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Fall’s a perfect time to plant a tree

If you’ve been pining to plant a tree, now is a great time. The season’s cooling temperatures and still-warm soil mean less stress on newly planted trees, which allows them to direct more energy into growing strong roots rather than struggling to survive the heat and...

Water roux keeps challah tender, fluffy

A good loaf of challah is tender, pillowy and slightly sweet, but homemade loaves tend to dry and stale quickly. To keep our challah tender and extend its shelf-life, we borrow the water roux technique known as tangzhong that’s used to make fluffy Japanese milk bread....

There’s still work to do before winter

November is upon us and there are still plenty of gardening chores to be done before winter and plant dormancy set in. Be sure to take advantage of the nice cooler, but still warmer days of Autumn to be outside. We were recently upgraded to a new USDA planting zone,...

Remembering wooden butter molds

(Editor’s note: DeeDee Wood is the owner of Black Cat Curiosities, an online antiques research and sales venue.) n modern times, we get our butter stick out of the refrigerator, take it out of the plastic or paper container, and either cut it from the rectangular...

Your No. 1 priority is yourself

I don’t know about you, but the fall season so far has been a rough one. Between having a busy schedule, not a ton of down time and a few illnesses and injuries mixed in, it has been a bit of a whirlwind. On a recent weekend, I made myself get up extra early so I...