Rhoda Karpatkin, who pressed for painstaking product testing for safety and quality while promoting comparison shopping for value during more than four decades at Consumers Union as counsel, executive director and president, died on Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 93. The cause was brain cancer, her daughter, Deborah Karpatkin, said. Ms. Karpatkin,…
What makes a perfect spiedie? It depends on whom you ask. The sandwich, pronounced SPEE-dee, consists of cubed meat — commonly chicken or pork, sometimes beef and originally lamb — that is marinated in a salad dressing of sorts (a blend of oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, herbs and spices), grilled and then stuffed inside…
As farm stands overflow with just-picked ears tasseled with silk, dedicated plates for serving corn are a joy to welcome to the summer table, like that turkey platter for you-know-when. John Derian, a designer known for his table wares and decorative accessories done with decoupage under glass, makes oval serving platters decorated with ears of…
But it’s not only eggplant season right now, it’s corn season, too! I celebrate its summery abundance with my sheet-pan chicken thighs with spicy corn. After testing the recipe the first time, I ended up doubling the corn, because, while the chicken is golden and juicy, the starring role has to go to the supremely…
First, avoid the long entrance lines by booking your tickets online (20 euros, or about $22, for a single-entry adult ticket). Another booking option, the Athena’s Combined Ticket (adults, €30), provides access to six more sites in Athens, including the nearby Agora. Start your day here, before 11 a.m., when most tourists are at the…
Over an $8.50 pint of craft beer from Aspen Brewing Company, which is comparable to what I pay at home in Chicago, I realized that Aspen, Colo., is not expensive by big-city standards. It’s expensive by small-town standards. The Economic Research Institute, which compiles financial data for public and private organizations, pegs the cost of…
To say, “I’m just going to make a sandwich,” can imply some level of defeat, of phoning it in, a sigh of acceptance. But a sandwich can be a litmus test for what you want to give on any one day. There are, of course, the low-effort sandwiches: the peanut butter and jelly, the classic…
In 2013, when she was in college in Iowa, Rachel Muse Connealy had a first date with a man she was certain would be her future husband. She turned out to be right, but the road to marriage took a few turns. After a few years of being in a relationship, he moved to New…
In the fall of 2018, the pianist Nicolas Hodges noticed his body shaking. He brought it up at a routine doctor’s appointment in Tübingen, Germany, where he lives. The doctor said it was probably stress, but recommended that he make an appointment with a neurologist. Hodges didn’t make that appointment right away. But then, in…
I’ll be visiting Europe for the first time this summer and need advice for stylish walking shoes. I mainly wear dresses, but if I wear ballet flats while walking all day, my feet tend to swell up (not an issue with sneakers, but no way). Do you have any suggestions for a more closed shoe…