Better Homes and Gardens July/August 2022

Mementos While looking over the stories for this summer issue, I thought about the importance of memory in our domestic lives. If you’re like me, you—consciously or not—imbue your decorating, your cooking, and even your gardening with objects, recipes, and plants you associate with friends and family. Like Easter eggs in a movie (a term for some hidden detail placed in a scene by the director), these pieces may not be meaningful to the casual observer, but it makes me happy to know they’re there. For decades, I’ve carried certain objects from home to home almost as talismans—a Navajo vase my dad bought on his first trip out of Texas in the 1930s, a ceramic rooster my mom kept on top of the fridge when I was a kid, a tiny brass…

Simple Meal Prep Let your slow cooker do the work while you relax outside. See our favorite low-effort recipes like Asian-Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps, BBQ, desserts, and more. BHG.com/SlowSummer Clean Your Grill Like a Pro A grill works best with a deep scrub at least every six months. Get our how-to for cleaning gas and charcoal cooktops. Click here to watch our cleaning tutorial. GO ALL IN ON A SUMMER SOIREE You can be the hostess with the mostest with a bit of creativity and thoughtful planning. Prep for a stylish outdoor party with DIY invitations and a dip-dyed tablecloth (how-to details in our download). The day of the party, serve dishes family-style around your table or set out a buffet laden with a mix of make-ahead dishes like savory tartlets, easy finger foods, and store-bought…

SUMMER CLASSICS CHECKLIST □ Beach day□ Fruity ice pops□ Lobster rolls□ Group bike ride□ Sprinkler party□ Family campout□ Pizza on the grill□ Geocaching 15 August NATIONAL RELAXATION DAY Put this on your to-do list: absolutely nothing! Or try a family meditation sesh. Get started with a mantra like “I will be good to myself and others.” This is a prime time for monarchs to lay eggs. Learn how to help care for them at saveourmonarchs.org. Show kids how to spot eggs, cocoons, and caterpillars. 17 July NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY Float your Shirley Temple: Pour grenadine and ginger ale (or kirsch and Prosecco) over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Park Perks Our in-house National Parks enthusiast, food editor Emily Teel, stocks up on freebie souvenirs (without breaking any “take only pictures” rules!). Start at the visitors center to grab a…

● GET STARTED Developed in 1842 by John Herschel, cyanotypes are an early form of photography. They’re made by placing objects on light-reactive paper. BUY IT: Cyanotype Store 8"×10" Cyanotype Paper, 12 sheets for $19; bhphotovideo.com Sunprint Refills and Kits, $4–$20; sunprints.org ● PICK A SUBJECT Plants, shells, rocks, and pinecones are all good sun-print candidates. Only the shadows cast by objects will appear, so opacity, size, and shape are key. So is timing: If the sun is directly overhead, shadows will be shorter and better capture the object’s true outline. ● COMPOSE Place cyanotype paper on a flat surface (like cardboard) and arrange your nature finds on top. If you can, top with a piece of glass or acrylic to flatten your work. The flatter your objects, the crisper the final image. Glass should be…

DAYTIME Curious whether you’re staring down an Eastern bluebird or a blue jay? Your yard provides ample opportunities for a primer course in birding. (And FYI—bluebirds have a rusty chest; blue jays, gray.) ● SETUP Outfit your yard with bird feeders—ideally placed away from the house so you can slip outside to observe the birds. Minnesota wildlife photographer Lisa Townsend takes it a step further by stocking a special decoy feeding station with peanuts to entice crows and jays away from her songbird feeders. Add a water source too. Birds need to drink up, and a bath gives you another spot for observation. ● STUDY GUIDE A field guide can help you identify winged visitors, habitats, and behaviors. (The Sibley Guide to Birds covers the continental U.S., $40; sibleyguides.com.) You can also tap into the…

Drive Time 2005 Cut screen time in favor of your own “entertainment system—each other.” Try these out on the road. 1949 Serial Stories: One rider sketches the characters—heroes and villains. Another sets up the plot. A third involves them in terrible trouble, and the fourth gets them out of it. 1935 Keep kids busy and feeling important. One can hold the purse strings and “an increasingly grimy notebook” to record expenses and track mileage. Make another your navigator with a paper map she can update with “pictures of a bridge, a goat, a flat tire … or whatever impressed her in the day’s happenings.” [HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE] “If you crave action, and if you’re not immune to the fun germ—lend an ear!” BACKSTORY Our 1939 goal was to pack plenty of action into our yards—no matter…