Hungry For Nostalgic Refrigerators

By Steven V. Philips - Who doesn’t love Rachael Ray? Even our dogs love The Rachael for her dog food. Our fluff balls refuse to cook, but they are talented eaters. My observation is that many humans don’t cook either, but we do like to watch someone else do it. Some of us enjoy watching Rachael Ray use those nostalgic appliances in her television kitchen. For many viewers it brings back kitchen memories but not...

Art Rails in Your Kitchen

By Steven V. Philips - Here at fabulous Chez-Philips you probably expect that we have “people” to do things, knowing the male resident’s genius for directing. But alas, “people” would be the humble husband homeowner delegated to improve things around here. Reclining in the hammock, this “people” recently got to thinking about the goofy trend of kitchens loosing their upper cabinets. Why this trend? More wall...

Magical Garden Night Lighting

By Steven V. Philips - As I view the Philips Estate’s vast land holdings, I see areas needing a touch of work due to winter frost. OK, total resuscitation. But my garden still looked passable on winter nights. “At night, as in-the-dark?” say you, thinking me (more) daft. Pay attention say I. The Philips Estate’s family room plus the living room has 16 feet of sliding doors opening to the pool area, with views...

Kitchen Trends Under Scrutiny

By Steven V. Philips - Some of today’s “brilliant” kitchen details are not. Recently I lightly brushed one of those very elegant wine stems sitting on the granite counter at Yalc’s deb party. it fell over. And shattered. Into 37,000 shards of costly crystal. The kitchen was roped off. The $500 dollar vacuum was summoned into service. Haz-mat was alerted. That reinforced it for me about (any) stone counters....

Kitchen Design – It’s the Little Things

By Steven V. Philips - Plates. Think about decorated china dinnerware patterns. The ones that look as though the food is already on the plate? Low calorie diet all right. But way too fussy for me. Bone china, the finest plateware to serve on and eat from, isn’t just a random term. It actually refers to the bone(s) in its composition. Bone china evolved in Europe in the 1750s in a porcelain factory, close to...

Top 5 Kitchen Tools for 2012

By Chef Judi Gallagher - Every cook looks for innovations in meal preparation convenience and time-saving kitchen equipment. Here are five on my must-buy list for 2012. It’s time for the cook to go shopping. 1.  KitchenArt Pro’s Adjust-a-Cup. It allows cooks to measure out sticky ingredients and then push them out of the device into a bowl or baking pan. An article at MainStreet.com, praises the ease with which it helps...