Blog Posts by Real Simple Magazine

Celebrate fall's bounty with mouthwatering sweet and savory dishes.

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Read More »from 20 best apple recipes

ucThink you have to sacrifice comfort for sophistication? Think again. Plush, inviting furniture paired with eclectic accents lets you stretch out in style.

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Read More »from 5 ways to create a cozy home

In as little as 15 minutes, you can prepare a delicious, homemade meal in a bowl.

This simple recipe is whipped up from such pantry staples as chicken broth and canned diced tomatoes.

Get the recipe for Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew.

Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 12-ounce package fully cooked chicken sausage links, sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 19-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed
1 14.5-ounce can low-sodium chicken broth
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 bunch kale leaves, torn into 2-inch pieces
kosher salt and black pepper
1 loaf country bread (optional)

Directions
[1] Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring once, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
[2] Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
[3] Add the beans, broth, and tomatoes and their liquid and bring to a boil.
[4] Add the kale and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, untilRead More »from 21 speedy, savory soups and stews

As leaves start to fly, revisit your spring cleaning list and add a few seasonal extras to prepare your house for the winter.

Inside Your House

• Wash all windows. Use glass cleaner, or one squirt of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle filled with water, and wipe down with a microfiber cloth. Pick a cloudy day so you can better see any streaks.
• Vacuum dusty canvas, cotton, and treated fabric blinds. Use a low setting with a brush attachment. Vinyl shades can be wiped down with a dampened microfiber cloth if they need a little more attention.

See More: Reader's Best Cleaning Tips and Tricks

• Moderately dirty window treatments need a two-step approach. Start by dusting or vacuuming the valance and frame, then vacuum from top to bottom using the upholstery attachment for drapes, and the brush attachment for blinds. Or submerge blinds or shades in a few inches of cool water and two teaspoons of dishwashing liquid (check labels first to make sure this is safe).

Read More »from Fall cleaning checklist

One decade after the attacks of September 11, 2001, 10 people pay tribute to loved ones lost and share the unique, enduring ways in which they celebrate their lives.

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By Patrick Doyle

Most people think they know the keys to career success: Keep your head down and nose to the grindstone. Avoid personal, emotional, or awkward subjects (in fact, any elephant in the room) at all costs. Well, guess again. Here, experts reveal five on-the-job maxims that are worth challenging.

Stay Away From Emotional Topics
In my opinion, you should always bring a problem out into the open, even if it's personal, difficult, or awkward. Say you and a colleague have different work styles or have clashed over a project, and as a result there is serious tension between the two of you. Tiptoeing around the issue may cause your productivity to suffer, so it's crucial that you confront your coworker. You can say, "You seem to dispute every point I make, and I don't understand. Did I do something to upset you?" If you talk about it, the situation won't spiral out of control or become a pattern.

Sean O'Neil is a management consultant based in Pelham, New York, and a

Read More »from 5 work rules you should break

Mark LundA soak in the tub can wash away your cares, but there's more magic to be found in the medicine cabinet

Baby Oil

• Remove latex paint from skin. Pour a generous amount of baby oil on a cotton ball and scrub.
• Untangle a necklace chain. Massage a dab of oil onto the tangled area, then use a straight pin to carefully pull apart the knot.
• Peel off bandages. Avoid involuntary hair removal -- and extra agony -- by rubbing baby oil over and around the sticky parts of an adhesive bandage before pulling it off.
• Slip off a stuck ring. Massage oil onto your finger and rotate the ring until you can slide it off. (This trick works to get body parts out of a number of sticky situations.)

From Real Simple: The Right Hook for Every Job

Mark LundDental Floss

• Unstick a photograph. Slide a length of dental floss under the corner of a photo that's stuck to an album page or another snapshot. Work the floss between the two surfaces to separate them without damaging

Read More »from Unexpected new uses for bathroom items

How to salvage overcooked chicken, a crumbly cake, mushy vegetables, and more. By Renee Schettler, Photos by Kana Okada

How to Fix Mushy Potatoes

Problem: You intended to boil those new potatoes just until fork-tender. But when you drained them, they collapsed into mush.

Solution: "Make mashed potatoes,'" Rozanne Gold, a chef and author of the 1-2-3 series of cookbooks, says. Not in the mood for a mash, make home fries: Drain the potatoes and fry them in a skillet with a small amount of fat―olive or peanut oil, butter, or bacon drippings―stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.

Related: 10 Recipe Ideas for Potatoes

Next time: Gently simmer the potatoes instead of boiling them. The lower temperature causes the starch in them to swell more slowly. As a result, only a bit of the gummy starch leaks out of the potatoes and into the cooking water, says Shirley O. Corriher, a food scientist and the author of CookWise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed (Morrow, $30,

Read More »from Easy fixes for 8 common kitchen mishaps