Good eats
www.foodmigration.com
The Food Migration blog reads like an old friend who tells you her recipe secrets and restaurant finds over milky chai on a rainy afternoon—that is, if you have a friend who happens to be exceedingly well traveled, a culinary whiz, and clever to boot. Cindy Meyers, the creator of foodmigration.com, has amassed a haphazard collection of delectable recipes and food finds from across the globe. Cindy describes her dishes in such a charmingly whimsical yet unpretentious way that you can’t help but be inspired to whip up something yourself. A warning to those who treat their cookbooks like culinary scripture: the blog lacks a long list of strict recipes with clear instructions. However, we found that many of the informal recipes she slips into her posts, such as the Korean Rice Porridge (a.k.a. Jook), are so simple to prepare that explicit instructions are unnecessary. We challenge you to read her post on the Tarocco Orange and Mango Tart with Ginger Crème Anglaise and not rush out to Harris Teeter to buy the ingredients right away.
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Practical painting
www.sherwin-williams.com
Now that the hills are alive with spring music, you may be looking to give your home a makeover with a new coat of paint. Sherwin Williams has some handy tools and tips to make it happen. In addition to providing extensive information on painting techniques, the site also features design ideas and inspiration for those looking for the perfect shade. Perhaps the best feature Sherwin Williams has to offer is the Color Visualizer, an interactive tool that allows you to visualize hundreds of different colors on the room of your choice. Simply select the room type you wish to paint, the room layout that most closely matches your own, and then drag-and-drop one of the 875 different paint shades onto the walls, trim, and floors of the room. You can even color the furniture in the photo to match the furnishings from your home. Oh—and no obligation to buy Sherwin’s paint if there’s another brand you prefer.
Give your home a leg up
www.tablelegs.com
Matt Burak has got legs, and he knows how to use ‘em. This New England cabinetmaker has created tablelegs.com, an online store that offers finely crafted furniture legs, decorative columns, bedposts, and other wood products. Whether you’re an amateur woodworker looking for a new project or just looking for some new legs for your antique coffee table, Table Legs offers dozens of quality products with a money-back guarantee. This site is not for the high-maintenance shopper; all wood parts are unfinished and require a bit of elbow grease to assemble. But don’t let the term “unfinished” fool you; these are some pretty pricey goods. Some of the nicer dining room and kitchen table legs run for about $165 per leg. However, the site does feature a sale section, and you can snag some of the smaller coffee table legs for as little as $8.50 each. I guess what we learned in Pretty Woman still rings true: the longer the leg, the steeper the bill.
You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours
www.tradelocal.org/barter/
Lacking money but not lacking in talent? Join the Charlottesville Barter Network, a local bartering community in which members can trade their labor for other goods and services. For example, if you happen to know French but can’t afford a babysitter, you can offer your services as a French tutor in exchange for someone to come and watch your kids. The mission of the CBN is simple: to encourage cooperation and trust within the community and to increase local self-reliance. As an added benefit, the work hour currency used in the bartering network is nontaxable and not subject to the fluctuations of the federal dollar. While the skills listed by members are quite varied—with everything offered from cartooning to foot massage—visitors may find that more practical services like auto repair are conspicuously absent from the list. Still, for simpler everyday chores like walking the dog or weeding the garden, the barter network is a great resource for local help.
