related to the home

Ooh, nice cheery gift tags by Superfantastico, at Domicile.

Coat rack as shoe rack at Apartment Therapy. I don't like the way it looks, but the space saving is an idea to hold on to. See also: revised shoe rack.

DIY magnetic flower vase at Craft.

Easy photo hanging idea I see things like this in coffee shops around here.

Wow, potholder rug at Apartment Therapy.

What's the cutest $50 thing in the world? at Ask Metafilter.

Door-sized map of world history, I want one for my office.

How to make an interlocking quadrilaterals lampshade at Apartment Therapy.

Review of the Dirt Devil Cone.

Collapsible wall mounted laundry drying rack, Martha Stewart showed of something like this I think, it would be perfect for the space near our washer/dryer.

Corkboard alternative? at Ask Metafilter.

Reading aid pillow, I could use this.

Little Birds Soft Tree pattern! See the Flickr pool.

Pillow for your laptop.

iPod screen shields and a favorite keyboard at Popgadget.

Lifehacker on Firefox 2: consolidating the chrome and config tweaks.

related to feeding yourself

Urban Outfitters ice: ice mice and DIY ice sculpture.

Cocktail bitters at The Spirit World.

Options for non-alcoholic drinks at fine restaurants. A lot of my friends don't drink and I've been meaning to collect grown up non-alcoholic drink recipes.

Celebrate Repeal Day Dec. 5th, good idea, at Brownie Points.

I do like the Crocs ballerina slipper. See them on a human at Super Eggplant, also they look like Barbie shoes, no?

Sewing zippers at Craft.

Winter Woods Skirt via Evany.

I recently came across two instances of people planning to create Faulkner-themed meals, how unexpected and awesome. First this question at Ask Metafilter about Faulkner themed picnic foods, answers include fried chicken, various Southern dishes and sassparilla soda (apparently Target carries some). The second is a question about a Faulkner themed retirement party during the November 11th show Cradle of Flavor (starts at 39:10). Suggestions include fried chicken, pimento cheese, coconut cake, biscuits with ham and a list of great Southern cookbook authors.

Pumpkin Bread of Heaven at Modern Cottage

Apple roll at Food Chronicles

Shortbread with cornmeal for crunch, mmm, at Chocolate & Zucchini

Cider pie (cider pie!) via Chow

Sew Subversive Down & Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionista. I love this book, adore it. I nearly squealed with glee when they started with how to thread a needle, went through basic mending and then through everything you need to know about sewing machines, including how to load different bobbins and talk about tension, all without being boring. I really wish I this book had been around when I was in eighth grade. The book covers tools, how to care for fabric. The projects all cover easy fashion transformations using existing garments or materials, from pillowcase dresses to pin tucking an oversized shirt or skirt. They cover making skirts out of jeans, and how to (joy!) de-taperfy your pants. Each project is clearly explained with photographs and good diagrams. Here is another thing I love - not all the clothing in the photographs is perfect, there are some loose threads showing, a few slightly ragged edges. But it looks great, an expression of pride in the work it takes to create something cool. The authors really love what they are doing and it comes across really well. I recommend this for anybody who is starting out sewing, and anybody who is interested in refashioning clothing. You can see more of the book, including the introduction and table of contents, here.

Gathering links in preparation to change the dining room lighting.

At Apartment Therapy:

Caviar Chandeliers
Best product: crown bulbs.

Hanging lighting using crown bulbs

How to change a light fixture

Hanging a chandelier at This Old House.

And last, a bit from the very first issue of Budget Living which I've been intending to imitate for years now:

Wall straps at Product Dose.

Flying carpet with felt padding to create a lounging area, at Charles & Marie.

A neat trick for outdoor lighting involving winding Christmas lights around a wreath form, at Modern Roost.

Easy pane of glass kitchen backspalsh at Apartment Therapy.

Low-maintenance houseplants at Ask Metafilter.

Mark Bittman's article about Jim Lahey's no-knead bread came along just as I was considering making bread for the first time. So I made this bread and I suppose I'm spoiled for the rest of my life. It was so little work and the bread was so, well, awesome. The inside was chewy yet airy, and the crust was crunchy but not too tough (though Scott called it "dangerous and shardy").

Here is the article, the recipe and the video which is reassuring to watch if you are as noob as I am, since I wouldn't have quite believed there was so little word to do. Also the folding of the dough to form a ball is good to know about. Go there now, as I suspect it's all about to disappear behind a pay wall.

I did manage to screw a few things up. The dough stuck to my kitchen towel after the second rise despite a serious layer of flour, and I could be found vigorously shaking sticky dough which would not come loose (those glutens, boy) off of my towel into a very hot casserole dish. Also, while I would have loved nothing more than to use this recipe as an excuse to get a 6 quart Le Creuset enameled cast iron dutch oven (I even would have been happy with the Mario Batali dutch oven... in persimmon), I settled for using my very old 4-quart Corningware casserole dish, which turned out to be big enough for the job. However, I think it might have been damaged by the 450-degree oven so it might never be the same.

There is something about this mostly hands off process that inspires one to take pictures, and here are mine:

Smitten Kitten kept notes and pictures as well (she is far more eloquent than I) and points to a whole bunch of others, including ones popping up on Flickr - nokneadbread and noknead.

update: The Kitchen has an excellent no-knead bread round up, including the changes some people are making. Looks like people might prefer using a smaller pot.

second addition: Chow follows up and includes some of the collective recipe changes.

See also: The Amateur Gourmet implores us to try this recipes for Nigel Slater's "A Really Good and Very Easy White Loaf."

You can read a little more about my bread making adventures here at Readymade.

I'd like to add that this bread is great dipped in a good olive oil as it gives me a chance to mention that the olive oil I bought earlier this year based on the pretty label just happened to be named one of the best tasting olive oils in a recent Cook's Illustrated magazine. Pretty labels rule.

Long checkout line + much blog reading = informed impulse purchases.

Candy Cane Kisses, reviewed favorably at Candy Blog.

Chicken Poop lip balm, declared "damn fine lip balm" at Sundry Buzz.

Daily Candy is coming along with a Seattle edition, set to launch in early December.

I was gonna post about these but I ate the apples before I got to snap a picture, so this post at The Stranger about the new(ish) Ambrosia apple will do.

On the subject of apples The Splendid Table talks with Dr. David Bedford, one of the creators of the award-winning Honeycrisp apple, and did a tasting of apples on the September 23rd show titled Donuts (starting at 20:55). Did you know the Honeycrisp apple took 30 years to develop? Worth it.