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Kitchen Tile Flooring Types With so many kitchen tile colors, materials, and finishes available, it can feel overwhelming to narrow your choice down to one. Popular kitchen tile materials include: Ceramic floor tileQuarry floor tileTerra cotta floor tileMarble floor tilePorcelain floor tileSlate floor tile These kitchen tile ideas serve best in the kitchen for their durability, easy cleaning, and low cost. One exception is real marble floor tile, which can get pricey....

Buy It: Purple White Yellow Garden Mum Live Plants with Grower Pots ($30, Walmart) Each 10-inch pot of this pair of mums has three different varieties to get the multi-colored effect. Plus, the plants grow together to create a lush, full dome of blooms that looks like it’s all one plant. Walmart ships the mums with “minimal open flowers” so that “you can enjoy their beautiful flowers longer.” (You also can find the plants at your local store, though the colors might vary....

Essential Canning Rules Follow these rules exactly to ensure food safety and success when canning at home: Water Bath Canning Basics Water bath canning, also called boiling-water canning or hot-water canning, is used for fruits, tomatoes, salsas, pickles, relishes, jams, and jellies with high acid (and low pH). It’s an easy setup that you can mimic if you don’t have an actual canner. It’s just a large pot with a rack at the bottom to set the jars on....

If you’re starting seeds indoors, plant several weeks before your last frost date. Sow seeds in individual pots of seed-starting mix. Keep the pots warm and moist and provide a strong light source until weather warms enough to transplant the seedlings outdoors. Watermelon Care Must-Knows Watermelons grow best in long, hot summers. If summers are short or cool, consider laying black plastic over the soil for insulation. Make several holes in the cover to allow moisture to reach plant roots....

With the help of the latest Dietary Guidelines, the USDA’s MyPlate, and Laura Burak MS, RD, founder of GetNaked® Nutrition and the author of Slimdown with Smoothies, we will dish up the ultimate portion size guide and explain the differences between serving sizes and portion sizes. Your Complete Portion Size Guide Healthy portion sizes are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, “but of course everybody needs different amounts of calories,” Burak says....

Attributes Aplenty! These types of floors are ideally suited to households where pets, kids, and allergic folks roam. Unlike carpet, wood, and tile grout, concrete doesn’t capture pet fur, dust mites, or moisture; when properly sealed, concrete resists stains, fading, scratches, and even chemical spills. Stained concrete floors can be highly energy efficient in certain applications. They transfer heat well and work nicely with radiant floor systems. In passive solar homes, concrete floors absorb sunlight during the day and release the heat back into the house after dark....

When Does Trick-or-Treating Start? Typically, cities and towns set their own hours for trick-or-treating, but it’s usually between 6-9 p.m. local time on Halloween night. However, many areas have adopted the tradition of trick-or-treating on a separate night (like the Saturday before Halloween) for safety reasons. To find out the hours of trick-or-treating in your area, check your local newspaper or news station. What Time Should You Go Trick-or-Treating? Typically there’s a large window of time (3-4 hours) during which going door-to-door is appropriate—so once you find out what the hours are in your area, you may still be wondering when the best time to go is....

White Sauce Recipes Fettuccine Alfredo Pasta with White Clam Sauce

Take It Easy: Prep as directed, using 6 cups prechopped fresh kale (remove any tough woody stems and ribs) and one 14-oz. pkg. shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix) in place of the radicchio and cabbage. Dressing preparation Use a small food processor, immersion blender, or coffee frothier to emulsify the dressing. Add a small amount of oil in at a time to the rest of the liquid.

1 ½ cup pecan halves ½ cup sugar 2 tablespoon butter or margarine ½ teaspoon vanilla 1 ½ teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

1 ⅓ cup butter, softened ⅔ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2 eggs 2 teaspoon vanilla 3 cup all-purpose flour 2 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoon milk 1 teaspoon vanilla Desired-color gel food coloring 4 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder Basket-Weave Eggs: If desired, place Browned Butter Frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a basketweave tip. Pipe basketweave pattern on 3-inch cookies.

How to Grow Dahlias Plant dahlias in a spot that gets at least eight hours of direct sunlight a day. In dry, hot-summer climates, choose a spot that provides direct sun from the morning into midday, offering shade or filtered shade by the hottest part of the late afternoon. Like potatoes, dahlias grow from tubers (they’re actually edible) so good soil preparation is key. Loosen or dig soil to a depth of about 10 inches....

Planting a Mango Seed The process of growing mangos from seed is actually pretty simple. While care should be taken during the extraction of the seed, both adults and children might find the process fun and worthwhile. Before you begin, make sure you have all your materials in place and ready to go. MangoKnifeScissorsPaper towelsZip-top plastic bagPotting soilContainer Step 1 The first step in the process is also the best: eat the mango!...

Commonly made from rattan, hanging chairs have a unique shape that might remind you of another retro trend: the egg chair that was popular throughout the midcentury period. The peacock chair of the 1960s and ’70s, with its woven construction and cocoon-like form, also bears a resemblance. Whatever the historical significance, it’s clear that these chairs are back in a big way. Decorating Ideas for Hanging Chairs Hanging chairs work especially well in a four-season room or on a patio, where the breeze can give the furniture a gentle sway....

Use outdoor walkway lights to guide guests to and from your home. Solar lights are a great choice, and they can be placed nearly anywhere. As the name implies, solar lights gather energy from the sun and use it to power lights. That being said, their light is usually a little softer than traditional systems, and on cloudy days, they may not work at all. A low-voltage system is a little more laborious but offers bright, reliable lighting....

Depending on how the pieces fit together, some jointed sidings can be fully attached by blind-nailing through a tongue or underlap that will be covered by the course above. Other types require face-nailing as well. The area where you will blind-drive the fasteners is thin, so there is a danger of cracking the wood when you drive a nail. Preempt any splits by drilling pilot holes. The extra step is worth the effort: A cracked board is seriously compromised and may allow water to seep behind....