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On This Episode This week we’re revisiting conversations we’ve had with four past expert guests about the most common things people overlook when purchasing a home, as well as all the hidden costs of homeownership—to help you prepare for one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll ever make: buying a home. Meet Host Stefanie O’Connell Rodriguez Stefanie is a nationally recognized personal finance expert ready to talk work, worth, and money with unapologetically ambitious women....

Thinking about when and how you do your laundry will help you compare washing machines and decide what size of washer or dryer to purchase and what cycle options are essential to your family’s needs. If you’re energy-conscious (or are trying to become so), several options and models are available to meet this requirement. When buying a washer and dryer, the main points to consider are cost, loading type, size, capacity, cycles, and energy efficiency....

Experts agree that choosing the right athletic shoes is as important as the workout itself. The position of your feet while exercising influences the alignment of every other part, muscles and joints, of your body; some good foot stretches can help strengthen your foot muscles and ease short-term aches and pains, but they can’t undo real damage from improper footwear. “Sometimes I see people try to use running shoes in the gym when lifting, and sometimes I see people using cross-training shoes for distance runs,” says Jesse Dietrick, CSCS, FRCms, and director of trainer development at Fitness Quest 10....

Before you get started, double check what material the pot or pan is made out of. The methods below work well on both stainless steel and enameled cast iron, but since aluminum is a reactive metal, you’ll want to skip the vinegar technique on this material. If you’re dealing with a burnt cast iron pan, follow the cleaning and seasoning instructions here. No matter what material you’re dealing with, it’s always a good idea to start with the mildest, least abrasive cleaning technique first....

Artichokes range in size from jumbo to baby, and are often cooked whole, although only some of their parts are edible. In larger artichokes, the base of each leaf is gifted with a soft and creamy flesh that’s enjoyed by breaking the leaves off one by one and scraping the base between your teeth before discarding each leaf. Disclaimer, the outer leaves tend to be a bit tough and the purple-tinted leaves at the very center can be prickly, so it’s best to avoid them....

From choosing a good eggplant to preparing it, here’s everything you need to know, plus a few cooking techniques to help you make the humble eggplant a lot more wow-worthy in your favorite eggplant recipes. When to Pick Eggplant Eggplant season is July through October. Look for eggplants that have smooth, shiny skin and are firm with a little bit of give—a really soft eggplant is past its prime. One of the key ways to tell if an eggplant is bad is to look at the stem....

To cook: A frisky lobster (which is how you want them) can make cooking a horrifying experience. There are two ways to slow it down. A few minutes in the freezer will stun it, or you can try to “hypnotize” it. Hold one by the base of the carapace (back), where it meets the tail. Stand the creature on its “nose” on the counter and stroke its back up and down....

How to Cook Sausage While some meats are best left undisturbed while cooking, sausage requires a fair amount of tossing and turning to achieve consistent browning. Opening the oven every few minutes to check on the crispiness and sizzle would be counterproductive, as your oven loses 25 degrees of heat every time it’s opened. This would mean a constantly fluctuating oven temperature and inconsistent cooking. I tried to let the sausage do its thing while cooking and held my breath for good results by the end....

Get creative with your vegetable garden design. Consider creating a series of decorative raised beds with wood-chip- or gravel-lined paths between. Check out photos of historic French gardens for inspiration – they’re beautiful and efficient.Plant vegetables with their looks as well as flavors in mind. Alternate, for example, pretty purple cabbage with snowy white cauliflower in a row. Or experiment with planting in blocks and clusters rather than rows for a more decorative effect....

Seafood Quality If you think that frozen seafood is of worse quality, think again. Often, fish are filleted and frozen immediately after capture. “Freezing, when done properly, is an excellent way to ’lock-in’ the quality inherent in the catch so that when thawed, you’re getting essentially the same quality you would have had if you ate it on the boat with the fishermen,” says John Burrows, seafood technical program coordinator of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute....

Our kit covers 30 square feet, so we had product to spare. Except for the gloves, eye protection, dust mask, rags, foam rollers, and roller trays, the kit contains all of the materials you need. The product also comes with an instructional DVD for error-free application. More DIY Decor that Looks Like the Real Deal What You Need Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformation Kit (We used Charcoal)GlovesEye protectionDust maskRagsFoam rollersRoller trays...

A tax checklist is great advice for anyone. Here are some things to consider as you build—and check off—your own list this tax season, although always review your circumstances with your financial advisor if you have one. What to Ask a Tax Preparer Amber Gray-Fenner, owner of Tax Therapy, urges taxpayers to ask about a tax preparer’s qualifications and practice. That includes inquiring about their overall level of experience, their staffing, and the volume of work the office does....

But how can you tell if you should see a therapist? And how do you begin looking for a good therapist who’s ideal for what you’re doing through? Unfortunately, finding the right therapist and treatment isn’t always easy, especially if you’re at an emotional low point. Google “psychotherapy” and you’ll find a confusing alphabet soup of acronyms—ACT, CBT, and DBT, to name a few—for the various types of treatments. Even if you know what type of therapy you want, it can be hard to access it: 51 percent of counties in the U....

Lopez took a classic nail trend—the French manicure—and added her own modification for a fresh, yet timeless look being dubbed “milky nails.” The final look, done by her longtime nail stylist Tom Bachik, was a soft, almond-shaped nail painted with an opaque, milky-white finish. So, what are milky nails? To be honest, it’s not too far from the glazed donut nails that are also trending on TikTok. “The milky nails look falls in between an opaque and a sheer white hue, with a creamy, translucent finish,” says Rachel Apfel Glass, founder of GLOSSLAB....

Stop plucking This is a no-brainer, but if you’ve found yourself with sparse brows, it’s time to put down the tweezers and back away from the mirror. When trying to grow back your brows, avoid any products that might be inhibiting hair growth (or actually pulling out your hairs unintentionally). Avoid brow products with drying alcohol or heavy waxes that could be “suffocating the brow or drying them out,” says Azi Sacks, a brow artist based in New York City....

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chicken is actually the top food that causes food poisoning, and it’s mostly related to unsafe handling and preparation practices by consumers at home. Chicken found in retail stores goes through a meticulous inspection before hitting shelves in an effort to spot disease. These inspections are carried out by either the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) or by state programs that abide by federal standards....

Who to invite: Friends with similar taste. For a good variety of merchandise, eight people is a manageable number, though anywhere from three to 20 is doable. How to e-mail: Send Real Simple’s free customizable Evite (available at realsimple.com/evite). Give guests two weeks’ notice to start gathering their belongings. ricotta and herb spread deviled eggs, four ways lemony almond macaroons Be clear about what’s swap-worthy. Ask friends to bring clean goods in gently used condition (that is, no ratty gym shorts or a Scrabble set missing the letter Q)....

Thanks to our Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen’s years of practice in the cookie-making department, we’ve got some easy tips you should always follow. We’ll help you determine whether you need to bake your cookies on a greased or ungreased cookie sheet and share how to let them cool long enough so they won’t break. Then, come Christmastime, you’ll have dozens of chocolate chip cookies, layer bars, and more flying off the pans....

What Is a Rose Slug? Rose slugs look like caterpillars or even miniature slugs, hence their name. But in actuality, a rose slug is neither a true slug nor a caterpillar (which becomes a moth or butterfly). It’s simply a larva of the rose sawfly. Velvety and yellow-green in color, rose slugs can get up to half an inch long. Signs of Rose Sawfly Damage The sawfly larvae will appear on roses in late spring and begin eating the soft, green tissue of leaves....

If you’re dealing with dry skin, sun spots, wrinkles, or damaged nails (and who isn’t?), it’s time to take action. Most of these problems can be solved at home and with products that you can buy at the drugstore, so you won’t have to spend a fortune on treatments. Have ragged cuticles and hangnails? Nail scissors and Vaseline will work wonders. Suffering with dry, cracked skin from washing the dishes or your hands too much?...