NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020 FREE THE BEST OF LIFE WHERE YOU LIVE Holidays at home So sweet: ‘Tis the season to You can win: A shopping Fun to make: Holiday crafts sample a world of delights spree for the holiday feast that can cost next to nothing 2 AtHomeNJ.com November-December 2020 History of Christmas trees Politics, schmolitics. If you want to ignite a heated family were shown around a Christmas tree in The London conversation, just ask people their Christmas tree News. As a result, all of England embraced the tradition, preferences. You start with: Real or fake? (Some folks which migrated across the pond to the United States. wouldn’t dream of sacrificing the outdoors-y scent of a In 1882, when Edward Hibberd Johnson displayed the fresh-cut evergreen for something resembling a toilet first Christmas tree decorated with electric lights in New brush; others don’t like to vacuum brittle needles.) York City, William Augustus Croffut gushed in The Detroit Then you get into: Tinsel or Post and Tribune: “It was brilliantly lighted garland? (Painstakingly hung tinsel with many colored globes about as large looks magical; but garland goes on as an English walnut. There were 80 lights and off in a jiffy.) in all encased in these dainty glass eggs, From there, you talk about lighting, deco- and about equally divided between white, rations, tradition, technology, and before you red and blue. The result was a continuous know it, you’re no longer speaking. twinkling of dancing colors. One can hardly A brisk history: Evergreen trees imagine anything prettier.” represented eternal life to certain The growing popularity of Christmas trees pre-Christianity civilizations; coincided with the rise of mass production. Christmas trees are believed The mid 1950s saw the fakest fake trees of to have originated in 16th- all: aluminum Christmas trees, with rigid, century Germany; the first tinsel-y “branches” stuck into a wooden pole such trees were adorned with painted silver, accompanied by rotating floor fruit, nuts, paper decora- lamps that bathed the trees in orange, blue, tions and “sweetmeats”; red and green light. Their drop in popularity illumination via candlelight was added in the about 10 years later happened to coincide with the 1965 18th century; artificial trees first appeared in TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” in which Lucy Aluminum 19th-century Germany (made with goose feathers painted instructs Charlie Brown: “Get the biggest aluminum tree Christmas green as a response to deforestation); the first known you can find!” Instead, he gets a scrawny natural one. trees were Christmas tree in America was erected in the 1830s — Excerpted from “Holly Jolly” (TwoMorrows Publish- all the rage in Pennsylvania by German settlers. ing) by Mark Voger. Available at BarnesAndNoble.com, in the 1950s. In 1846, England’s Queen Victoria and her Amazon.com, Target.com, TwoMorrows.com and others. Always made from scratch Pull-apart Panettone Apple pie bread rolls Your local Breadsmith 32 North Ave. West, Cranford Open at 7 a.m., closed Mondays Hiring skilled 908-276-2155 bakers Bakery menu & calendar at Breadsmith.com/Cranford November-December 2020 AtHomeNJ.com 3 WIN A $100 DREYER FARMS GIFT CARD THE BEST OF LIFE WHERE YOU LIVE CONTENTS PETS Cat guys 4 GARDEN Good lazy 7 6 Get the feast started! CRAFT The centerpiece, the turkey, the trim- Page 15). Along with seasonal plants, the Pulp and paint 8 mings, the desserts, the tree and even gifts farm also will have Christmas trees. are among seasonal items Dreyer Farms Win the gift card: For your chance to can supply to get ready for the holidays. win, email name, address and phone num- FOOD The farm store is offering a $100 gift ber to [email protected] by Dec. 18. Shop smart 12 card to highlight holiday offerings and to Make Dreyer Farms the subject, and tell encourage early shopping and pre-ordering. us where you found At Home NJ to win. Set the holiday table with New Jersey- Prize must be claimed at the farm. Some 17 grown foods, and make the house merrier exclusions may apply. FEASTS with fresh decorations from the Cranford Congratulations to Sept.-Oct. winner! Sweet Diwali 19 farm. Thanksgiving staples can be pre- Jo Anna Hamilton of Clark wins the $100 ordered online and in-store (details on gift card from Williams Nursery. HEALTH Living wills 21 Shop local, help many HOBBIES One of the things to love about this part of New Jersey is the way people Grow indoors 21 work together with a strong focus on the local community. Loaves of bread baked at Breadsmith in Cranford make their way to nearby Dreyer Farms as well as Fanwood Larder. Spices bottled at Savory Spice Shop in Westfield also FAMILY can be found in both places. Prince’s Farm Stand and Dreyer carry gourmet Divorce anxiety 23 pierogi crafted in Rahway with traditional fillings, as well as creative takes like Nutella; buffalo chicken; or bacon, potato and cheddar. And those are just a few such partnerships being forged in this area. Antique shops like Golden Bee in Westfield will often sell valuable old things on consignment, offering those AT HOME NEW JERSEY who are not in business a way to sell to interested, knowledgable customers. Mail: P.O. Box 193 These are examples of how efforts to shop local have multiplied benefits. Many area food entrepreneurs test their dreams and gain exposure at area Fanwood, NJ 07023 19 farmer’s markets, farm stores and specialty shops. They are our neighbors (908) 656-0385 — smaller business owners in Scotch Plains, Westfield, Springfield, Rahway, AtHomeNJ.com Linden and other parts of the state. Increasingly, area retailers are offering us To advertise, call us or email: [email protected] the convenience of buying from them online for pickup or delivery. So when Prizes are the full responsibility of winners, who in accepting acknowledge that publisher can- you shop for holiday essentials, remember the area nursery that donates plants not be held liable for defects or misuse. Every effort is made to ensure accuracy; the publisher and labor to beautify your town, and the many other area businesses that sup- cannot be held liable for omissions or errors of fact. Consult a competent professional before port local schools, athletic teams, and organizations that serve those with dis- adopting any suggestion, health-related or otherwise. Articles and advertisements reflect opin- abilities or who may be struggling financially. Keep in mind the convenience of ions of the producer and not necessarily those of the publisher. © 2020 All rights reserved. shopping local, as well as all the ways that doing so help make Union County On the cover: A cozy evening at home with a cookie and coffee or tea. Photo by Jill Wellington communities stronger. Wishing a happy holiday season to all. Kimberly L. Jackson, [email protected] Thank you for telling our advertisers you read about them in At Home New Jersey. You make all the difference! 4 AtHomeNJ.com November-Decemober 2020 Men, cats and Pet friendly online dating By Lori Kogan, Colorado State University, and Shelly Volsche, Boise State University/TheConversation.com If you’ve used a dating app, you’ll know the importance of choosing good profile pics. These photos don’t just relay attractiveness; a recent study suggested that 43 percent of people think they can get a sense of someone’s personality by their picture. You might guess that someone who has included a photo of themselves hiking is an outdoorsy type of person. But as scientists who study human-animal interactions, we wanted to know what this meant for pet owners — in particular, male cat owners. If you’re a guy who owns a cat, what kind of effect does it have on suitors if you post a picture posing with your favorite feline? Prior studies suggested that women do judge a potential male partner based on whether he has pets. While they favor men with dogs, the results showed that they also give men with cats an edge over non-pet owners. Because of this, we reasoned that men pictured with cats would probably be viewed as more attractive and desirable than men who didn’t pose with any animals. Cats and dateability In our study, we recruited 1,388 heterosexual American women, 18 to 24 years old, to take a short anonymous online survey. We presented them with photos of one of two young white men in their early 20s either posing alone or with a cat. To avoid biasing the women’s responses, Who says a guy seems less manly when he posts a photo of himself with his adorable cat online? we randomly presented which photo they saw first. Each participant only rated one man, with and without a cat. ports the idea that women are likely to look first for clues ther” affected their perceptions. Women who self-identified Each time the participants saw a photo, we asked them related to masculinity when determining dateability. as “cat people” were more inclined to view men pictured to rate the man pictured on several personality attributes, We suspect old cultural norms may be playing a role in with cats as more dateable or say they had no preference. including his masculinity, femininity and dateability. We the responses. Past research suggests male femininity and Of course, like any research, our work has its limitations. also asked the women if they defined themselves as a cat homosexuality are still perceived to be connected. Since Our sample is a very specific population — heterosexual, person, dog person, neither, or both.