Caprese or Sliced Tomato & Mozzarella Salad

January 21, 2012

Heather says: Sometimes recipes are so basic, so simple, so easy, that I forget to include them here on Home Ec 101. Insalata caprese is one such recipe. This recipe shines in the summer, when tomatoes are at their peak, but sometimes it just beckons in the depth of winter. If it’s not tomato season, [...]

Read the full article →

Winter Foods, A Friday Free for All

January 20, 2012

Heather says: We haven’t done a Friday Free for All in a few months and it’s January 20th, winter is in full swing -in most of the country, we’ve been pretty lucky here. When the weather is miserable it’s time to break out your favorite comfort food recipes. Yesterday I picked up all of the ingredients [...]

Read the full article →

The Dangerous Comparison Game

January 19, 2012

From a recent comment here on Home-Ec 101, I have one child that lives at home and a teenager that moves in and moves out lol, and also another child that is with me every other weekend. When I get my house clean, it stays that way for a couple of days then it’s dirty [...]

Read the full article →

Cooking Homemade Frozen Foods

January 19, 2012

Dear Home Ec 101, I’d like to make some thing to keep in our freezer to help us avoid the convenience foods at the hectic dinner hour.  Do you have a rule of thumb for what freezes well without losing much quality/texture?  What’s the best way to thaw and bake things that have been frozen? [...]

Read the full article →

Light Bulb Socket Lubricant?

January 17, 2012

Dear Home-Ec 101, Why does Tim say “Do not attempt to lubricate either the socket or the bulb with any household products like WD-40, petroleum jelly, or mineral oil?” in the post How to Remove a Broken Light Bulb? I have done that before with no problems. Thanks, I like my sockets slick Heather says: [...]

Read the full article →

Teachable Moment: Copyright

January 16, 2012

*UPDATE* 1:08PM Eastern 1/16/2012 The offending site is being altered. This is all I wanted. If you are dealing with content issues please read the site I reference below for how to handle what you’re specifically dealing with. Heather says: Over the weekend I received quite a nasty surprise. There is a woman in Ocala, [...]

Read the full article →

How to Use Acetone to Remove Grease Stains

January 13, 2012

Dear Home-Ec 101, I read in your book about using acetone to remove grease or oil stains from clothes, but it just mentions it in a list of items one might use. Can you please elaborate on this? I am forever ruining knit shirts with food stains, as is my son (although, in his case [...]

Read the full article →

The misunderstood herb: How to use Bay Leaves

January 12, 2012

Dear Home Ec 101: A friend told me that bay leaves are poisonous, and that’s why you remove them before serving. Isn’t it kind of…insane to cook with a poison plant? Signed, Is it safe? Bobbie says: You know, that never made sense to me, either. My reasoning was “If it’s true, the poison gets [...]

Read the full article →

Honing v. Sharpening

January 11, 2012

Bran says: Honing your blade is one of the main aspects of good knife care. But it often gets confused with sharpening, even though they’re not the same thing. To break it down to first principles, sharpening is taking away material, and honing isn’t. Instead, honing is straightening out the edge of an already-sharp blade. [...]

Read the full article →

OTC Medicine Recall Alert 1/10/12

January 10, 2012

Heather says: Check your medicine cabinets for the following over the counter medications from Norvatis (full details and lot numbers behind that link): Excedrin® Bufferin® Gas-X® NoDoz ® The expiration dates of the NoDoz® and Excedrin® will be December 14, 2014 or prior and the expiration date of recalled lots of Gas-X® and Bufferin® will be [...]

Read the full article →

I’m Considering a Roomba

January 10, 2012

Dear Home-Ec 101, I can get a new Roomba 530 for a great post-Christmas price. In my rental place, we have vertical blinds. I was worried how the machine would cope with those. I have tiles all through except the bedrooms that have thick, soft carpet. Your advice is appreciated. Signed, I want a robot minion [...]

Read the full article →

Beef Stroganoff, Gluten Free and for the Slow Cooker

January 7, 2012

Heather says: Beef stroganoff is not an attractive comfort food, which is why it has taken me nearly five years to get around to posting this slow cooker recipe. It’s not the beef stroganoff’s fault it’s unattractive and the recipe itself is quite simple; it’s just a homely dish. People on the interwebz can be [...]

Pin It
Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →