Home and Hearth
When the vast majority of your life is happening within the four walls of your home, every square foot counts. So the past two years have inspired some serious, space-saving creativity.
Talk to the best cooks in Italy, and they’ll tell you the secret to great pasta is an ingredient many American cooks throw out — the starchy pasta cooking water. They always reserve a cup or two to stir into the skillet with al dente noodles to help the other ingredients adhere while thicken…
Here are some tips to give your house plenty of curb appeal and make potential buyers stop.
Something miraculous happens to gardeners at this time of year. I don’t know what triggers it. Perhaps it was the sight of Christmas trees and lights, or the presence of all those poinsettias. Whatever the cause, by January, gardeners have let go of last year’s gardens and start to dream abo…
Houseplants have been keeping a lot of us company during the pandemic, and the good news is there's a plant for any home, big or small, well-lit or not.
CASA GRANDE -- Creamy and rich homemade pudding is so easy to make that it’s surprising the box pudding mixes ever became so popular.
Water is Arizona’s most precious resource.
Introducing kids to cooking can be more than fun. It can teach skills and perhaps set children up to be healthier eaters.
The secret to bold, elegant food is a technique called layering flavor. When you layer flavor, you maximize the effect of a single ingredient, producing multiple distinct but complementary tastes. The result is a dish that boasts a short ingredient list and a lot of personality.
VolunteerHub reports that one out of four American’s donate their time to organizations with missions they believe in. According to a United States Census Bureau study, 62.6 million people volunteered in 2015 alone.
CASA GRANDE — With a set of upcoming training programs for families, the Casa Grande Alliance hopes to help many.
Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately?
When you see a nice handmade sweater, you know it took a while to make.
CASA GRANDE — The new year has begun and as people settle into 2022, there are plenty of foods to celebrate.
Another year has come to an end. Too bad COVID-19 didn’t go with it. On the bright side, it can’t get any worse. Oops, I just jinxed it.
A great way to add flavor to a pasta dish is to toast the noodles in oil, which brings out nutty notes that add complexity to the final result. And a great example of this lesson is sopa seca, which translates to “dry soup” from the Spanish.
If we have learned anything from 2020 and 2021, it’s that we should be prepared for anything.
CASA GRANDE -- I love the flavors of Christmas, especially the candy, fudge, cookies and other treats. While I enjoy eating them, I also enjoy giving baked and homemade treats as gifts to my friends, family and neighbors.
CASA GRANDE — Maria Viezcas was bargain hunting for a Christmas gift.
CASA GRANDE -- Whether turkey, goose, ham or roast beef is on the Christmas Day menu as the main dish, many families will also serve up a heaping helping of mashed potatoes.
CASA GRANDE — The MASH Unit/Lighthouse Ministries will offer its expired fruits and vegetables at no cost to farmers and those who compost.
CASA GRANDE -- There are plenty of foods that have special commemorative days in December. Candy canes, bacon, oatmeal muffins, maple syrup, brownies, gazpacho and dozens of other foods are celebrated in December. However, fudge isn’t one of them.
Expecting guests this holiday season? Are you hosting a large Christmas party? Get the party started before they walk in your door by creating a festive outdoor atmosphere.
If you made it through Monsoon 2021 without severe roof damage or leaks, consider yourself lucky. Thousands of Arizona homeowners were not. Because of the unprecedented backlog of calls, many homeowners are still waiting for their roofs to be repaired. Because February and March historically…
CASA GRANDE -- Pomegranates are in season in Pinal County and much of Arizona. This year, my pomegranate tree — one of the plants in my garden that thrives on my neglect — produced more than 40 of the sweet and tangy fruits.
My nephew Ryan and his wife Aga are getting a new puppy. A golden retriever. They live in Chicago. They found a good breeder in Utah. They recommended the breeder to Cathy and Joe, my sister and her husband in Maricopa.
CASA GRANDE -- Nov. 3 was National Stress Awareness Day, and throughout the month, with the holiday season upon us, it’s a great time to take a deep breath and pay attention to the impact stress can have on daily life.
Have the kids moved out? Is it time to paint their rooms the colors you want? Are their empty walls full of pinholes from their Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Vans posters? Before covering their questionable paint colors with your more refined choices, you may need to do some repair work.
CASA GRANDE -- As the mom of two teen boys, Abigail Sheldon said she finds it rewarding, but ironic, that she’s become known as the “lunch mom” at her kids’ school.
CASA GRANDE — Frank Mejia parked his pickup along Peters Road, on the north side. Not quite a half-mile west of Burris Road, just outside Casa Grande.
Can’t stand the look of your cabinets and don’t have the budget to replace them with brand new ones? Don’t fret. You have options.
CASA GRANDE — The annual Casa Grande Union High School FFA steak fry is set for 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Once we install our smoke, security, and carbon monoxide alarms it can be easy to forget they are there. It is critical that these alarms are maintained so they work at their maximum efficiency when you need it most – in an emergency.
CASA GRANDE — A new cookbook pays tribute to the classic 1993 film “Hocus Pocus” and puts a fun Halloween twist on some classic recipes.
The standard house comes complete with a concrete slab for the patio. Most people never do anything beyond sweeping the slab or the occasional power wash to remove barbeque, beverage, and pet stains. Left unprotected, stains, foot traffic, and UV rays can cause the concrete to fade and discolor.
One of the simplest tasks to keep your home and its equipment working properly is to clean the air filters. When we think of air filters, most of us generally think of the HVAC filter. While we will start with that one, there are a few more to add to the maintenance schedule.
SIGNAL PEAK — Adel Diego remembers her early childhood in rural Mexico. She lived on an hacienda. She remembers playing in the river. She remembers the fruit trees.
Hello October. The holiday decorating season is underway. With Halloween just four weeks away and Christmas not far behind, it’s time to pull out and inspect your Halloween and Christmas lights.
PHOENIX -- ‘Boomerangers’… ‘Going Nowhere Generation’… ‘Growing Ups’… ‘Failed Fledglings’… Whichever term you choose to associate with the rise in adult kids moving back in with their parents, it has led to significant changes in living arrangements for everyone involved.
CASA GRANDE -- What’s better than a gooey, cheesy quesadilla? Quesadilla cake — a six- or seven-layer cheese, meat and tortilla concoction — takes the flat quesadilla to new heights.
Your remodeling project is almost done. The kitchen is rewired. The walls are painted. The countertops and cabinets are installed. All that’s left is installing the appliances. Don’t get ready to fire up that five-burner flattop just yet. You may be ordering take-out for a while. Home applia…
How does an Arizona breakfast burrito rank among its first-meal-of the day peers across the country?
CASA GRANDE -- Wednesday is the first day of fall, and is there any dessert that welcomes the cooler weather better than an apple pie?
How do you know when summer has officially arrived in Arizona? When the water coming out of the cold faucet is hotter than the water coming from the hot faucet. And that’s no joke.
