3 Ways You May Be Ruining Your Knives

After months or years, those old knives just don't keep their edge as well, but there are factors that speed up the dulling process that you may inadvertently be causing. To keep you knives sharper longer, check out these "3 Ways You May Be Ruining Your Knives" below!

1. You store your knives unsheathed in the utensil drawer.
There are a few reasons this is bad: first of all, it's dangerous to have a knife loose in the drawer. Secondly, an unsheathed knife rubs against other things, which causes it to get dull very quickly. The best way to store your knives is on a magnetic knife strip or in a knife block. 

If you're really short on space and need to store those knives in a drawer, just slip them into a blade guard first! You can get a set of four on Amazon for about $10.

2. You put your knife in the dishwasher. 
Knives should never go in the dishwasher. Dishwasher detergent is very abrasive, and along with the banging around that happens during a wash cycle, will take the sharp edge right off your knife. (Plus, it's not safe for the person unloading the dishwasher!) 

Always wash knives by hand in the sink with dish soap and water. Keep the blade facing away from you and the knife low in the sink. Also, don't leave your knife to air dry. Instead, take a tea towel and, holding the knife with the blade facing away from you, dry the knife in short vertical motions perpendicular to the edge. Running a tea towel horizontally along the blade is very dangerous, and a sure-fire way to cut yourself. (Don't worry — I did this for a long time, too!) 

3. You slide your knife, blade down, across the cutting board to clear away what you just chopped. 

Oh man. I am still trying to break this habit! Do you do this? After you've got a pile of chopped veggies, you scrape your nice, sharp knife — blade down — right across the cutting board to clear some space. Of course when you actually think about it (as I did) that's a terrible way to treat the blade! 

An easy solution: just flip the knife over before you slide! That way the flat spine side does the clearing, and you don't ruin your blade.

Original Article Here: http://bit.ly/10l49PS

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Delicious Cookie Recipe

Brighten up the middle of the week with some cookies! This is a great recipe for a tasty treat for you, or a wonderful surprise for friends and family! You can find more great recipes at The Kitchn.

M&M'S® Cookiesmakes about 36 cookies

1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup M&M'S® Milk Chocolate Candies

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a mixing bowl, mix sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Press 3 or 4 additional M&M'S® Milk Chocolate Candies into each cookie. (Or, if you like, create a smiley-face or your child's initials using M&M'S® MINIS Chocolate Candies.)

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until light brown. Cool slightly and remove to wire rack. Enjoy!

(Images: Leela Cyd Ross)

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What Will Apartment Life Look Like In The Future?

Image courtesy of apartmentguide.com

Do you ever wonder how the apartment world may or may not change as we move into the future? This topic is definitely on the brains of many developers and leaders. Earlier this year at the No Place Like Home Conference in Anaheim, Calif., more than 230 leaders in urban development discussed what the future might hold for apartments and multi-unit housing. 

An excerpt from an apartmentguide.com article reaveals insight into what at least one expert predicts the future may hold for apartments: 



Joel Kotkin, author of The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050, believes that “the suburb of the future may well resemble more of a self-sufficient village than a prototypical suburb of the 1950s.”

So what would a self-sufficient apartment village look like?

Are suburbs the cities of the future? 
A suburb will “increasingly not be limited to being a ‘bedroom’ community, since many will work at home or commute to employment in another suburb,” Kotkin added. “Its population will be far more diverse, by age and ethnicity, than its historic predecessor.”

In a keynote address during the PCBC homebuilding trade show, urbanist Richard Florida said “we have to get over this nonsensical verbiage of cities or suburbs; it’s cities and suburbs.” He also reminded his audience that “what people prefer is all the same: a safe, secure, crime-free environment; lots of economic opportunity; openness to all people; and quality of place.”

This all seems to boil down to the premise that future housing options will be more inclusive, all-encompassing, compact and efficient. The new apartment village will be more self-sufficient and able to fit the needs of many types of apartment dwellers. 

Click here to read more of the article and learn about what the future might hold for apartment parking options, green living and more. 

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Foods to Avoid for a Good Night's Sleep

Do sleeping problems have you up all night? It could be the food you're eating in the hours before bed. Below are 8 different culprits keeping you up! You can learn more here.

Dark Chocolate
Nibbling on a piece of dark chocolate might cure a late-night sugar craving, but that sweet satisfaction might be short-lived. Certain dark chocolates, such as Hershey’s Bliss Dark Chocolate, have as much as 25 to 38 percent of the amount of caffeine found in a standard cup of coffee. That’s enough to keep a few people up tossing and turning.
All chocolate – even milk chocolate – contains caffeine, but an easy rule of thumb to follow is: The darker the chocolate, the more caffeine it contains. So if you can’t give up the craving, reach for chocolate with a lower percentage of cocoa.

Steak
Beyond raising cholesterol and increasing obesity risk, fatty foods that are high in protein, like steak, digest slowly and may disrupt our Circadian rhythm if eaten close to bedtime. What’s more, high-fat, high-protein diets have also been linked to sleep apnea, which can leave you tired and irritable throughout the next day.

Alcohol
The nightcap. It’s supposed to help you unwind and get some rest after a long day. However, time after time, studies have shown that while alcohol can help you fall asleep faster, it negatively affects your sleep cycle by reducing the amount of SWS and REM sleep – both of which are responsible for helping to repair and restore the mind and body – you receive per night.

Spicy food
Spicy food may not give you nightmares, but it sure can disrupt a good night’s sleep. Lying down after eating a heavy, spice-laden meal can result in heartburn and a restless night. Studies have found that eating spicy food prior to bedtime not only reduces the overall amount of sleep a person gets, but also raise core body temperature, which has been linked to poor sleep quality.

Decaf coffee
If you’re jonesing for an after-dinner cup of coffee, reaching for decaf instead of regular may not prevent the late-night jitters. Contrary to popular belief, decaffeinated coffee contains enough caffeine to disrupt sleep, particularly for those who are caffeine sensitive.

Broccoli or cauliflower
Being healthy by eating your veggies has a time and place, but it’s not before bed. Some roughage like broccoli and cauliflower contain tryptophan, which actually helps the body produce serotonin and regulates sleep. However, eaten too close to bedtime, vegetables with high amounts of slow-to-digest fiber can keep your body working well into the night while you’re trying to get some shuteye.

French fries
Some of us may dream about fried food, but high-fat foods like French fries can keep you from doing just that. Indulging in one or two fries before bed may not be enough to keep you awake, but eating an entire serving may push your digestive system into overdrive not to mention give you a bad case of heartburn -- both of which are enough to prevent a good night of dreaming.

Chili

Hot sauce. Beans. Beef. Oh, my! Chili is a five-alarm recipe for sleep disaster if you eat it close to bedtime. Hot sauce-induced heartburn and a disgruntled tummy thanks to the beans and beef will keep you from getting all of those precious 40 winks.

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