February ABODE: Green Scene

GREEN EYE
Home sweet foam
Leaky house? Limited funds? As usual, LEAP jumps to your rescue. The area’s go-to organization for energy efficiency is once again offering a GreenMatters workshop to help you tighten up your house. The twist: This time, you can actually practice some of the D.I.Y. skills—like caulking—under the watchful eyes of LEAP’s experts, so when it’s time to break out the tools at home, you can do so with confidence.

The workshop’s called Home Energy Improvements: How to Do It Right and will happen on February 15 at 5:30pm at the LEAP office, 608 Ridge Street. First, there’s a talk covering which improvements are optimal, plus how to decide whether they’re D.I.Y. projects or require a contractor. Then, at 7pm, an optional hands-on session lets you try out caulking, foaming and so on. Cost is $5 for materials, and you must register by e-mailing james@leap-va.org.

More GreenMatters workshops will follow this year. Watch leap-va.org for details.—Erika Howsare

ABODE NEWS
Fast food
Good news for cooks on a budget: Charlottesville Cooking School has started offering mini-classes—they’re called “demos”—that are easy on your wallet but still packed with culinary wisdom.

This month, the Monday night demos include Cooking Fish from A to Z, on February 13, and Dessert Demo—Petites Gateaux on February 27. Instructor Soledad Liendo earned her stripes at the International Institute of Culinary Arts in Buenos Aires, and has lots of experience teaching basic cooking skills—so you know she’ll be nice about it if you have to ask what a filet knife is for.

Each session runs two hours, 7-9pm, and costs $45. See charlottesvillecookingschool.com to sign up—or for the skinny on future demos.—E.H.

ART AND CRAFT

This month’s artisan: Alp Isin
Under the name Budala Studio, Alp Isin makes what he calls “ultra modern” pottery—both traditional forms (vases, bowls, teapots, and so on) and “forms that have never been made before, like my double-walled decanter.” Find his work at Firefish Gallery, La Taza, La Linea Bella, or on Etsy. “Stay tuned for my website that is coming in the spring,” he added.—E.H.

How did you begin making ceramics?
Happenstance. I needed a humanities credit at PVCC and I gravitated both toward the medium and the charismatic professor, Tom Clarkson.

What’s your favorite piece you’ve made in the past year?
My porcelain standing mirror, which I used a laser cutter to design the molding and extruded it. Tiles made with antique wooden fabric blocks from India and Turkic Republics. I designed the frame and the legs from plywood so that there is no waste when I make the cuts, and the frame is a solid piece with no joints.

What’s an object you love in your home that you did not make?
I treasure the Norway maple bowl we got for our fifth anniversary, made by local artisan Fred Williamson.

PLANETARY

Pop goes the giraffe
Made from recycled soda cans, this longneck comes your way via Cape Town and the African Home initiative, which seeks to empower disadvantaged artisans. Buy it for $34 at Ten Thousand Villages (along with its sibling, a guitar-playing gecko).

VOCABULARY
Sidelights
Those tall, narrow windows on either side of a door that ratchet up its fanciness factor. (The ones atop the door, by the way, are transoms.) These belong to our featured house and were custom-built by Staunton woodworking company Modernboy Workshop.

HOT HOUSE
Lattice works
This modern specimen, spotted in the RiverBluff development, caught our eye with its second-story bridge (do they play bridge in there?) and tasty combination of wood and cement-board siding. It’s both crisp and welcoming.

YOU CAN DO IT
You’ve got wine
Now, in the depths of winter, is the perfect time to hunker down, read a good book, and enjoy a glass of wine. (Or skip the book.) From host gifts to bad-day bottles, here’s an affordable, easy D.I.Y. solution to wrangle those rolling bottles.

Materials:
– mailing tube (24” long)
– colored duct tape
– felt (scraps will do)
– spray adhesive

Tools:
– hot glue gun
– scissors
– exacto/utility blade
– pen and ruler/measuring tape

Begin by laying your mailing tube (a sturdy one) on your cutting surface. Measure its circumference using measuring tape or string. Measure and mark a straight line the length of the tube, and then again halfway around the circumference of the tube.

Scoring the line, use your utility knife to cut the tube in half, lengthwise. You will need to make several cuts through the dense cardboard (the goal isn’t speed, the goal is to finish with 10 fingers). Repeat on the other side.

Measure the halfway point on each tube section, marking a line, and cut each one in half with your utility knife.

Laying these four tube sections side-by-side, hot glue the edges together, creating a “U” pattern.

Using your scissors or blade, cut even strips of duct tape to cover the raw edges.

Cut and glue felt to the interiors of the wine holder for a finished look. Or just spray paint the tube prior to taping. If you prefer a natural look, leave the tubes as-is.—Ed Warwick

TOOLBOX
That’s so untool
According to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, a tool is a handheld device that aids in accomplishing a task. According to me, an untool is a useless thing disguised as a tool.
Number one on my short list of untools is Gorilla glue. This adhesive involves an expanding foam resin that supposedly fills gaps, providing a more secure gluing scenario. Inevitably, the glue pushes your joints apart if they aren’t properly clamped–or if the clamps are secure, the glue oozes and expands beyond the joint, causing first a sticky mess, then a very hard, very ugly mess. I’ve also experienced Gorilla glue that has been properly clamped, thoroughly cleaned and after its 24-hour required curing time, still doesn’t hold.

Next on my list are channel-lock pliers. Touted as an adjustable, easy-to-use alternative to fixed-size wrenches or the time-tested socket wrench sets, they don’t quite live up to the hype. The channel lock has several notches that, in theory, will keep the wrench fixed on a particular width while you squeeze and turn the handles. Sadly, those notches seem to always be a little bit too big or too small for a particularly difficult nut. So, you end up sorting through dozens of socket heads anyway.

Finally, any tool that came free with anything else. Think of the knock-off mini-multipurpose tool that came with a phone case that you bought from a kiosk in the mall. They’re usually made from the cheapest alloy possible, often with faulty mechanical parts and always constructed in China. What’s worst about this type of untool is that they present significant danger to the user. For example, I’ve had free drill bits snap in half mid-drill, metal shards flying. Utility knives that were set in a locked position unlock with very little pressure, leading to sliced fingers and ruined projects. And don’t get me started on the cheap-o screwdrivers that strip, twist and break.

Bottom line: There’s nothing quite as uncool as an untool.—Christy Baker

TIPS FROM BETTER WORLD BETTY
Cool kitchen: Tools of the trade
My mother is right, again! She’s always telling me, “Use the Crock Pot.” She knows Betty is too busy to have the energy to cook after work. When it comes to energy, she’s the Betty. This month’s recipe is for energy-efficient cooking.

Woks, electric frypans, slow cookers, and pressure cookers are all more energy-efficient than stovetop burners. Actually, modern pressure cookers use one-third of the energy!

Cool kitchen: Put a lid on it!
Lids on pots and pans reduce energy use and time for boiling/cooking by 50 percent. (EPA)
Also, pots and pans should be about 1” larger in diameter than the range burner, so you’re not heating the air around it. A 6” pot or pan on an 8” element can waste nearly 40 percent of its heat.

Did you know that using glass and ceramic pans will retain heat more fully than metals, allowing you to turn the oven temperature down by 25 degrees? (Food Service Technology Center and APS)

Cool kitchen: Respect the convection
Convection ovens, which use fans to circulate air, are about 23 percent more energy efficient than conventional ovens. (DOE) Using a combo microwave/convection is even more efficient. Do you use the self-cleaning feature? It may be convenient but it’s really energy-intensive. Could you opt for a little elbow grease instead?