Food

In home design, “coastal” style holds a special place in communities by the sea. Airy and cozy, it is best illustrated in Nancy Meyer movies set by the ocean. The California coast. The Hamptons. Even the Jersey Shore. Understated, luxurious living rooms are colored in comfortable tones of cream, caramel and blue. Carrots make for a delicious, healthy stew.  CURRENT PHOTO / LINDA BASSETT Kitchens lean monochromatically white. Clutter is OUT. Countertops and islands, cleared of appliances, display bowls of white flowers or baskets of…

Sweet potatoes are not yams. We know that even though the two often spill over into one another at the grocery store. You can barely tell the difference. Some cooks use them interchangeably, although a sweet potato, with its dark orange flesh, is a tuber of a different color. Russet potatoes (aka Idaho or baking potatoes) also sit nearby, but they are never confused with sweet potatoes. At the market, look for a firm exterior free of bruises or cuts. At home, store in a…

A meal from a carry-out shop is fine in a pinch. But many order-in meals taste better made at home. You get larger quantities and use pantry ingredients. Yes, there’s the clean-up afterwards (the only offensive part of cooking), but I enthusiastically congratulate the cook when I do it myself. To get veggies into the family, I put out a bowl of hummus or tzatziki with pita triangles and an alphabet of fresh veggies from broccoli to zucchini. (Either dip can be storebought, but it’s…