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Essential equipment, suggestions for setting up an in-home bar, great homemade gift ideas, knowledgeable wine and cheese pairing notes from wine expert Peter Marks, and plenty of simple and simply delicious menus cover any occasion from Rosh Hashanah to Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

From drinks and appetizers to entrées and desserts, each festive recipe is designed to reduce prep time and streamline cooking techniques, so hosts can spend more time at the party and less in the kitchen.

Seriously Simple Holidays

The Thanksgiving Table

I had a bougainvillea that was just miserable. It was because I had placed it where I wanted it instead of where Mother Nature intended. Don’t fight Mother Nature, she always wins. My neighbors on the other hand had vibrant lush bougainvilleas. So, I placed my plant in the same western exposure as the happy plant next door. All of a sudden it was happy, go figure.

Take a walk around your neighborhood. Notice which plants are thriving, where there are placed, when do they get sun, etc. Then consider similar placement in your yard.

Happy Gardening!

• 2 lbs. boneless ribs (Beef, Pork, Baby-back)
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. garlic salt
• 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

The result – tender ribs that melt in your mouth. Simple and delicious!

This is a quick and easy solution to those pesky fruit flies.

Halloween Bears

These Bearington Collectibles are the perfect Halloween gift for the little goblins your life.  Each bear is made with the impressive attention to detail and the dependable high quality you’ve come to expect from the Bearington Collection of stuffed toys.

Halloween Bears

Tia Pinney is a Teacher Naturalist and Adult Program Coordinator at Mass Audubons Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

garden, gardening, compost, how to, compost pile

When planting in pots make sure there is plenty of drainage.  In the ground, there is plenty of drainage.  In a pot, you risk your plants sitting in water which will cause root to suffocate or rot.  Make sure there are several drainage holes in the bottom of the pot, and place a layer of small pebbles or rock at the bottom of the container to further facilitate drainage.

Plants in containers need more frequent watering than garden plants. Containers in full sun on a stone, brick or concrete patio can be like little ovens, thus they will require frequent watering.  I have found that as long as the containers are not sitting in standing water, you can water every other day.

When I first started gardening, the New Englander in me demanded order.  OK, I was a little uptight – neat, orderly rows with very little variation. YAWN!  I have since moved to California and gotten a little less stringent – I love to mix textures.  I have agaves next to roses.  Jades next to dwarf lemon trees.  It’s a mish mosh, but it makes me happy.  And isn’t that the point.  Your garden shouldn’t be a chore; it should be your oasis from the craziness called life.  Have fun, mix it up a bit.

I have also worked in a few herbs, a cherry tomato plant and even eggplant – while not exactly a Victory Garden – it is pretty cool to make pesto from basil grown on the back porch!

Or the really cool thing about a potted garden – when you get the urge to move things around, you don’t have to dig up the yard! 

Happy Gardening!