Featured in April 2006

Hello, Cupcake, pg. 31
Transform the humble treat into a sophisticated dessert worthy of a patisserie window. Seven easy-to-re-create ideas that will make you forget about sprinkles.

• Web Exclusive Recipe: Yellow Cupcakes

• Clean By the Clock, pg. 212
• Whether you have 15 minutes or half a day, this step-by-step guide will let you take any room in the house from spotty to spotless.
• Dinner with Friends, pg. 222
• Entertaining doesn’t have to involve fancy food and an elaborate presentation. Take a cue (and a few recipes) from a California couple and throw a relaxed potluck supper.
• Secrets of Thin People, pg. 230
• No, they’re not all blessed with a turbocharged metabolism. Here, 13 habits that studies prove help thin people stay that way.
• Guided By Voices, pg. 236
• For the women of the Threshold Choir, singing is a way of helping others bridge the gap between life and death.
• All in Good Time, pg. 244
• Tired of your high-maintenance hair? Four women show off chic styles that get dried and out the door in no time―no matter the hair type.

Why Not?, pg. 12

Contributors, pg. 26

Editor’s Note, pg. 28

Credits, pg. 282

Real Simple To Go pg. 288

• New Uses for Old Things, pg. 57
• Marbles alert you when it’s time to add water to a double boiler; pencil erasers keep pictures from scratching your walls.
• Products of the Month, pg. 60
• Dishes that multitask; measuring cups that collapse to store flat.
• Uncommon Knowledge, pg. 64
• Are you overcharging your batteries?
• Garden Guide, pg. 68
• The four best gloves for any gardening task―from potting to pruning.
• Party Trick, pg. 70
• Invite your friends to a local boutique for an after-hours shopping trip.
• Modern Manners, pg. 72
• What to write on a condolence card for someone you don’t know well.
• Fake It, Don’t Make It, pg. 70
• Meat Loaf

Life

• Married to the mother-in-law? Tips for dealing with relative insanity, pg. 89
• Find replacement parts when everyday items go missing, pg. 97

Beauty

• Effective products for three common skin problems, pg. 105
• A roundup of the best colors and formulas to polish fingers and toes, pg. 113
• Web Exclusive: Best nail-polish removers

Home

• Twelve reader-friendly lamps, pg. 119
• How to shop like a pro at the garden center, pg. 127
• Frame things you thought you couldn’t frame yourself, pg. 137
• Web Exclusive: Multipicture ready-made frames

Body

• Nine facts you need to know about drinking water, pg. 147
• Web Exclusive: Tap water contaminants
• The no-fail exercise for well-toned arms, pg. 157
• Feeling tired? Try these energy-boosters, pg. 165

Style

• Short takes: cropped pants for every body , pg. 175
• Tricks to minimize a full rear, pg. 185
• One white shirt, four ways to wear it, pg. 191

The Organizer

• Strategies for remembering birthdays (or how to avoid winding up in the doghouse), pg. 203

Five Easy Dinners, pg. 255
A week’s worth of quick-to-fix meals.

Taste Test, pg. 267
Kid-tested, adult-approved macaroni and cheese.

The Staple, pg. 271
Four sweet and savory reasons to build a meal around coconut milk.

• Web Exclusive: Coconut milk recipes and glossary
• Shopping List/Recipe Index, pg. 280
  

Thoughts, pg. 10

Your Words, pg. 47
How do you make housecleaning easier?

• Web Exclusive: More housecleaning tips

No Kidding, pg. 79
A writer, once skittish about the prospect of fatherhood, has a life-altering change of heart.

Postscript, pg. 256
An excerpt from the new travel memoir Crazybusy, by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.