apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Q: Last fall a local nursery unloaded 10 tarragon plants on me. (Ed. note: NOT pictured here.) They are doing great, and I would love to use them in my cooking. I read however, not to bother using any tarragon not labeled "French." The tags for these plants don't specify, which makes me worried they are non-tasty. How can I tell if they are French tarragon?

Sent by Alexis

This month has been all about COLOR in the kitchen, in food, and in harvest. Well, to cap it off, we have to show you these jolly little platters, made from refinished old candlesticks!

What with the flaming tap water and the ecological problems with bottled water, we're seriously thinking about investing in a water filter. But most countertop water systems are awfully ugly. Need something more in line with your design sensibilities? You've seen the Ovopur already, but check out some of Aquaovo's other designs...

Q: I am wondering what other people do for reusable drink containers in the refrigerator. In the past I've tried (seemingly) dozens of plastic jugs and dispensers, all of which develop leaks or off smells, as well as various heavy glass jars and bottles.

Right now I store my cold tap water in several different PET bottles (each guest can drink straight from their own, which is nice), but for iced tea and fruit drinks I lug gallon glass-and-wire-bale canning jars from counter to refrigerator and back. This is not only dangerously slippery (smooth glass), but you have to be careful that the heavy lid doesn't swing around and whack the side of the jar. I'd love to hear other suggestions!

Sent by Angela

We are huge fans of making butter at home. Making your own butter is so fast and so easy that we often make small batches of table butter for maximum freshness and taste. But we've also been making extra-big batches lately, which is easy in the KitchenAid. Here's how (and why!) we've been making butter in the stand mixer...

We love showing off fall produce in our kitchens and on our tables; there's such rich color this time of year! We just showed you a few good fruit bowls, but then we found these pedestals, which give a whole new meaning to the phrase "produce stand."

We seem to spend a lot of time bemoaning the state of food in America. There's so much that isn't the way it ought to be that sometimes we forget to celebrate and appreciate places that are producing food in creatively sustainable ways. One of those places is Snowville Creamery in southeast Ohio. We visited Snowville to bring you a peek at a dairy that is doing things right. Take a quick trip with us to this tiny creamery; you'll see a few herds of happy, healthy, sociable cows, and an owner who is practically a force of nature himself.

Quinoa is one of our favorite quick-cooking whole grains. It's nutty and fresh, and it has a fine, fluffy texture very similar to couscous. It's wonderful in so many recipes, and it's packed full of protein and nutrients too! Here are five easy ways to incorporate more quinoa into your daily eating...

Q: The weather is getting nicer and I'd like to start opening the windows. The problem is that my trash is almost entirely organic and rarely ever gets thrown out due to my trying to conserve my plastic (though compostable) garbage bags. The smell attracts fruit flies. There are screens but they still manage to get in...

Q:There's been a lot of discussion lately on urban root cellars and even building your own if you have a yard. We don’t have access to a yard or root cellar and are running into a storage issue with our 5 cubic foot refrigerator vs. 20 pounds of produce we're going to be getting once a month from our CSA’s winter share...

Q: Are there any eco-friendly sandwich bags out there? I was thinking something along the lines of the biobags that I use to collect compost in my kitchen. As much as I would like to try to reuse my Ziploc sandwich bags, a smear of yesterday's avocado does not look very appetizing on today's sandwich...

We don't have many bowls or dishes with lids, so we end up using a lot of plastic wrap when putting dough away to rest, or refrigerating a big bowl of leftovers. Here's one alternative to plastic wrap and aluminum foil that we find intriguing: Abeego Flats...

I feel like I am being endlessly surprised by my garden this summer. Sometimes it just blows my mind that, yes, you put a seed into the ground, and it grows. Into something you can eat. Wait, how did that happen? Take this cauliflower for instance...

We know that many of you are avid canners, jammers, picklers, and preservers. So we're curious: Have you "put up" anything yet this summer, and if so, what?