Photo: Claire Lower

Asparagus is a spring icon. It’s green, fresh and at the same time bitter, sweet and slightly grassy. Really good, seasonal asparagus doesn’t need much to cook. In fact, too much heat can destroy its more delicate properties.

Completely raw asparagus is of course not entirely right either. Without a certain temperature control, the grassy taste can be too pronounced, making you feel like you are eating lawn waste rather than a delicious seasonal treat.

So if my friend Farmer Dan I was intrigued by a picture of lemon marinated asparagus in his Instagram stories. Instead of blanching the stems and then coating them with a mixture of oil and acid, he kept it a lot easier. I wanted to learn more about his method – mainly to see if it was blanched or not – and he was kind enough to explain his almost entirely sour marinade:

I haven’t blanched. Just added rice vinegar and / or lemon juice salt and pepper, [and] thinly sliced ​​shallot or garlic. After a few days in the marinade, the shallot taste became very strong. No oil. Just add oil at cooking time. It stayed pretty crispy even after days. Fry them on a hot pan without moving them until they are warm browned on one side. I was nice and crispy.

When I tried Dan’s method, I found that the acidity made the asparagus tender like a quick blanch would, just without heat. After a full day, the stalks were still pretty crispy, but not so crispy that they were uncomfortable to eat. After two days they were perfectly tender and crispy with a pronounced shallot taste. They kept that texture and taste until they were all gone (about four days).

The toothy crunch and the bitter taste reminded me of it quick pickles, albeit much, much slower, so I started calling them “slow cucumbers”. You can eat them raw in salads, which I did, or you can quickly cook them over high heat like Dan does. Both are very good options. The nice thing about this preparation method is that your asparagus is always ready for anything – just grab it when you need it.

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To make this marinated spring treasure, chop your asparagus into 1 1/2 inch pieces (or smaller if you’d like), then toss them in a freezer bag with your marinade and let everyone get to know each other for at least 24 hours. The exact amounts of each ingredient are entirely up to you, but I’d start with at least half a cup of acid for a bunch of asparagus (I used at least 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice and rice vinegar), at least half a shallot, at least 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste. I also added half a teaspoon of sugar, although Dan didn’t recommend it, and I’ll do it again. (Don’t sleep on the shallots either – they’re a boon in themselves.)

Photo: oleksboiko (Shutterstock)

It’s time to break a fitness myth. I remember being specifically taught, as if it were a fact that my life might one day depend on, that you should never train the same muscle for two days in a row. As it turns out, there is no such natural law. You can train what you want, when you want.

The version I heard looked something like this: After you use a muscle, it needs to recover. Exercise breaks down the muscle tissue and recovery time repairs it, so you’ll have to alternate both. Either you wouldn’t build muscle, or you would injure yourself, or maybe both. The fact that I was sore at times the day after a workout seems to confirm the idea. Best to skip if you’re still sore, right? ((It is not.)

I’ve believed this for years without ever having a particular reason to believe it, plus it’s what everyone has always said. This led to a number of questionable decisions, such as planning a training schedule for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then throwing it out the window if I missed Monday’s workout. I couldn’t do it on Tuesday because then I would train Tuesday and Wednesday! Which would ruin everything.

But I should have seen through it. After all, we only use our muscles every day for activities of daily living. You’re not in bed on Tuesday just because you went for a walk on Monday. And even if you think of harder work, what about people whose work involves manual labor? Does every farm worker, every member of a construction team, every carpenter plan a day of rest after each working day? Of course not, and that should tell us something.

In the meantime, the process of muscle breakdown and repair does not take place every 24 hours. Some body adjustments to exercise take days or even weeks, and we don’t have to wait for them to finish before we can lift again.

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What actually happens if you train the same muscle two days in a row?

Not much. You get two days of training. Sometimes you feel a little weaker on the second day, which is fine there Training days are not test days. You lift what you can and you just keep getting stronger.

What options do I really have?

If you only have two or three days a week to do strength training, the first thing to do is do a full body exercise so that you hit all of your muscle groups more than once a week. And it makes sense to plan these days as much as possible. A rest day between training days is not required, but it is convenient so that you can start each workout relatively fresh.

Or maybe you prefer the idea of ​​breaking down your workout by body part. This is an idea that became popular At the time when bodybuilding and weight lifting branched out into different sports. The Olympic lifts all work your whole body, but if your goal is only to sculpt your body parts for their looks, you can give each body part its own special day at the gym. Nowadays, it’s common to do a 5-day split focusing on a different set of muscles each day (chest on Monday, back on Tuesday, etc.), or splitting workouts into upper and lower body days, or pushing and pulling days. These are all good ways to help spread out the work you do during the week.

Or, you can do full body workouts as many days a week as you want. Taking a long weekend for a vacation? Stack your three full body days side by side so you have four days off.

Or let’s say you want to switch from a 3-day training plan (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) to a 4-day training plan (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday). As long as you are careful about where to place your heaviest days of the week, this is most likely fine.

For the past few years I’ve been training five or six days a week and not breaking my lifts by muscle group, so pretty much every workout is a full body workout. It’s absolutely fine. I can’t believe I used to be scared of this.

What rules do you have to follow?

To exercise your whole body on a daily basis, there are just a few things you need to consider.

The most important is whether your overall workload is reasonable for what your body is used to. If you’re used to doing two full-body workouts every week and you think you might want to do six, it’s probably pretty miserable to make that switch overnight. But if you do three, you will likely get along well with four. And once you get used to four, you can easily jump to five.

Another thing to remember is that you don’t need to avoid fatigue, but you can plan smartly. I deadlift on my last heavy day of the week, either Friday or Saturday. And then on Monday, after I had the weekend to relax, snapshots happen, the elevator where I need my coordination and reaction time the most. I also remember that during the week the tiredness increases, so I put an easy day somewhere in the middle to give myself a break.

In other words, your body is resilient. You need to make sure you don’t work too hard, but it can adjust to a higher level of work over time. It is not strictly tied to calendar days. So play with your schedule to see what works best for you.

Photo: IkeHayden (Shutterstock)

The color that adorns my living room walls is light yellow and known as “lemon ice cream”. It goes perfectly with my decor and is a big step further than the marigold color I had when I moved in. In the years since I was painting, I’ve kept the leftover paint in my closet to make tiny scuffs and touch-ups that is scratching and keeping my walls fresh. But how long can I count on a permanent backup supply?

It seems like a can of paint should last forever. Like that can of beans your parents have been hoarding since 2000, it is stored in an airtight can with the lid closed. And it’s just a bunch of chemicals; how could it ever get bad? According to experts, paint is durable – but when I open my annual paint and stir it up, it looks brand new to me. So how do you know when it’s time to throw away the old paint and pick up a new can? Here are some signs to tell you when your color is past its prime.

By the numbers

If, like me, you can’t tell if the color is good from just looking at it, then when a certain amount of time has passed, assume that the expiration date has passed. Lucas London, CEO and Co-Founder of the Design Site Lick, told Real houses The paint should ideally be used up within six months of opening. If you stay longer, the paint may lose its sheen and your touch-ups won’t blend in with the wall and you may need to repaint a larger area.

Usually the label on a paint can lists the date it was mixed along with the formula the paint was made with. If more than six months have passed and you’d rather buy a new can than risk repainting multiple times, discard the paint but save the label (or take a picture of it) so you can have another Can of the same brand can be mixed in the same way.

This six month lifespan is also not a guarantee. as Consumer Reports states “Leftover latex paint can last years, even a decade, or go bad in just a few months.” To find out if it’s good or not, you have to open it up and take a look – or sniff it.

Observe the consistency and smell

When you open your old can, pay attention to the smell of the paint (no, I’m not telling you to snort paint). If the paint gives off that familiar chemical smell of … paint, you should be fine. However, according to the Home Guide Site SFGate If you smell a pungent, rancid odor, the paint has gone bad and must be thrown away.

Consistency is also important: you may notice that a thick, rubbery, or oily layer has risen to the top. Mix the liquid thoroughly with a paint stirrer. If it comes back together smoothly and stays that way after 10 to 15 minutes, it’s probably still good. notes consumer reports. If the oil and paint separate again or do not mix at all, but look more like lumpy sour milk, this cannot be saved.

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Unopened paint cans also have different shelf lives

What if you bought a can but never mixed it? Home improvement side HomeStars notes that unopened acrylic and water-based acrylic paints can last up to ten years, while oil paints can last up to fifteen years. “Unopened paint maintains its liquid and semi-solid ratio, so it’s okay to use it after a long time. As soon as the can is opened and exposed to air, this ratio begins to change, ”they explain.

Where you keep the paint can affect its longevity

The paint should be stored in a cool, dry place and sealed appropriately by tapping the metal cap back with a rubber mallet (you don’t want to use a regular hammer as it can dent the lid and reopen the can. A. Pain). To keep the color fresh, do-it-yourselfer dealers True value It is recommended that you put plastic wrap over the opening of the can before putting the lid back on. Then store the can upside down to prevent air from entering. (You probably really want to be sure that you have securely closed the can before attempting this.)

TrueValue also points out the importance of protecting the paint from extreme cold or heat. If you left it on the back porch, in a shed, in an unheated garage, or any other location exposed to the elements, the chemical makeup of the paint may have changed, rendering it unusable.

If you find that your paint is beyond salvage, then this is definitely the place to be Dispose of it properly. Cell phone man Bob Vila recommends adding sawdust to the can to dry out any leftover paint and contacting your local waste disposal service for an environmentally friendly way to dispose of the can.

Photo: Dean Drobot (Shutterstock)

There are few things more alienating than being in a relationship with someone who isn’t talking to you. The permanent stone wall can feel crazy; When someone gives you the silent treatment, it becomes easy for your mind to run amok and race through frantic thoughts about what you did wrong.

If done with malicious intent then silent treatment is a really abusive behavioral tactic that is often used to make someone feel bad or to change their behavior for the benefit of the offender. Fortunately, the silence can be broken. There are ways to control this type of passive-aggressive behavior with targeted communication.

What is the silent treatment?

You probably know the term. It boils down to a person in a relationship ignoring a significant other, friend, child, or family member for an extended period of time. Occasionally, the person doing this may not even state why they fell silent.

As Joel Cooper, Princeton professor of psychology told the Atlantic Earlier this year, silent treatment deprived people of one of their most basic, instinctive needs.

Since we humans need social contact for our mental health, the consequences of isolation can be severe … In the short term, the silent treatment causes stress. In the long term, the stress can be viewed as abuse.

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There is no universal reason someone might stop all verbal communication, but a fundamental facet of silent treatment, when it occurs, is due more to the silent person’s own problems than to anything else. Daryl Austin writes in The Atlantic that different personality types use silent treatment for different reasons:

The silent treatment can be used by passive personality types to avoid conflict and confrontation, while strong personality types use it for punishment or control. Some people may not even make a conscious choice.

In essence, silent treatment is a harmful (non-) communication tactic that is often intended to be in control of other people by sowing doubt, confusion, and fear. Occasionally, the silent person will be emotionally overwhelmed and not know how to put their feelings into words. Even if it’s not that diabolical, the latter reason can still have dire consequences: A study written in 2014 by Paul Schrodt, a professor at Texas Christian University, found that it was a Harbinger of Divorce for Married Couples.

How do I know if it’s abusive?

If you are in a committed relationship and are experiencing the cold shoulder for the first time, it is best to evaluate the signs of abuse. As Healthline points out, there are several that point to the spread of silent treatment in abusive territory.

Some of the hallmarks of abuse end with the victim apologizing or changing their behavior just to break the wall of silence. Healthline explains:

It is common and takes longer.

It comes from a place of punishment, not a need to cool off or regroup.

It only ends when you apologize, plead, or give in to demands.

You have changed your behavior to avoid silent treatment.

What can be done about the silent treatment?

One way to address the problem is to call them directly, but never in an accusatory or hostile manner. The psychiatrist Elizabeth Gordon recently said fatherly that someone on the receiving end should use I-statements that clarify how the speaker is feeling. You can do this by saying, for example, “I’ve noticed that you’ve been very calm lately” or “It feels like you’re going to shut me out”.

A fairly dubious way to address the problem might be to wait it out, hoping it’ll be over. This could theoretically work if your partner is just working through something on their own that they will eventually leave behind.

If it doesn’t, you may have to resort to raw, emotional honesty. If you express yourself that this hurts, you are likely to be as effective as hoping the problem will resolve itself, if not more. And as the psychologist Andrea F. Pollard wrote Psychology todayIt might help you become compassionate about the silent person.

She wrote:

Remember that whoever uses the silent treatment cannot think of any other remedy. That too suffers. Realizing the suffering of the other makes you feel less bullied and more willing to offer something empathy, a hug or a guide.

Or of course, if this is a consistent pattern in your relationship, it is recommended that you seek appropriate help to determine the root causes of the problem. When all else fails and the wall of silence cannot be broken down, it may be time to end the relationship.