On Ya Bike
Need to get your pushie off the floor to conserve space, or is your fixie such a thing of beauty it deserves to hang on the wall like art? Unlike most wall mounts for bikes, the DaHÄNGER allows the bike to be hung from its seat, rather than through the bike’s frame. And its built-in storage cubby is a perfect place for your stack hat.
Taking Control
Never again be aggravated by cables that slip off and disappear behind your desk. These little CableDrops grasp peripheral cables, keeping them in place, routed and within easy reach. Peel and affix to desks, walls and bedside tables to keep your cables ready when you are.
The Elephant In The Room
A runny nose isn’t always a bad thing! Pop this cute but clever Jumbo onto your kitchen sink for cutlery or bathroom basin for toothbrushes. The runoff water is collected and funnelled down its trunk and back into the sink.
Haven review
Money is always a tricky subject to broach, especially when you’ve just found the love of your life. But money expert Paul Clitheroe says it’s never too early to have the conversation. This book is a practical guide to managing money at all stages of a relationship. An agreement on a financial plan will help eliminate money-related arguments during a relationship, and being clear-headed about money means you can protect your assets if you decide to go your separate ways. Clitheroe covers topics such as setting a household budget, investing together, consolidating debt as a couple and whose name to put the mortgage in, and then moves onto the cost and processes of divorce, whether to sell the family home to buy two smaller houses and dividing assets (including super) without using money on lawyers or legal proceedings.
Penguin RRP $19.99
Haven food
The perfect cheese board
Nothing pleases quite like a well-curated cheese board. Follow these tips the next time you serve cheese to guarantee you’ll look like a true fromage aficionado.
Select: the first thing to remember is to aim for a balance of textures (soft to hard), flavours (mild to strong), colours and shapes. Most cheeses fall into one of four categories: soft (creamy brie, camembert and Brillat-Savarin), firm (Manchego and Parmigiano-Reggiano), aged (Gouda, cheddar and Gruyère) or blue (Stilton, Gorgonzola). While blue cheese doesn’t appeal to all, a good cheese board should always include one. To be safe, be sure to include at least one familiar cheese (like an aged cheddar). To avoid overwhelming the palate, serve between three and five cheeses.
Accompany: A good rule here is that opposites attract – an oozing brie loves a crispy cracker, a salty cheese marries best with a sweet fruit paste. Offer a selection of breads: sliced baguette, whole-grain artisan, nut and fruit studded bread and crackers in all shapes and sizes. Fruit is arguably the best accompaniment to cheese – serve with fresh sliced apple, jammy figs, grapes, dried apricots and muscatels, plus honey, preserves or fruit paste (quince is particularly good) and nuts like almonds and walnuts. Items like cornichons, pickles and sundried tomatoes also work for a savoury hit.
Serve: Take your cheeses out of the fridge an hour before serving – the cold neutralises the taste and ruins the creaminess that soft cheeses are renowned for. For visual impact, a well laid cheese board (or platter, or marble slab) should feature cheeses in different shapes and sizes – wheels, wedges and squares. You might like to sit each cheese next to the accompaniment it pairs with, such as blue cheese with honey and aged cheddar with plum paste. It’s ideal to start with the mildest cheese and work up to the strongest, so position them in this sequence on the board. If you have a particularly stinky cheese, separate it from its neighbours (on its own small board or plate) so its pungency doesn’t taint more delicate cheeses served alongside. And always provide two or three cheese knives.
Remember, don’t be scared to try something new. It might smell like an old sock, but give it a try – you might just fall in love!
