Man Made DIY

There are drinks that are fairly easy to serve, such as beer and wine, as you simply need to open and pour. Many spirits can be enjoyed in nearly the same way: whiskey neat, brandy in a glass, sake warmed. There are the highballs that are fairly easy to figure out: the vodka cranberry, rum and Coke, gin and tonic. There are the drinks that are so open to interpretation, you'll likely never make them the same way twice: the Bloody Mary comes to mind, as does any number of adverturous use-what-you-have mixes.

But then, there are the classic cocktails, those time-proven combinations that have proven themselves for decades. Besides being tasty, these have emerged as the standards for a reason: they're made from typical ingredients that you can find easily, at any store, and probably should be keeping in your own home bar.

They're so essential, I'm making the claim that every man should have these recipes memorized so he can shake one up at a moment's notice. Trust me, you want to be that guy that knows how to mix drinks: at a get together, after a date, at a work function or meeting. None of these are particularly difficult to commit to memory, and once you've got 'em, you've got 'em, and they'll never go out of style… read more

Sooner or later, you're gonna have to do it. It may be because you lost a little weight, and now it's time to notch over one more, and you're plumb out of holes. Maybe it'll be due to the fact that different pairs of pants sit on your body at different places. Or it may be that you'll simply had that belt for a little while, and the leather has stretched a bit. 

But, at some point, you're gonna have to punch a hole in a belt. And if you do it right, it can look perfectly in line with the others, like it's been there the entire time.  … read more

Over the last few years, I've become fascinated with fermentation. I love the idea that you can purposefully use little microbes to make food taste awesome, and that many foodstuffs are actually only possible by can actually encouraging bacteria and yeasts to grow in your food. 

Nothing represents naturally fermented foods like kimchi, the family of fermented vegetable pickles from Korea. The most familiar is napa cabbage kimchi, or baechu, which is quite easy to make at home using mostly supermarket ingredients and a few Asian specialities. It's loads of fun, requires no canning equipment or special yeasts, and can be made easily in your home kitchen. If you've got a batch of kimchi in the fridge, you've got dinner.

Wanna make some? Let's!  … read more

Last weekend, in an effort to reorganize my media collection to make space for new books, I sorted through at least three hundred CDs and a hundred DVDs and cut my collection by at least seventy-five percent.

The collection which I, on the day before, had understood to have been already pared down to the bare minimum. Every year of my post-college life, I've forced myself to go through and get rid of records and movies and books that I simply don't use anymore. Everytime, it's hard and sad, and I feel better afterwards, but I imagine: okay...that's it. These are my essential collection. And the next time, I'm able to cut back even more.

So, I'm curious: In the era of streaming media and the cloud and huge hard drives, what's the status of physical entertainment in your home? Do you still buy CDs and DVDs, or only digital downloads? Have you made the switch from paper books to an eReader? Do you find it easier to get rid of newer purchases, or things you've owned for a while?   … read more

With Valentine's Day occurring in the middle of next week, many couples will be headed out this weekend to celebrate. Whether such plans are on your radar, or you're generally interested in looking snazzy without seeming like you just came from a sales meeting, we thought we'd share some basic ideas and tips to, well, nail it.    … read more