berlinbelle

have any of you grown your own ginger in a container?

does this actually work?

http://www.ehow.com/how_318_grow-ginger.html

Here the deal. i need a photo booth to take pictures for part of my sweeties x-mas present. (it's not getting to him by x-mas so i have some time) ideally in Manhattan or if in brooklyn on the 2/3 or L. and i would really prefer black and white.

anyone know of such a place?

anyone do anything unique on xmas day in NYC?

Of major chains (target, walmart, etc) who has the cheapest prices on baby/toddler food? Specifically the meat foods or the toddler "meals".

Thanks guys!

I am staying in town for Chrismas with my boyfriend and a friend. They both can't commit to an idea for Christmas dinner and I am at my wits' end. I will be cooking the main but I have to get around a few limitations:

My boyfriend is weirded out by slabs of meat. So no pot roast, steak, lamb, you get the idea. Also meat on the bone really bothers him.

EDITED TO ADD: He was raised a strict vegetarian, hence the aversion to some...styles of meat. He isn't picky; he just can't physically handle the idea of eating it. I mentioned stew and he got green so he is pretty sensitive to this sort of thing. I want to respect his tastes because he's never made mushrooms and expected me to eat them.

He also hates seafood.

I think 3 people is not enough to finish a turkey.

What is a cook to do? I want to do something special since none of us can make it home. If things keep going this way we're either just having a Yule Log cake for dinner or Hometown Buffet.

Yes, I have thought about going out for Chinese Turkey too :)!

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A friend gave us some venison tenderloin. It's in a brine right now, but I'm wondering what your favorite venison recipes are? We'd like something a bit more creative than grilling them up -- bonus points if the recipe reduces the gamey-ness of the meat (we're not used to the taste yet).

Sorry for this annoying "best way to get there from here" posts, but I'm just wondering what others think, especially since I normally fly out of JFK. I'm a little concerned also because it's the 24th everything might be a mad-house.

I'm in Brooklyn (closest subway the Prospect Ave stop - R train) and have a flight out of LGA on the 24th at 2 pm. What is the cheapest (and somewhat least stressful) why to get there? I've read that it's possible to get the N to Astoria and then hop on a bus. Or would I be better off to just go to Grand Central or Port Authority and get on one of those shuttle buses for like $10? I'll only have a backpack and one other small-ish suitcase.

So, to put it nicely..my neighbors are evil.

We live in the Northeast and recently had a ton of snow. Our truck was snowed in, much like all of the other vehicles in our apartment complex lot.

Our neighbors hate us, so they decided to dig our truck further into the snow. And I mean INTO the snow. We had a _six_ foot pile of snow behind our truck from them shoveling out their car. How do we know it was them? My husband saw them doing it and laughing about it. And I looked up their facebook (creeper, I know) and found pictures of them bragging about digging us in. (None of the other 20 or so cars in the lot seemed to have a problem putting the snow in the street or next to cars..except them..)

We've had problems with them in the past, but we've ignored it and haven't reported them to complex management. They've left bags of used kitty litter in front of our door...we moved it to the side, next to their door, where it sat for weeks..put garbage bags in front of our door..and just are incredibly obnoxious. The female of the couple also accused me of watering her head through our balcony ..which I didn't do..but it was raining so I don't doubt that some rain got on her head. Instead of talking to us, she reported us to the complex and we got a note from them about not watering the neighbors. (Hilarious and sad at the same time..)

If it makes a difference, we live in a complex that's 2 stories and about 8 side by side buildings. We're on the 2nd floor at the edge of one of the buildings and face out onto the street. They live directly under us. I like to think we're pretty quiet.. but who knows.


So, noble ljers of hip_domestics, how should we handle this situation? It really is just too much and my husband is pissed.

ha, still reading after that subject line? =)

two of my college friends (they're married to each other) will be staying in my apartment in brooklyn and celebrating the new year......while i'm out of town. so, i'm not even going to see them. they're in their mid 20s but not big drinkers at all. we're trying to think of fun things for them to do on their own on new years eve that doesn't focus heavily on drinking. the usual bar hopping (my NYE activity of choice) doesn't really appeal to them. they're big theatre nerds, but pretty agreeable and usually up for just about anything.

and oh yeah, they don't want to do the times square thing. i know this is an obnoxious post. however, i just want to show my friends a good time even though i won't be around to do it personally.

anyone have any fun suggestions?

While I was trying to figure out a nice way to present my dad's fiance with the wreath I made her for Christmas, I stumbled across this awesome wreath made of leftover scraps of wrapping paper:

of course it's on Instructables!

Thought I'd share so we can all have a greener holiday season. :)

Does anyone have any good ideas for wrapping/presenting a wreath? I know the obvious answer is something like "put it in a bag, dummy!" but I can't find any bags that it fits in that aren't obnoxiously huge and it seems like most gift boxes aren't deep enough. The wreath itself is has white poinsettias and gold ribbon on it and is an oval shape. Would it be tacky to just give it to her unwrapped?

I know someone recently asked for cheap dance lessons, but I'm looking for the best place in NYC for swing lessons for two people who really can't dance but want to learn. Any feedback on the following (or your recommendations) are appreciated:

1. Fred Astaire http://www.fredastairenewyork.com/indexWest.html
2. Steppin Out Studios http://www.steppingoutstudios.com/content/intro-special
3. Swing 46 http://www.swing46.com/
4. Dance Star Academy http://dancestaracademy.com/default.aspx

(Terraform Hat seamed at the back for a nice pointed top.)
oday is the last day to buy the hat patterns at a discounted price on Midnightsky Fibers. The hat patterns are yummy and delightful...but being rewritten! You will get the current copies of the patterns now, and the spiffy verion in a little bit once they are...well. Spiffy. But only available for a few more hours! Patterns available here.

Hats are designed to be used with a bulky or super bulky weight handspun yarn.
They knit up quickly, great for last minute gifts!
( more of the patterns included: )

Hello everyone:

I am looking for a last-minute holiday gift for a friend of mine -- handmade, big, warm, cozy, knit wool socks -- no packaged nonsense...

Are there any stores in Manhattan or Brooklyn you guys could recommend that sell unused hand-made knit stuff?

Thanks so much!!

So, there's a store by my house that has been closed since way before I moved in to the neighborhood. They are a corner store, and on my street on the way to the train station, it's my house, another house, a store, and then this store. Right after this store are the steps to the train station.

Now, who is responsible for shoveling/icing this area of sidewalk? The people who currently own the property, the MTA, the store next door (they're in the same building) or the city? I am on crutches right now and have to walk on my splint very painfully to get to the train because the walk is still covered in snow and ice which means my splint gets wet and I don't particularly enjoy that. :(

Thanks for your help!

Oh, and for the lulz:
http://www.peoplewhositinthedisabilityseatswhenimstandingonmycrutches.com/

I am looking for a SOMEWHAT CHEAP salon that isn't afraid to do crazy shit to people's hair. For instance, if I were like, I WANT CHUNKS & RANDOM LOCKS OF WHITE HAIR INTEGRATED INTO MY BLACK HAIR, WITH LAYERS. Or like funky coloring projects (but mostly looking for someone that really knows how to get dark hair WHITE).

THANKS a bunch, and happy holidays!!

I'm a big coffee drinker. I drink way too much and know I need to cut back. I've considered tea. I had a chai latte from Starbucks once - interesting. That's the only time I've had tea with milk.

If I make tea with milk at home, what kind of tea do I use? How do I make it? I'm used to iced tea or tea with honey and lemon - that's about it.

But I'm interested in this and thought I'd ask here.
TIA!

I have a lovely rented apartment with rather decent furniture (in my opinion) but it's missing something.. THINGS.. I am looking for a way to make my apartment look less like I put furniture into a room & more homey. In my eyes that's putting up pictures. Where do I find pictures that won't cost me hundreds!? How do I even know something will look good in my space? I'm a decorating newbie and I need help! Any books or websites you guys know about that will help me get on the right track?


Thanks

Two questions actually, and I'm not sure where to ask them, so if this isn't the right place, please direct me to any other communities that are active and about homes! :)

We've just repaired the circuit board on our HVAC unit about two weeks ago. We have electric heat, with an outdoor unit. The heat has been working fine, although whoever installed the ducting either did it for free or really shouldn't be working in HVAC and duct installation. LOL. We aren't sure how old the system is.

1. In the past couple days, our heater has been running almost constantly. Occasionally the auxiliary heat turns on (and it should, it's below freezing here), but my main concern is the cycles go like this: turns on and runs normally, then it gets really cold, like air conditioning, and the fan continues to blow. Finally, it turns off, but turns on again a few minutes later.

This evening as I sit here, I'm noticing that it's starting to not even turn off, just cycle with several minutes of warm and then a minute or so of icy. I've been watching the aux light, and I'm not seeing a correlation yet.

The correct temperature is being maintained in the house. Any ideas about what could be the problem?

2. I noticed as we left the house this afternoon that the outdoor unit appeared to be steaming. (I'm really hoping it wasn't smoking, so I'll just say steaming.) That was several hours ago and the house hasn't burned down yet... It was near freezing at that point - maybe 35 or 40 degrees. Is it normal for an HVAC unit to steam?

Thanks guys. I'm sure we'll be calling about it in the morning, but my husband has a limited knowledge about HVACs from working in installation, so I'm hoping to get some more information beforehand. :)

UPDATE: My husband checked out the unit and did some research, and then called our HVAC guy to confirm - the steaming is from what is called a "defrost cycle" where it's blasting heat on icy pipes and the steam is from that -I guess it's common in older furnaces. HVAC guy said that the furnace fan not cycling off is normal, too. Another great thing about older units, lol. :) It's been in the 20s at night and 30s-40s during the day for several days, so I guess the cold is just a lot for the unit right now.

So if you experience the same problem...now you know. :)