Home & Lifestyle Archives - Page 2 of 14

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” — it’s an image that instantly evokes crackling logs and the warmth and cheer of the holidays. But how often are chestnuts actually on the menu? In Italy, where many of the chestnuts sold in the U.S. are grown, they’re popular in the fall and early winter, roasted by …

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Home & Lifestyle Homes

A Second Chapter

by Marylynn Uricchio

When most people become empty-nesters, they think about downsizing, buying a vacation home, perhaps, or seeing the world with their newfound freedom. But one Fox Chapel couple decided to pursue a different dream — staying home and making the renovations to their 1965 Colonial that years spent traveling with two children active in sports had …

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Food & Wine

Fall in the Apple Orchard

by Lidey Heuck

Apple orchards have always been a part of my family’s life. My dad grew up on an apple orchard in Cincinnati, helping to pick bushel baskets of apples each fall. My grandfather used an old cider press to make gallons of fresh cider, and my grandmother baked apples into pies and other treats. I never …

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Travel

Ohio’s Amish Country

by Barbara Eichenlaub

If you were lucky, at some point in your childhood, you collected a bunch of old boards, raided your dad’s toolbox, teamed up with your pals and built a treehouse. It might have been rickety, or so simple that it was basically a platform in a tree. But seen through the eyes of a child, …

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Food & Wine

A Simple Summer Treat

by Lidey Heuck

Farm fresh cherry tomatoes are one of summer’s most special and fleeting treats. It’s tough to beat eating them straight from the vine, but when I want to dress them up for company, I make these roasted tomato crostini, with creamy fresh ricotta cheese and a hint of heat from calabrian chili oil. While these …

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Travel

Going to Gettysburg

by Barbara Eichenlaub

The battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-3, 1863, in temperatures nearing 90 degrees. Fighting in wool uniforms and long underwear, with water and food in scarce supply, the 160,000 troops struggled to survive under Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. George Meade, appointed to command the Army of the Potomac just …

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Travel

Two Pittsburghers on the Road Less Travelled

by Scott Bergstein

Even though we’ve been married for 15 years, Jessica and I converse. Usually, the exchange of thoughts happens as she drinks her morning tea and I, my coffee. The following comments are typical of what you might hear were you an early-rising fly on the wall of our living room. “There’s a new Asian restaurant …

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Homes

Design Happy

by Marylynn Uricchio

As a child, Betsy Wentz had the best playroom — the carriage house her mother Kay Wiegand used as the office for her interior design firm. It was packed with color, wallpaper, fabrics and furniture, instilling in Wentz a passion that guided her years later when she decided to switch careers. She had been a …

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Food & Wine

The Great Chocolate Eating Contest of Kathmandu

by Bill Zlatos

Rhododendrons blazed scarlet on the trail to Mt. Everest Base Camp, and the snow-capped Himalayas pierced the sky like Bowie blades. I was hiking in Nepal with my friend David Edgerton of Erie in the time before Covid. On such adventures, my guides and I often open our souls. On this occasion I found that …

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Homes

Putting on the Glitz

by Marylynn Uricchio

It takes restraint and an appreciation for the sculptural lines of modern architecture to let a house speak for itself. Jeff and Erica McIlroy have done just that in their hillside home overlooking a scenic valley in Fox Chapel. There is no clutter, no adornment, no need to gussy up the space with the accoutrements of …

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Travel

Twin Pine: A Singular Shopping Experience

by Barbara Eichenlaub

Inside a converted barn in Wexford, just beyond Winston, the life-sized horse statue decorated for every season, is Martin Potoczny’s labor of love. The serial creative entrepreneur used the forced slowdown of COVID to create his dream of opening a curated antique and vintage lifestyle store. His keen appreciation for artisans, innovators and inventors has …

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Home & Lifestyle Homes

Passion and Purpose

by Marylynn Uricchio

Those who know Anne Dickson are at once astonished and not the least bit surprised by all she has accomplished in such a short time. With her husband, Andrew, she is raising three young boys and the evidence is everywhere in the Fox Chapel home the couple purchased seven years ago. They bought the house …

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Food & Wine Home & Lifestyle

Hyeholde

by Barbara McKenna

Being almost 88 and having spent three-quarters of my life at Hyeholde, writing the story of the restaurant my parents created is a piece of cake for me, and a delicious piece at that. In 1931, my parents bought six acres of farmland and, with income from working three months each year at a lovely …

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Home & Lifestyle Homes

Full of Flavor

by Marylynn Uricchio

Wanderlust quite literally means a lust for wandering, and Richard DeShantz has it big time. One moment he’s skiing out West, the next he’s exploring the food and culture in Turkey. Trying to catch up with the chef and owner of nine successful Pittsburgh restaurants can be a challenge, but it also explains the myriad …

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Home & Lifestyle Travel

If You’re Yurting for a Break …

by Barbara Eichenlaub

Whether you’re dealing with stress from work, the pandemic or just need a reset, a trip to the Savage River Lodge (SRL) near Frostburg, Maryland, may provide the perfect respite for your body and soul. Situated on 43 privately owned acres within the 54,000-acre Savage River State Forest, the SRL will force you to slow …

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Home & Lifestyle Homes

A Touch of Whimsy

by Marylynn Uricchio

Walk into the living room of Suzanne and Peter Friday’s historic home and the first thing you notice are the crows. Big black crows, perched on branches nestled into wall panels placed between the large windows. They inject a note of whimsy into the stately room, which is anchored by a large, cabbage rose-patterned Wilton …

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Food & Wine Home & Lifestyle

A Fresh Take on a French Classic

by Lidey Heuck

Salade Niçoise, that most famous of French salads, has become ubiquitous far beyond the reaches of the French Riviera. It is both a humble and elegant dish: a collection of everyday ingredients — tomatoes, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and often anchovy fillets or canned tuna — arranged beautifully and simply. Variations abound, and for good …

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Food & Wine

How About a Delicious Peach Cobbler (and more)?

by Barbara Eichenlaub

There is something about comfort food that evokes a feeling of old-fashioned delight. And when it comes to dessert, there’s nothing like fruit cobbler, bread pudding, gobs or banana pudding to transport you to a time when calories didn’t count and a big scoop of dessert made everything better. Today, not everyone has time to …

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Home & Lifestyle Homes

A Classic Colonial

by Marylynn Uricchio

Houses are like people in many ways. They tend to get better with age as they develop character and the rich patina that comes from living, and being lived in. Up to a point, that is. And then they start to require maintenance, and eventually, if they last long enough, more serious renovation. Such was …

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Travel

Burn Beetle, Burn!

by Kate Benz

I am going to torch a massive, 30-foot-long beetle tonight. I will fork over twenty bucks and the local fire department will hand me a long branch that’s been swathed at the top with fabric. It looks like a giant Q-Tip, ready to be dipped in kerosene or gasoline or something easily combustible. They will …

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Homes

An Urban Farmhouse

by Marylynn Uricchio

Like many couples, the owners of this Shadyside residence decided to sell the sprawling home they had lived in since 1972 when their children were grown and gone. That was 20 years ago. “We were early with the downsizing,” the wife says with a laugh. But they retained an acre of prime property next to …

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Food & Wine

Holiday Temptations

by PQ Staff

As the festive spirit creeps slowly back into our lives, there’s a new appreciation for the simple pleasures of dining out. Take out was great during the pandemic, or at least it offered some variety and relief to homebound cooks. But not all foods travel well and some of Pittsburgh’s better restaurants chose not to …

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