Table of contents for January 2016 in Sunset

THERE'S NOTHING like a cross-country move to teach you what you can live without. Throughout the often arduous process of relocating my family of four from Brooklyn, New York, back to the West Coast—a wonderful homecoming, as I served as Sunset's executive editor from 2004 to 2008—this is what I repeated to myself as a mantra: Change is good. Change is hard. Change is necessary. Not that I was exactly Kerouac or Thoreau, but I did discover the beauty in paring down and traveling light. Instead of physical possessions, I found myself gravitating toward digital tools that became my touchpoints for a life lived in motion. There was San Francisco-based Thumbtack (thumbtack.com), an online marketplace for hiring everything from movers to personal trainers. Headspace (headspace.com), a platform that takes the…

CALIFORNIA Glass Beach, in Fort Bragg, about 170 miles north of San Francisco, has long been famed for its multicolored sea glass tumbled smooth by the ocean. One caveat: "Look but don't take" is the rule here. fortbragg.com/explore/glass-beach. About 90 miles north of Fort Bragg, Shelter Cove's Black Sands Beach (above) catches tons of driftwood, sand dollars, and flotsam like Japanese tsunami debris. redwoods.info. OREGON Just north of Newport proper, Beverly Beach State Park produces an abundance of fossils (clams, snails, bone) and petrified wood lying loose in the sand. oregonstateparks.org. Hard-core beachcombers swear by Crescent Beach at Ecola State Park, outside Cannon Beach, for shells, driftwood, and fishing floats from Asia. $5; oregonstateparks.org. WASHINGTON At the end of the Ocean Shores peninsula near Grays Harbor, Damon Point yields a…

CITRUS SALAD with SPICED VANILLA SYRUP SERVES 6 / 30 MINUTES This easy fruit salad looks especially striking made with multiple varieties and colors of blood oranges and grapefruit, but it's just as delicious with a single kind of each. You'll have enough syrup left over for flavoring sparkling water or lattes. ½ cup sugar 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out and reserved 4 whole allspice 2 green cardamom pods, crushed to release seeds 2 grapefruit, preferably 1 pink and 1 white 1½ lbs. blood oranges (all one variety, or a mix of Moro, Sanguinelli, and Tarocco, if available) Zest of ½ lime (use a five-hole zester) 1. In a small saucepan, heat sugar with ½ cup water, the vanilla-bean pod and seeds, and spices over high heat until…

WAG THE DOG BEST WESTERNER Most entrepreneurs can tell you what inspired their business, but the story behind DogVacay is particularly touching. "We were going back east to visit family, so we took our two dogs, Rocky and Rambo, to a kennel," says cofounder Aaron Hirschhorn. "They were there for 10 days, which cost us $1,400—more than our trip! And after we got home, Rocky hid under my desk for days. He was clearly traumatized." Once the shock faded, though, a business opportunity emerged. After testing the waters by running a dog-sitting service out of their Santa Monica home, Aaron and his wife, Karine, launched DogVacay: a platform that serves as, yes, an Airbnb (sort of) for pets. "Sure, pet sitters exist, but we've tapped an entirely different group of…

STEAL THIS LOOK For your remodeling inspiration file: We've decoded this dream kitchen from floor to ceiling, from tiles to (surprising) windows. WINDOW INTO THE DINING ROOM INDUSTRIAL LIGHTING GRAPHIC TILE ALL THE WAY TO THE CEILING WHITEWASHED WOODEN FLOORS WORKSPACE STYLE GUIDE MODERN INDUSTRIAL A few factory-inspired touches give this contemporary kitchen an edge. The big ideas: • TILE The Brown Design Group (browndesigninc.com) created a 3-D effect for the backsplash by installing diamond-shape tiles in two colors to suggest cubes. Eliminating upper cabinets allowed the counter-to-ceiling application to be the kitchen's focal point, and highlight the pitched ceiling. • WINDOW An interior window framed in steel lets light pass between the kitchen and dining room—and brings an industrial quality to the design, as do the bracketed metal shelves…

[The following content appeared in the Northern California edition.] IDEA WE LOVE Upping the ante Give a houseplant prominence and pride of place with a taller-than-expected pot that's elegant without calling too much attention to itself. Here, a rex begonia with sprightly pink blooms (center) and a large-leafed Medinilla magnifica (right) get a boost in 24-inch-high lightweight, fiber-cement modernist containers. Planters in muted shades of gray or brown offer a neutral base from which to design, and the soft leaf textures contrast with the spare aesthetic of the planters—it's an unexpectedly pleasing combination that works in a variety of spaces. These elevated houseplants are one of hundreds of ideas in the new book Rooted in Design (Ten Speed Press, 2015; $25). AllModern (allmodern.com) has a great selection of sleek, subtle…

When she first saw Yosemite, Cathy Albert was 10, a fifth-grader at Multnomah Street Elementary School in El Sereno, a working-class Los Angeles neighborhood. She'd never been to a national park, and when her whole class got the chance to go for a week of adventure, she didn't know what to expect. "It almost felt like a dream, like it couldn't be real," she says. Now in eighth grade, Cathy remembers marveling at Yosemite Falls. "I just stood there, looking at it." Introducing Yosemite to a new, diverse generation of explorers—especially urban kids, like Cathy, whose father is of African American descent, and her classmates—is a critical mandate for the park service. And no one has been attacking this issue with more passion and success than NatureBridge, the San Francisco-based…

FUNKY, FERMENTED, and addictively spicy, kimchi is showing up everywhere from food trucks to fine dining. Why so popular? Partly because Americans crave fiery flavors these days (Sriracha seems ubiquitous). But we're also flocking to kimchi for its health benefits—it has the same good-for-you probiotic bacteria found in yogurt—and its incredible adaptability in the kitchen. "Kimchi tastes great with lots of things, not just Korean food," says Matt Choi, cofounder of Choi's Kimchi, in Portland. "Customers tell us they're putting it in tacos and on sandwiches, and even in salsa." Matt and his mother, Chong Choi, started selling kimchi made with her mother's recipe at the Portland State University farmers' market in 2011. Now they supply restaurants and markets across the Northwest. Last January, their kimchi nabbed a national first-prize…

Let the snowbirds crowd the Sun Belt; we're aching for a snowy white winter. We've got our fingers crossed that this year's promised El Niño will deliver one, complete with powder-packed ski slopes, sled-friendly hillsides, and snow-crowned pines. And we're ready with this list of the West's best winter retreats: 14 cozy spots where you can ski, snowshoe, or just laze by a fire while watching the fluffy flakes fall. BEST FOR ROMANCE Mountain Home Lodge Leavenworth, WA In the shadow of the Cascades, Mountain Home Lodge's two private cabins make quintessential winter hideouts—the kind that celebrate nature's ruggedness while providing luxurious ways to experience it. Since the steep road to the resort (perched 1,000 feet above Leavenworth) is impassable in winter, the only way up is by private snowcat.…

Maybe it's the mountains, the Santa Rosas and San Jacintos, with their origami folds of siennas and mochas and tans. Or the desert skies: the sweet dawns, fierce blue noons, red silk sunsets. Or all these things that make Palm Springs one of those landscapes that imprints itself indelibly in your imagination the first time you see it. ¶ It's also a landscape that inspires some of the most extraordinary gardens on Earth—gardens that not only endure the warm, dry climate but also celebrate it. They range from a natural oasis right out of The Arabian Nights to elegantly sustainable retreats that make beautiful use of the California desert's native plants. Visit any one of these seven wonders and we guarantee you will fall in love. 1 WAITING TO EXHALE…

FREEKEH An ancient Arabian tale: Fire scorched a still-green wheat field. The salvaged wheat berries had a nice smoky taste, and a tradition was born. Today, immature grains are roasted and often cracked for quick cooking. Use freekeh anywhere you'd use bulgur; keeps best chilled. Cooking time: 20 minutes. FARRO Also called emmer, farro is an ancient strain of wheat with a sweet, nutty flavor and a gently chewy texture. Most comes semipearled (with some bran removed) so it cooks faster. Try farro in sides, salads, soups, and risotto. Cooking time: 20 minutes. KASHA Earthy, nutty kasha (roasted buckwheat)is a perfect match for the slight bitterness of kale. Despite the name, buckwheat is unrelated to wheat; it's in the same family as rhubarb. Try kasha in pilafs and as hot…

FAT JEFF'S FAT TIRE BEANS MAKES 9 CUPS (SERVES 6) / 30 MINUTES, PLUS OVERNIGHT SOAK AND 6 TO 8 HOURS IN SLOW-COOKER Reader Jeffrey Lehane of Lone Jack, Missouri, likes his beans blazingly hot: He adds as much as ¼ cup chipotle chile powder and 4 fresh jalapeño chiles to a batch. We've toned it down a little (and it's still quite spicy), but feel free to follow Lehane's path of fire if you like. Serve with warm cornbread—and a cold bottle of Fat Tire. 3 cups dried pinto beans (1¼ lbs.) 1 ham hock (about 1½ lbs.) 1 bottle (12 oz.) Fat Tire Amber Ale or other Belgian-style ale 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 2 tsp. chipotle chile powder 1 tbsp. ground cumin 2 thick slices bacon (about…

RESOLUTION #1 Define your cocktail style Personalize parties this year with your signature cocktail. First, pick a base spirit (vodka? Or do you prefer brown liquor?), then choose a classic cocktail based on that (online recipes abound). Finally—here's where you're really the tastemaker—whip up a simple syrup (the sweetener in many drinks) steeped with herbs and/or spices you love. In our Sunset Test Kitchen mixing session, we infused gin with the savory freshness of basil and thyme. Basil-Thyme Gimlet Muddle 2 large basil leaves in a cocktail shaker. Add 2 oz. dry gin, 2 oz. lime juice, 1 oz. Basil-Thyme Simple Syrup (directions below), and ice. Shake, strain into a martini glass, and garnish with a basil and/or thyme sprig. BASIL-THYME SIMPLE SYRUP In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup…