All - Home-Ec 101

Butter, Margarine, and Shortening a Comparison

Dear Home Ec 101, What is all the hoopla about butter, shortening, and margarine. Does it matter if I substitute one for the other? And lard? Ew! Signed, Baffled Baker Heather says: I’ll address lard at the end. There are many differences between the other three, but I’ll try to keep this short rather than …

Cookie-a-day: Basic Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Heather says: Shortbread cookies have very few ingredients, so it is important to ensure those used are of high quality. This means no margarine and no imitation vanilla. Shh, I don’t want to hear your arguments. Shortbread Cookie Recipe: 1 cup butter – room temperature 1/2 cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups …

Chocolate Drop Cookies Recipe

Heather says: Drop cookies refer to the method they are placed on the cookie sheet. Some are rolled into balls, other pressed into circles, still others are rolled out and cut into shape. These are scooped and dropped onto the baking sheet. Soft and moist, these chocolate cookies are somewhat delicate right out of the …

Dear Home-Ec 101, I washed and dried a load of darks with a tube of lip balm (Arbonne, if that makes a difference!), needless to say I have grease spots all over the clothes. How can I remove them? Signed, There’s a Ford Maverick! Ivy says: I can’t even begin to tell you how many …

Baking Soda and Baking Powder, The Difference and Substitutions

Dear Home Ec 101, I’m going to try to do a lot of baking this holiday season, can you explain the difference between baking powder and soda? If I run out what can I use as a substitute? Thanks, Rising in Raleigh Heather says: I’ve mentioned before that baking is a matter of chemistry. Both …

Horrible Kitchen Tales- We have a winner!

Ivy says:

The deadline for your horrible kitchen stories was last night, so today we announce a winner! It was really, really hard to decide. There were lots of stories that I absolutely loved and several I could really relate to. I wish I had more gift certificates to give away, because so many stories were very deserving!

But there could be only one winner, and we decided the winner was…drumroll, please….

Evonne Lack from MOMformation in “The Toxic Waste Leftover Warm-up”!

Congratuations, Evonne, I’ll be emailing you soon to get your mailing address to send your GC!

To read more stories, just click…

About Those Leftovers

Heather says: It is time to use ’em or lose ’em. Here are some guidelines, and recipes for using up Thanksgiving leftovers. Substitute turkey in any of the chicken recipes below. Turkey should be frozen or used within 2 – 6 days. Frozen cooked turkey should be used within 2 months and should be cooked …

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Heather says:

These chocolate chip cookies call for real butter, a splash of milk, and extra vanilla. For variety consider adding chopped walnuts or M&Ms.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks butter) melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 TBSP vanilla
2 TBSP milk
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions are after the jump.

Happy Thanksgiving From The Home Ec 101 Crew!

Ivy and Heather say: If you’re having trouble cooking your turkey, check this post out. If you’re needing gravy advice, check this post out. If your turkey hasn’t thawed and you need to do an emergency thaw, check here. If you need to know how to set the table, look here. Have a safe and …

Worst Thanksgiving Day Foods

Ivy says: Ah, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we’ll have lots of tasty food to eat. Or will we? I’m not cooking, so it’s bound to be at least somewhat good, but certain foods are just not my cup of tea. What are the worst Thanksgiving foods? My money’s on cranberry mousse, green bean casserole, and …