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EAT/DRINK/EXPLORE/HOME
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 8, 2020
AP Photo/Greg Page
This photo provided by Greg Page Photography/Taunton Press shows a photo of a home in Cornucopia, Wis., featured in the book “Downsize: Living Large in a Small House,” by
Sheri Koones. The metal rods add a beautiful industrial design feature, while creating a minimal separation between the stairs and the rest of the room.
Small home living: not ‘downsizing’ but ‘rightsizing’
By KATHERINE ROTH
Associated Press
NEW YORK — With the
current trend toward declutter-
ing and downsizing, there are
plenty of books about how to
winnow down possessions to
the few that are truly necessary
and loved. This book shows
how you can live well once
that’s done.
In “Downsize: Living Large
in a Small House” (2019, The
Taunton Press), author Sheri
Koones focuses on practi-
cal ways to live well at home
once you’ve streamlined your
belongings and are living more
compactly.
“It scares people to think of
moving into a smaller space,
but every single person I inter-
viewed who has made the transi-
tion says they are so happy they
did,” Koones says. “Time and
again, people used the word ‘lib-
erated’ to describe their move
to a smaller space, with homes
requiring far less time and
money to maintain.”
Koones,
who
recently
relocated from a sprawling
6,800-square-foot house in
Greenwich, Connecticut, to a
1,400-square-foot home closer
to town, has experienced the
transition herself.
“It’s not just empty nesters
anymore,” she adds. “Younger
people too are in couples where
they’re both working, they’re
having children later, they want
to be active and they don’t want
to be doing maintenance on the
AP Photo/Patrick Barta
This photo provided by Patrick Barta/Taunton Press shows a photo
of a home on Whidbey Island, Wash., featured in the book “Down-
size: Living Large in a Small House,” by Sheri Koones. The curbless
shower in the Asian-inspired master suite transitions seamlessly
from the bathroom floor to the shower.
AP Photo/Bob Gothard
This photo provided by Bob Gothard/Taunton Press shows a photo
of a home in Concord, Mass., featured in the book “Downsize: Living
Large in a Small House,” by Sheri Koones.
weekends. They don’t want to be
tied down to mowing lawns and
doing all the other chores that
come with living in a big house.”
Living more sustainably and
saving on energy costs is also
part of the attraction of down-
sizing, Koones says.
So is aging in place. There
are people of all ages looking for
features like a master bedroom
on the main floor, or barrier-free
showers.
“Yes, older people with dis-
abilities need them, but even
younger people break a leg ski-
ing, or have situations where
they want a barrier-free shower,”
she says.
The book features photos and
illustrations of 33 well-designed
small homes in urban and rural
settings in the U.S. and Canada.
It examines the features that
make each home a success, with
advice aimed at those building,
renovating or even just organiz-
ing their homes.
Some of the features that
Koones says can make a small
home feel more spacious:
• Raised ceilings, well-posi-
tioned windows and light wall
colors.
• Multifunctional furniture,
like tiny kitchen tables that can
expand to accommodate dinner
guests.
• Flexible rooms that can
serve as office, bedroom and
hobby room, for example. One
house featured in the book has
a garage with light fixtures and
doors that open in front and back
so that it doubles as an entertain-
ing space.
• Creative storage ideas, like
chairs that can hang on wall
pegs, hooks for bicycles, and
making the best use of alcoves
or space under stairs.
• Fewer hallways, which
allows for more livable space.
Koones details specific types
of roofs (like standing-seam
metal roofs), flooring (con-
crete) and heating systems that
are more energy-efficient and
low-maintenance.
“The key is to have a home
that is efficiently designed, both
in terms of energy use and in
terms of space,” she says.
“I refer to it as ‘downsizing,’
but a better word for it might be
‘rightsizing.’ For most of history,
houses were more modestly pro-
portioned, and we lived quite
comfortably in those smaller
homes. Over time houses got
too big. Now the trend is head-
ing toward smaller again.”
There is an art to toasting nuts, and here’s how to do it
Most of the time, nuts
are toasted to enhance
their flavor
By ELIZABETH KARMEL
Associated Press
I sometimes joke and say that
as a Southern cook, I use pecans
like other chefs use salt and pep-
per. That is to say, on just about
everything. I love pecans and
every other nut because they add
a crunchy texture and an earthy
sweet — nuttier — flavor to food.
Most of the time, I lightly toast
my nuts to enhance their flavor.
And I’m not alone: Many reci-
pes that call for nuts, also call for
toasting the nuts because it makes
such a difference in the over-
all flavor of the dish. Toasting or
lightly roasting nuts removes all
the raw green, slightly astringent
flavors that you taste when they
are uncooked. This is especially
true with walnuts. Almonds,
hazelnuts and pecans are crisp
and lightly caramelized, and
you can’t stop eating them when
they are roasted — likewise pea-
nuts. Even seeds are so much bet-
ter with a little heat to bring out
their deeper, more nuanced fla-
AP Photo/Elizabeth Karmel, File
Toasted pecans resting on parchment paper in Amagansett, N.Y., on Jan.
17, 2020. Toasting nuts enhances their flavor and removes all the raw
green, slightly astringent flavors that you taste when they are uncooked.
vors. Think sesame seeds, pine
nuts, pumpkin seeds and sun-
flower seeds. The volatile oils are
released, and the seeds are lightly
browned making them taste so
much more flavorful.
I learned to toast nuts from my
mother, and she learned from her
mother. You toast nuts on a cookie
sheet (or sheet pan) in a preheated
oven set on a low heat. The low
heat is crucial because nuts burn
both easily and quickly. This is
due to the high percentage of oil
in the nuts. Pecans burn partic-
ularly fast and can go from deli-
ciously lightly toasted to inedible
and acrid in a matter of a minute.
So, it will come as no sur-
prise that my pet peeve is the
way so many popular food people
today demonstrate toasting nuts.
The first time that I saw some-
one “toast” nuts in a skillet on
top of the stovetop, I was flabber-
gasted. Because the heat is direct,
it heats the metal pan and that heat
is transferred to the surface of the
food making contact with the pan.
The side of the food exposed to the
direct heat will continue to cook
until it is moved. I am sure every-
one can relate to how easy it is to
burn food in a skillet on the stove-
top. And, the more delicate the
food, the faster it happens. That
is what happens to the nuts. Even
if you shake the pan, you will end
up with some parts of the nuts still
raw and some parts — the parts
that touch the bottom of the pan
— with burned edges. And that
means you will be adding burned
acrid flavor to your dish.
Maybe the problem is in our
terminology. As recipe writers, we
tell people to “toast” their nuts and
we really should be telling them
to “roast” their nuts. If you cook
with nuts and seeds a lot, you have
probably already figured out that
the best way to toast them is in an
oven. But if you are still toasting
them on the stovetop, you will love
the oven method. Not only do you
get better results, it is also easier,
and you don’t have to tend to it as
much.
When I toast nuts, I place a
sheet of parchment paper on a
sheet pan and pour the nuts on top.
I spread them out so that they are
in a single layer and place them in
a preheated 250 F oven. This is a
low temperature, but I find that
the higher I set the temperature,
the higher the chances of burn-
ing the nuts. I check on them after
five minutes because smaller nuts
takes less time to toast than larger
nuts and I don’t want them to burn.
Most nuts take eight to 10 min-
utes to toast, but often the smell of
roasting nuts is a sign that they are
done. It’s important to check them
as soon as you smell them because
they can burn before you know it!
For maximum crunch, let the nuts
cool before using them in your
recipe.
———
Elizabeth Karmel is a grill-
ing, barbecue and Southern foods
expert, and the author of four
cookbooks, including the newly
released “Steak and Cake.” Her
website is www.elizabethkarmel.
com.