Man Made DIY

If you're not aware, the reason that aged spirits - such as bourbon and scotch whiskeys, reposado and añejo tequilas, brandy, dark rum, sherry, and even some wines and vinegars - are smoky and aromatic and, well, tasty, is due to a traditional aging in charred (or "toasted") oak barrels. The water content will absorb the flavors in the wood, such as such as vanillin and wood tannins, as well as the smoky flavors from contact with the wood.

The trend of barrel-aging whole cocktails has emerged among mixologists (likely attributed to expert Jeffrey Morganthaler), and in the absence of your own tiny casks, you can aged your own "white" cocktails for a mere $10 investmen… read more

I don't know what it is. Perhaps it's the obvious contrast between a childhood favorite meal and a very adult beverage, or just the pure curiousity of seeing whether a cocktail can not only taste like a savory food, but a complete meal, but I'm gonna do everything I can to make a grilled cheese and tomato soup martini.   … read more

Physical music media have gone through a curious century. The vinyl album dominated for nearly 75 years, than gave way to a ten-year success of the cassette, which was left behind by the CD, with all the 8-tracks and mini-discs and other less successful technologies mixed in. And now, at least among those who are serious about music - a mix of the two extremes: digital, either as actual files or subscribed up the in cloud somewhere, and the original vinyl LP, still reknowned for its warm fideiity and large cover art.

Of course, modern furniture isn't built to house LP collections. They don't fit in contemporary milk crates, and most of those little flatpack cube-storage units are just a half-inch too small. So, it's time to build your own.   … read more

Fifteen years ago, I first heard about peanut butter cheeseburgers, and I assumed it had to be a joke. I was at a sports bar in my hometown in Iowa that had this vile sounding concoction on the menu and my friends were adamant that I would love it.

So I ordered it, and immediately fell in love. And I've been eating them ever since.

Now whenever I tell people about this delicacy, the reactions I get tend towards the intense. But believe me…peanut butter cheeseburgers are amazing. The sweet, gooey peanut butter compliments the savory burger patty perfectly, and believe it or not, the ketchup and mustard mixed in there makes for a perfectly heavenly bite. 

If there is ever a reason to cite the "don't knock it 'til you've tried it" trope, this is the one… read more

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: all food is better on sticks. Ice cream? Sticks, of course. Pizza? Put a stick in it. Fried chicken? Why not?

But what's even better than food on sticks? Seemingly-impossible beverages on sticks!    … read more

A decade ago, office organization looked the same as it had since the advent of the personal computer: inbox/outbox, some filing cabinets, storage boxes on shelfs for extras, and drawer organizers.

Now, in the era of smart phones, tablets, multiple computers, all sorts of input devices, electronic bill pay, Stamps.com, docu-scanners... (should I keep going?), staying organized in your home office is very, very different.

Professional organizer Angela Kantarellis offers her seven roadblocks to an organized workspace in 2012, and what to do about them.   … read more

The neck tie can have a big effect on whatever you're wearing. It can dress up a pair of jeans, add punch to a blazer, and generally up whatever shirt you're wearing...provided it has a collar. 

But sometimes, you wanna control the "up." There are lots occassions where your finest silk is a little overkill, or that perfectly balanced double-windsor can actually make you overdressed. In those occassions, when you need just a bit of extra style, give the just-casual-enough knit tie a shot...and while you're at it, make it yourself.    … read more

The bachelor pad. That quintessential moment of adulthood. That space inhabited when one truly learns what being a grown up is like, and prepares for the eventual sharing of a home. Or perhaps it actually serves the pinnacle environment, where living alone as an adult man is the best fulfillment of identity.

Either way... it can't look like your college dorm room. Step it up a notch, guy.   … read more

Cheap styrofoam toy-store boomerangs have given generations of Americans, children or otherwise, the mistaken impression that building and throwing boomerangs is very difficult. This flies in the face of reason: Using less-than-ideal materials, human beings have been building, throwing, and catching boomerangs for more than 11,600 years. Boomerangs are absurdly easy to make--this is an ideal project to keep kids busy in a pinch. Learning to throw one is just a little tricky, but most of the trick is in properly tuning the boomerang.  … read more

I'm warning you: the sock squid is a gateway fiber project. Today you're thinking "I'm just gonna sew this one little fella to give to my buddy, sort of almost as a gag gift," and before you know it you'll be lining laptop sleeves in microfiber and crocheting iPhone jackets.  It is a sickness, and it starts be snipping slits in socks and learning a couple simple hand stitches.

The sock squid was my first sock animal experiment… read more