House and Home

Top 5 Herbs You Should Grow At Home in Houston

One of my favorite parts about spring and summer is getting to eat fresh fruits and vegetables in just about every meal. Herbs are a great addition to any dish and during the spring and summer seasons, they bring out the wonderful flavors of freshly picked produce. Sherri Harrah of Plants for All S ... More >>

Top 5 Easy Christmas Appetizers

Tis the season to host Christmas parties and tis the season to get easily stressed out from all the tasks that come with preparing for many guests to visit your home. Not only do you need to invite the guests, clean the house and decorate it with Christmas cheer, but you need to cook a variety of sn ... More >>

Get the Best Christmas Gifts at Citrus Fest This Weekend at the Eastside Farmers Market

Want to get your loved ones an unusual, thoughtful Christmas gift that keeps giving year after year? Of course you do. Your father doesn't need any more ties, socks or boxers and your mother is only using that coffeemaker because you bought it for her. She secretly hates it. So head to Urban Harves ... More >>

Where Do Mexican Gardeners Throw Away Their Clippings?

And do Mexicans eat chocolates?

Japan Festival 2013

Dinner Party Dos & Don'ts

Photo by saketvora on Flickr​With the weather finally cooling down and the holidays fast approaching, I find myself longing for a warm and cozy gathering with family and friends. Oddly enough, I actually feel like cooking for these psychos. I'm thinking a roaring fireplace, flowing wine, great ... More >>

Drought: Five Animals And Pests You're Seeing More Of, As They Search For Water

Possums: Cute....from afar​Some of us were praying for rain even before it was mandated to do so. Houston's been teased more than a frat boy lately, especially early this morning, when chances of actual rain were forecast in the lofty 30 percentages! At 6 a.m. storm clouds gathered and it even ... More >>

Top Five Edible Flowers

applelikeDandelion.​Let's get something out of the way: this post is not about fruit. Yes, I understand that much of what we consider to be fruit develops from the flowering part of the plant. But I'm talking about those botanical bits that people associate more with bouquets than with burrito ... More >>

Garden Fresh: Red Bell Peppers

​The only plants left in my warm-weather garden are peppers: Anaheim chiles and bell peppers. The Anaheims are fiercely hot, an effect of the drought, and the green bells are just the opposite. In fact, green peppers are mildly bitter and boring, good mostly for salads, color, and grilled for ... More >>

Getting the Dirt

​After transporting some heavy blocks for the garden, my brother Jaime's old Chevy pickup got stuck in the mud out back. I fetched a shovel, and asked Jaime, a geologist, "How far down to the bedrock, to get traction?" His reply: "30,000 feet." Basically, Houston floats on several miles of ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup

​After a month of hum-drum inspections citywide, somebody lit a fire under Health Department workers last week, and they found some truly epic violators. The longest list of citations came at Fish Place (11550 Gulf Fwy.), where an October 5 visit found an amazing 19. The inspectors found equi ... More >>

"Modern Art Graffiti"

Or "How to sit on contemporary art"

When Feng Shui Gets Even More Sillier Than Usual

Photo via Swamplot Where's the pooper-scooper when you need it?The folks at Swamplot have uncovered the story behind the turd-looking rock standing in front of the BNIM Architects office on Main Street south of the Southwest Freeway.It's all about the feng shui, that mystical combination of e ... More >>

Texas Folklife Seeks Texas Stories

Dave77459​When I was little I ate tomatoes off the vine in my grandparents' garden, Jell-O from the box at swim meets, and coffee-rubbed ribs straight from the smoker. Today I eat duck gumbo with the fruits of the hunt, Texas roadside dewberry pie, and Cookies 'n Cream ice cream from Blue Bell ... More >>

Elizabeth Berg: The Last Time I Saw You

They're all here - the class hunk, weird girl, Miss Popular, jock and the rest of your high school class

Houston Is Under Attack

Bedbugs threaten our slumber.

2nd Annual Earth Day Houston Festival, 5K & Green Expo

From A (AIA Gulf Coast) to Z (Norma Zenteno), there's lots of fun at this festival

Capsule Art Reviews: "2010 Glassell Core Exhibition", "Francesca Fuchs", "Iron: Forged, Tempered, Quenched", "McKay Otto"

75th Annual Azalea Trail

The first green is golden, or in this case various shades of pinks, whites and reds

Is That A Duster Or Are You Just Glad To Clean For Me?

​Asylum is a website which states it is "For All Mankind." From the looks of it, the name should have a second "s" in it and the "man" in "mankind" should be emphasized, if you know what we mean.Be that is it may, the site informs us of Jockstrap Maid Service, an apparently Houston-based company d ... More >>

PETA Be Buggin' About Blinged-Out Border Beetle

Photo courtesy CBP​Contraband along the Texas-Mexico border flows both ways. Drugs tend to come north. Desperados on the lam tend to flow south. But every now and then there's a novelty like this woman and her strange pet. The Brownsville Herald picks up the tale: It wasn't marijuana, co ... More >>

My Organic Dirt Patch: Egyptian Onions

​I finally got some greenery into my new organic garden by transplanting some Egyptian onions. Jim Sherman had too many of them in one of his gardens, so he gladly gave me some. Egyptian onions are more or less idiot-proof, which makes them perfect for a neophyte gardener such as me. They are ... More >>

Omar Angel Perez: "Studio and Stilett'O's"

The art of high heels

Thanksgiving Nightmares

​Ah, Thanksgiving. A time for pumpkin pie, good cheer, sweaters...and loved ones swilling booze and going at it. Yes, Thanksgiving family tension -- if not outright violence -- is a tradition as time-honored as postprandial football. Inspired by this recent article in the New York Times, we as ... More >>

Black Coffee: Houston Style

Here's some video clips I took while researching this week's feature, "City of Coffee." The automated lines are inside the Maximus Coffee Plant on Harrisburg -- the old Maxwell House plant.

Germán Herrera: "Book of Mirrors"

This Mexican-born photographer shows us what isn't there

Scoop It Up at Cricket's Creamery & Cafe

East End Urban Market

Web exclusive!

Fried Rice: Craig Kinsey's take on Vitiman Water drink recipes

Corleone Bar & Grill

Adventures in Flood Insurance

Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3

...tick...tick...tick

Brave New Art

Artists take on corporations and the government in "Thought Crimes"

Best Patio

Best Plants

Bound for Greatness

Li Cunxin launches the American debut of Mao's Last Dancer

Fixer-Upper Downer

HUD hammers the city for botched house repairs for seniors and the disabled

Stoner Science

Our staff risks all to determine if a plant will get them high or if it's just another Internet lie

Best Place to Buy Roses

Fannin's Flower Row

Best Florist

David Brown

Best Landlord

Ted Callaway

Best Manicure/Pedicure

Instyle Nails

Best Landscaper

Vicente Torrez

Building a Case

Did prosecutors use -- or abuse -- a little-known remodeling law?

Gen Xmas

What's a lonely Jew to do on Christmas? Nosh on kosher vegetarian Indian food at Udupi Cafe.

Applying a Heavy Wash

Allison redefines the term "watercolors" for Colquitt gallery owners

The Weed Eater

Prickly pears. Pepper grass. Cattail stems. It's all snack food to T.R. Zimmermann.

Out of the Woods

Cooper and her clever Tamalalia are cool enough to beat the heat

Four-Star Fun

Tony Ruppe serves serious food and wine. So why are his patrons laughing?

Design for Nonliving