Heather says: Did you know there’s a way to increase the amount of crisp skin on your chicken while decreasing the cook time? I tell the truth, you just use a five minute technique called Spatchcocking -that sounds dirty, doesn’t it?- or butterflying and you’ll greatly increase the surface area of your roast chicken. Not …
Tim says: Don’t you just hate it when outlets and lights don’t work or sparks fly randomly from an outlet? Many look on in despair, knowing the call to the local electrician means $80/hr plus scheduling hassles. I’d like to show you how easily, and more importantly safely, these problems can be fixed. Before we get into …
Heather says: Frozen corn, potatoes, bacon, stock, and half-and-half, that’s the stuff dreams -and corn chowder- are made of. I know I should make this in June or July when sweet corn is in season, but with the heat index soaring into the triple digits, there is no way a heavy soup such as this …
Dear Home Ec 101You mentioned using vinegar or borax to remove detergent build-up from towels. We have hard water in our area and I believe this could be a problem for us, even though I haven’t had a problem with odor. I have a few questions: How much vinegar or borax should I use in my …
Some meals are so simple that I’ve forgotten to include them in the recipe files here on Home Ec 101. This easy recipe for Cheeseburger Macaroni is one of the forgotten go-to meals. This quick dinner is great for busy weeknights. It is as simple as it sounds, but the key difference between cheeseburger macaroni …
The Home Ec 101 glossary of cooking terms takes the guessing out of cooking and includes commonly used words and phrases that you will find in recipes. Cooking Terms – A to Z Al Dente – this term is used with pasta and some vegetables. It literally means to the tooth. Al dente generally implies firm but …
Heather says: Did you know it has been nearly four years since I launched Home Ec 101 with Ivy? Crazy, I know. Tuesday night I was quite surprised to find that I had been included in the 40 Bloggers to Watch in 2011 list over on the ProBlogger site. The post itself was written by …
I was checking out some of my usual suspects on the blogging circuit yesterday when I stumbled upon a post at Musings of a Housewife. Jo-Lynne was lamenting only having bolar roasts left from her bulk beef purchase. I had never heard of a bolar roast so I did some internet sleuthing. Do you remember …
Dear Home Ec 101, I’ve used everything possible I can think of – even Magic Eraser! to get the inside of my top-loading washer (where the top of the water line usually is) clean, but it’s still icky looking. It cleans just fine, and doesn’t stink, but is very unsightly. Any tips for me? Signed, …
Heather says: Here we are, week 5 of winter vegetables. This week I cheated a little and reached into the frozen vegetables, just to make sure there was more green on our plates. The whites and yellows can get old pretty quickly. I was recently asked how much our family spends on groceries. The short …