News From the Nest, May 4

New on the Blog

We kick off May with a new dinner that feeds a crowd without much fuss — this Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake is not a diet meal, but we deserve to be decadent every once in a while, right? Tender chicken and short pasta get tossed in a homemade Alfredo sauce made with real butter, heavy cream, garlic, and freshly grated Parmesan, then baked until the top turns golden and just a little crispy at the edges. It feeds six generously, reheats beautifully, and the post is full of tips to help you get the very best meal on your table.

From the Knit + Crochet Studio

If you’ve ever wasted the tail end of yarn just tying a knot between skeins, the Russian join is about to change your knitting life. This technique weaves two yarn ends into each other without a knot — no tails to weave in, no bulk, no slipping. It takes a darning needle and a few minutes to learn, and then you’ll wonder why you ever did it any other way. Reader Robin said, “How did I not know about this before?!”

Made from thirty individual squares, you can work on this blanket in small sessions. This checkerboard crochet blanket is a project you can pick up and put down as life allows. The result is a bold, graphic throw in two colors of your choosing, and the size is easily adjusted by adding or subtracting squares. Reader Jen made several for Christmas gifts and raved about how quickly they work up.

A perfect project for getting comfortable with cables, this cable-edged knit washcloth features twin cable columns framing a reverse stockinette center and works up in cotton yarn for a practical, giftable result. It works just as well as a kitchen dishcloth as a bathroom washcloth. Pair it with our free printable knit care tags from the subscriber library when you gift it so the recipient knows how to love it properly!

Speaking of those Knit Care Tags— if you give away finished projects, these free printable knit care tags are a must-have. Print them on cardstock, punch a hole, and attach them to your finished pieces so the lucky recipient knows exactly how to wash and care for their new treasure. All the care information you need is right on the yarn label — just copy it over. Reader Jan said, “Thank you — again! — for your fabulous instructions and cute gift/care tags!”

From the Kitchen

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and these vanilla tea cakes with lavender glaze are exactly the kind of thing that makes the day feel special. Tiny, buttery, vanilla-scented little cakes get drizzled with a lavender-infused glaze and finished with a sprinkle of culinary lavender buds — they’re elegant, easy to make ahead, and pretty enough to serve at any spring gathering. Even Terry, who is decidedly a meat-and-potatoes man, popped one in his mouth and said “oh my” in the very best way. Reader Pamela gave them five stars and said she wouldn’t change a single thing — which is high praise!

Those roasted tomatoes I mentioned earlier… one of the best things you can do with a batch of lackluster grocery-store tomatoes is roast them. Learning how to make fire-roasted tomatoes — on the grill or in the oven — transforms even mediocre tomatoes into something rich, sweet, and deeply flavorful. The oven method is the preferred one here, where they practically melt into a concentrated, almost candy version of themselves. Use them anywhere you’d normally reach for canned tomatoes, toss them over brothy beans, stir them into pasta sauce, or swap them into a pot of tomato basil soup for a whole new level of flavor. Reader Debi made them in the oven and said they “worked perfectly” — she tossed some with pasta for dinner and froze the rest for later, which is exactly the right move.

My friend Nan brought a version of this rosemary and goat cheese appetizer to my house years ago, and I’ve been riffing on it ever since. Cream cheese and goat cheese get packed with fresh rosemary, chilled, then topped with warm ginger preserves right before serving — four ingredients, maximum crowd-pleasing impact. Reader Mary called it “simple, elegant, and delicious,” and she’s not wrong. Serve it alongside fruit and nut crisps if you really want to make people happy.

Spring is the perfect time to start pickling, and these pickled carrots are tangy, crunchy, and endlessly versatile — pile them on sandwiches, toss them into salads, or eat them straight from the jar. The basic brine comes together in minutes, and you can take it in any direction you like with garlic, peppercorns, cumin, or fresh herbs. Make them as quick refrigerator pickles or water-bath can them for the pantry.

Cinco de Mayo is coming up, and this layered taco dip is the only appetizer you need at the party. Refried beans, a seasoned cream cheese layer, salsa, shredded cheese, fresh tomatoes, scallions, olives, and a hit of fresh jalapeño — all stacked up and served cold with tortilla chips. It can be made ahead (mostly), feeds a crowd, and is easily made vegetarian.

While we’re in a Cinco de Mayo state of mind, this jalapeño margarita is a must-make. The heat comes from a homemade jalapeño simple syrup you steep and strain, so the spice is subtle and balanced rather than overwhelming — though you can absolutely dial it up if that’s your thing. It’s a spin on the classic margarita recipe my dad has always made, just with a little fire added.

These air fryer tacos are exactly what you need to round out your Cinco de Mayo spread. Rotisserie chicken gets tossed in a homemade seasoning, tucked into small corn tortillas with Colby Jack cheese, and air fried until perfectly crispy — the whole batch of 24 mini tacos comes together in about 35 minutes. They make a fantastic party appetizer or a fun casual dinner, and they play very nicely alongside the layered taco dip and a jalapeño margarita already mentioned above.

From the Arts + Crafts Studio

A love of linens goes straight back to my grandmother, and this fringed linen tablecloth and napkins scratches that itch beautifully without a lot of effort or expense. The fringe comes from pulling threads along the edges rather than hemming — the hardest part is getting your cuts straight at the start. A washable linen blend keeps ironing optional, and the result looks like something you’d pay a lot for in a shop.

With porch season fully upon us, these outdoor throw pillows made with a Cricut are a fun project that delivers a big visual payoff. The Cricut cuts monstera leaf shapes from outdoor fabric, which then get stitched onto white pillow covers — no pattern needed, just upload your image and let the machine do the cutting. Terry has had a wee opinion about the volume of throw pillows in this house, but I maintain he is wrong on this one.

Graduation season is here, and our high school graduate gift guide is a solid starting point for practical, well-received gifts — especially for those heading off to their first place, whether a college dorm or an apartment. It pairs nicely with our first apartment checklist, a room-by-room guide with a free printable for subscribers that helps new grads think through everything they need from day one.

In the Garden

The urge to fill every pot on the porch is very real right now, and this fourth installment of our container garden inspiration series features six more plant combinations — including some gorgeous window boxes I spotted on a trip to Charleston — complete with full plant lists so you can replicate them. If you love the thriller/filler/spiller approach to container gardening, this one has plenty to inspire you.

If you’ve been disappointed by your cucumber harvest in past years, companion planting might be the answer. Our cucumber companion plants guide walks through ten plants that help deter pests, improve pollination, and boost yields. And if you planted cucumbers near mint? That’s worth fixing before you end up with minty cucumbers this summer!

With the garden waking up, it’s a great time to be intentional about what you plant to support pollinators. Our flowers for bees guide covers dozens of bee-friendly herbs, perennials, annuals, and shrubs — and also flags the neonicotinoid issue worth knowing about when buying plants at big-box stores. One reader, a retired bee pathogen researcher, called neonicotinoids the leading chemical cause of colony collapse. Worth knowing before you head to the garden center this spring!

In the House + Home

As temperatures climb and the sweaters start getting folded away for summer, it’s the perfect moment to revisit our post on keeping clothing moths out of your home. For those of us with closets full of wool sweaters and yarn stashes full of precious fibers, this one is essential reading before you pack anything away. After mending some moth holes in my brother’s cashmere sweaters and going very far down this rabbit hole, I ordered moth traps for every closet in the house. Reader Janice found the post after discovering a full infestation, put up the recommended traps, and reported they were loaded with moths the very first week. A little prevention now saves a lot of heartbreak in October!