While home decor trends are leaning more heavily toward hardwood floors over carpeting at the moment, the right kind of carpet and where you put it can make your home more attractive to potential buyers. “I remember when I was selling real estate in the ’80s and carpeting was the rage,” says Denise Supplee, a realtor in Pennsylvania and co-founder of real estate investing platform SparkRental. “However, it seems that many of my clients prefer tile, hardwood, and laminate flooring over carpeting,” says Supplee....

For a few years now, readers have been living in something of a golden age for psychological thrillers, mysteries, crime novels, and other suspenseful reads, thanks in large part to hugely successful novels—and their film and TV adaptations—like Gone Girl and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, both of which spawned a thousand copycats with “girl” in the title. The publishing world has largely moved on from “girl” books (hilariously, now we see a lot of “women” books), but what hasn’t changed is the sheer amount of surprising, shocking psychological thrillers and mysteries being published every season....

This year I’ve been trying to come up with fun and interactive Christmas party games that you can play both in person or virtual. So far I’ve shared some Christmas would you rather questions, a couple of Christmas bingo games (including Christmas music bingo!), and even a huge list of Christmas charades words for any age! But this game – this Christmas trivia game is one of my new games that I am the most excited about....

Try this: Remember to turn on the exhaust vent over your stove whenever you cook. Or if you don’t have one, increase the ventilation by opening a window. Try this: Limit your exposure by burning fewer candles and for a shorter length of time. If you want the cozy glow of candles (without the air pollution), try switching to flameless candles or even a string of fairy lights set in a bowl or glass jar....

Evaporated Milk Evaporated milk is unsweetened milk that has been preserved in cans. It was invented when refrigerators were a luxury and families had to find a way to preserve the calcium-loaded beverage for their children. Today it is a pantry staple for several sweet and savory recipes. To make evaporated milk, fresh milk is slowly simmered over low heat until approximately 60% of the (naturally occurring) water is removed. The milk becomes creamier and thicker once the water has, well, evaporated....

In a notice to customers on June 19, the New York-based brand acknowledged that it has “received customer reports of French Lentil and Leek Crumbles causing gastrointestinal issues.” According to multiple Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram users, there have been reported experiences of nausea, vomiting, and liver damage after consuming the lentil dish. One Reddit user noted that his wife was hospitalized for two days with liver damage, while others chimed in with very similar experiences, and multiple people had to have their gallbladders removed....

No microwave? No problem: Place the chocolate in a glass or stainless-steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water, and then stir until melted. Tartlets can be made up to 1 day ahead. Store, loosely covered, at room temperature.

Question: “Do you still need to use sunscreen before foundation if your foundation has some in it?” – @ajpickens10 Ah, foundations with SPF. I think we can all agree that sunscreen is a nonnegotiable—here’s your daily reminder to go apply—but with the genius addition of SPF-infused makeup, there are a lot of questions about how protected you actually are if you rely on SPF in foundation alone. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a very lazy person, so any multitasking beauty product is a major plus in my book....

I’m going to just come out and say it, I don’t like eggnog. But I love this eggnog pound cake. The eggnog flavor comes through in the cake and in the icing but it’s not the same as drinking straight eggnog. It’s just a little sweet and delicious. Don’t let the holiday season pass you by without trying this recipe for eggnog pound cake. It’s a rich cake with a hint of spice that will make your house smell amazing as it bakes....

We’re a big fan of Mexican food at our house. I’ve already shared most of our Mexican night recipes – homemade taco meat, chicken tacos, the best basmati rice, white chicken enchiladas, and just recently the caramelized corn we use in this layered taco dip! My husband has been making this easy guacamole for years – literally years. it’s in a recipe book that he created in the first years of our marriage, so probably about 15 years ago....

I’m a total side dish person, like if I could, I would just order a side dish platter at restaurants. Smashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, and roasted root vegetables sounds like my perfect meal. Okay, maybe it would need a side of this sweet honey cornbread, but then it’d be perfect. These honey roasted carrots are one of my new favorite side dishes and after eating them last week with some ham and mashed potatoes, they just got added to our holiday menu!...

With that in mind, we compiled a dozen delicious side dishes that require no cooking at all. Not only will these dishes give your oven and stove a much-needed break, but since you won’t be firing up any of your go-to kitchen appliances, all these sides take less than 25 minutes to make. And while you may see the word “salad” in these dishes quite frequently, rest assured that we’re not giving you 12 recipes for a plate of leaves....

I’ve slept on The Citizenry’s Stonewashed Linen Bed Sheets nearly every night since I received them from the brand a month ago, and I can confidently say they’re like sleeping on a pillowy cloud. Made from 100 percent French flax linen, the sheets are naturally temperature-regulating and moisture-wicking to prevent sweating even on the hottest nights. They even kept me comfortable when my air conditioning went out in 97-degree weather....

When I moved into a dorm in 2016, that’s exactly what I found. By the end of the school year, the most-used device in my room wasn’t a coffee maker or even a microwave. Instead, I found an unlikely hero in my roommate’s simple electric kettle. It kept us both hydrated, caffeinated, and cozy without fail, all while taking up minimal space and costing less than $20. When my roommate first told me she brought a kettle to our dorm, I assumed I’d never use it....

“We had the busiest year we’ve ever had in 2020, because of the pandemic,” says Lori Anne Douglass, cofounder of trust and estates law firm Douglass-Rademacher LLP. “Suddenly, people were just dying out of nowhere, of all ages.” Douglass said 2020 was a wake-up call for many to start the estate planning process. “The basic estate plan includes not only documents for when you die, but documents for if you become disabled; your medical and financial directives....