Heather says: Despite what the media wants to say, I know many families are in practical gift mode, either by choice or circumstances. If you have a new or aspiring cook on your list, some of these kitchen items may be a hit. With the exception of the knife block, I’ve tried to keep the …
Heather says: Tomorrow’s the big day. Are you ready? For many families today is for baking and food prep. Here are few last minute tips to help everything go smoothly. Check the turkey now. Has it completely thawed? No? Use the water bath method to finish defrosting the turkey. If you have several recipes calling for …
Heather says: Tick. Tock. Your time is running out. However, you’ve been following along with this year’s Countdown to Turkey Day and aren’t stressing, right? Grab your Thanksgiving Shopping List and buy your produce and other perishables. If you went the fresh route, pick up your turkey. If your turkey is thawing, take a moment …
Heather says: I hope you don’t mind that I’m going to toss a little housekeeping into today’s post. The winner of last week’s Cooking for Geeks Review and giveaway is frequent commenter MrsBYork. If you’re random.org you’d know her better as commenter #17. Don’t worry, you can always add Cooking for Geeks to your Christmas …
Heather says: The ideas in this post may not be of immediate use for you. Many of you will say, it would take more time than the savings provide. That may be true for where you are today, but you never know what information you may need in the future. Just mentally file it away …
Heather says: Do you like this site? Yes? Do you like when I occasionally geek out explaining a concept in cooking? Yes? Buy Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food¹. Now that was the easiest review ever. Oh, you want to know more? Jeff Potter’s Cooking for Geeks is a soft cover …
Dear Home Ec 101, Can you clarify your directions for making the shopping list from your Thanksgiving menu using a spreadsheet? Signed, Confused in Conyers Heather says: Sure thing, a visual might help and keep in mind I was cooking for 20, before you freak out over 2lbs of butter. Click the image for a …
Heather says: There’s no heavy lifting today, only some more planning. Grab your Thanksgiving Day menu from Monday and another sheet of paper or some index cards and head into the kitchen or wherever you store your serving dishes. How are you serving your meal? Will it be family style with everyone seated around the …
Heather says: Yay! Another pen/pencil and paper exercise or maybe if you’re wired weird and serving a bunch of people it’ll be a Google spreadsheet. I’m still being teased for that, if you must know. Today’s exercise is not the final menu. Divide your sheet of paper into three columns. Label them: My ideal menu …
Heather says: Today there are three things to do. First, if you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner it’s time to decide: who, when, and where. Sometimes work schedules just don’t agree with the holiday calendar sometimes family obligations override how we would like to celebrate. Don’t forget many people would enjoy a Thanksgiving gathering on the following …