CELEBRATIONS | by JANNA LUFKIN

VALENTINE’S DAY IS FAST APPROACHING. It’s that one special day each year when we get to show the ones we love how much we love them. This year, think about your home, too.

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Your home might not be your “dream house”, but these days, having a home of your own means more than ever. Give it some love; show it how much you appreciate it. It’s just as much a part of the family legacy as is those who live within.

Here are a few ideas you can easily wrap your arms around to give your home a little TLC. Yep, it’s winter, but pick a few sunny days here and there to tackle these tasks. Your home will shine and so will you.

• Wash the windows, inside and out. It’s amazing how beautifully they’ll sparkle and make everything look just a little bit brighter.
• Give your woodwork a good wipe down. If you take it a room at a time, the task won’t seem so daunting. It nurtures the wood and the fresh, clean smell brightens up every room.
• Spruce up your laundry room. Decant soaps into clear glass jars and add a scoop. Find a pretty tray (look in your kitchen) and corral liquid soaps and bleach onto it. Purchase a new ironing-board cover.
• One pretty pillow can wake up a whole room. Find, or better yet make, one in a bright spring color or pattern.
• Replace a tired lampshade. In the darkest of winter days, you might discover how much more light you actually have!

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were right: Love The One You’re With. Be thankful for the home you have and what it’s provided. It’s much more than just the roof over your head.

CELEBRATIONS | by KAT SPELLMAN

CAMPBELL-SOUP-KID CHERUBIC FACES… The happy graphics of the golden age of radio… Grainy stills from film reels or gloriously retro album covers…

NEW VALENTINES FROM OLD

If you’re like me and adore collecting bits and pieces of inspiring treasures, whether nostalgia-inducing vintage greeting cards or old sheet music from crooners like Bing Crosby, you’re well on your way to creating one-of-a kind valentines.

Flea market forays can launch a whole new collection of valentines, created just by you. The must-haves for turning yesterday’s jewels into today’s chic greetings? A multipurpose scanner/copier/printer, along with a basic editing tool such as Microsoft Publisher or another affordable computer program. With a scanner you can copy scraps of vintage textiles, postcards, handwritten letters from the attic and more.

Got kids? Have them collect their own idea of “treasures” and leaf through a folder of finds ― joining you in picking their favorite images, photos or words to create unique valentine’s for their school-age pals and teachers. Layer and crop, zoom and colorize. Print on card stock and have the kids add glue and glitter to white and light portions of the designs, and their art will positively glow.

As will you, when you step back to share some simply sweet sentiments in an era of store-bought Sponge Bob and Bratz greetings.

STORYTELLING | by SHERRY STRIPLING

I WAS DRIVING TO WORK ON A BLEAK GRAY MORNING WHEN TWO SQUIRRELS, hot on each other’s little heels, dashed across the road right in front of my car.

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I slammed on my brakes but only one squirrel emerged alive, beating my driver’s side wheel by inches.

Discouraged thoughts went through my head as I sat for a long, desolate moment slumped forward against my steering wheel.

It was bad enough that I was going to work. Did I have to start off the day killing something? Were the squirrels rivals, buddies, sweethearts?

Just then I looked up to see a city utility worker standing by her truck 10 feet from the passenger side of my front window. Her expression was intense but inscrutable.

With her eyes locked on mine, she pulled my view up to a knoll on her side of the street. There sat Squirrel No. 2, twitching his tail, impatiently waiting for me to move on so he could catch up with Squirrel No. 1, who was safely on my side of the road.

Zoom! I returned my eyes to the worker in record time. She met my huge grin with a slight nod and softening smile.

I suppose the sun didn’t really break out. I wasn’t really greeted with flowers and a raise at work. But I felt buoyed by gifts all day:

The squirrels were alive. And I’d touched hearts with a human being without exchanging a word.

TRENDSPOTTING | by MOLLY MARTIN

I’VE GIVEN UP ON FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS, for the most part. Quickly abandoned the carob-for-chocolate movement ― not much fun for me there. After original Fresca, never really hopped on board the artificial-sweeteners train ― don’t trust ’em. Eventually realized through the low-fat and low-carb trends that I feel better when I eat a variety of real foods. Get more satisfaction from indulging in, say, some great chocolate.

SOURCE: TRUVIA.COM

But two sweeteners have gotten my attention recently, because both come from natural sources and also might have less of an effect on blood sugar. With my family history of Type 2 diabetes, I try to pay attention.

The first is agave syrup, derived from a succulent native to Mexico. It’s sweeter than honey, and although its calorie and carb counts aren’t far from sugar’s, for some reason it doesn’t seem to make blood sugar spike. Manufacturers, naturally, offer sugar-to-agave conversion charts and recipes.

The second, and I think more promising, is stevia. Also known as sweet leaf, the plant native to Central and South America has a long and sometimes controversial history , in part because it was not until December 2008 that the Food and Drug Administration granted two stevia-based products, Truvia and PureVia, the prized “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) status for use in foods.

Stevia’s big selling points? Much lower in carbs and calories than other natural sweeteners, and little apparent impact on blood sugar. Drawbacks? Slight licorice aftertaste (to me, a worthwhile tradeoff in flavored waters), and adapting it to recipes.

Since one of Truvia’s developers is The Coca-Cola Company, and one of PureVia’s is PepsiCo, you can imagine that I’m not the only one who sees some promise here.

CELEBRATIONS | by JEAN GALTON

WHEN EVERYONE DESCENDS ON YOUR HOUSE FOR THE SUPER BOWL, make these simple Barbecue Pork Buns. There’s no need to spend the day cooking and I guarantee they’ll be consumed in 2 seconds flat.

© ANGIE NORWOOD BROWNE

Barbecue Pork Buns
Makes 4 servings

3 cups grated green and purple cabbage
1/2 cup grated carrots
5 tablespoons cider vinegar, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 teaspoon brown sugar, divided
1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch medallions
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup bottled barbecue sauce
4 multi-grain hamburger buns, toasted

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, 3 tablespoons of the vinegar, 1 teaspoon of the salt, 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper and sugar. Toss to mix and let stand while making the pork.

Stack 2 slices of the pork on top of each other and cut down through the stack creating 1/4-inch thick strips. Continue with the remaining pork until it’s all cut into thin strips. Place in a bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.

Heat the oil in a heavy (cast-iron is perfect) skillet and warm over high heat. Add half the pork and cook, stirring, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a plate and repeat with the remaining pork.

Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the barbecue sauce, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and the pork and toss until pork is warmed through. Place the bun bottoms on four plates and top with the pork, coleslaw and the bun tops.

DESIGN | by DEBRA PRINZING

ENJOY THE EVENING VIEWS WITH LANDSCAPE LIGHTING. Safety, utility and security are top reasons for designing an outdoor lighting system, according to Aime Lindsay, whose family owns Malibu-based Stone Manor Lighting. The functional use of outdoor lights is obvious, but Lindsay says the artistic use of illumination should also be incorporated into the garden’s overall design scheme.

SOURCE: STONE MANOR LIGHTING

“By lighting your backyard, you are adding hundreds, if not thousands, of square feet to your living space at night,” she says. “With the proper outdoor lighting, you can enjoy your garden in the evening and also make it appear more dramatic than it does during the daytime.”

Lindsay uses lighting to accentuate the best areas of her garden. She relies on warm-colored lights to add excitement and cool-colored lights to give the landscape a tranquil feeling.

Here are some of her design tips to inspire you:

• Path lighting: Usually low-impact (12- to 25-watt bulbs) path lighting is typically placed 10 to 12 feet apart, staggered to create pools of light that draw you along a path. It can illuminate walkways or highlight water features and falls.
• Area lighting: A grouping of lights or a hanging lantern used to illuminate a larger bed, border or small specimen tree.
• Wall lighting: A wash of light that sweeps along a vertical surface, such as a wall or fence. Sconces are the ideal type of fixture to throw a glow above or below (but not into) the eyes.
• Then there are lights you want to show off, like works of art. “The caveat in lighting has always been never to show the source,” Lindsay says. “But my lights are highly decorative in the landscape. Plus, the amber glow is pretty on plants.”

BACK TO BASICS | by JANNA LUFKIN

YOU KNOW HOW WHEN YOU FIND SOMETHING YOU LOVE, you just have to pass it on? I feel this way about certain tools in my kitchen.

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Over the years I’ve come to realize that there are a few essential tools I just can’t live without. They make the time I spend in the kitchen that much more enjoyable.

Here are my top five must-have kitchen essentials:

• Parchment paper sheets. I buy them at the restaurant-supply store and use them for everything from lining baking pans to wrapping a gift.
• Microplane grater. It’s so easy to grate chunks of hard cheese or zest a lemon, and it saves your knuckles too!
• Oxo can opener. Once you have one of these, you’ll NEVER need another one. It easily and smoothly opens a can, and best of all it crimps the edges so you’re not throwing away anything sharp.
• White ramekins. I have about a dozen of them and use them for all kinds of things including for their intended use: baking lovely individual soufflés or puddings. I also press them into service nightly for food prep, and as wine coasters to keep a bottle ring off the dining table. They’re great for corralling little objects in drawers or cupboards, and are the perfect size for a butter dish.
• A good pepper grinder. If you buy a quality one, you’ll have it for life.

Day in and day out, I use these over and over again. I am thankful for their simplicity and functionality.

CELEBRATIONS | by KAT SPELLMAN

THERE ARE SO MANY REASONS TO THROW A PARTY: celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, those holidays, yadda yadda yadda. Come Super Bowl Sunday you can have another great reason to party beyond the standard seven-layer dip and brewskies. This year, party for a cause on game day.

Use this weekend’s 2010 Super Bowl Sunday gathering as a reason to support and fundraise for a special cause close to your heart.  Email your pals with an invite and include hyperlinks to the charity’s website ― letting them know they’ll be putting their Super Bowl money into a kitty for a cause this year. If it’s a local organization, invite a staffer to come talk to your guests.

On game day, set up a laptop on the buffet, playing a loop of videos from your chosen nonprofit’s website. Display brochures, photos, and print materials from the organization or create a storyboard “case study” to educate. Friendly betting always a given on game day? Then let guests know that if they’re the gambling type, wagers to support your charity are an excellent and fun way to donate.

For ideas on what nonprofit to select, peruse the Internet, poll friends and look through your neighborhood paper. A great one that’s all about promoting the fun of physical team sports while shattering stereotypes is the Special Olympics “Unified Sports Teams“. This program joins Special Olympic athletes with teammates without intellectual difficulties. Playing together, both discover the thrill of the sport, whether it’s basketball or figure skating, and while doing so prejudices are overcome and respect swells.

Party on. And pass the brewskie.

PASSIONS | by VALERIE GRIFFITH

DELICIOUS ONLINE WINDOW SHOPPING IN PARIS.

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Faire du lèche-vitrines, literally “window licking,” is the French expression for window shopping. It’s what Parisians do in their free time – they stroll, stop, stare and dream. Women, men, even dogs do it. I once saw a chic petite chien, paws glued to window, salivating over a foie gras display.

If you’ve ever wandered the streets of Paris, you will perfectly understand the sentiment. From designer boutiques to patisseries, Paris’ windows dazzle. They’re playful, sensual, outrageous and exquisite. Like everything else French, window design is an art form and faire du lèche-vitrines expresses both an appreciation and desire for what is so beautifully displayed.

Can’t be in Paris at the moment? Do a little window licking online. Like their brick-and-mortar versions, these web destinations are by turns beautiful, très cool and inscrutable.

Here are four to sample. Before you surf, be aware of a couple of things: Most of the sites use Flash (download and install if you don’t already have it); let your intuition be your guide – these sites are highly interactive so click around and see what happens. There’s often an English version available; look for the British flag. French sites often are accompanied by looped music. If you find it annoying, turn off or mute the sound.

• Patrick Roger. Chocolate artist.
• Chantal Thomass. Lingerie goddess.
• Christian Louboutin. Shoe impresario.
• Musée du quai Branly. Museum of indigenous art.

CONNECTIONS | by CELESTE TELL

MY FRIEND CAROLYN SAID IT IS LIKE BIRTHING A BABY. Standing by the huge Thai-style Anagama wood-fired kiln that her husband Jim Stout built on Lopez Island in Washington State, we were helping with Jim’s annual kiln firing, which has become a community happening.

© JIM STOUT

The huge kiln even has a shape reminiscent of a pregnant woman. Made of bricks and steel and stucco, it takes on a life of its own as the temperature starts to rise. Expanding as the heat rises, bellowing smoke out the chimney, quieting as the hot ashes settle on the works of clay inside, we cycle with the kiln through its process over an intense 48 hours.

The process is earthy and physical, like childbirth. And like childbirth it has an organic momentum, and no two firings are exactly the same, even in the same kiln. Different types of wood. Different weather. What’s the temperature? More wood. Less wood. Morning shift. Afternoon. Evening under the stars. Making it through those dreaded-yet-peaceful graveyard shifts.

There is something primal about the fire, the heat, the way we gather around it. Forging physical changes to the clay inside and fusing we humans closer to each other and to the earth. Its pull irresistible. From raw clay, human creativity, fuel and heat: something new.

Somewhere along the line, in all our modernity and innovation, it feels like we’ve lost touch with where things come from. How we make things. But experiencing the firing provides a visceral connection to how things are made. It’s a primal human need. Like heat. Like fire. Like birth.