The New Year and Your Finances

It is almost tax season. At this point in the year, many people start to look at their finances and see how they can improve. However, as much as it seems like a good idea, do not throw away your credit cards. Here are some items that are great for those credit cards in your wallet. You can learn more at Apartment Therapy.



It's January which means that you may have resolved to beef up your budgeting prowess and get your debt under control. Great! But don't cut up all your plastic just yet. There are some very good reasons to (responsibly) use a credit card. We fill you in on some perks you may not have thought of.

Electronics — Check the fine print! Most cards provide extra protection or an extended warranty (often double) on many categories of purchases and almost always on electronics. You'll save the price of an extended warranty and have the peace of mind that you'll get the most out of your purchase for longer.

Travel expenses — When traveling abroad, you should absolutely get some local cash ASAP for taxis and snacks, but when you reach your hotel, charge it. Your credit card company will almost always offer a better exchange rate and fewer fees than the cash price, so save your paper money for incidentals and charge what you can. Also, your plastic is so much safer to carry since your card is protected against thieves and fraud; once your cash is pick-pocketed, it's gone forever.

Rental cars — Fun fact: I recently rented a car and realized that I didn't need to buy insurance because my credit card provided it automatically. Score! Check your card's benefits, of course, but it was a fun little discovery that you may not be aware of.

Bills you pay every month — This one is just about convenience. Ten separate paper bills, checks and stamps to remember each month? If you're still facing that hassle, then it's reeeally time to get online and put those suckers on auto-pay! One thing to remember: if you need to cancel your card for any reason, you'll need to update your billing information or you'll be facing a logistical mess of late fees. Keep a list of what you're signed up for so if you do need to switch out your payment, you won't miss any by mistake.

Reimbursable expenses — Sure, you save your receipts so your company can pay you back or you can claim certain benefits on your taxes, but being able to track what you paid electronically gives you an extra level of protection that, should there be a mix-up, will help you know exactly how much you paid and to whom.

Breakfast Tips and Tricks

How many times a week do you skip breakfast? Everyone has always told you breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, this saying does not always stay in your brain as you are running out the door in the morning. Make sure you get your breakfast every morning with these five tips. You can learn more at The Kitchn.





1. Keep breakfast in mind when you grocery shop.

This sounds simple, but when the week gets busy, this step can be easy to overlook. If you've ever filled your cereal bowl only to realize you were out of milk, you know what I'm talking about.

During the weekend I like to stock up on all of the staple items I'll need for the week. Think about what you want to eat for breakfast during the week — maybe it's fresh fruit, a simple bowl of cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, or muffins. Whatever it is, pick up everything you need before the week gets rolling. There's a good chance you'll eat a better breakfast when you have the things you want to eat on hand.

2. Prep breakfast basics ahead of time.

This one simple step makes all the difference in the world. If your mornings are anything like mine, time is a precious commodity, so the less work I have to do, the better! It makes your routine easier, when your favorite foods are prepped and ready to eat. Keep breakfast foods easy and convenient.

For you, maybe this means cutting up fruit, prepping smoothie ingredients, or leaving the bowls, spoons and boxes of cereal ready to go on the kitchen table.

3. Hard-boiled eggs are your friend!

This is one of my top picks for a quick and easy breakfast! I make a pot of hard-boiled eggs on Sunday night, and they last me through the week. Hard-boiled eggs are quick to make, nutritious, and so versatile! Eat them on their own, or slice on top of a piece of toast along with some greens. (Soft-boiled eggs can be made ahead too.)

4. Find a few make-ahead breakfasts you like.

When food is prepped, prepared, and pretty much at your finger tips it's a lot more likely you'll end up eating a better breakfast. Whether it's porridge, granola, or scones, find something you like and make and make a week's worth ahead of time.

5. Grab and go containers are a game changer.

Don't stop at make ahead breakfasts; also make them ready to go. Again, convenience is the name of the game in the morning. The less work you have to do, the better. I love making a week's worth of oats on Sunday night, then portioning them into individual-size containers (along with toppings!). In the morning all I have to do is reach in the fridge and grab it as I'm running out the door for work.

What's your best tip for eating a better breakfast during the week?

Ten Great Desserts To Try

Having a go to dessert is crucial for any dinner party. Check out these top ten desserts from apartment therapy that everyone should know how to make. What is your go to dessert?




What are the desserts you know by heart? The sweets you make over and over, to the point where you barely need the recipe? Dessert can be a special treat to end a meal, or a simple comfort during a tiring week, and we have a few we love enough to memorize. These are often the simplest and the easiest to remember, like a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies or that light-as-a-feather one-ingredient ice cream.

Others of these sweets have a classic elegance, like the chocolate layer cake that your friends always beg you to make for their birthdays, or that most perfect of all desserts: panna cotta. Here are 10 desserts, big and small, that we think are worth knowing by heart.


A "by heart" dessert really means two kinds of recipes to us: Those that are so easy that they barely require a recipe, like One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream and fruit poached with wine and spice. And then the recipes that are maybe a little trickier — like a good pie crust or a batch of ice cream — but that we make so often that the process feels intuitive.

Both kinds of desserts form the bedrock of our dessert repertoire. Know how to make a pie crust and you can whip up a galette or a fruit-filled pie on a whim. Memorize the formula for a creamy panna cotta and you have an easy, crowd-pleasing dessert whenever you need one. The process for making a chocolate cake is more or less the same for any kind of cake — take this muscle memory with you as you take on new recipes. And so on with just about every recipe on this list.

What desserts do you know by heart? Which ones do you think are essential for the home cook to know?

1 How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies - You just can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies. With this version, you don't even need a mixer.


2 Chocolate Layer Cake - Does a chocolate cake sound intimidating to you? It shouldn't! This fluffy, tender, and deeply chocolatey cake is ready in about an hour and couldn't be easier.
3 One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream - Yup, that's right. Frozen bananas whizzed in a food processor are a dead ringer for vanilla ice cream. Take a look at our 5 favorite flavor variations when you feel like switching it up.

4 How to Make Panna Cotta - This is Faith's ultimate dessert for everything from a weeknight treat to a big dinner party. It's easy, it's elegant, and it's endlessly adaptable.

5 Roasted Strawberry Goat Cheese Squares on Puff Pastry - This is the perfect example of what you can make with a package of puff pastry in the freezer. If strawberries aren't in season, go for apples, a few black berries, or any other ripe fruit — even just a dollop of jam and a sprinkle of nuts!


6 How to Make a Pie from Start to Finish - Knowing how to make a good pie crust is one of those essential skills that's always handy to have in your back pocket. And it's not as intimidating as you might think!

7 Chocolate Wafer Icebox Stacks - These ¨ber-simple little cakelets are more delicious and more addictive than they have any right to be. Just trust us on this one. Switch it up with different cookies or by flavoring the whipped cream.

8 How to Make Ice Cream at Home - Use this base to add any other flavorings your brain can imagine — fresh blueberries, a swirl of chocolate fudge, candied nuts, peppermint... Plus you can still make ice cream without an ice cream maker.

9 How to Make a Fruit Crumble with Any Kind of Fruit - No matter the season and no matter the fruit, a fruit crumble is always there for you.

10 Honey and Spice Poached Pears - Last but not least, we have poached fruit. It's amazing how decadent a simple piece of fruit can feel once you've poached it in a little simple syrup or leftover wine with a handful of spices. The method in this recipe applies to any tree fruit you have in the kitchen — apples, apricots, peaches, plums... You get the idea!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Clean Before You Decorate

Are decorating your apartment for the Holidays? Make sure to do a thorough cleaning of your apartment before you start hanging the tinsel. Keep reading and learn more at Apartment Therapy.


Dust: Dusting surfaces with a damp cloth will make everything feel fresh and help you (literally) breath easier as the post-Thanksgiving rush begins. And who wants to hang stockings on a mantle covered with old, dead skin cells?

Floors: A good vacuum or mopping of the floors will ensure that corners behind the tree are clean and clear with no surprise dust bunnies lurking behind gifts on Christmas morning. Plus, if you're entertaining over Thanksgiving, chances are you've had lots of feet treading in and out of your house; even more reason to re-clean between holidays.

Ceilings: Swiping ceilings with a feather duster or brush head of your vacuum will clear away any cobwebs that may have gone unnoticed before the holidays. But with twinkle lights and tree toppers drawing the eye upward and lighting the ceiling, now's the time to clean overhead.

Kitchen: Your kitchen may have been working double duty preparing for Thanksgiving, so now's the time to freshen it up by cleaning the oven, counters, cabinets, floors, stovetop, and sink. Starting with a clean, blank slate will make holiday cooking and baking much more enjoyable than working on top of a mess that's already there.

Closets: Cleaning closets and purging unneeded items is the perfect thing to do now. You'll make room for any house guests you may have in the coming weeks to put their things, or simply for party guests to hang their coats in a coat closet for an evening. Plus, you'll be freeing up space in your closet for any wardrobe-related gifts you might receive over the holidays.

Windows: While spring cleaning is often the time folks hit their windows, late fall is an extremely apt time to do so, as well. Shorter days and longer nights mean less sunshine making its way inside, so clean windows will let in as much sunlight as possible during this darker time of the year. Plus, twinkle lights in a clean window are multiplied and beautified by the sparkle and shine; grimy windows can put a damper on all of those decorations really fast.

Reuse and Re-purpose Coffee Grinds

Do you know those coffee grounds that you thought you could not use? There are five ways that you can re-purpose spent coffee grounds. Keep reading this blog to learn how you can use them for cleaning, compost, and other various home solutions. You can learn more at The Kitchn.





5 Ways to Use Spent Coffee Grounds

1. Compost

The great thing about sticking to simple brew methods that use only a paper filter and coffee grounds is that both are compostable. Used coffee grounds happen to be rich in nitrogen, which makes them great for composting. (Worms love coffee almost as much as you do!) In a compost pile, aim for a ratio of one part leaves to one part fresh grass clippings to one part coffee grounds. Keep in mind that freshly brewed coffee grounds won't have the same effect on your garden; you need to be sure that they have broken down and composted first.

2. Clean dishes

Because of the rough texture of coffee grounds, they work great as an abrasive, which means you can use them to clean tough-to-wash dishes. Simply place some grounds into a cleaning rag and twist the ends with a rubber band to secure them in place. Then you have an excellent DIY coffee sponge to clean with.

3. Exfoliate

Just like coffee grounds are a good abrasive for cleaning your dishes and kitchenware, they can also serve as an exfoliant for your skin. Simply mix with equal parts olive oil and massage into your skin. The coffee grounds exfoliate, while the olive oil serves as a moisturizer.

4. Fix furniture scratches

Have a kitchen table that needs a little love? Mixed with warm water and vinegar, coffee can be rubbed into scratches to keep your furniture looking good as new.

5. Keep your refrigerator fresh

Similar to baking soda, coffee grounds can serve as a deodorizer. Simply place a bowl of grounds in your refrigerator to suck up all the bad smells.