Kathy T is back with more Stupid Questions™. This time, it’s a holiday edition. The tree is in my attic. Gathering dust. It’s an artificial 6- or 7-footer. What’s the best way to clean it before spreading the dust throughout my house? Heather – There are several methods you could try, depending on how dusty …
Heather says: These traditional Christmas cookies can be found under many names: Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, sand tarts, or butterballs. Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened 1/4 cup confectioners sugar 1 tsp pure vanilla extract* 2/3 cup nuts (your choice: pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts) 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt additional confectioners sugar …
Ivy says: Rachel wanted to know how to keep the cats out of the Christmas tree. I only wish this worked as well for curious toddlers as it does for cats! Cats hate the smell of citrus- particularly oranges, but lemons work as well. I spray an orange based cleaning product like Orange Clean on …
Ivy says: Like we did for Thanksgiving, we are going to have another countdown to Christmas! The price of everything has gone way up- gasoline, groceries- you name it. We’re all feeling the pinch! So here at Home Ec 101, we’ll be giving you guys some great ideas for handmade gifts, make-it-from-scratch cookies and candy, …
Heather says: I make this every year for Christmas parties and brunches. Biscotti are twice baked cookies and the name comes from the Italian words bis and cotto. This recipe freezes well and can be made up to a month ahead of time. Pictures will be added soon. Chocolate Biscotti Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose …
Heather says: I took today off, but Malia was kind enough to send in her recipe and instructions for snickerdoodles; just the name makes me grin. Malia is currently on break from her blog Live.Laugh.Love, but she can be found at Music City Bloggers where she is a contributing author. Snickerdoodles While the origins …
Heather says: The menu and shopping list have been written. Now it is time to ensure you have enough serving dishes for the big day. Are you serving buffet or family style? If you don’t use your serving dishes for every day meals grab a stack of 3x5s or sticky notes and write the name …
This page serves as a loosely categorized index for Home-Ec 101 articles that relate to cooking, food preparation and storage, kitchenware, utensils, and food safety. All posts on Home-Ec 101 have a convenient print format. Look at the bottom of the post for the Print Friendly Icon. This will pull up the post without comments, …
Dear Home Ec 101: I live in Hurricane Country and there are often boiling water advisories after a storm. How long am I supposed to boil the water before it is safe to drink? ~Avoiding the Runs in Ravenel Dear Avoiding the Runs in Ravenel, Boil water advisories are more common than you may think. …
Dear Home-Ec 101, I bought some new jeans and they smell strongly of chemicals? Could you please tell me what that awful chemical smell is on some new jeans? Also, how can I get rid of that chemical smell? I tried adding 1 cup of vinegar to wash with laundry detergent 3 times, and they …