THE SAVVY SHOPPER

Dr. Silkman's: The Smallest Retailer In Manhattan

2026-10-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

Since 2003, Dr. Silkman's has manufactured and sold its soap, body lotions, and beard oils, all made using local, clean ingredients at the Bryant Park and Union Square Holiday markets, as well as on its own website. Finally, the botanical beauty retailer opened its first brick-and-mortar shop in 2024 in a tiny 50-square-foot SoHo space that was originally an alley, turned tobacco shop, turned pizza shop. It has gotten press as the tiniest store in New York City.

In Manhattan, residential and commercial rents are not cheap, so opening the store is a big achievement! It’s so quirky, cute, and full of the spirit of New York; Manhattanites and tourists alike should visit SoHo just to set foot inside this tiny shop to support this local, industrious, small business.

I wondered what the reason for the creation of beard oil + care was until I saw that founder Zack Alper sports a beard. He also pioneered the brand’s signature Body Lotion Candle in 2003. The shopkeepers encourage customers to sample its Body Lotion Candle while inside the store. Heat at body temperature melts the wax so it won’t burn your finger.

Dr. Silkman’s small-batch soap (large 5 oz bars), lip balm, bath, and body care are 100% homemade and relatively affordable. Its premium soap comes packaged in an exfoliating muslin wrap that doubles as a washcloth. The soap is made with organic olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, or avocado oil bases. Its beard and shave care products contain argan oil. The Body Lotion Candles are made with nourishing shea butter, avocado oil, and beeswax.

The packaging was inspired by an old photo the merchant found of his grandfather. THE SAVVY SHOPPER senses that the beauty products are made from the heart, and customers get quality ingredients plus a little extra for their money. The store is located at 401 West Broadway. Come on down!

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About CleverMade’s Haulkin-Like Tote

2026-10-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

CleverMade

Can’t fit a metal cart into your space? In 2023, I reviewed the $110 rolling Hulken Sack. Three years later, I'm seeing more and more of them on Manhattan streets hauling groceries. They’re popular with New York shoppers who live in small apartments.

But now for $32 (or less at Walmart), customers can buy a comparable tote made by CleverMade that is well worth the savings! It’s a fraction bigger than the medium-sized Hulken and is available in shiny silver, yellow gold, rose gold, and black. Initially, I preferred the silver, then switched to the shiny black because I think it will show less dirt and wear.

	CleverMade	Hulken (medium)
Open dimensions	18”L x 14”W x 24”H	16”L x 12”W x 22"H
Folded height	5"	4 "
Bag weight	4.1 lbs	3 lbs
Weight capacity	75 lbs	66 lbs

Customers who have both bags split hairs over the differences in size but mention liking the CleverMade caddy's snap-collapsible poles, giving it more structure to stay open and making it easier to load than the Haulken bag. CleverMade is designed with an extra exterior compartment also. Both have a zipper-closed top, 3 handles, and wheels made of steel, but surprisingly to some users of both, the CleverMade rolls smoother on concrete and uphill compared to the Hulken.

There’s no way of knowing without testing both which brand is the most durable, but at less than 1/3 of Hulken’s price, you could buy the rolling CleverMade Tote 3 times and still break even. I think it's quite telling that owners of both brands don’t have an outright preference for the Haulken, yet seem to be

neutral.

So what would I do? The Haulken folds down to 4 inches compared to the slightly bigger CleverMade Sack’s 5 inches. If the 1" difference in height is irrelevant because a buyer has the storage space, I’d buy the $32-or-less CleverMade. Only if I needed Hulken’s additional compactness would I very reluctantly consider paying 3 times more! It’s one of the times when customers can save by selecting good enough over the higher-priced tote, an option they didn’t have 3 years ago.

Savvy Shoppers always compare to know whether to save or splurge! When quality matters: splurge. When nearly the same: save.

Extra tip:

A neighbor gave me a rolling tote exactly like the Temu one below that is made of substantial nylon and is even more compact than both the Haulken and the CleverMade rolling totes. Although CleverMade is still my 1st choice, I’d recommend the Temu rolling tote if you need greater compactness due to a chronic lack of city storage. It doesn’t have the structure of the CleverMade (or Haulken), but it is sufficiently well-made and relatively large when unfolded, at a far lower price. Strong enough for wheeling groceries on concrete, and due to its unstructured nylon fabric, it folds down to stow away in the most challenging of tiny spaces. As you can see below, you can expand it to 3 different capacities. If using it for travel, it has a flap to slide over the handle of a rolling suitcase. The wheels of the Temu bag are also detachable. They slide off so you can clean them in soapy water sometimes.

All 3 brands of rolling totes look stylish LIVE in front of your face! My neighbor gave me the Temu tote in a bluish-grey color that is more grey than blue. For the price she paid, I love it!

Temu rolling totes here

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Harper & Wells Boston For Simple Elegant Style

2026-10-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Harper & Wells of Boston offers great style and quality at a great price. The pieces are well-made and durable. With clean lines, soft fabrics, and thoughtful details, they’re comfortable, elegant, and versatile, so you’ll reach for them again and again. The brand defines quiet luxury, with nothing designed in excess.

The clothes, shoes, and accessories are made for both men and women, and the prices start at a good value for the money, even before the retailer offers seasonal reductions of up to 80%, a combination always near and dear to THE SAVVY SHOPPER’S heart! This constitutes a great find!

Wow, don't these casual smart pieces look ultra upscale? Let’s describe them as preppy marries pizzazz and has an offspring they name polished! What I love is the cozy yet never sloppy vibe of every Harper & Wells piece.

So let’s feature more of these timeless pieces, shall we? I bet readers can’t pick out one they dislike!

IMHO, customers could wear these effortless and refined clothes whether they are a college student or a senior citizen because the style is so classic ... i.e., timeless, fitted, with flattering details at prices that won’t break the bank!

Did you know of Harper & Wells of Boston before reading about it here?

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Bistex Launches New Intense Lip Moisturizers With Color

2026-10-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Blixtex is no longer just a pot of petroleum jelly. Its lip moisture line now includes lip color and lip liner, 2 worthy additions. They contain ceramides to repair the skin barrier and vitamin E to smooth dry lips -- the claim is for 24 hours of all-day moisture. Although I think Blistex makes superior lip moisturizing products, I've never used any brand that moisturizes lips (or skin) for 24 hours without reapplying it throughout the day. I suspect the same is true here. But ceramides do the most to moisturize the skin and last longer than other ingredients.

Products less moisturizing than Bistex include ChapStick and Burt’s Bees, which can be stiff and waxy instead of treating and melting into your dry lips. Maybelline’s Baby Lips melts into your lips without really treating or smoothing the dryness, and its degrees of pink hues bleed. That said, I'd use these 3 lip moisturizers over using nothing at all in winter.

Another excellent product to treat winter dry lips is a tried-and-true jar of petroleum jelly. It's super cheap and lasts forever. I wouldn’t spend the money on the minuscule jars of Vaseline colored petroleum jelly. The tiny pots cost more per oz than a 13 oz size that will last for years, and I’d rather carry a cylinder lip balm in a purse than a tiny jar of Vaseline. To boot, the pink color has no staying power.

The Blixtex lip colors let you moisturize your lips without having to apply lipstick under petroleum jelly, which smears. So if you must look polished on the job, Blixtex’s lip color moisturizers might be the answer to add a little lip definition as you moisturize your lips.

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Ceiling Light and Fan

2026-10-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

In my Manhattan apartment, there is a convenience I lack that I wish the builder had installed. I don’t have a ceiling light fixture in the center of my living room. The reason is unknown. Was the builder trying to lower expenses? Or was it thought unnecessary in apartments constructed in the 1970s with lower ceilings? Who knows in 2026. I lean towards saving costs.

To light my living room, I have 3 floor lamps, but I still wish I could turn on the overhead light right smack in the middle of my living room from my missing phantom ceiling light fixture! It also means I can’t benefit from installing a ceiling fan in the center of my living room, which I’d love to do to reduce the need of using my air conditioner. Outside of July and August when humdity can be oppressive, I like the feel of a fan’s gentle cool breeze over the artificial coldness of an air conditioner.

My ideal ceiling fan is a modern low-profile bladeless fan like the ceiling fan from Humold. That said, builders and electricians say older blade ceiling fans work better than the newer bladeless ones, which should be verified if you cool a big space.

Made flimsy now

To compensate, I have 3 floor lamps and 4 fans. Two of my 4 fans look like space helmets and are bladeless. I reviewed them in a prior blog which I’ll link below. My 3rd fan is a tower fan, and the 4th is a floor box fan I nearly gave away until I discovered its usefulness in finishing drying garments that come out of the dryer damp. Plus, it blows air into the kitchen when I turn on the oven in August. So it stays. I suggest you buy box fans in black as dust and dirt is visible. Hard to clean without a private backyard and garden hose.

Hmm, this poses the question: Do ceiling fans need cleaning? Yes! Even though newer models feature sleek aerodynamics, DC motors, and sealed components, dust, pollen, pet dander, and household grease still accumulate on the blades and motor housing, and so need cleaning every 2 - 3 months. Oh!

Nonetheless, I continue to pine for a ceiling fan.

Comment if you use ceiling fans, or if you have found alternatives to installing one.

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Classic vs Healthy Thumbprint Jam Cookies

2026-10-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

I’m thinking about making Thumbprint Jam Cookies for Christmas this year, a cookie we never made in my family. After a test run of making Healthy Jam Thumbprint Cookies this evening, I plan to go with the Classic Thumbprint Jam Cookie recipe. The healthy recipe is tasty enough to eat (I ate 6 cookies for dinner), but its texture isn’t exactly right to satisfy my (and likely your) cookie craving. It’s like eating a protein bar instead of a candy bar, which doesn’t quite cut it! I’ll give you both recipes, and you can try each one to see if you agree with me.

Healthy Thumbprint Jam Cookies

1 1/2 cups oatmeal, ground into a fine powder

1/2 cup almonds, ground into a powder

3 tbs applesauce

1 large ripe banana, mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

a squirt of honey (about a tablespoon)

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1/4 cup low-sugar fruit jam (like raspberry or strawberry)

Directions:

1) With a fork, incorporate the 1st 7 ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

2) I used the all-purpose flour to make the cookie dough less sticky and easier to handle by sprinkling it on the dough and my hands as I formed 1 tablespoon of the dough into balls.

3) Flatten the balls of dough and place them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, then press an indentation (a well) into the dough with your thumb.

4) Fill each well with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

5) Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Let cool before eating.

These aren’t terrible cookies to eat, but they aren’t the best in texture. The banana makes them sweet enough, but a lack of butter leaves the texture wanting, except perhaps for an unwavering Health Nut. A Health Nut who buys those very dense $7 chewy protein bars. They do not taste like candy bars, readers. Some folks have forgotten how great candy bars taste! Gee, I digress.

Classic Thumbprint Jam Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup strawberry or raspberry preserves

Directions:

1) With a fork, incorporate the first 6 ingredients. I’ll save 1/4 cup of the all-purpose flour to sprinkle on the dough and my hands while forming the balls of cookies. If necessary, refrigerate the dough to make it easier to handle.

2) After forming the balls (about a tablespoon of dough each), flatten and place them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Use your thumb to form a well into each cookie.

3) Fill the wells with about 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.

4) Bake at 350 degrees F for 11 - 15 minutes. Cool before eating.

A classic Thumbprint Cookie is a shortbread cookie with a well filled with jam. The most satisfying shortbread cookies are soft to bite into, yet crunchy. I plan to get wild and crazy by rolling them in vanilla sugar before baking for a sweet and rich vanilla flavor.

Visions of sugar, butter, and vanilla dancing in our heads and on our tongues sound like the perfect Christmas cookie, don’t you agree?

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Tip: Saving Champagne or Lambrusco

2026-10-01T10:15:04.274-04:00

There are times I would enjoy a glass of champagne or wine if only I had a friend over to make opening a bottle worth it, or when I do have a friend over to share the Champagne or wine with -- as non-guzzlers of alcohol -- we enjoy our glass of wine yet don’t finish the bottle. Half a bottle of Champagne or Lambrusco goes flat soon after opening the bottle ... like the next day.

But wait, in addition to making sangria with leftover wine, there’s an easy, inexpensive solution! It also lets you skip spending $300 for a wine perserver, a devise that pierces only the cork to stop oxidation from spoiling leftover wine.

I figured out how to keep sparkling (or regular) wine just as fresh or bubbly as the day you open it.

Here’s how:

1) Buy a champagne stopper. Walmart sells them for $3.50. In 2018, I got the Champagne Stopper by MiTBA on Amazon. If it's out of stock, enter the stopper name in a Google search box to see where else to buy them.

2) Save an empty Champagne or Lambrusco bottle to pour leftover and/or regular wine into. This is necessary because regular (non-carbonated) wine bottles do not work with the stoppers. The mouth of a regular wine bottle will not catch.

The MiTBA Champagne Stopper (the brand I use) is a leak-proof bottle sealer featuring a built-in pressure pump designed to keep sparkling wine, prosecco, and champagne carbonated for days. Other stopper brands that look similar to it will likely work as well. Decide if you wish to take the risk.

I have enjoyed leftover Champagne, Lambrusco, and non-carbonated wines 2 -3 weeks after opening a bottle. So now I’m not reluctant to open a bottle to drink a single glass of wine with a cheese platter or a nice dinner. Because you know what? It appears I’ll never be a heavy drinker. When having a glass of wine, I like its taste, but I don’t desire it any more (meaning quantity or frequency) than I desire other treats, like a piece of chocolate, an apple, or a slice of cake. The Champagne Stopper is ideal for cheap dates just like me!

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5 Functional Mini Umbrellas

2026-09-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

Totes Auto Open/Close Minis

When rain falls in the summer, it could be sunny and dry an hour later. Not so in the autumn and winter, when rain frequently means a damp and gloomy day or a wicked, stormy weekend.

Although often requiring compromise, I no longer carry big, bulky umbrellas to tackle rainy days. Surely I’m not alone in preferring mini umbrellas that are super light and fit into a purse or jacket pocket. Here's a roundup of 5 mini umbrellas customers like. The criteria: The umbrella should fit into a handbag or pocket, be easy to open and close, open wide enough to keep us dry, reasonably withstand the wind, and have a long enough shaft to hold comfortably:

1) Mini Totes - The best experience I’ve had with mini umbrellas is with Totes. Of course, there are some compromises compared to using a full-sized heavy umbrella; namely, a strong wind can blow it up, but you can quickly snap it right back into place, and it is stronger than other brands I’ve tried, including Eagle Creek and Leighton. The shaft is a comfortable length. You don’t want the umbrella sitting on your head!😳 Priced at $20, Mini and Micro Mini Totes appear in the aisles at T.J. Maxx regularly, where you will pay $10, half price. I don’t like to pay more since umbrellas are easily lost despite efforts to be responsible. Although not a dealbreaker, I prefer manual to auto open/close mini umbrellas. It takes no strength to manually open a mini umbrella, and they don’t break as often as automatics.

2) Sherry Travel Mini Umbrella for Purse With Case - Overall, positive reviews from customers. One of the smallest, weighing 4.5 oz, so perhaps worthy if you desire to keep an umbrella in your purse at all times for unexpected rain. It won’t weigh down an overnight bag either. The case makes it easier to keep it in a handbag, but it’s not an umbrella's strongest selling point; still nice as long as the case is a bonus.

3) Mustarpicking Mini Travel Umbrella with Case - A bestseller that has many positive reviews. A strong wind can flip it up, yet customers say the umbrella is surprisingly sturdy. As with this mini umbrella, many brands have SPF sun protection, another feature I wouldn’t pay extra to get, since it's not the reason we carry umbrellas. Their main function is to keep us dry.

4) Lilac Travel Mini Umbrella - The canopy opens to a generous-sized umbrella. The retractable handle is a bonus, making it easy to hold. Reported to hold up well in wind, customers say it’s of average quality, reasonably priced, and works well for everyday use. I’d reluctantly pay up to $11.97 for the cheapest color, but not more.

5) Davek Mini - This mini is one of Condé Nast Traveller’s top-rated, so I think it's fun to compare it. It’s compact and, ohhh, so sleek! But at $65, a regular wage earner would cry if s/he lost it! Umbrellas are just so easy to leave behind, and that’s not all! Once, I went to a house party. The hosts put our extras (my cloth tote bag holding a scarf and mini umbrella) in their coat closet. When I left to go home, the party givers searched and searched but couldn’t find my items! There was either a black hole in their closet or another guest took my belongings home! I got wet getting on the bus and never got my things returned. If you inadvertently take somebody’s stuff home, you should call the hosts to tell them! I was fond of my black mini tote umbrella with colored polka-dots that I managed not to lose, and at least I only paid $10 for it at T.J. Maxx. A mystery never to be solved!

Umbrellas should keep us dry. They are an item that needs to be functional, not expensive, which is why Totes are my #1 choice.

What brands of umbrellas do you like and where do you turn to buy them?

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Good Frozen Pizza

2026-09-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

Friends say I make a good pizza pie from scratch, and I've shared how I make it here. But life isn’t limited to either/or actualities, and we don’t have to spend all our time in the kitchen.

Good frozen pizza exists! Today I’ll share what I like and pay for it. I’m a fan of DiGiorno Rising Crust pizza, which I buy when it goes on sale for $6.00 and sometimes $5.50. It comes close enough to good homemade or pizza parlor slices to be worth eating. In fact, it's superior to what’s sold by many of the newer Manhattan pizza parlors that are opening and skimping on ingredients or making cardboard dry crusts. There’s nothing more disappointing than eating bad pizza in a city historically known for its great pizza! How can it be? Why open up a pizza parlor when merchants could do something else they could take pride in?!

At home, I buy the DiGiorno Rising Crust Everything variety, and if out of stock, I’ll get the Pepperoni Supreme alternative, then finish it off by adding diced bell peppers, onions, and sliced mushrooms. On a frozen pizza, I always sprinkle parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes before baking it. Perhaps it's the key to making frozen pizza taste better and even delicious.

I’ll pay up to $6.00 for a frozen pie. If it's priced higher, I’d rather go out and bring home a hot pie from a good pizza parlor, if one can be found. Frankly, it took a few bad pizza parlor pies to get me to try making my own and DiGiorno frozen pizza pies!

You may wonder why great pizza in Manhattan is harder to locate. Once upon a time, real Italians opened pizza parlors, but nowadays it could be people of any nationality. Or it could be because some of the new pizza parlors are not mom-and-pop businesses but are owned by private equity firms, public shareholders, or institutional investors. There’s less love of the product!

On a brighter note, if you look for it, there’s still great pizza in all 5 boroughs of New York City, including Manhattan, but no longer will you find a great slice on every block. Alas, reason enough for me to have a box of DiGiorno Rising Crust pizza in my freezer and, when I have 24 hours to let the dough rise, to make it myself.

What’s your favorite frozen pizza?

🥢🍱🍥🍣🍚🥢🍱🍥🍣🍚🥢🍱🍥🍣🍚🥢🍱🍥🍣🍚🥢🍱🍥

Blog Extra: Other food I buy when it is on sale:

1) Sushi - Fairway offers 10 pieces of inside/out sushi rolls for $5.99 on Wednesdays. I get nori with tuna and salmon = 20 pieces. So one day a week I don’t have to think about what to cook or scrounge up for dinner.

2) Coleslaw - $1.99 for a 16 oz. bag.

3) Mushrooms - Either 2 for $4, 3 for $5, or $2.29 each for 8 oz, depending on the sale. I select the mushrooms that are sliced for me.

4) Baby carrots - $1.69 - $1.99 for a 16 oz bag. Note: Baby carrots do not exist, but what a treat that someone else has cleaned, scraped, and cut them into bite-size pieces. Ready to eat!

5) Light mayonnaise - $4.25 - $5.00 for a 30 oz jar. The price of mayonnaise is sky-high, like the price of gasoline nowadays. Who knew we’d pay $5 for a jar on sale!

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Khaite’s Luxury Leather Ensembles

2026-09-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Selena Gomez rocking her $5,700 Khaite outfit

Khaite, the New York luxury designer of leather mix-and-match separates, was founded by designer Catherine Holstein. The label combines buttery smooth leather, sharp tailoring, and structured styling. IMHO, the look is especially striking when pairing leather jackets with skirts. Let’s do a quick and dirty Khaite leather outerwear with skirts roundup to illustrate:

Of course, the leather jackets would also look fantastic paired with leather trousers, and for versatility, they also work well with fabric skirts or fabric trousers.

One of my favorite couplets is a Khaite leather jacket styled with a frilly, ruffled (silk?) skirt such as the right image👆, for a leather and softer effect. I think the leather jacket and skirt combo is what makes Khaite stand out from other designers.

Not many of us buy $6,000 (including tax) ensembles, but runway inspiration can be applied off the runway to budget-friendlier brands. Leather is the perfect warmth when summer turns into autumn.

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3 Mustard Chicken For Dinner With Mendel Bread For Dessert

2026-09-18T10:27:27.916-04:00

Photo: Butter Your Biscuit: Click the photos for each blog’s recipe.

I was served a delicious 3 Mustard Chicken dinner by a friend, which I’m too lazy to make without a few tweaks. I don’t aim to buy 3 different mustards for one chicken dish to complicate its preparation! First, I’ll list the original ingredients, my friend’s recipe:

3 Mustard Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tbsp hot-honey mustard
1 to 2 tbsp honey (adjust to taste)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Next: The 3 Mustard Chicken Dinner with Debra’s tweaks:

Photo: Sandra Valvassori

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 tbsp of any mustard - I have Dijon and yellow mustard. (Sometimes I buy spicy brown or whole grain, but didn’t for this.)
1 tbsp honey

1 cup water (I like sauce!)
1 large chicken bouillon

2 minced garlic cloves

1 medium onion, sliced

1 teaspoon of either dried rosemary or thyme (Both are tasty on chicken and look pretty. I used rosemary.)

1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to sprinkle on the raw chicken breasts

A pad of butter to grease the pan

A sprinkle of dried parsley after it was plated

Directions:

1) Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.

2) Whisk together the mustard, water, chicken bouillon, honey, garlic, and spices in a bowl into a smooth sauce.

3) Butter a baking dish. Lay onion slices on the baking sheet, and arrange the chicken breasts on top. Alternately you can cook it in a 12” chef’s skillet on a stovetop, covered with a lid.

4) Pour the mustard-honey sauce over the chicken breasts, fully coating each piece.

5) Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken breasts are white and tender. Alternately, simmer at midium-low on top of your stove until the chicken is fully cooked.

Photo: The CookieRookie

Let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Slice the chicken breasts and pour a good amount of sauce over them. Serve with potatoes and vegetables of your choice.

While hot-honey mustard is delicious and I love it, I don’t think you need to buy it for a chicken dish when you use mustard, honey, and red pepper flakes as ingredients. As noted, this dish can also be cooked in a 12” skillet on a stovetop. Steel or cast-iron skillets heat up hot and cook evenly, grilling to perfection. Drizzled in honey-mustard sauce, I bought 3 very large chicken breasts and sliced them to serve on a platter. The chicken breasts get so tender, and the sauce tastes amazing! This may the way I make chicken from now on. The dish works equally well with chicken thighs for dark meat lovers.

Mine on the stovetop

I have no idea who created this scrumptious recipe, as it's floating around the internet on all forms of social media. The finished mustard chicken from the 3 cooks I’m featuring on my blog looks amazing! Click the identifying photos to go to their blogs to compare their recipes. Making this recipe our own leads down the same road to deliciousness!

🌆🏢🥯🏙🗽🏛🌆🏢🥯🏙🗽🏛🌆🏢🥯🏙🗽🏛🌆🏢🥯🏙🗽

What a fabulous melting pot New York City is! Inspired by my Jewish friends and neighbors who’ll celebrate Yom Kippur soon, here is a simple dessert for tea(s), or when you make this mustard chicken dinner for friends. It can be made days ahead of the dinner:

Mandel Bread is a traditional Jewish biscotti-type cookie. It is short for mandelbrot, which means almond bread. Dry, not overly sweet, like Scottish shortbread, but a different tasting cookie.

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

From Sparks Kitchen

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon - Traditionally, the finished rectangular cookies are rolled in cinnamon sugar, but I toss the cinnamon into the batter.)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

2 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup of nuts (any, chopped almonds or walnuts or pecans)

Directions:

1) Using a fork, mix the dry ingredients in one mixing bowl.

2) With a fork, mix the wet ingredients in a 2nd mixing bowl.

3) Incorporate the wet and dry ingredients. Fold in the nuts, and refrigerate for 2 hours. This prevents the dough from spreading out.

4) On a buttered baking sheet or long baking pan, shape and the dough into a long, flat, even log and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 - 30 minutes, until it is lightly browned.

5) Cool the finished cookies for 15 minutes (so they don’t fall apart), then cut into rectangles, squares, or diagonals. You do you! These cookies go back onto the baking sheet for a 2nd baking at 25o degrees F for another 20 minutes. Remove and cool. I do not roll them in cinnamon sugar because I don’t want them sweeter or the mess of sugar falling off the cookies, nor do I relish getting my fingers mucked up. Avoid messes and extra dishes to wash by not creating situations for the messes to occur!

Sparks Kitchen has ultra-fancy Mendel bread stacks that can be ordered for pickup, delivery, or shipping. Even easier, and there’s no shame in buying the cookies! We can do both at different times, right?😋

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3 Wellness Tools, 2 Will Stay in Their Boxes

2026-09-16T12:25:26.755-04:00

When a child, my parents bought a waffle iron. We made waffles one time, put our new gadget back in its box and stored it on a shelf where it may still be to this day. We never made waffles again because it was extra trouble over pancakes or French toast that only requires a frying pan. The frying pan was much easier to wash and dry.

IMHO, the same hesitation will happen with 2 of the 3 wellness gadgets, and I’d think twice before buying them. It has nothing at all to do with the quality or functions of the wellness tools and everything to do with the innate laziness of human beings in not wanting to bother with certain aspects of using them. All 3 are appealing wellness gadgets, but it doesn’t mean customers will continue to use them after the novelty of owning them wears off.

Let’s go from negative to positive. The 2 devices that, IMHO, consumers will stop reaching for are:

1) The Venom Go Heat and Vibration Massage Pad (top image👆) - The reason: It’s small and must be repositioned multiple times to get a comprehensive massage. It’s like a spot massager, and there are cheaper spot massagers already on the market, which humans will also stop using. Never underestimate our laziness! Better to get a heat/vibrator that is a full-body massager (for equal or less money because they’ve been on the market longer), that you place over a chair to massage your sore back and shoulders; or a foot/leg massager that you insert your feet into to massage your aching feet and legs at once. You don’t need to reposition either one to massage your entire body part.

2) Nanoleaf Lymphatic Body Sculpting Massager - The device uses massage and ultra red light to smooth skin and reduce puffiness, cellulite, tone the body, and improve skin texture. I have watched many YouTube demonstrations showing before and after the use of similar gadgets (some devices also treat fine lines), and the truth is, the difference is minimal. You must use them daily to get any results, and yet nobody ever looks much younger, less fatigued, or truly any better. It’s a lot of time and work -- that I’d need at least 10 years to be permanently removed from my skin -- in exchange for the motivation to use it daily! Wouldn't you? Reposition, reposition, reposition ... arghhh! Help, let me out of my bathroom or off my coach!!😱😱😱

IMHO, the gizmo consumers will faithfully use is the Autobrush Sonic Pro - Dentists tend to recommend using sonic toothbrushes to thoroughly clean your teeth without damaging your enamel. Usually, the job requires 2 minutes of time, positioning a standard sonic toothbrush in each quadrant of your mouth to go over your teeth for 30 seconds. The Autobrush Sonic Pro reduces those 2 minutes down to 30 seconds since it fits over our teeth to clean them all at once. It’s more than double the price of a standard 2-minute sonic toothbrush, but at $89.00 still affordable. Perhaps it’s worth paying the difference to get seniors or kids to thoroughly brush their teeth?

So that’s what I think. What do you think?

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My Temu Haul

2026-09-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

I ordered a few things from Temu, the Chinese bargain online retailer of household goods, personal care tools, and odds and ends that might be fun to share. A Temu haul is gratifying when you buy useful things you can’t easily find elsewhere without overspending. Where have all the Odd-Job-Odd-Lot Trading retailers gone? Although a legitimate business, it’s best to stick to inexpensive items, as returns are a hassle.

My senior mom is staying with me, and I ordered articles for her comfort and benefit:

1) Air Conditioner Air Deflector - 👆Top image. - Before she came, I didn’t need one, but she sleeps close to my Through-the-Wall AC, where it gets cold. In the daytime, the AC is 18 inches away, behind my click-clack couch, and the deflector will push the air up to the ceiling, where it will be more comfortable and disperse better throughout the room. I have a makeshift deflector that keeps falling to the floor. A $10 purchase should stop this annoyance!

2) Nail brushes - Although I started life in my mother’s womb, I’m against sharing certain personal care items with her, such as a toothbrush, hairbrush, nail clippers, nail brushes, and nail files. Sorry, Mom, but for sanitary reasons, I think each family member should have their own grooming tools, including mothers and daughters! The brushes are to clean her fingernails since I won’t share my nail brush with her! Yuck!💅

3) The cable protectors are dirt cheap and useful. Computer charging cables often wear out and expose wires, so they won’t go to waste.

4) Toothpaste Manual Dispenser - I ordered this so we stop doing battle with our toothpaste tube. After we roll down the tube, we can’t get it to hold. It unwinds itself after we leave the bathroom! I hope this makes it easier to dispense the toothpaste after it is half or 3/4 empty. With 8 pieces under $2, we’ll have one for every bathroom and then some, won’t we?!

5) Persimmon Soap - This soap is to prevent seniors from smelling like old people. In fairness, my mother doesn’t have an odor -- bad, murky, musky, or otherwise -- still, I want to try the soap on her skin since she is old, out of curiosity! Perhaps she’ll smell even better. If we like it, we’ll keep buying it.

6) Leather Ultra Thin Card Holder - The genuine leather is thin, but it holds 6 cards and has a center pocket, convenient for her insurance and ID cards when I take her to the doctor. Costing under $3 bucks, she’ll get the value for what we paid for it.

7) Multi-Layer Movable Slim Gap Storage Cabinet Drawer Organizer - I’m a sucker for space-saving narrow organizers, and I’m taking a risk by ordering the 3-drawer version. Perfect for all my mom’s personal care items, including the ones I just ordered for her. Frankly, I prefer the 5-drawer option, but must settle for the lower height of 3 drawers to ensure it fits under the bathroom sink or beside it. By ordering the cabinet, I broke 2 of my cardinal rules: (a) ordering an item from Temu that is more than a few dollars (the cabinet was $21.99), and (b) paying for shipping ($2.99)! 😳😳😳 Why did I do it? The organizer is narrow, has wheels, and is made of durable plastic that withstands the dampness of a bathroom. Easy to clean, too. However, it’s a $25 loss if it doesn't fit in the intended space, so my fingers are crossed!𝑋𝑋𝑋

A peek at the stash behind my couch,
hidden if you’re in front of the couch.

Caution: Orders of a few dollars each add up, so even at Temu's bargain prices, Savvy Shoppers should shop mindfully, constantly asking whether or not we really need it, regardless of how cheap and appealing it is. We never want to clutter up our homes with cheap, useless junk! If it serves no purpose, it morphs into junk!!

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Hexagona Paris Bags At Fair Prices

2026-09-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hexagona Paris is a French leather goods company celebrated for blending traditional Parisian style with everyday functionality. The brand creates affordable luxury, aiming to “democratize" high-quality leather goods without compromising on aesthetics or craftsmanship, making the label’s bags a great find!

The brand began as a family-run leather goods enterprise in the 1980s, then in 1986 launched the House of Hexagona in the heart of Paris’ fashion district. Its mission is to deliver beautifully designed and crafted bags that are utilitarian at fair market prices. With a classic and minimalist aesthetic, the bags are made of full-grain and vegetable-tanned cowhide leather, incorporating high-quality zips and shiny gunmetal or gold embellishments. Several water-resistant synthetic and nylon bags are also offered for the retailer's vegan-only customers.

The merchant caters to both men and women with a full array of top-handles, shoulder bags, crossbody styles, backpacks, and small leather goods. Each leather bag comes in up to 8 colors. Impressive!

Its nylon bags can be hand-washed with soap and water. Canvas and faux leather should be spot-cleaned.

I’ve posted a few of my favorites, and it was hard to stop at 11! The website has many more appealing styles.

The days of overpriced and overhyped designer bags may be numbered. Moreover, isn’t it time to stop supporting retailers who fail to love you back? At Heagona Paris, customers don’t pay a premium for premium French leather goods.

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Understanding Fine Jewelry Prices

2026-09-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Standard retail fine jewelry stores apply 200% - 300% markups on real gold, platinum, or sterling silver jewelry to cover their overhead costs, like space leases, sales commissions, and marketing.

Kuvera Jewelers

In contrast, weight-based jewelers price their jewelry on the literal gram or pennyweight (dwt) of the precious metal plus a transparent labor fee, rather than a fixed retail sticker price. This practice is deeply rooted in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Asian bullion jewelry cultures, where gold is both (1) a wearable asset and (2) a direct measure of value.

Unlike Western luxury or fashion brands that charge a"brand tax,” of 300% plus, traditional weight-based pricing follows a transparent formula that is spelled out for consumers:

Net Weight in Grams of Metal x Real-time Market Price + Labor.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC or D2C) is a business model in which a brand sells its products directly to the buyer, bypassing third-party wholesalers, distributors, or traditional retailers. Magnolia on the right →

A growing tier of direct-to consumer (DTC) brands and traditional weight-based jewelers bypass the middleman to keep markups to a minimum, ensuring a customer's money goes toward the price of the metal and real craftsmanship rather than for a luxury name.

6 Notable Weight-Based Jewelry Retailers include:

Bijouterie Minted

1) Menè - The retailer is famous for its “radically transparent pricing.” It sells 24k gold and platinum by carat weight. "Every product page has a live calculator showing the exact breakdown of the daily precious metal value + the cost of design or labor."

2) Bijouterie Minted: Based in Montréal, Bijouterie Minted scales solid 14k–22k gold jewelry purely by weight tied to its live market rates. The shop ships a complimentary digital scale with a customer's order so we can verify the weight at home.

3) Magnolia Jewelers: Focuses entirely on pure metals and avoids gemstones. Pieces are "priced by weight with a clear and transparent manufacturing premium.”

4) Kuvera Jewelry: Offers solid 24K gold rings, bands, and chains with pricing directly tied to the metal mass.

Quince

5) Quince Fine Jewelry: Known for offering high-quality, ethically sourced and recycled 14k gold and lab-grown diamond jewelry at transparent factory-direct prices (in addition to its gold-plated stock, so pay close attention to which one you’re ordering).

Mejui

6) Mejui is another DTC fine jewelry brand that focuses on sustainable, accessible luxury using recycled 14k gold and sterling silver with ethically sourced natural and lab-grown gemstones at fair markups. Again, avoid ordering from its gold-plated silver line a/k/a gold vermeil, if seeking 14k gold fine jewelry.

The following section comes from various sources, gathered not from my personal experience, but by a Google search. I haven't bought jewelry on the Asian market but I know owning real gold jewelry is important to wealthy Asian families. By tradition, an Indian bride’s jewelry is part of her dowry. Investors and serious expert jewelry buyers might buy jewelry from Asian jewelers including these:

Consider the details below in quotation ...

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Indian Jewelers & Bullion

Indian jewelers focus heavily on 22-karat yellow gold, intricate temple designs, bridal sets, and gold as an investment.

Joyalukkas: A premier international brand with a strong presence in the US, offering a wide range of traditional 22K gold and diamond collections.

Aabhushan Jewelers: Known for carrying extensive Indian 22K gold jewelry, certified diamonds, and silver items.

Local Hubs: In the New York and Manhattan area, shoppers frequently look to Jackson Heights in Queens or specialized districts for authentic regional craftsmanship.

Middle Eastern Jewelers & Bullion

Middle Eastern jewelry traditions emphasize rich 21K and 24K gold, heavy solid gold cuffs, custom nameplates, and bullion coins.

Yasini Jewelers: Specializes in high-karat gold including 18K, 21K, 22K, and 24K jewelry, bullion, and custom Arabic nameplates.

Taj Gold & Diamond Jewelers: Focuses on authentic 21K and 22K gold jewelry imported from Dubai, featuring traditional and modern Middle Eastern and South Asian styles.

Baladna Jewelers: Offers 18K to 24K gold pieces alongside domestic and international gold bullion and custom 3D designs.

Asian & East Asian Jewelers

East Asian and broader Asian markets emphasize high-purity 24K (999.9) gold pieces, jade, and intricate cultural motifs.

Chinatown Districts: Local storefronts in Manhattan and Queens feature specialized Chinese and East Asian jewelers dealing in 24K solid gold pieces, bangles, and jade artifacts.

Queen of Hearts Jewelry

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Readers, I hope you have a better understanding of how fine jewelry is priced by jewelers, and this enlightenment helps you get good value for the money.

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6 Better Hot Dogs

2026-09-04T12:07:18.443-04:00

Frankly, my family doesn’t usually eat hot dogs for dinner. My practice is to buy a pack of hot dogs to toss into the freezer and add 2-3 sliced, pan-grilled links to beans or my quick vegetable meal. But a friend nudged me to eat a hot dog this past July 4th. She thought it was patriotic, so now I’m hooked on better hot dogs!

To my surprise, the price of hot dogs has risen a lot at the supermarket. No more messing around buying turkey or chicken hot dogs for the lower fat content, calories (about 80 per dog), or price for me! They too have gotten more expensive! From this day forward, I’m going for the better-tasting all-beef (accepting 130 calories; 160 is pushing it) per hot dog.

Since the cost of a package of 8 hot dogs at the supermarket is often well over $5, I headed straight to Fairway Market and bought the very best ~ Black Bear Natural Casing Beef Franks ~ a 40 oz package for $16.72; that’s 16 slightly bigger hot dogs in a package. I tossed 15 hot dogs in my freezer for later meals, eating one hot dog right away (of course with mustard and sauerkraut).

The natural casings have a snap I had all but forgotten about that the turkey and chicken hot dogs lack!

Still, I’m no foodie, so when I must buy hot dogs at the supermarket for convenience, the following brands are 100% beef with a well-balanced smoky and spicy profile: Nathan’s Famous Coney Island or Nathan’s Angus Beef, Boar’s Head Beef Frankfurters, and Sabrett’s Skinless Beef Frankfurters.

Reportedly, Costco’s Kirkland Signature Beef Hot Dogs are quite good too, although personally I’ve never eaten one. I do trust what customers say enough to include it here, and one day I have to try one as a tagalong with a Costco shopper.

Nowadays, hot dogs cost almost as much as other meats, so you might as well go for the best! No point in skimping on calories, fat content, or cost! When you decide to eat one, THE SAVVY SHOPPER recommends going all in.🙂

🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭

Dietitians rate Applegate Organics’ Uncured Beef Hot Dogs as the healthiest option on the market - another brand I’ve never tried. It’s relatively low in sodium, fat, and calories per link, but its still a hot dog ~ processed meat!

Feel free to tell us about your favorite hot dogs.

Making German Sauerkraut

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Making German Sauerkraut

2026-09-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

These containers are great for stacking in a refrigerator.

Sauerkraut and mustard are delicious on a beef hot dog. I overruled a bossy friend who insisted I put Sabrett’s sweet-ketchup-onion topping on my hot dog. To each his own, but no, no, no, no, no, not on mine!

At home, I prefer canned sauerkraut to supermarket bagged refrigerated sauerkraut. The canned is blanched, so less raw in texture and less sour. I like the sour toned down a notch so it complements and doesn’t dominate the other paired food, like potato salad or pork chops.

Our favorite sauerkraut comes in jars from Germany, which is more costly (about $8 - $12 a jar) since it's imported.

Recently, using a medium head of cabbage (at 99¢/lb), I made my own batch of sauerkraut to see if I could match the German Sauerkraut in a jar. You only need 2 ingredients to make it: shredded cabbage and salt. You have to wonder why all forms of sauerkraut, including canned, have doubled in price.

My recipe follows:

German Sauerkraut

4 days of fermenting

Ingredients:

cabbage, a medium-large head, shredded

1 1/2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt (I used pink Himalayan.)

Although you should keep sauerkraut simple, you can add optional flavors or textures to your batch if you wish --

Optional: I sprinkled in bay leaf powder (or 3 bay leaves work). I diced a carrot just to add color to the kraut. Some people like to toss in garlic or caraway seeds, which I didn’t do.

Directions:

2 weeks later

1) Mix the shredded cabbage and salt thoroughly. I used a fork and didn’t massage it. What am I, a masseuse? You can taste it to know if the salt is incorporated throughout.

2) Pack the sauerkraut into glass jars or food-grade plastic containers.

3) Let it sit at room temperature for 7 days to 4 weeks. No need to add water, as the salt draws the water out, turning it into a pickled juice.

My sauerkraut, weighing 2 pounds, is fermenting and starting to look like sauerkraut. How exciting that it's coming along without effort! I don’t aim to go into the sauerkraut business, but it’s great to know where your food comes from and what goes into making it! We’ll use this batch as condiments whenever we need a bit of sour and crunch, like on Fairway’s beef hot dogs. Fermented sauerkraut keeps in the refrigerator.

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Eye Candy Friday: Cartier, LeVian and Van Cleef & Arpels

2026-08-28T15:21:25.560-04:00

LeVian: Rarest Blue-Green Paraiba Tourmaline Gemstone

High jewelry is always fun to see, whether it's due to the spectacular design of top jewelers or the clean, heirloom-quality gemstones. What’s not to like? Well, the price, which has so many zeros that regular wage-earners can’t afford to buy it. At least we are spared the temptation, right? And we can be inspired to find budget-friendlier pieces that give us the characteristics we find attractive.

Cartier’s Pathère Collection of white and yellow diamonds, or diamonds and emeralds

Nonetheless, never buy the so called more affordable lines from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, or Bulgari, etc., etc, etc., because these same luxury brands that craft the high jewelry we admire charge inflated prices for their lesser lines, and you’ll pay thousands of dollars mainly for the names alone, not for the amount of gold or the quality of gemstones you’ll get. LeVian is the exception, as it sells its lower-end consumer-grade jewelry at major department stores such as Macy’s, which also runs its own sales.

The center vivid yellow diamond weighs 10 carats.

One place where you don't pay the inflated markup charged by the luxury brands named will surprise you. Costco! The discount retailer applies a low markup of roughly 14% to 15% on its fine jewelry. Unlike at Harry Winston, Cartier, or Van Cleef & Arpels, at Costco you’re paying for the gold, gemstones, and a small markup to keep the lights on, not a 500% markup for a fancy box, tissue paper, and a name.

Costco sells real gold and sterling silver. In the USA, real gold is regulated by stamps that state its purity, either by karat designation or fineness number (representing parts per 1000 of pure gold, and you will see these marks on fine jewelry at Costco):

- 24K (999): 99.9% pure gold (24 out of 24 parts)
- 18K (750): 75% pure gold
- 14K (585): 58.5% pure gold
- 10K (417): 41.7% gold, which is the minimum karat allowed to be sold as "solid gold" in the United States.

Likewise, real sterling silver is marked 925 (92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metal to harden it) in the USA.

So now let’s ogle the very expensive high jewelry pieces and cute leopard.

LaVian Neon Blue Paraiba Tourmaline™

All images are from the respective jewelers’ ads or websites. Google the name of the collection for more information on the pieces. A look is all I need today since buying them is as out of the question for a Savvy Shopper as petting that pretty predatory leopard: "Goodness, what big teeth you have!"🐆

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I Learned About Scented Geraniums

2026-08-27T01:27:08.866-04:00

Photo by Jenny Dettrick/Getty Images on Real Simple here

I have one plant in my apartment, a golden pothos, and it almost takes care of itself. All I have to do is water it every Sunday, but if I forget, it continues to live. It can live anywhere in a home, in or out of the sunlight. Still, it thrives when placed by a window to get partial sun.

My Golden Pothos

As potted plants have died over the years, I’ve lost interest in having them, although I still think they’re pretty.

Today I learned of the existence of Scented Geraniums. Here’s the article. Three characteristics make them appealing: (1) They don’t require a lot of care, (2) they smell like roses, pine, chocolate, apples, or strawberries, and (3) they keep pests away!

It’s enough to make a suburban homeowner want to buy scented geraniums to grow both inside and outside their house!🪴🪴🪴

Photo: soniabonet/Getty Images in R S

Here in Manhattan, the city of concrete, our municipal government controls pests with pesticide sprays. I have the luxury of not needing plants for pest control. I think of Central Park, Carl Schurz Park, or Riverside Park as my backyard. Next time I go to the park, I’ll look to see if any scented geraniums have been planted by paid park gardeners or volunteers. Scented geraniums are lovely and fascinating! I want to smell them.🪴

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Temu's Storage Temptations

2026-08-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

I bought this and had to put it on one side under my kitchen sink, away from the pipe, because my pipe was installed too far to the left. Also, one of the 4 metal poles didn’t go into one of the holes, and I had to force the pole into the hole as best it would go. Not for super heavy items, but strong enough for many cleaning agents like washing detergent. Using vertical space for $10 rocks, yet I won’t pay more for a plastic shelf.

In February 2023, I featured Temu, the bargain Chinese website of practical household and garden tools, beauty and personal care items, bedding, apparal and odds and ends for cheap. You can read that blog here. Temu isn’t a scam, but a legitimate Chinese e-commerce company with an office and warehouse in Boston, Massachusetts. I’ve ordered some inexpensive merchandise that, once upon a time, US customers might have found at Woolworths, Odd-Job Trading, Big Lots, or large five-and-dime stores.

Although Temu lets customers return things, personally I’d only order low-priced articles that you can afford to eat the cost of if they didn’t work out. Returns are a hassle. I selected low-risk items I'm happy with, like a silicone baking mat, a silicone adult bib for my senior mom, mini jewelry boxes, a long steel shoehorn, cable ties with snaps, and flexible rubber spiral wrap cord protectors.

Frequently, I ogle the organizing and storage commodities for tight spaces since I like everything in my home organized and to have a place of its own. I’ve come to believe that my superpower is misplacing things in my own home. Frankly, I could lose anything at any time after I touch it! If I don’t create a spot for my things and train myself to put them back, I spend endless time circling my apartment to find where I left objects like my house keys, a cell phone, a remote control, or a pen and paper. It's ridiculous! To spare myself endless frustrations and wasted time, I’m forced to be organized!

Moreover, lead me not into Temu’s storage temptations! The e-retailer has tons of organizers and storage choices for every room and purpose. I’ve picked out 5 to feature today.

It costs less to manufacture goods in China because of lower wages. Trade between nations is good for both countries. Customers can expect low prices and reasonable shipping times. Still, always order mindfully!

Click this link to see this slim storage cabinet (here in 2 sizes) slide.

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Keeping Produce Fresh

2026-08-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

Photo and more info from USDA - here.

We eat a variety of fruits and vegetables in my home as part of a healthy diet. A confession: I wash and refrigerate potatoes and refrigerate onions, which we’re not supposed to do. The reason why: I have a Manhattan-size, not a suburban-size kitchen, so I lack a cool dark place to store a bag of produce, and if I had to buy one potato or onion at a time, I'd lose the motivation to cook. I dislike having a job before I start a job!

Not including the above compromises, I try to follow as closely as possible the ways experts tell us to keep produce fresh. But it gets confusing. Certain fruits and vegetables release ethylene, a natural gas that speeds up ripening. Let’s learn which ones.

High-ethylene produce includes apples, bananas, kiwi, avocados, tomatoes, and peppers. What the USDA calls ethylene-sensitive produce includes leafy greens, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage, and cucumbers. If we mix high-ethylene produce with ethylene-sensitive produce in the same crisper drawer, they will spoil sooner rather than later.

We’re supposed to keep apples, bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, avocados, potatoes, and onions at room temperature, but I don’t -- except to let avocados or bananas ripen at room temperature -- before tossing them into the refrigerator. Immediately, you can refrigerate berries, leafy greens, cauliflower, green onions, mushrooms, and peas.

Ways to make fresh produce last longer include storing the high-ethylene produce and ethylene-sensitive produce in 2 separate crisper drawers. There’s usually a slide knob on the outside of each crisper drawer to set for high- or low-moisture produce also. Plus I bought thin plastic bins to store like produce together, which I place outside on the shelves of my refrigerator since all my produce won’t fit into my crisper drawers. I also have refrigerator liners, which absorb moisture inside the refrigerator to some extent. Moisture and poor air circulation greatly contribute to food spoilage.

Food experts tell us not washing produce keeps them fresh longer (which frankly I also ignore). I wash berries, leafy greens, and a stalk of celery before tossing them in my refrigerator. Remember, I dislike having a job (washing celery or potatoes) before starting a job (cooking ). Washing produce also keeps my refrigerator and refrigerator liners cleaner.

Often I slice or dice and freeze celery, peppers, and mushrooms to keep them from spoiling. Mostly I buy bags of frozen peas and mixed vegetables (diced carrots, peas, green beans, and corn) instead of fresh peas or mixed vegetables.

Once produce like an onion or apple is cut, I store it in a Rubbermaid plastic food container, not plastic wrap, as I’m slightly afraid of the chemicals in plastic wrap touching the food.

Photo: Dreamtime free royalty image

What my family loses by my storing produce such as potatoes or onions in our refrigerator instead of at room temperature is some flavor, but not enough flavor that we detect it. Certainly we’d notice a difference if we had the luxury of farm-fresh produce, but we don’t. (Sometimes the freshness of supermarket produce is also questionable.) We deal with the compromises of city life. Our main objective is to get healthy food into our pie-holes before it welts, tastes bad, grows eyes, stems and fuzz, or decays! At least we’re eating a variety of imperfectly stored produce rather than not eating produce or rotted produce, right?

Do you have any hacks for keeping produce fresh?

Lambrusco Is A Refreshing Summer Wine

2026-08-16T19:19:11.121-04:00

A guilty pleasure of mine is having a glass of red wine with a cheese-and-cracker platter for dinner on many Sunday nights during the summer. I could eat cheese until it comes out of my ears ... but don’t. Portion control in the interest of a healthy weight!

When I mentioned to a friend I had never tasted Lambrusco, my friend bought me a bottle of it: Caprari Cuvée Bollino Rosso Lambrusco Reggiano! Thank providence for friends; they expand your horizons.

Lambrusco is a lightly sparkling (frizzante) red wine primarily from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy regions, made from a family of ancient grape varieties. The bottle my friend gave me is dark red, balanced, fruity, and slightly sweet (yet dry, not a sweet wine).

Tonight I’m drinking a glass of Italian Lambrusco with New York Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese, Ohio Mozzarella and Swiss cheese, served on American whole-grain saltine crackers. Some fruit too. Delish!

A perfect Sunday night summer dinner is one that pleases the palate!🍷

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What Income Range Defines the Middle Class?

2026-08-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

I asked Google to tell me what income range defines the lower, middle and upper middle class and the following 👇 is all the infomation that popped up. Consider the entire passage between the cute pointy pencils a quote. The numbers source the data:

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The national income thresholds for a standard U.S. household classify the lower middle class as earning $55,820 to $83,730, the middle middle class as earning $83,730 to $125,595, and the upper middle class as earning $125,595 to $167,460. [1, 2]

These tiers are derived from the Pew Research Center formula, which defines the broad middle class as households earning between two-thirds and double the U.S. median household income (currently $83,730).[1, 2, 3]

National 2026 Middle-Class Sub-Tiers

The overall middle-income bracket spans from $55,820 to $167,460. It breaks down into three distinct sub-tiers: [1]

Income Sub-Tier	Annual Household Income Range	Description / Lifestyle Context
Lower Middle Class	$55,820 – $83,730	Secure enough to cover basic necessities but highly vulnerable to unexpected financial emergencies or inflation.
Middle Middle Class	$83,730 – $125,595	Represents the exact center of American income. Standard of living typically includes homeownership, savings, and some disposable income.
Upper Middle Class	$125,595 – $167,460	High financial comfort. Comfortably affords discretionary spending, investments, higher education, and premium healthcare.

Note: Households making above $167,460 move out of the middle class into the true "upper income" tier.[1, 2]

Location Changes the Math

iStock royalty-free

Because the cost of living varies wildly by region, these national benchmarks look very different depending on your zip code. [1]

High-Cost Metro Areas: In cities like San Francisco or Seattle, the minimum needed to enter the middle class can be upwards of $84,000, with the upper-middle class threshold stretching well past $230,000. [1, 2, 3]

Low-Cost Regions: In states like Mississippi or parts of the Midwest, a household can comfortably enter the middle class on roughly $36,000. [1]

You can cross-reference these national ranges against your own budget by using the Pew Research Middle Class Income Calculator to see how household size and local cost of living alter your specific status. [1, 2]

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Use your state/city and your household size to get the exact income ranges for your area.👨🏻‍💼💼👩🏻‍💼

So did you learn anything? Did reality slap you in the face like OMG, I’m poor!😂

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Dekton For My Fantacy Countertops

2026-08-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Photo of Dekton countertop on Instagram here

In Manhattan, whether you are single or a family of 4, regular people learn to live in smaller spaces. Sure, I’d love to have an extra room or more square feet in my apartment. Who wouldn't? Still, I’ve chosen to live in a Manhattan high-rise over a bigger stand-alone house in the suburbs. Manhattan is culturally diverse, relatively tolerant, and unbelievably convenient, and I’d never ever trade living here for a maison outside of Manhattan. Living in New York City has made me more mindful, more minimalist, and less impressed by opulence and materialism.

Photo: Noel Y. Calingasan

But don’t get me wrong, I want a modern, comfortable apartment with all the necessities of a large house, and I think we Manhattanites do a fairly good job of having it. For example, our washers and dryers are usually in a communal laundry room in our buildings rather than located in our apartments. The same goes for our recycling and garbage bins for sanitation pickup. They’re communal. Frankly, less of a burden to an individual shareholder! The multimillionaires in Manhattan live in larger co-ops and duplex condominiums where they set their recyclables and trash out their back doors, and their maintenance crew swings by several times a day to collect it, but sheesh, I don’t mind dropping off trash myself into communal bins. I don’t need our maintenance men to come around to me, individually, to feel well-to-do important!

However, just like homeowners everywhere, I entertain if-money-were-no-object fantasies about what I’d do to upgrade my home.

Today I’ll share one of them. My fantasy kitchen would have Dekton countertops. A Dekton countertop is an ultra-compact, high-performance surface (a blend of 20 natural minerals and materials used to make glass, porcelain, and quartz). It’s not cheap, costing $80 to $160 per square foot depending on surface thickness. I think it's smart to have at least 20 mm thick. Dekton is completely non-porous, resistant to starches, extreme heat, UV rays, and never requires sealing!

The Opening of Late Night with Seth Meyers

Hot pots and pans will not scorch Dekton. Sunlight won’t fade it, and food spills won't stain it. Since the surface is non-porous, you don’t have to seal (or ever re-seal) it, and it’s easy to clean. Be still my heart!♥

Sounds indestructible, right? But it’s not. The surface is brittle, so stuff you shouldn’t be doing -- abuse such as hitting the surface with heavy objects -- will chip a Dekton countertop along its corners. Moreover, installing Dekton isn’t an amateur's job, as special tools are required, and Dekton is more expensive than quartz or granite.

The builder of my Manhattan high-rise installed laminate countertops, and they serve me well enough. I use silicone mats to protect them from hot pots. There’s nothing wrong with laminate countertops, but high-performance, smooth, sleek Dekton is my fantasy surface and what I’d install if I desired to bear the expense.🙂

IMHO, it might be wiser to upgrade to a new abode before you put more than a set sum into upgrading your present home, but perhaps I’m still thinking like la classe moyenne. We, regular wage earners, are always weighing when and what to spend money on ... as are some of the wealthy, who can also be careful and value-oriented.

That said, what’s your if-money-were-no-object home improvement?

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Professional Cleaning Hacks

2026-08-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Photo: Storyblock - Royalty Free

Daily, I clean my kitchen countertops with white vinegar and water in a spray bottle, which I mostly also use to mop my floors. For heavy-duty cleaning, I keep another spray bottle of bleach and water, which I use periodically on countertops and floors. What I love about the white vinegar is you never have to worry about a wayward drop of it discoloring your rugs and fabrics; you can skip rinsing; and it dries fast!

To clean bathroom fixtures like the bathtub, sink, and toilet, I mostly use 3% hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. Sometimes I might use a paste of white vinegar and baking soda, or infrequently, a sprinkle of Ajax in the bathtub, if soap residue remains. Occasionally I put a few drops of pine oil in the toilet bowl only, never the tank, for good measure.

Still, we never get too old or experienced to pick up a few expert tips on how to clean better, easier, or cheaper. Recently I stumbled upon 2 professional cleaning tips to share with you. We can all return here to remember them:

Jeeves NY Laundry Booster

2 parts washing soda - buy or make it (baking soda spread on a baking sheet, baked in a 400 degree F oven for 1 hour, stirred every 20 minutes)

1 part Borax (sodium tetraborate)

1 part Oxi-Clean (sodium percarbonate)

Extra hack: For the “grossest" stains only, Zach Pozniah (co-owner of Jeeves NY) uses ammonia.

Add one of these boosters with laundry detergent to wash clothes.

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The Big Sweep Method For Restoring Countertops

Making kitchen countertops look new again is a 3-step process:

1) Fill a spray bottle with equal parts of white vinegar and water. Spray on every countertop material except granite. Let it sit for 5 minutes and wipe. Repeat until a soft cloth comes up clean.

2) Next, fill a spray bottle with warm water and a drop of liquid dishwashing detergent. Use it to spray on your countertops and rinse with clean water.

3) Using a soft cloth, rub a drop of mineral oil on laminate to put a shine on your countertops. With granite or marble, use isopropyl alcohol and water. Quartz doesn’t need polishing.

According to The Big Sweep, we can use step 2 for daily cleaning, step 1 for weekly cleaning, and step 3 for monthly cleaning.

To disinfect countertops, use 70% isopropyl alcohol safely on all surfaces. It dries quickly.

Certainly, these hacks are easy, cheap, and the 2 expert sources cited say they are better than anything else we can buy on the market. That is good enough for me!

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