” and can even be ordered with a pair of hens. Kits begin at $495.

Modern Coop: Shaped like a vintage trailer and made from reclaimed  boards, this witty coop houses chickens while adding retro style to your yard. $700 plus additional costs for accessories.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

FARMERS MARKETS IN THE SPRING are chock full of wonderful things. On my last visit, I bought spring greens for salad (chickweed, mizuna and arugula) and a few bunches of spring onions.

Looking very similar to scallions, spring onions have the very beginnings of onion bulbs on the ends of their long green stems.  They’re milder than fully developed onions but a bit zippier than scallions. Anyway, I took them home, rinsed and trimmed them and threw them on the grill with a steak. Yum.

Grilled Spring Onions
Serves 4

2 bunches spring onions, tops and roots trimmed, rinsed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
Crumbled feta or blue cheese (optional)

Preheat a grill to high heat. Toss the onions with the olive oil and salt and grill until tender, turning a few times, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese if desired and serve.

THERE IS NOTHING ENJOYABLE ABOUT MOVING from one house to another. Throw kids into the mix and the whole process can be even more stressful.

But before you blow your top amidst the cardboard boxes and packing tape, get your kiddos involved. There is plenty for them to do, and they will actually think it’s fun. (And at least someone will be having fun.)

The packing phase of moving is a great time to sort the things you need and don’t need. Put kids in charge of their own rooms and give them a few guidelines for sorting:

• Pile #1 is the things you want to take to the new home.
• Pile #2 is the things you want to toss out (broken toys, games with missing pieces, etc.).
• Pile #3 consists of the things you don’t want, but could be donated or given to other kids, like clothes or shoes that are too small, or toys you’ve outgrown.

Kids of elementary-school age and older can pack their own boxes. They’ll enjoy wrapping things up and using tape to close lids. Have them design a personal seal (a picture or initials) that they draw on all of their own belongings. This is yet another way to get them to take ownership of their stuff.

You can also enlist your kids’ help in other parts of the house; just be specific in what they need to do. In the kitchen, they can be responsible for wrapping up and labeling silverware. Or they can go to all living areas and pack pillows from every room.

You might even want to consider a cash incentive — maybe 25 cents for each box packed. For a mere $10, that’s 40 boxes and, most would agree, money well spent.

© ANGIE NORWOOD BROWNE

ON MANY A STEAMY summer night, raspberry popsicles were my favorite way to cool off, once the sprinkler was put away for the evening. Since then, I’ve made my own popsicles, in many different varieties, with new flavors debuting each summer. Easy to make, with pureed fruit or just plain old fruit juice, there’s no more refreshing way to end the day. These are our current favorites.

Pink Lemonade Popsicles

2 cups raspberry lemonade
Fresh raspberries

1. Fill popsicle molds with the raspberry lemonade and stuff a few raspberries into each one. Insert popsicle sticks and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

IT’S NEVER BEEN EASIER TO BE A WRITER these days: emails and blogs and tweets and status updates and websites, oh my!

Now, the first part of that sentence alone can set a writer’s eyes either laughing or crying. One of my big light bulbs in life was the understanding that most writers don’t find writing easy. (Very helpful when writing isn’t going so well — I’m not alone!) As Georg N. Meyers, one of my first editors, used to say, “Writing is when you sit at your typewriter until little beads of blood come to your forehead.”

Yet we still endeavor. A few tips and tricks from along my road that might come in handy on yours:

• Trim the first three paragraphs. Often we get all writerly when we write, and spend too much time setting up a piece. On the web especially, where people tend to scan rather than read, getting to the point quickly usually is more effective.
• Write for your mother. Or your best friend. Include anecdotes and metaphors that you generally use in conversation.
• Start in the middle. Or at the end. Don’t let a lack of idea for how to begin derail your efforts. Often I find that as I’m writing the middle or end, the suitable beginning reveals itself.
• Power through writer’s block. Go for a walk, do the laundry, take whatever break you need, but don’t let it become avoidance. In either “Wild Mind” or “Writing Down The Bones” (I can’t remember which), Natalie Goldberg recommends simply sticking with it: Write, “I can’t think of what to write. I can’t think of what to write. I can’t think of what to write” over and over until something else comes to mind. Believe me, it will.