“A warm glow is key to a cozy, wintry mood,” says Carr. Try switching lamp bulbs with high wattage or cool light to ones that cast a more golden glow. The softer light makes even the sparest of holiday décor feel homier.
Her kids know how to use knives and rolling pins, as well as hand-crank pasta, separate an egg, cut an avocado and toss pizza.Even if you’re not a skilled home cook, don’t be intimidated teaching kids to be one.
Start simple. Make a list of 10 things that kids can learn to master, Battilana suggested. It might include scrambled eggs, a quesadilla with guacamole, or pasta with steamed veggies.“Practice making those 10 things often so you get good at them, can shop for them easily, and make them without a recipe,” she said. (King Arthur has a kids’ baking cookbook due out in September, “Sweet and Salty!”)Cooking and shopping for fresh foods become a lot less intimidating the more you do it.
“I think kids are far more capable in the kitchen than we give them credit for,” Battilana said. “They may be slower, messier, but they’re capable of a lot, and usually pretty eager to try new foods — especially if they’ve had a hand in making them.” ___Tracee M. Herbaugh writes frequently about Lifestyles topics for The Associated Press. She can be reached at
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday to clarify medical exceptions under one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S., putting the GOP-backed proposal on the brink of reaching Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
The changes would not expand abortion access in Texas or list specific medical exceptions under the state’s near-total ban, which took effect in 2022 and only allows for an abortion to save the life of the mother. It also would not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest.Add an all-purpose houseplant, bromeliad or orchid fertilizer to the soaking water once a month to provide nutrients. Apply at half the rate recommended on the package.
Air plants bloom only once, their small pink, coral, purple or white flowers signaling their impending death. But no worries: The flowers will give way to offshoots, or “pups,” that can be separated into new plants once they grow to about one-third the size of their mother.There are more than 500 species of air plants to choose from. Notable species include the well-known Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), which is often found hanging from large trees in tropical and subtropical regions. In the home, it’s best grown in a humid environment,
Tillandsia ionantha, or sky plant, is a shaggy-looking specimen with green bracts that turn pink or purple at their tips before flowering.Tillandsia caput-medusae is named for its resemblance to the snake-haired head of Medusa, of Greek myth. The plant is beloved for its long, wavy leaves that grow upward from a bulbous base.