Lifestyles category, Page 149
Learn to grow the adorable fairy washboard
Among the most popular houseplants today is the fairy washboard (Haworthia limifolia). This compact succulent plant stays small, making it a great choice for a windowsill, desk or bedside table. The plant reaches about 4 inches in height and width. Its ease of care is another endearing factor, along with...
Handmade Arcade Winter Market debuts in Market Square
Handmade Arcade will extend the holiday shopping season, hosting its first open-air market in the Peoples Gas Holiday Market site in Pittsburgh’s Market Square. The winter market will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 28-31. The holiday market closed for the season on Dec. 23. According to Handmade...
Advice to first-time gardeners: Think small, find your spot
Another growing season is building momentum with the arrival of the 2020 seed catalogs, and gardeners are drafting plans for new harvests. There’s such a thing as being too enthusiastic, though, especially among novices. Beginners can achieve their best planting results by thinking small. “Starting too large is the most...
Plant these for an interesting garden all year long
What is a gardener to do during the gray days of winter? For many of us, it’s all about planning. This is the perfect time to scout around for plants that provide winter interest to the landscape. Put them on your list of things to get in the ground this...
Scale a common pest of fiddle leaf figs, other houseplants
Question: Help! I have a fiddle leaf fig in my front window that I adore. It has tiny bumps all over the stems and the floor beneath the plant is sticky. I did an internet search, and I believe I have an issue with scale insects. What can be done...
You may have to give more personal data to get personal loan
Would you feel comfortable disclosing your bank account information on a personal loan application? What about your work history? Your college major? That’s what it could take to borrow money from some loan companies that consider alternative data — which can be anything that isn’t in your credit report —...
Starbucks plans Pittsburgh-area pop-up parties, free drinks
Starbucks will make the holiday week’s celebrations a little sweeter, with more than 1,000 pop-up parties planned at select stores across the nation, including in the Pittsburgh region. According to the coffee purveyor, the pop-ups are set 1 to 2 p.m. Dec. 27-31 at more than 200 stores each day....
Ring in 2020 at Highmark First Night PittsburghVideo
Cheryl Capezzuti creates fun. The Brighton Heights resident makes larger-than-life puppets. Those puppets will dance their way from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, along Penn Avenue and through the Cultural District during the the Highmark First Night Pittsburgh parade at 8 p.m. Dec. 31 Culminating with the city’s “Countdown...
Frosted cranberries are edible jewels
’Tis the season for sparkles! These cranberries are so festive decked out in their sugar-coated crunchy goodness. They’re like little edible jewels. They’re the perfect sparkling garnish to a just about any holiday dish. Try them skewered on top of a glass of champagne or place them on top of...
Spice up that cup of hot chocolate
Winter has arrived, and that means it’s time to break out your fuzziest slippers, coziest sweater and snuggle up to a piping hot mug of hot chocolate for a few guilt-free hours of Netflix. But no matter whether you use a homemade recipe or open a packet of the powdery...
Top Tips From the Wine Cellar: 2020 brings bubbly celebrations, proposed tariffs
The upcoming New Year celebrations once again bring festive spirits and fun opportunities to share and enjoy delicious wines with friends. But this year also brings a more alarming moment for wine drinkers. Time is of the essence to oppose the possible January 2020 imposition of devastating 100% import tariffs...
TribLIVE Taste Test: Impossible Whopper and Beyond BurgerVideo
Many a grillmaster bristles at the mere notion of putting a plant-based patty over their cherished charcoal. But with the rise of not just vegetarian burgers but now meat substitutes, the TribLIVE Taste Test team had to go and find out whether the new wave of plant-based meat analogs could...
Outer Banks island split by Hurricane Dorian is reformingVideo
Campers and surf anglers have had a hard time accessing the popular North Core Banks — known as Portsmouth Island — since it was cut into pieces by Hurricane Dorian in September. But the sea has been restoring the island and has stitched the pieces back together to create a...
Sheetz brewing up free coffee for Christmas, New Year’sVideo
Whether bleary-eyed from traveling, over indulging or staying up late, coffee might be in order on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve/Day. Sheetz is again offering customers a free cup of fresh brew over the holidays. Customers can claim the coffee on the house from 12 a.m. Dec. 25 until...
Got an air fryer for the holidays? Here’s what to make first
If you got an air fryer this holiday season, you’re in for a treat. These $60 to $250 machines have been the next best way to get dinner on the table (after the Instant Pot, of course) for two years now, and its fans are more like devotees, spreading the...
Out & About: Art center’s annual holiday sale ends with a party
It was last call for holiday gift shopping Dec. 19 in the Greensburg Art Center. The center offered a discount on items remaining in The Art of GIFTing, the center’s annual show and sale of artwork, artisanal home wares and accessories perfect for wrapping up and tucking under the tree....
Out & About: Westmoreland Symphony brings it ‘Home for the Holidays’Video
Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Home for the Holidays” program is always a special treat. This year’s concert, held Dec. 21 in Greensburg’s Palace Theatre, featured the usual — the orchestra, a guest soloist and a choir of area high school students — along with an extra special element: a world...
Out & About: Museum brunch and tour benefits Westmoreland food bank
Here are a few random statistics about the Westmoreland County Food Bank: • In 2017, more than 9 million pounds of food were distributed. • In 2018, more than 7,000 households were fed, and 7,000 volunteers put in about 100,000 hours of work. (That’s the equivalent of 48 fulltime positions,...
Out & About: Administrators’ group honors volunteer of the year
Members of the Westmoreland Association of Volunteer Administrators gathered Dec. 19 at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield for their annual meeting and holiday luncheon. The festivities included recognizing Joy Klohonatz of Greensburg as WAVA Volunteer of the Year. Klohonatz is a relationship marketing specialist with SendOutCards, an online greeting card creation...
Out & About: Bethlehem Project raffle helps fight homelessness
“Home for the Holidays” was the theme of a raffle party held Dec. 15 at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg — a fitting title for a project that fights homelessness in central Westmoreland County. The Bethlehem Project began in 1998 in response to homeless and near-homeless people requesting help from...
Remember When: Dec. 23
100 years ago 5,580 youngsters get Christmas sweets New Kensington city hall on Fourth Avenue was the site of Community Christmas tree exercises where 5,850 boxes of candy were distributed to children. The Moose Lodge 53 band entertained at the holiday program. 75 years ago Rural school still snowbound West...
Living with Children: What did I think of Mr. Rogers?
With the release of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” inquiring minds want to know: What did I think of Mr. Rogers? I never met the man, but in the early days of my fatherhood, I watched Rogers’ show enough to figure out that as was also the case with...
Pull up a chair and leave holiday dinners to the professionals
For some holiday celebrants, the greatest gift is a night off from kitchen duty. Several area restaurants will be open Christmas Eve, including Bahama Breeze Island Grille, with a location in Robinson Township, and Braddock’s Rebellion, also open Christmas Day, 107 Sixthth St., Pittsburgh. If you can’t escape to the...
Travel tip: Holiday travel delays more likely at certain airports
From overbooked flights to weather-related complications, holiday air travel can be stressful. AirHelp, a website with information on air passenger rights, says these airports experienced the most disruptions — such as delays, cancellations and overbookings — during Christmas 2018: 1. Chicago O’Hare International Airport 2. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport 3....
Learn how to ID, harvest edible fiddleheads this spring
Have you ever eaten a fiddlehead fern before? They’re really a gourmet delight. Among the earliest edible items you can forage from a forest (or better still, from your backyard), fiddleheads have become a popular seasonal ingredient among chefs and those who enjoy eating unique foods. In fact, they’ve become...
