Credit: Jessica Todd Harper for NEWSWEEK

By Gina Pace 

A group of young chefs recently spent a day on the roof of a Brooklyn loft, roasting a goat and a dozen legs of lamb on two gigantic spits. To attend this “culinary collective,” guests had to register on a Web site, be deemed worthy, get the password to buy admittance and wait for a treasure map to show the way. It led past a wine store, and suggested pairings for the evening’s appetizer of asparagus, morels and leafy greens with candied pork, and the roast-meat entrée.

The adventure was hosted by a roving, monthly supper club, Studiofeast (studiofeast .com), named after the first dinner held by founder Mike Lee. He hosted the meal in his 800-square-foot studio, even using his dresser to carve a 25-pound suckling pig.

Underground supper clubs, with names like the Ghetto Gourmet (theghet.com) and One Pot (onepotblog.blogspot .com), started making an appearance on the foodie scene a few years ago. They were based at first on the principle that without the economic demands of running a restaurant, organizers would be free to take chances like promoting new chefs and demanding high-quality ingredients. But with a surging interest in eating locally, green groups are the rebel food community’s taste du jour.

About one in six newborns suffers from colic, a mysterious ailment that causes bouts of unexplained, prolonged crying. One way stressed-out parents can cope is by helping to re-create the womb, says Dr. Harvey Karp, creator of “The Happiest Baby on the Block” book and DVD. Swaddling a baby tightly can make her feel like she’s back in the safety of her mom’s uterus. Using white noise, like that of a hair dryer or fan, can mimic the loud sound of blood flowing through a pregnant woman’s arteries. Every time a pregnant mom moves, she is swinging her baby, so keep the infant in motion through rocking, wearing her in a sling or riding in a car.

Soothing the baby with warm baths and warm washcloths on her belly may also remind her of life in the womb, says Tara Kompare, whose book, “The Colic Chronicles: A Mother’s Survival Guide to Calming Your Baby While Keeping Your Cool,” chronicles her experiences with her colicky daughter.

Looking for something new and interesting to give Dad this year? TIP SHEET has some suggestions:

1. The Ecosphere IS a self-contained ecosystem of active microorganisms and tiny shrimp (from $79; eco-sphere.com).

2. ARC’TERYX’S Accelero Pullover is ideal for morning runs ($98.95; backcountry.com).

3. CHAPOUTIER Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Bernardine 2005 is a brawny yet complex red ($54.99; wine.com).

4. VADO Pocket Video Cam Lets you take videos on the move ($99.99; us.creative.com).

Go to the Chicago Blues Festival, a four-day event in Grant Park featuring more than 90 performers, including Johnny Winter, Eddy Clearwater and Koko Taylor. The 25th-annual festival culminates in a performance by B.B. King, in his first appearance there in 20 years (June 5–8; chicagobluesfestival.us).

Read “Now the Hell Will Start.” Brendan I. Koerner tells the story of WWII’s wildest manhunt. One of many black soldiers sent to labor in the Indo-Burmese jungle, Pvt. Herman Perry is driven to despair, shoots a white lieutenant, goes on the lam and is embraced by a tribe of headhunters. Eat your heart out, Kurtz ($25.95).

Watch the “Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector’s Edition.” The set includes all five of the “Dirty Harry” films, as well as a feature-length documentary on Clint Eastwood ($55.99; amazon.com).

By Christina Gillham 

A coach helps you devise a plan and helps motivate you to carry it through
Illustration: Chris Gash for Newsweek

When Sharlene Langner won four free sessions with a wellness coach through a local school raffle, she was skeptical. At five feet and 175 pounds, the Maplewood, N.J., mother of two had tried to diet and exercise on her own but never really had much luck. Commuting to her unsatisfying job didn’t help her situation—by the time she’d get home after her hourlong drive from work, she’d be starving and would fill up on pasta, followed by what she calls a “cookie chaser.” “I was overweight; I couldn’t move around,” she says. When she won the raffle, “I remember thinking, ‘This will never work’.”

Once she met with her coach, Risa Olinsky, Langner’s attitude changed. Instead of telling Langner what to do—“go on a diet,” “lose weight”—Olinsky prodded her with questions. “She asked what I’m all about, how do I motivate myself, how do I feel about myself,” says Langner. “It was never ‘What size do you want to be?’ but ‘How do you want to feel?’ ”

Olinsky collaborated with Langner, who is 51, and helped her figure out what kind of exercise she could incorporate into her busy workweek and how to best control her eating. They decided that Langner would use the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator whenever possible, take walks on her lunch breaks and always have healthy food with her so that she wouldn’t be tempted to snack on junk food. It was not a complicated formula, but it worked: after a year of weekly phone conversations (at $75 for 45 minutes), Langner is 35 pounds lighter, full of energy, more confident and is happily ensconced in a new job in New York City. Having a professional devise a plan with her and stand by her for support gave her the extra push. “When I thought I couldn’t get beyond a certain point, Risa was there to encourage me,” she says.

By Miyoko Ohtake 

The problem with reusable grocery bags is that they often get left in the car or piled up at home. New ultracompact versions, small enough to stash in a purse or clip to a key chain, are helping to solve that problem.

- The Flip & Tumble folds like a pair of socks into a three-inch ball in less then five seconds. The secret is the patent-pending, sewn-in, spandex pouch ($12; flipandtumble.com).

- The no-nonsense, 16- by 14-inch nylon ChicoBag folds into its three- by four-inch integrated pouch and can hook onto anything with its carabinerlike clip. Even better, it’s machine washable ($5; chicobag.com).

The new seven-speed sports transmission shifts quickly and responds like a manual transmission but with the ease of an automatic. Go, man, go.

- Mileage: 12mpg city, 17 highway

- Engine: 6.3-liter, V-8

- Price: $136,425

- Site: mbusa.com

- Airscarf: Don’t suffer a chill with the top down. Push a button and warm air circulates like a cashmere muffler through the ever-so-comfy head restraints.

- Interior: A new AMG sport steering wheel with shifter paddles is ergonomic and substantial in hand; a “Racetimer” will keep track of your lap times.

- Performance: Hits 60mph in just 4.7 seconds. The car is low, flat and stable on tight curves at very high speeds.

By Lauren Mack 

Baerbel Schmidt/Getty Images
Fill ’er Up: This summer, many families are choosing smaller cars over gas guzzlers or driving shorter distances

May 26, 2008 issue
By Linda Stern

Amy and Adam Geurden of Hollandtown, Wis., had planned a long summer of short, fun getaways with their kids, Eric, 6, Holly, 3, and Jake, 2. In the works were water-park visits, roller-coaster rides, hiking adventures and a whirlwind weekend in Chicago. Then Amy did the math: their Chevy Suburban gets 17 miles to the gallon and, with gas prices topping $4, the family would have spent about $320 on fill-ups alone. They’ve since scrapped their plans in favor of a “staycation” around the backyard swimming pool. “I’m really disappointed,” she says.

So is almost everyone else. Nearly 60 percent of Americans are cutting back their vacation plans because of gas prices, according to a survey by Discover Financial Services. Here’s how to squeeze in a little bit of travel fun without breaking the bank.

May 26, 2008 issue

Our top picks for the week

Hear Jesse McCartney’s “Departure.” Well, that explains the title. McCartney, 21, is all grown up and puffing out his chest with his third album. The R&B-heavy beats and well-placed falsetto will have Justin Timberlake watching his “sexy back.”

Rent “Square Pegs: The Complete Series.” Long before Judd Apatow’s “Freaks and Geeks” there was this gem of a sitcom, which stars Sarah Jessica Parker in her pre-Carrie Bradshaw days (circa 1982), as a geeky high schooler longing to fit in among the cool kids.

Surf charitynavigator.org for a list of organizations accepting donations for victims of the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Burma. (Look under “Hot Topics” on the home page.) Mercy Corps and Direct Relief International are two of the recommended relief agencies.

Enter Cook’s Country magazine’s Lost Suppers contest (cookscountry.com/lostsuppers for details). Have a favorite, original make-from-scratch dinner recipe? Send it in by Sept. 1 for a chance to win $10,000, plus inclusion in a cookbook.

Go to the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, an annual celebration of ethnic, folk and traditional arts. The four-day-long festival includes dance performances, visual-arts exhibits, workshops, demonstrations and kids’ activities (May 23–26; nwfolklife.org).

ROAD TEST: SATURN VUE HYBRID
By Tara Weingarten

Saturn goes contemporary and makes families look hip with the new Vue. Moreover, the car is well priced and gets high marks in government safety tests. Though it’s only a partial hybrid, it does eke out six more miles per gallon than its gas-only brother.

Engine: Considered a “mild” hybrid, the Vue has just enough electric power to jump-start the gas motor after it shuts down at a stoplight. The ride is comfortable and stable at normal speeds, but steering can feel a bit disconnected at higher speeds.

Cargo: Front- and back-seat passengers have ample space, and both get reclining seats. But the cargo area is somewhat compromised in favor of back-seat roominess.

Interior: Brushed aluminum trim is sporty and luxe. Climate-control dials are intuitive enough to use without taking your eyes off the road—a rarity in most vehicles.

May 26, 2008 issue

By Anna Kuchment

Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine, a judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef” (bravotv.com), eats asparagus at least twice a week in the spring. Now through the end of May marks the peak season for this crisp, sweet, versatile veggie. Simmons shared some tips.

Shopping: “You always want to make sure the tips are tight and the stalks are strong, firm and standing upright,” she says. Mix different varieties—purple, white and green—to play with color, flavor and texture.

Preparation: Break off or cut off the bottoms. If the stalks are thick, peel them with a vegetable peeler to make them more tender. Roast at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool, and serve with dill and lemon vinaigrette. Or chop roasted asparagus and toss with pasta, Parmesan cheese and lots of black pepper. See foodandwine.com for more recipes.

Those plummeting house prices may hold a bit of good news for homeowners who want to cut their property taxes: homes that were assessed during the height of the housing bubble may now qualify for reassessment at a lower level. Typically, property taxes are calculated by multiplying a tax rate against the property’s assessed value. Every local county or district has its own appeal procedures and deadlines, so check your local government’s Web site for the specifics. But the basic order of events is this: check your latest assessment to make sure it accurately lists the dimensions and details of your home. Then find out what your neighbors are paying. Municipalities publish these records; find them at publicrecords.netronline.com, on your local government’s Web site, or by going into the tax assessor’s office and asking to see the records. Review what’s happened to prices in your neighborhood since you were assessed at zillow.com or with a local real-estate agent. If there have been significant declines, you can appeal the assessment the next time you get a tax bill or assessment notice. And now for the not-so-good news: state budget crunches are causing many municipalities to consider raising their property-tax rates, even as they are forced to lower assessments. So even if you get a downward reassessment, you could end up with a bigger tax bill anyway.

Illustration: Tim Bower for Newsweek

Priscilla Marquard wanted to set herself and her three daughters on a lifelong course of healthy eating. Marquard was about 10 pounds overweight, and her daughters, 12-year-old triplets, were “beginning to pudge up.” So she brought them to the Pritikin Family Program in Aventura, Fla., a two-week weight-loss camp for parents and kids (pritikin .com). The family had such a good time playing tennis, running on the beach and learning to make healthy tacos in cooking class they hardly noticed they were shedding pounds. Last December, Marquard’s daughters chose a return trip to the weight-loss camp over a family vacation in Barbados.

Since many families put on weight together, it makes sense to lose it together. Program options include high-end camps like Pritikin (two weeks cost $6,500 for adults and $2,500 for kids, sometimes partly covered by insurance), as well as less expensive outpatient services. Most of these offer a combination of fun activities mixed with group therapy, parenting classes and medical checkups. Experts say these types of programs, where kids and parents make a commitment to losing weight together, tend to have lasting results. The idea is to change the whole home environment, rather than putting the kids on a diet. “If the changes made are familywide, they have a very good chance of sticking,” says Dr. Bill Dietz, a pediatrician and director of the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. In Marquard’s case, she and her kids cut back on restaurant meals and started carefully monitoring fat and calories in prepared foods. They now cook mostly fish and vegetables at home.

Our top picks for the week  

See “The Horse,” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The exhibition examines the relationship between these magnificent creatures and human beings, showing how horses have influenced war, transportation, agriculture and other aspects of human life. (May 17, 2008-Jan. 4, 2009; amnh.org)

Rent “The Fire Within.” Louis Malle, with elegant, eloquent anguish, observed the last 24 hours in the life of a dissolute, suicidal playboy (Maurice Ronet) in this little-seen 1963 gem. Set to a spare Satie piano score, it’s a haunting study of depression—but too artful to be depressing itself.

William Underhill, a correspondent in the London office of Newsweek, first came to Oxford to study in the 1970s and returned as a resident in 2006. He now works as a correspondent in the London office of NEWSWEEK.

Sights: Oxford is a hybrid: part modern industrial centre - BMW has a plant on the outskirts - part venerable academic community, and its finest architectural treasures can be hard to find. Many are hidden behind the walls of the 35 colleges that together make up the university. (Watch out: mean-spirited commercialism dictates that many colleges now charge for admission). My own favourites aren’t the biggest or the best-known. For the quintessence of creeper-clad old Oxford try the quadrangles of Oriel College or its neighbour, tiny Corpus Christi. If the colleges stale, it’s only a short walk to the Pitt Rivers Museum, an astonishingly mixed assortment of ethnographical curiosities displayed with a fine disregard for modern museum styles.

Drinks:With more than ten thousand thirsty students to please, Oxford has pubs for all tastes, from the richly quaint to rowdy late-night watering holes. Guide books rightly steer tourists towards The Bear – plenty of dark panelling and low ceilings – in Bear Lane, but for a quiet pint in modest surroundings take a ten-minute hike north of the city center to Gardeners’ Arms in Plantation Road. The beers – the selection changes regularly – are among the best in town and so too is the vegetarian menu.

Stroll: One look at a map shows that downtown Oxford is rich in green spaces. For absolute peace head for the university’s under-visited Botanic Gardens, the oldest in Britain. Nowhere quite matches the hothouses for comfort in the chill of an Oxford winter. For one more tourist-free excursion, take a stroll in the University Parks, a vast expanse of greenery on the edge of the main university district and fringed by the extravagantly Gothic mansions of the city’s Victorian suburbs.

Festivities: Avoid the city at all costs early on May Morning – the first of the month - the best known of the university’s festivals when a choir gathers on the top of the chapel tower at Magdalen College to greet the start of summer. Okay, the occasion is steeped in authentic tradition but the singing is inaudible and the crush of drink-sodden students intense. A better spectacle is the annual Eights Weeks rowing contest late in the summer term when the college crews compete for the title of Head of the River on the Thames. Forget the idea of conventional side-by-side races: the object is to bump the boat in front. For the record the “week” is only four days long and the river is known to the university as the Isis, not the Thames. Call it tradition, call it affectation: it’s Oxford.

Illustration: Mark Matcho for Newsweek

Working part time can be good for your life and your checking account. But you need to know how to do it.

Louise Richardson of Parker, Colo., likes to work. But with four teenagers in her house and a firefighter for a husband, she prefers to do it part time. Through a placement service called 10 til 2, she landed a 15-hour-a-week job as an event planner. “It’s given us more financial freedom. My kids don’t see me as the person who cooks and cleans all day. But they also see that my family is my priority,” she says. “It allows you to have that balance between work and family.”

More than 25 million Americans—twice as many women as men—work part time. They’re moms, dads, retirees and people who are sick of the rat race. Employers are making it easier to work fewer hours: 36 percent now give employees the chance to work part time, according to a survey of 90 employers released last week by Hewitt Associates, a human-resources consulting company. The survey also found that 31 percent of employers now offer flextime, 46 percent permit job sharing and 39 percent allow telecommuting. TIP SHEET gives some tips on how to work part time successfully:

Not so long ago, ecofriendly cleaning products were expensive, didn’t work as well as regular cleaners and were available only in health-food stores. No longer. That’s good news for the environment and for anyone who’s ever gotten a headache from scrubbing the bathroom with traditional cleaners. “People who clean houses for a living have twice the rate of asthma,” says Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research at Women’s Voices for the Earth.

Even Clorox has gotten the message. In January, it launched an ecofriendly line called Green Works, which includes toilet-bowl, glass and all-purpose surface cleaners. Made with lemon oil, citric acid and coconut-derived surfactants, Green Works carries the EPA’s Design for the Environment logo. Last month the Sierra Club put its logo on the products, too, having vetted the ingredients, production process and even the source of the ingredients ($2.99 to $3.39 wherever Clorox is sold).

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa.: Climb to the top of three large treehouses (one is handicapped-accessible) and look out over some of the garden’s 1,050 acres. Through Nov. 23. Price: $16 for adults, $6 for kids over 4 (longwood gardens.org).

Oregon Zoo, Portland, Ore.: Go back millions of years with an outdoor exhibit of 14 dinosaur species that roar, snarl and move; open May 17 through Labor Day. Walk through a rain forest and dig for “fossils.” Price: $4 plus regular zoo admission—$9.75 for adults, $6.75 for kids 3 and up (www.oregonzoo.org).

Subaru enthusiasts love their machines. While the redesigned Forester may keep them happy, it probably won’t attract converts. This compact crossover is loaded with cargo space and new safety features, but its pronounced sluggishness is a deal breaker.

Engine: The standard motor screams on hilly ascents but fails to gain any momentum. The 2.5-liter, 170hp boxer engine just doesn’t cut it. A larger turbocharged engine with 224hp is available.

Rent “I’m Not There,” Todd Haynes’s playful, puzzling fantasia on the slippery myth of Bob Dylan, out Tuesday on DVD. He casts six actors, including the astonishing Cate Blanchett, to represent both real and imaginary aspects of the icon.

Hear “Les Artistes,” by Santogold, on myspace.com/ santogold. Singer Santi White offers fresh, addictive beats infused with an ’80s vibe. On an album where each track differs from the last, blending new wave with soul, Santogold is the funk “it” girl to watch. Play it once, then hit repeat.