Incorporating a salad into your regular diet is as essential  to modern living as a blackberry or air conditioning. The greens and reds are packed full of minerals, vitamins and free radical fighting anti oxidants.

Trouble is, most salad dressings on the market are high in fat, sugar and processing chemicals, and are often as unhealthy as the junk food you were trying to avoid in the first place. The good news is, salad dressing can be made at home: healthier, fresher options that cost less.

Italian Dressing ½ Cup Vinegar Tabasco Sauce 2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice Minced Garlic Salt to taste Mix all ingredients together

Defining the Space (2) 

The end of one year and  the beginning of a new one signals change, and for women and other home lovers, a time to add and subtract around the place towards achieving the ideal living space.

Last week, we discussed the 5 items that can instantly transform a living space. Before this can make any difference however, it is essential to have a good idea  what you want your space to be about. In other words, a theme.

In general, most living spaces would fall mostly one of these categories:-

Warm and Cosy (Relaxation)

Cosy means comfortable. In a living room, throws for armchairs and sofas, scatter cushions and floor cushions can make the space inviting and perfect for relaxation.

. Layer darker, earthier accessories over the lighter base.  Think browns, dark jewel-tones, and wood.  Replace lampshades with darker or patterned ones to warm up the light in the space.

. Adding in throws and blankets to seating is a no-brainer.

. Bring in cozy fabrics in pillows, throws, and drapes like velvet, corduroy, or fur.  Even ruffles – which are everywhere in decor right now – add fluff.

Rearrange your seating to cluster around something.  Nothing says cozy like clustering your seating closer to illicit cozy conversation.

Gay marriage: Really, are other matters more important?

A lot of people are cross with the National Assembly. To be honest, there is nothing so strange about that. What is strange is the subject matter responsible for the rumbling: Gay marriage rights.

Somehow,  the subject of whether or not people of the same sex ought to be allowed to sign the  rather than be reactive and wait until it becomes an issue, the Senate president David Mark- who, by the way is fast becoming an elder statesman, quite a way from his telephone-not-for-the-rich days- decided to be rather proactive on behalf of his team and what does he do? He pre-empts things.

Stirring the hornet’s nest is never what it is construed to be. Rather than our deeply religious population thanking these guys in Abuja for snatching us from being devoured through the jaws of the monstrous Sodom of the modern day, it is busy whining as usual, about how there are more important things for the National Assembly to be talking about than our future morals and- dare we say- sovereignty, with the global moneyed guys threatening we either get liberal or perish.

Like what, one wonders. Like whether the World Bank still has a right to be planting stooges in our government whose main raison d’etre in the first place appear to be removal of fuel subsidies; or why, after twelve years of new civil rule, the Sagamu-Benin road has become unfixable.

We all know how unlikely it is that such a debate would exist to a logical extent, within those uneasy chambers.

.  Use rugs to warm up a conversation area.  Experiment with layering a smaller Persian over a  larger sisal, or create your own unique rug with floor tiles