There are three things to remember when it comes to good risotto: stir, stir, stir.

Pour a decent sized dollop of olive oil into a large heavy bottomed pot and set the burner to approx. 6 or 7. Add the minced onion and saute until translucent then add the rice. Let the rice saute for a minute or two then add white wine. This will boil off rapidly. As soon as it does add about a 1/2 cup of the broth of your choice. I used chicken broth but it would work equally well with vegetable broth. Continue adding the broth until the rice starts to soften up and has about doubled in size.

Add the ham.

Continue to add the broth about a half cup at a time until the rice is almost done. You can try a “bite” test. If the rice is hard, it needs more time and broth. The rice should be mostly soft but have a slightly hard center when you add the peppers and peas.

When you’ve added the vegetables, add the last of the broth and keep stirring for another few minutes. Try the rice again. It should be soft but have a pleasing resistance in the middle. This is called “al dente,” literally, to the tooth, and means the rice is done cooking. Stir in the butter and Parmesan and taste for seasoning like salt and pepper. Serve topped with a generous amount of basil ribbons. Instead of cutting the basil with a knife, I like to use kitchen sheers to snip it into perfect ribbons.

Slice the cauliflower in half then break it up into large segments of florets. Slice these into bite size pieces. A flat surface makes it much easier for the pieces of cauliflower to come into full contact with the heat of the pan and it will caramelize more intensely. Prepare the rest of the ingredients as mentioned above. In Germany, bacon is sold already diced but you could achieve the same effect by buying thick sliced bacon then cutting it up yourself. If it seems too fatty, trim some of the excess away.

Set a large pot filled with water on the stove. Add a good handful of salt (I like sea salt) and turn up the heat to bring it to a boil.

Add a couple of glugs of olive to a large sauté pan. Set your stove to medium high. When the pan is hot add the cauliflower. You want it just hot enough to brown the cauliflower when left untouched for a minute or two but not hot enough to burn it. So check to see whether or not you need to adjust your heat. You don’t want to be stirring constantly, only once every few minutes or so. Once the cauliflower has started to brown add the sliced onion. Give it a good stir and let it begin to caramelize as well.

About here is when I usually add the pasta to the water. But that depends a lot on what kind of pasta you’ve chosen. I like spaghetti for this recipe which only takes about 7-8 minutes to cook.

When both the cauliflower and onions are golden brown add the bacon and let it crisp up for a minute or two. Add the garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds or so then add the chicken broth. Let that simmer for just a minute then add the peas. These should cook just long enough to get the cold out of them not to the point when they start to shrivel and pucker.

Drain the pasta and put it in a serving bowl. Taste the sauce to see if it needs more salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well. Sprinkle with fresh parmasan and serve. I also like to add more parmasan to each individual serving.

• olive oil
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 fillets anchovies, minced
• 1 1/2 c. risotto rice
• 400 gr. broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 500 ml. fish broth
• 750 gr. mixed seafood
• 5-7 sprigs of fresh thyme
• zest of one lemon & half the juice
• knob of butter

Add a generous dollop of olive oil to the large solid base pan (that comes with your steam oven) and spread it around to cover the entire bottom. Next, add shallots then pop them into the oven set at a combination of hot air & steam at 160 C. for 10 minutes. While that’s cooking you can pull the thyme leaves off their stems and mince your garlic and anchovies. If you don’t like anchovies, you may be tempted to skip them but I don’t recommend it. They melt and add a wonderfully rich, smokey flavor to the risotto and frankly, I dare anyone that didn’t see you put them in, to be able to identify the flavor.

When that beeps, take it out of the oven and add rice, garlic & anchovies, wine, broth, salt and pepper (about a teaspoon of each). Stir and put it back in the oven. Set it to 100% steam at 100 C. for 10 minutes. While that’s cooking you can chop the broccoli into bit sized florets and place them in the small perforated pan.

After the oven signals it’s finished with that round, stir in the thyme and put the risotto mixture and the pan with the broccoli into the oven. I moved the risotto down a shelf and put the broccoli above it. Steam at 100 c. for 5 minutes.

While it’s cooking chop your fish into bite sized pieces and zest your lemon. When the oven signals it’s finished add the broccoli, lemon zest and fish to the rice, mix well and return to the oven to steam for another 10 minutes at 100 C.

As soon as the oven let’s you know it’s done cooking take the risotto out, stir in the butter and lemon juice. Taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper, and serve.

Normally risotto is served with a little Parmesan cheese except with seafood dishes, because the Italians never mix seafood and cheese. So I suggest you do as they do and forgo it as well – you’ll never miss it.

I have to confess, I’m a pack-rat. Not a hoarding, mountain of stuff kind of pack-rat, but none-the-less, our house could use some de-cluttering. I know, it’s so tempting to tuck away that ribbon from this year’s Christmas presents, or save the plastic containers that your cottage cheese comes in, but the truth is they’re just taking up valuable space in your home, which is depreciating the quality of your square footage and your life. You can’t think straight while winding your way through piles of stacked books and newspapers. In fact, you’re actually using extreme powers of navigation that are messing up your target radar. The target being, clearing a path to a clutter free home.

For me, the three areas of my home that need the most help are the foyer, kitchen and of course, the closets.  They just seem to have a magnetic attraction to “stuff”.  So, that’s what I’m going to concentrate on in this article.

The hardest part about getting organized is getting started. So, with that in mind, I’m going to list some of my favorite tips for getting clutter free.

The most logical place to start is when you walk in the front door. Your foyer is not only the entrance to your home but also the first place you throw your keys and mail, and set down your purse. But just because it needs to act as a way station from your home to the world doesn’t mean it can’t be functional and pretty.

Depending on how much space you have, consider:

• putting in a chest with lots of drawers. At the minimum you’ll be able to store all the above mentioned items, and at best you might even find some room for other necessaries like gloves, scarves, your dog’s leash and treats, your kid’s library card…
• use a console table. There are so many beautiful console tables. Make sure you get one with a drawer or two, under it you’ll have room for a couple of upholstered storage ottomans. This is actually one of my favorite looks; very practical and very pretty!
• hanging rows of hooks. These are really useful for narrow or small foyers. They’re great for hanging coats, leashes, tote bags and backpacks. Above the hooks make sure to install a floating shelf. On this you can put a pretty box to hold your keys and other small items. The shelf should be at the height of a normal table top. Because the hooks are below it, they’ll be lower than eye level and therefore not the first thing you see when you walk in. That’s why a shelf arranged with pretty and useful accessories is necessary. To make your foyer even more useful hang a large mirror over the shelf so you and your guest can make one last check before you head out the door.
• a storage bench. These have sort of a country, casual feel and come with either cubbies or cabinets. Top it off with some pretty cushions that match your color scheme so you have a comfy place to sit down an put on your shoes or zip up your child’s coat. Don’t let the space above it go to waste, either. Above it you can hang some shelves or cubbies for even more storage. Don’t forget a couple of hooks to hang your coats either!

TIP: If you’re tight on space consider using a half moon console or chest. These are half round and because they don’t have any corners, are much more practical for small foyers. On the other hand if you have a large area to fill, put a round table (with a drawer, naturally) right in the middle. Top it with a beautiful vase of flowers or a sculpture.

I love fancy olive oils and vinegars. Anyone who walks into my kitchen can see that’s true from the number of bottles lining my counter. Well, they better take a good look, because in the new year, that’s all going to change. I’m going to make my kitchen gleaming, beautiful and functional! One thing I’ve already done is add shelf organizers to the insides of my cabinets. They’ve actually doubled the space I used to have (which is good, because I like pretty dishes, too).

And if you’re considering remodeling your kitchen (as we are) then make sure to use drawers under your counters instead of cabinets.  They are so much more functional.  Instead of having to get down on your hands and knees and search at the back of cabinet for your blender, you just pull open the drawer.  Pull out pantries are great, too.

If you’re like me, then you could use a few organizational ideas in your kitchen, too. Consider:

• using the wasted space between the top of your dishes and your shelves inside your cabinets. You can hang storage for all your saran and tin foil, etc.
• the space behind your cabinet doors. There’s actually a good few inches which is plenty of room to hang a spice rack.
• use a lazy-susan. This is really helpful, especially if you have deep shelves or cabinets.
• insert a utensil organizer in all your drawers. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it will be to find ladles and spatulas when they’re not all jumbled together. You could also put a spice rack in your drawer next to your stove.
• The space under your cabinets is valuable, too. You can use it to hang paper towels.
• get an organizer for all those plastic grocery bags, this way you’ll always have them handy when you need them. Make sure to hang it out of site!
• Hang or use a wall mounted pot rack. These give kitchens a professional look and say “serious cooks, cook here”.
• mount a magnetic knife bar. The one of the right is pretty enough to mount right on your wall instead of hiding it away on the back of a cabinet door.

I don’t know who thought up the concept of one pole closets (the pole you hang your clothes on) but I think they are extremely inefficient. They let so much space go to waste. Any well organized closet will have a number of different types of storage, like shelves, crates, drawers, and hooks.

You’ll need to commit a good several hours to the task of organizing your closet and have a few things at the ready, like trash bags or boxes. these are for you to use for separating the clothes you want to keep, from those that your either want to donate or, if they’re not in good enough shape for that, to throw out. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Remove all the clothes from your closet
2. Go through them with a sharp and honest eye. Enlist the help of a stylish friend, sibling or spouse to help you with this task (they’ll probably really enjoy this) and tell them to ignore any whimpering sounds you may emit while they help you make your closet a more enjoyable space for your clothes..
3. Separate your clothes into 3 piles: Keep, Maybe, & Good Bye
4. Put the keepers on hangers unless they’re knits. Any knitted item that can be easily stretched out by hanging should be folded and either placed on a shelf or into drawers.
5. If you have some items that, for sentimental reasons, you feel like you just can’t part with, I have a couple of suggestions. One. You could frame it or take a picture of it and frame that. Two. You could turn it (or part of it) into a pillow.

I’m sure you’ve heard that a woman can never have too many shoes or handbags. Well, I’m here to tell you that that’s simply not true. So, here’s my simple advice for keeping your closet looking neat without ever having to do another major purge. For every new item that you buy, get rid of an old one.

While you’re at it, there are quite a few space saving items you can use to better organize your closets such as:

• Ultra thin hangers. I switched to these about three years ago. Buy the ones covered in velvet and your clothes won’t slip off. They’re only a little thick than a wire hanger but then look 10 times better and they’re stronger, too! Hangers also have the advantage of keeping your clothes wrinkle free – that is unless they’re all smashed together.
• Those vacuum storage bags really work. They’re great for guest bedding and winter clothes. You’ll be amazed at how many seemingly bulky things fit into one bag but even more than that, you’ll love all the extra new room in your closet.
• Use hooks to hang hand bags, scarves and necklaces.
• Keep the original cartons from your shoes, take a picture of the shoe, then tape, or glue it, to the outside of the box so you know at a glance which shoes are in the box without having to open it. Boxes are much easier to stack then shoes! If you no longer have the original carton you can buy clear storage containers for your shoes.