Few things are better than a barbecue on a warm, sunny day. Keep those burgers and hot dogs coming by keeping your grill in tip-top shape. The National Barbecue Association recommends that you always start with a clean grill. Break up tough charred food and ashes from the last barbeque session with a metal-bristle brush or a steel wool pad. If the food is still difficult to remove, consider closing the grill’s lid and cook on “high” for an additional five or 10 minutes. The grill residue will turn to ash, which is easier to clean off. To prevent food or ash residue in the future, lightly... [more...]

CNN Money has assessed 10 cities as “Rent” or “Buy.” With the volatile housing market, some areas are better primed for renters today, but in Cincinnati it’s time to BUY. CNN Money says, “The big reason that homebuying is the better choice for most people is the low home values. With a median price at just $156,000, mortgage payments can be almost as low as rents and the historical home appreciation rate is more than 3.5%.” Cincinnati joins Milwaukee, Seattle, Pittsburgh and Chicago as a city to Buy. Dallas, Houston, Honolulu, Boston and New York fall... [more...]

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Each time my husband and I drive over the railroad track that runs along Wasson Avenue in Hyde Park and Oakley, we talk about how awesome it would be if that unused railroad track was a walking path. After all, it runs for 6 miles from Victory Parkway to Mariemont by way of Hyde Park and Mt.Lookout (through Ault Park). There is even a 2 mile long perfectly straight stretch running through Hyde Park and Rookwood Pavilion. There is a fan page on Facebook, although we’re not sure who the organizers are. Looks like they will be attending this weeks Hyde Park Council meeting, and hopefully some... [more...]

Recently for Mother’s Day, The Daily Beast conducted its annual ranking of best cities for moms. Cincinnati came in at number three. The rankings were based on the following criteria: Mothers-per-capita: Percentage of mothers in each city with one or more children under 18 (from census data.) Educational quality: Overall quality of schools, based on standardized test performance. Child care: The number of child care workers per child age 5, pulled from census data and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Maternity health specialists: Availability of maternity specialists, according to HealthGrades. Mother’s... [more...]

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This Saturday is the Postal Service’s annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. Don’t forget to pick up a few items, and leave them for your postal carrier on Saturday. Your donations will stay in our area and will be taken to the Freestore Foodbank. The USPS has partnered with Feeding America, the Campbell’s Soup Company and other sponsors for this 19th annual food drive. Appropriate items include anything non-perishable and shelf-stable, such as soup, pasta or cereal. Make sure the items are not expired or in damaged packages, and NO glass jars! Put them in a sturdy... [more...]

The New York Times recently published a map highlighting the highest and lowest natural disaster zones. Our area fared in the middle, with medium tornado risk and some other weather issues, but low earthquake and hurricane risk. The grading was based on an area’s likelihood of earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather such including flooding, drought, hail, wind. Frequency of these events was also taken into account (for example, earthquakes are more rare than tornadoes.) Metro areas with the lowest risk: Corvallis, OR Mt. Vernon-Anacortes, WA Bellingham, WA Wenatchee,... [more...]

Don’t miss the chance to get rid of those old computers and televisions!  Hamilton County is offering a FREE recycling event for their residents. This program is only for residential households — sorry, businesses and organizations are not eligible. This FREE event will run from May 2 through October 31, 2011. Week Days: Monday – Friday, 9am – 4 pm Two Saturdays: Saturday, June 18 and Saturday, October 15, 9am – 2pm The recycling center is closed Memorial Day, May 30; Independence Day, July 4; and Labor Day, September 5. The following items are accepted at no charge: TVs,... [more...]

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