DREAM MAKER

A place to experience our most intimate joys and to confront our darkest late-night fears, a place where lives are conceived and lives expire, the bed is also a place for luxury. We breakfast there on special days, or we imagine a life after the lottery is won. “Oh, I’d lie in bed all day, snacking on bonbons,” we say with a laugh. In France, before the Revolution, many in the privileged class did exactly that, entertaining lunchtime guests as they reclined.

In the late 1800s, some among the wealthy indulged in fantastic beds, piled high with pillows and furs. In India, a maharajah had one rigged up with female figures at each of the four posters. When he lay down, gentle music wafted up and the statues fanned him.

The bed is not merely an idler’s domain — Proust wrote in bed, as did Twain — but a private haven that evolves with each of us. For children, bedtime means an end to fun, and so they lie, arms dangling, wondering what dragon might rest beneath the box springs. For adults, the bed is a respite, a place to refuel our bodies and unleash our minds — not just where we sleep, but also where we dream.

ORIGINS
As early as 10,000 years ago, neolithic humans lay on simple designated plots. But it was in ancient Egypt that the raised bed, typically made of palm leaves and branches, became commonplace. Rulers — King Tutankhamun, for example — had frames built of wood and sheathed in gold.

ONE BIG BED
The Great Bed of Ware, constructed in 1590 by an English carpenter for an inn, spans approximately 11 feet by 11 feet and allegedly slept at least six couples (presumably on friendly terms) at a time. It’s on display in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

LIQUID DEVELOPMENT
Used in the 1870s as a way to mitigate bedsores on invalids, the modern waterbed gained popularity in the late 1960s after being given a new twist by Charles Hall, a design student in San Francisco. Hall’s earlier invention, a chair filled with Jell-O, didn’t take.

— Kostya Kennedy

Photography by Getty Images

LINCOLN MKX

If you like cruising under an open sky, check out the new 2008 Lincoln MKX. This crossover SUV boasts a massive 27.3-inch by 29.4-inch sunroof. You’ll feel like you’re riding in a convertible, except this topless has plenty of room for your family’s gear and more.

The MKX is a fresh addition to the extremely competitive luxury crossover SUV market and gives the Lexus RX 350, its chief rival, a run for the money. On the outside, the MKX makes a bold statement with its sophisticated chrome trim and unique LED rear lights. Inside, intuitive technology, premium materials, and thoughtful features give Lincoln the edge. Standard climate-control seats use built-in fans to circulate cool air to your posterior on warm days, and to heat up seats on brisk days when you still want to open the sunroof. Another standout addition: MKX’s Sync system, developed by Microsoft exclusively for Lincoln vehicles. Sync seamlessly integrates your mobile phones and media players, allowing you to control devices using simple voice commands or a button on the steering wheel. The Sync will automatically dial 911 from your cell phone when it senses an airbag deployment. (This service is offered with no monthly fee.)

Powering the MKX is an efficient 3.5-liter V6 engine that produces 265 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque, while still averaging 22 to 24 miles per gallon on the highway. Unlike the RX 350, the MKX performs optimally on regular unleaded, which makes filling the tank a little less painful. Even more painless is the price for the MKX: At $37,355, you’ll save over $1,400 compared to the Lexus RX 350, plus you’ll get a more fully equipped vehicle.

— Nate Chapnick

THE GOLD STANDARD

Fried, mashed, grilled, roasted — there’s nothing you can’t do to a Yukon Gold potato. With its thin skin and rich, creamy flesh, it’s incredibly versatile and delicious any time of year. The potatoes keep their yellow color after cooking, and they have a pleasingly firm texture that’s not too fluffy and not too waxy.

You can thank Canadians for this import. They developed the Yukon Gold in the 1980s by crossing a North American white potato and a wild South American yellow-fleshed one. Maybe that’s why this potato works so well in every season.

In colder months, smaller (think golf-ball-sized) Yukon Golds are perfect for roasting: Cut them in half, toss in extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and a little chopped fresh rosemary, then roast at 400° on a sheet pan for 45 minutes or until the cut sides are golden brown. Or boil medium-sized potatoes with whole garlic cloves, drain and mash both with butter, cream, and chives, and you’ve got an ideal pairing for pot roast.

When spring and summer arrive, the color and texture of Yukon Golds brighten up traditional potato salads. Try grilling them, too: Parboil thick slices, coat them in mustard, and sear on a moderately hot grill until brown on both sides. Tuck them into a tuna salad niçoise or serve alongside a grilled ribeye.

Susie Middleton is editor-at-large for Fine Cooking magazine. For recipes, tips, techniques, or information about the magazine, visit finecooking.com.

Photography by Scott Phillips/courtesy Fine Cooking

HOME GROWN

Gardening has never been this easy.

Is your gardening thumb more brown than green? Dig into a virtually foolproof Garden-in-a-Bag from Potting Shed Creations.

Choose from 32 fast-growing selections, from fragrant lavender and feathery dill to chocolate violas, French marigolds, and extra-sweet cherry tomatoes. Snip the top off the leakproof paper bag, leave the coconut husks in the bottom for drainage, add the organic soil, and gently press in the seeds. Lightly water, cover with a plastic bag, and wait a few days for the seedlings to sprout. Then move the plants to a sunny spot and enjoy before spring has officially sprung.

If your brown thumb is getting in the way of your budding sprouts, email Marlene, the company’s horticulturist, for advice. The eco-friendly business, which gardener-artist Ann Killen launched in her garage ten years ago, is now firmly rooted in a recycled schoolhouse in rural Idaho. Gardens-in-a-Bag are available online and at specialty stores.

$8–$14 pottingshedcreations.com

— Nancy Henderson

DOUBLE TAKE

Some unlikely pairings strike musical gold.

Artistic collaborations that seem more Oscar and Felix than Lennon and McCartney are bound to give us pause. But a recent crop of odd-couple recording projects show how engaging it can be when talented musicians play to their differences.

1. At first blush, there might be no stranger pairing than bluegrass vocalist and fiddle player Alison Krauss and Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant. But from the beginning, Plant has been a student of American musical styles, particularly the blues; on last year’s haunting Raising Sand (Rounder), it shows. Coming together on songs such as The Everly Brothers’ “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),” Krauss and Plant triumph.

2. On All the Roadrunning (Warner Bros., 2006), Dire Straits guitar slinger Mark Knopfler finds a perfect foil in songbird Emmylou Harris. Knopfler penned most of the tunes on this roots-rock release, while Harris, who penned the track “Belle Starr,” adds warmth to Knopfler’s picking and gruff delivery with her honey-hued vocals.

3. Latter-day rockers Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan come from disparate backgrounds: Campbell sang and played cello with the Glaswegian pop outfit Belle and Sebastian, while Lanegan led the Screaming Trees, a hard-rocking Seattle band. Campbell’s angelic voice and Lanegan’s whiskeyed baritone meld on Ballad of the Broken Seas (V2, 2006), a salty, sexy album that owes debts to Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra.

4. When legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea and “newgrass” banjo master Béla Fleck recorded 2007’s The Enchantment (Concord), each had individually earned numerous Grammy awards. Their interplay on this transcendent disc, featuring ten original compositions and the jazzy standard “Brazil,” earned the duo a Latin Grammy for instrumental performance.

— Dan Oko

Photography: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss by Pamela Springsteen, Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler by Fabio Lovino, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan by Autumn De Wilde, Chick Corea and Bela Fleck by Jay Blakesberg.

 

DOGGONE GOOD

Here’s how to dote on Rover.

1. If your dog had a catch phrase, what would it be? Fetching Tags metal pendants are stamped with a saying that exemplifies your pet’s personality. Choose from the Fetching Tags list of witticisms, or you can submit your own. As a bonus, each tag sold benefits canine rescue organizations.
$30 fetchingtags.net

2. Serve up kibble in Bicio’s colorful bowls — one side for food, the other for water. The deceptively sturdy containers come in several happy hues.
$17 suburbandoghouse.com

3. Planet Dog’s Orbee-Tuff balls are made in the U.S. with a compound that makes them buoyant, bouncy, and practically indestructible. The mint-infused veggie-shaped toys, chewy nuts and bolts, and signature orbs keep canine chompers busy for a long time, and you can feel good knowing Planet Dog Foundation supports organizations that train service dogs.
$6 and up planetdog.com

4. Kiehl’s is known for effective, no-nonsense skin and hair care products, and the company’s line of dog grooming products is no exception. Soothing ingredients like chamomile flower extract and palm kernel oil make Spray-N-Play Cleansing Spritz deodorizer and Cuddly-Coat Shampoo and Conditioning Rinse suitable for both long- and short-haired dogs.
$12–$16 kiehls.com

5. Isabella Cane’s coordinated collars and leads are a sophisticated alternative to rhinestone- and rivet-studded collars. Most styles are washable and bacteria-resistant, so they’re as practical as they are pretty.
$28–$42 isabellacane.com

6. Show off handsome and pretty pooches on Castor and Pollux’s “Paw Made” Designer Doggie Labels. Follow the instructions on the Web site to upload a photo; the company then sends a six-pack of Natural Ultramix canned dog food with a customized label featuring your pet’s picture and name.
$25 castorpolluxpet.com

7. The Modern Lounge made by Pet Revolution looks like a sleek contemporary chaise. With its comfy and supportive foam core and soft, machine-washable microsuede cover, it’s a sofa you’ll be happy to let your dog sleep on. Available in medium, large, and extra large.
$188 and up petrevolution.com

— Callie Young

FELT GOOD

Accessorize with the latest in industrial chic.

It’s hard to separate form from function when both form and function are this cool. UM bags from San Francisco–based designer Josh Jakus look like little pieces of Zen garden sculpture, but unzip the zipper that holds the bags together and they lie absolutely flat, making them easy to store and dry-clean. Cut from scrap industrial felt that was headed for the landfill, the bags make good eco-sense too.
$39–$115 joshjakus.com

— Liz Seymour

SWEET STUFF

At dinner, make the last course count.

Looking for that perfect dessert without a bunch of fuss in the kitchen? A hassle-free alternative is dessert wine. These libations are every bit as satisfying to the sweet tooth as a complicated confection. And the recipe is simple: Take one bottle, one corkscrew, and one glass. Remove cork from bottle, pour, and enjoy.

Arrowood 2005 Special Select Late Harvest White Riesling Hoot Owl Creek Vineyards ($35)
Lovely isn’t a word favored by real cork dorks, but it certainly describes this luscious, honeyed wine, redolent of ripe peaches and with a finish that lingers on the taste buds.

Beringer 2004 Nightingale ($40)
This blend of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, doused with the “noble rot” of botrytis, is more honeysuckle than honey, a lighter but still lush wine with a hint of bitter orange on the finish.

Château Guiraud 2003 Sauternes ($35)
All the subtlety and balance that French winemakers are known for are here. A lively acidity and minerality complement gorgeous orange blossom and pear flavors.

Inniskillin 2006 Vidal Ice Wine ($65)
Made from grapes actually frozen on the vine, this extraordinary selection is another triumph of the Canadian ice wine specialist. As thick and rich as just-harvested honey, it’s a stunner.

Quady 2006 Elysium ($16)
Truly the black sheep of the group, Quady’s Black Muscat dessert wine isn’t all honey and syrup but rather a light, refreshing breath of sweet-spicy blueberries.

— Bill Citara

Photography by Con Poulos/Food Pix/Jupiter

BRIGHT IDEA

This designer lamp glows with good taste.

Best known for iconic modern furniture, Herman Miller, Inc., has just come out with a new lamp that sets a standard in eco-friendliness. The Leaf Personal Light’s illumination comes from LED chips that have a 100,000-hour life span and are 40 percent more energy-efficient than compact fluorescents. Controls on the base adjust both the brightness of the light and the warmth or coolness of the light color. Available in red, white, nickel, black, and, for a few dollars more, polished aluminum.
$525 hermanmiller.com

— Liz Seymour

Since its introduction to the Herman Miller line in 2006, the Leaf Personal Light has earned a slew of accolades — Architectural Record, Popular Science, and Time have all lauded its sleek, innovative design. The lamp is the result of a collabo- ration between Herman Miller and noted industrial designer Yves Béhar (whose fuseproject firm has put a distinctive stamp on brands such as Birkenstock, HP, Swarovski, and the MINI). Béhar has described the Leaf as a “fusion of technology with humanity.”

 

SETTING PRETTY

An everyday object gets an artful spin.

Popular in the 1960s, melamine tableware — lightweight, dishwasher safe, and virtually unbreakable — is hot again. New from Working Class Studio, rectangular Roots & Shoots sandwich-and-sides plates feature a design of natural branches and curly stylized typography; put the four unique plates together and they depict a single growing tree.
$48 (for a set of four) workingclassstudio.com

— Liz Seymour

OVER THE TOP

A sweet and final touch

Most of the civilized world knows that a soft-serve ice-cream cone isn’t worth a lick without a roll in the sprinkles — or jimmies, if you hail from Boston, Philly, or the Midwest. While the candy-coated dessert topping is indisputably popular, its true name and origins are up for debate.

The story goes that in the 1930s, the Just Born Candy Company of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, employed a man named Jimmy Bartholomew to run the machinery that cranked out “chocolate grains.” The novel topping stuck to ice cream, and “Jimmy” stuck as the name. This all-American story might be just that — in a 1986 NPR interview, Boston poet John Ciardi fondly recalled plunking down a nickel for jimmies on his ice cream back in 1922.

The truth about where sprinkles came from will probably never be known, but no matter: Here is one condiment that’s culturally transcendent. As culinary historian Joanne Lamb Hayes puts it, “For an adult, standing before an ice cream counter at the end of a hard day is a nostalgic moment. No matter the circumstances, you still have the power to choose between chocolate and rainbow.”

— Robert Klara

Lights Fantastic
Made of a nontoxic mix of salts, metals, and citric acid crystals, the aptly named Rainbow Moments candles glow red, green, purple, blue, orange, and white, and they last as long as regular birthday candles. The icing on the cake: They’re super easy to blow out. In addition to party candles, Rainbow Moments makes tea lights, tapers, lamp oil, and colorful animal pillows. rainbowmomentscandles.com or momastore.org

— Liz Seymour

Photo of ice cream cone: Brian Leatart/Foodpix.com/Jupiter Images

CONNECT THE DOTS

This clever tool helps you keep it together.

Talk about magnetic attraction. Desk Dots, ceramic magnets posing as sleek black spheres, boast enough power to clasp half an inch of paper between them. These versatile office accessories have a hidden agenda, too: When they’re not organizing your mail, holding business cards, or serving as elegant photo holders, you can use Desk Dots to have fun and de-stress. Pluck a few from your desktop and play for a while to recharge your creativity, then reassemble them into a radical mini-sculpture or coax them into a clever shape for a presentation your client won’t be expecting.
$20 for pack of six dynomighty.com

— Nancy Henderson