I’m not a fan of summer; it’s hot, sticky, and—for someone as pale as I—sunburny. I spend most of the summer indoors, hoping for a cloudy day. For reasons probably related to my aversion to summer, I long ago decided that August is, in fact, autumn. And what does autumn mean? Soup, of course! Every year, I spend my …
Heather says: So routines are about to happen. Not just routines but morning to bed, no room for error every minute packed until Thursday drop off, routine. I’ll make it, I’m just trying to figure out how. What I’d like from you, is ideas for food suitable for healthy picnic dinners. Why? I have to …
Heather says: Here we are, another week nearly gone, and school, for us anyhow, starts on Monday. I’m more than a little excited. This has been a long summer, and I’m ready for some structure to be added to the chaos that is my work-life dance. (Anyone who dares call it a balance is going …
Michele says: Now that you have your shiny new sewing machine all picked out and ordered, it’s time to learn how to use that crazy looking thing. Unfortunately, learning is the least fun part of using a sewing machine. I’ll do my best to make it painless, but we need to take a second before …
Like many people, I love chicken marsala. If you’ve gone gluten-free, no worries. You don’t have to leave chicken marsala behind. This version is a simple variation on the classic. All you need is brown rice flour to use in place of wheat. I made this for company the other night, and it turned out …
Michele says: If you’ve ever made your own creamy salad dressings from scratch, you may have been shocked by the inclusion of up to a cup of store-bought, chemical-filled mayonnaise. Since when does a “from scratch” recipe call for “sauce from a jar”? Moreover, can a salad dressing, potato salad, or tuna sandwich qualify as …
Michele says: Have you ever tried to Google something, only to quickly realize that you don’t know which words to enter in the search box? Now, how many of you have taken it a step further and went ahead and searched for, say, “strawberry thing attached to a pincushion”? No judgment. I and many others, …
This reader question came in via email titled: A kitchen cave-in. Dear Home-Ec 101 Yep. That’s right. Lost the ceiling in my kitchen – drop ceiling, light fixture, older (plaster?) ceiling above it, and about 18 inches of blown insulation. I am in the process of getting it fixed. I have shoveled and scooped more …
Michele says: Now that our hand sewing skills are more or less on the same page, it’s time for you to make a very important choice. You can be content with hand sewing and call it a day, or you can take the plunge into the world of sewing machines. For the many who have …
Dear Home Ec 101, My husband finally broke down and bought us a new stove and fridge last week. They delivered the stove and I’m so freaked out because he got a ceramic smooth top range. I told him I only wanted the coil burner type because the ceramic tops are such hard work to …