Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 427

What's Your Favorite 3-Ingredient Recipe?

Did you ever have a eureka moment when you hit on a trio of ingredients that, together, made something delicious? Real Simple's food editors (quite amazingly, in my humble opinion) had that moment 25 times over to create the August cover story of summer perfect 3-ingredient recipes. Here's your challenge: What's your favorite 3-ingredient recipe?

Share your favorite 3-ingredient recipe in the comments and we may feature your magic mélange in a gallery of readers' best 3-ingredient recipes...

I Swear I Am Never Buying Furniture Online Again

It all started when I wanted to buy my husband a lamp for his birthday. For reasons having to do with space and lack of imagination (mine, not his), my husband does not have a bedside table on his side of our bed. We've lived in the house for five years, which is a long time to go without reading in bed. In what I thought was a moment of brilliance, I decided to buy a floor lamp for him this winter, to put on his side of the bed instead of a table with a lamp.

After some searching online, I...

Say Farewell To Charger Clutter

One thing that bugs me about handheld electronic devices is that there is no such thing as a universal charger. My Nintendo DS Lite, cell phone, point and shoot digital camera, and video camera all have different charging connection requirements. One is a mini USB, another is a regular USB, and two are proprietary configurations.

Of course, my husband has different charging needs for his equipment, and then there are car chargers to go along with the chargers in the house.

A few months ago, we ...

Reader question: iPad, Kindle, or both?

I'd like to thank Manic Mommies listener and friend Molly N. for inspiring this week's post with this e-mail:

Hi Kristin



You are the tech guru, so I'm coming to you for advice.  I was thinking about a Kindle, but then the IPad came out.   You have a Kindle, desiring an IPad but decided to wait.  Do you still love the Kindle?  Why an IPad and why wait??  A new Kindle is out next week.  Bigger, faster, stronger, better??



Any thoughts you can share would be most welcome!



- Molly

Okay, first, I'm tot...

Look Fresh!

July 4th weekend is here which means a fabulously long three-day vacation. Hooray! And along with its blowout sales (I know I'm hitting up a couple) and stars and stripes, this weekend is known for its outdoor festivities that usually include some sort of fireworks, barbecued meats, and juicy watermelon. Yum, there's nothing I love more than ripe watermelon...well, except these pretty, pretty looks that I'd love to share with you. 

From runway shows like Marc by Marc Jacobs, Carolina Herrera, ...

Vintage Cocktails

With mixology being all the rage these days, apparently we've entered a "new golden age of the vintage cocktail" - at least according to Brian Van Flandern, head mixologist for Bemelmans bar at The Carlyle in New York. He has collaborated with photographer Laziz Hamani and Assouline Publishing to create a gorgeous cocktail table book that is, in fact, all about the cocktail. How perfect. 

 

I received the very sexy looking Vintage Cocktails as a birthday gift from my thoughtful mother, and I ...

Don't take this the wrong way...

My writing partner Elisa and I have a joke that whenever someone starts a sentence with, "Don't take this the wrong way, but...," you know you're in for it. Basically because it's a dead giveaway that they're about to deliver a blow, which they're lamely attempting to soften. So recently, when I found myself thinking, "I hope they don't take this the wrong way...," I knew I was in trouble. It concerns whether or not to send a gift that I fear could easily be construed as criticism.

My husband...

We All Carry Something

My senior reporting project in journalism school covered the Kansas vs. Leroy Hendricks court case that went in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. A man had molested many children, served his time in prison, and upon release was sent to a state mental hospital to be "cured" of his mental disorder. (I'm using quotation marks around the word cured because the effectiveness of psychological treatment for sexual disorders is highly debated.) The state of Kansas said it was in the public's interest ...

I Await Your Reply!

Hi, bookies!

I'm very glad to see that Await Your Reply, by Dan Chaon, won the poll for our July book club. (It's been on my Goodreads "to-read" bookshelf since it came out last year.) So I hope that you've nestled it in your boat tote, along with your flip-flops and SPF—I think it's going to be a thrilling beach read.

I'm Ashley Tate, and I'll be leading our online chats this month. I'm a staff editor at Real Simple, which doesn't really say anything about what I do here at the magazine, so...

I'm Engaged...And He Put A BRACELET On It!

Hello everyone!

I write to you now as an overly excited newly-engaged woman! I can't explain to you how excited I am. I feel like a brand new lady!

Long story short: We were in the Berkshire mountains at a friend's country house (just the two of us). He said: "Will you be my wife?" I said: "YES! Of course!"

Now onto the bracelet part of the story---or the really BIG ring that happens to fit my wrist!

If you read my post entitled "No Ring Need...Put Some Real Estate On it" back in November...