Lifestyles category, Page 137
Tips for growing cauliflower
For many gardeners, cauliflower is a challenging vegetable to grow. Not only do cabbage worms find it irresistible, but it can be persnickety to grow, requiring just the right weather and soil conditions to thrive. Today, I’d like to offer you some cauliflower- growing tips to help increase your chances of...
Sharing a meal: St. Joseph High School plans fundraiser for student battling cancer
Sitting down to eat this dinner will be about more than food for the body. It’s about feeding the spirit. The St. Joseph High School athletic association is hosting a fundraising dinner to support Eli Swierczewski, a senior three-sport athlete. The Harrison resident has been diagnosed with a recurrence of...
Ligonier Country Market branches out with monthly evening vendors
Ligonier Country Market’s popular Saturday morning array of food and artisan vendor booths is expanding this year — to include a monthly evening market. Partnering with the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce, the market will offer about 40 produce and processed food vendors from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on...
New Stanton Cracker Barrel named chain’s ‘store of the year’
Cracker Barrel restaurants are known for hearty meals, folksy decor and front porch rockers. The New Stanton restaurant, at 154 W. Pennsylvania Ave., also is basking in a special accolade these days. Its parent company has declared the site the chain’s “Restaurant Store of the Year” for fiscal year 2019....
Entrepreneurs find niche in small, local downtownsVideo
Jim Seaman is just one of many entrepreneurs zeroing in on — and filling — particular niche markets in the region. He’s also among those choosing to open in downtown business districts, sometimes filling otherwise empty buildings. After earlier operating a coffee shop in Lock Haven and a recent career...
Houseplants become more active as days get longer
Houseplants are quick to tell you when they need help. They display discolored leaves, drooping stems and little or no growth. That usually gives you enough time to make things right. “Plants send signals simply by the way they look,” said Dawn Pettinelli, an Extension educator at the University of...
Easy-to-grow succulents come in a variety of shapes, sizes, textures
A long greenhouse bench is filled with an array of succulents at Soergel’s Garden Center in Wexford. These varieties are indoor plants that have become increasingly popular over the past several seasons. Randy Potter is a general manager here and wears many hats at the nursery. One of his jobs...
Elderberries are beautiful landscape plants and medicinal, too
Question: Everyone in my family takes elderberry syrup in the winter because there’s evidence that it is antiviral and helps fight against the flu. We’d like to start growing our own elderberries and making our own syrup. Are there particular varieties we should grow? Answer: Elderberry (Sambucus spp.) plants have...
McKeesport Candy Co. among locations chosen to wholesale Clark candy bars
McKeesport Candy Co. hit the Clark Bar lottery. Only a select number of businesses were chosen by Boyer Candy Co. for distribution of the sweet piece of Pittsburgh history. Jon H. Prince, owner of McKeesport Candy Co. and candyfavorites.com, said customers won’t be able to buy the bar there, as...
Most popular Valentine’s gifts in each state
OK, guys. By now you either have your Valentine’s Day gift or … well, good luck. But what presents are guys around the country buying the most? The folks at the online store All About Gifts & Baskets used sales data and a survey to customers to put together a...
Make the best breakfast in bed this Valentine’s Day
On any given weekday, breakfast might mean a simple cup of coffee and perhaps a piece of toast — still warm if you’re lucky — gobbled up as you leave a trail of breadcrumbs to the door. But Valentine’s Day is a special day meant for spending with the one...
For the ultimate grilled cheese, use both stovetop and oven
Grilled cheese is the ultimate comfort food, an adult treat that harkens back to childhood. I never met a grilled cheese sandwich I didn’t like. Where I grew up, there was an old-fashioned drug store with a lunch counter. When the weather was good, my best friend and I would...
Distillery owner looks to boost Somerset County agritourism
Somerset County will soon have a new distillery. By spring 2021, Maximilian Merrill plans to open Ponfeigh Distillery Inc. in Somerset Township. “This is a $3.4 million project,” he says. The distillery will be located along Stoystown Road, following renovation of a long-closed 84 Lumber site. “There will be a...
What’s Brewing? A tasting plan for upcoming Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest
How about a few, new brews to warm up these gloomy February days? The Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest is once again being presented by Fat Head’s Brewery and will be held at the David Lawrence Convention Center Feb. 28-29. Tickets are on sale now. Thousands of people will attend and proceeds...
Want to sleep at Ikea? You can on World Sleep DayVideo
A trip to Ikea is always special. And now it doesn’t have to end at closing time. The Swedish furniture store is letting a few lucky members of its Ikea Family spend the night. But only at select locations — the Ikea Brooklyn (New York) and Ikea Costa Mesa (California)...
Out & About: ‘Pasta Palooza’ benefits humane society mission
If you’ve ever wondered what a “Pasta Palooza” looks like, you’ll have to attend the Humane Society of Westmoreland County’s next Have a Heart Buffet. Held Feb. 9 at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield, the annual event featured a hearty meal of tortellini, rigatoni and stuffed shells with both meatballs and...
Primanti Bros, East End Brewing team up for a Valentine’s beer
Primanti Bros. and East End Brewing are pairing for another beer just in time for Valentine’s Day. The new brew, “Almost in Love,” is to be released Tuesday morning at the Primanti Bros. restaurant in Market Square. Diners will be able to crack open cans of the chocolate-cherry stout flavored...
Retailers try clothing rental, but will it be a good fit?
Renting clothes could be the future of fashion — or it could just be a fad. But traditional retailers can no longer afford to wait on the sidelines to find out. That’s why a growing number are now offering customers the option to rent clothes for a monthly fee instead...
Ligonier’s popular ‘Soup’s On’ is savory, sipping, shopping fun
Editor’s note: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce is rescheduling its Soup’s On! event for April 18. Ticket holders who cannot attend on April 18 can contact the chamber office at 724-238-4200. One pleasure among winter’s chill is the enjoyment of comfort foods, perhaps chief...
Out & About: Love was in the air at Action for Animals event
Love was in the air at the 14th annual Love Is in the Air — Celebrating the Human-Animal Bond event hosted by Action for Animals Humane Society. About 125 guests gathered Feb. 8 at Rizzo’s Banquet Hall in Crabtree to show their love for animals served through the organization. In...
How couples can decorate together
Sharing a home with someone you love can be wonderful. But decorating together isn’t always easy, especially when your tastes aren’t the same. Interior designer Penny Drue Baird draws as much on her doctorate in psychology as on her design training when she works with couples decorating a home. “I’m...
Out & About: Library board members show their artistic talents
You can visit the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library to borrow books, movies and music; read magazines; use computers; or take in one of their many programs. While there, you also can view the work of local artists in regular “Picture This at the Library” exhibitions, a joint venture of the...
Get your Goth on for Valentine’s Day in KittanningVideo
Valentine’s Day is going Gothic with a vampire-themed ball in Kittanning on Feb. 15. Hosted by Radioactive Events Center, the family-friendly, all-ages ball aims to be an alternative to the traditional chocolates/flowers/dinner Valentine’s trappings. Event creator and Radioactive President Mark Gibson, a North Vandergrift native with a musical background, says...
Out & About: ‘Candyland’ artworks touch on international politics
Just as a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, a candy coating can sweeten a serious message. Artist Sheila Cuellar-Shaffer calls her work on display at the Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood campus “Candyland: The Land of Hope.” The bright pinks, lilacs and blues of the paintings are...
Out & About: Seton Hill art show ponders the weight of nostalgia
A young curator and 11 young artists have explored the bittersweet theme of nostalgia in “Joy Takes Time,” an exhibition on display through March 10 in Seton Hill University’s Harlan Gallery. During a Feb. 6 opening reception in the downtown Greensburg art center, curator Emma Vescio of Pittsburgh said the...
