If you like a retro kitchen look but also want real utility in your fixtures, Pam of Retro Renovation has the perfect holiday gift for you. She just launched a new site, Dishmaster Living, where she’s selling the Dishmaster, a kitchen faucet that looks almost the same as when it debuted in the late 1940s, but is still being built brand-new. Says Pam, “The Dishmaster makes washing the dishes fun via the ‘Push Button Dishwashing’ action of the special aerator brush wand, which dispenses soapy sudsy water and rinses clean, too.” And it turns out there’s more to that than just retro charm — the Dishmaster also conserves water, energy and detergent when hand-washing dishes. Purchase three different styles of the Dishmaster at Dishmaster Living. –Mary T.

Last Sunday, we had some friends over for dinner to celebrate the Fall Season. It gave me the push I needed to add a little Fall decor to my house. I rearranged the front table in my Living Room adding a piece of art done by my sister-in-law for a wedding gift, some pumpkins from the Farmer's Market, and a beautiful arrangement of corn stalks, seed pods and wild grasses put together by a wonderful vendor also from the Farmer's Market. I wish I could take credit, but when you have it right in front of you, why pass it up?! (Plus, for only $4, what a steal!!!!).

I put the Fall foliage in an ironstone master jar, and added two ironstone footed bowls, the small from H&Co, the large from Thomas Hughes. I think I will fill them with walnuts.

At the Dining table, I started with a table cloth I made from inexpensive natural burlap. I find that if I use this as a base, I can put all different sizes of smaller cloths on top. The white one here is a vintage cotton cloth with fringe on each end. I used a pair of antique mercury glass candlestick holders in which I put some brown fun faux bois candles I found at Target. More pumpkins from the Farmer's Market and leaves from the yard make a very easy center piece. I added a few votive candles among the leaves.

I used simple large white plates, and my silver, hand blown glass water glasses from Anthropology, simple wine glasses that are always available at Cost Plus or Ikea, and Hotel Napkins from William Sonoma. Easy and very quick to put together!

We had a Fall menu starting with goat cheese filled dates with toasted bread crumbs as the appetizer, and then a French Onion Soup, which was pretty easy and delicious! We made grilled Cornish game hens with a Dijon Mustard and Riesling marinade on a bed of sauteed carrots, turnips and cabbage and an Apple Potato Gallete. There was Schwelmer Hefe Weizen Beer and a Dry German Reisling to choose from. Good food and good company!

(All of the recipes for this dinner can be found in the William Sonoma Entertaining Cook Book)

Based on an elaborate concept and a carefully planned study this unique artistic creation is a perfect combination of functionality, and the art of painting, sculpturing and design.

New, revolutionary design of unique pieces of furniture does not only pervade the space, filling it up with a soul of its own, but also creates a charismatic essence of the object of art itself. This piece is the fruit of work of two promising young artists; Klemen Benedik, painter and designer, and Toma? Erzeti?, sculptor and designer.

Elaborately planed furniture design and a tender, refined painting are the artistic soul and an added value of this unique piece of furniture, which moves one's heart by its very existence, suggesting and narrating its story.

I recieved an email the other day bearing some of the best news I've heard in weeks.

One of my favorite culinary TV series, "Two Fat Ladies," is finally coming to DVD!

For anyone who doesn't remember this fantastic British show (which aired back when Giada's decollete was just a glimmer in some TV executive's eye), there's still reason to check it out.

Don't expect healthy twists or 30-minute meals here. Instead, prepare to ride off with Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright (by motorcycle and sidecar, naturalement) around Britain (and beyond) to prepare seriously hearty meals.

How about joining a hunting party in Scotland for a menu that includes roast grouse and venison with blackberries (episode 5)? Or perhaps you'd enjoy making lobster for a sisterhood of Benedictine nuns in Ireland (episode 14). Soused herrings, Welsh rarebit souffle, onion soup with Stilton, fruit tartlets...the list goes on.

These aren't all recipes that you'd likely rush out and make, but that's not really the point. The settings are verdant and the ladies are undeniably charming, entertaining, and passionate about food.

Even though the show itself is dated, it's novel and refreshing to see them, polar opposites of the squeaky-clean, book-deal-sniffing personae of today's food TV stars, preparing honest food without pretension.

Welsh Rarebit Souffle
Ingredients:
    2 large slices of good-quality white bread
    1/2 pound of high-quality, aged cheddar cheese
    3 egg yolks
    4 egg whites
    1 level teaspoon dry English mustard
    1 vigorous shake of Worcestershire sauce
    1 vigorous shake of Tabasco sauce
    Salt and Pepper

Grate the cheese and place in a bowl. Beat in the egg yolks, a level teaspoon of mustard, a good shake each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toast the bread; whip the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Add a spoonful or so of the beaten egg whites into tothe cheese mixture then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the bowl. Put the toasts into an ovenproof dish and pour the mixture over them. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes until browned and risen. Serve at once with a salad or spinach on the side.

Recipe reprinted from the Two Fat Ladies DVD box set, Acorn Media, 2008.

(Owner Kerry) DeBuse says he spent tens of thousands of dollars upgrading the old-fashioned dining room in June. Business had been slow since early summer, he says, "but it all changed 180 degrees within a week of the recent (Wall Street) crash."When the problems went global, the bottom fell out.

From Janet & Julie:

Here’s a roundup of clever ideas for the underused space under a stairway.

Below: Architect Jerome Buttrick of Buttrick Wong Architects created a sleek bar in this Palo Alto house.

Below: Vertical shelves provide extra storage opportunities for unwieldy items like oversize books and framed prints.

Below: London-based Domane interior design group tucked appliances under the staircase in this flat.

Below: Stockholm architects Sandell Sandberg built a trio of geometrically precise closets under this stairway.

Below: A salvaged door adds character to this all-white space spotted on Marie Claire Maison.

Below: Storage opportunities abound under this stairway from Splyce.

Below: A bank of Shaker-inspired drawers from Flickr.