Dear Home-Ec 101: I’m taking your advice about building an emergency food supply seriously. I’d like to do some of it by canning and preserving foods from my own garden. Besides pickles, jams and jellies, (which are yummy, but don’t exactly fill a belly) what kinds of foods should I be growing so that I …
This post is part of the Home Ec 101 series on emergency preparedness. Heather says: Keep a charcoal grill for emergencies. Sounds simple enough, but what if you’ve never used one? A charcoal grill is for outdoor use only. Got that? Outdoor only. Every time there is a hurricane or ice storm, someone hurts themselves or …
Heather says: Home Economics is a big topic, and it covers a broad range of life skills and life styles. While I tend to write from the female point of view, life skills are gender neutral. Home Ec 101 is a little over three years old, the tone and topic are set and it’s time …
Heather says: One of the best things about summer is my stepdaughter gets to spend more than a quick visit. Aside from all the other positive things, it’s nice to have a willing sous chef. Last week a miscommunication on my part lead to an unexpected, but excellent new salad. In addition to the fried …
Heather says: Frequently I’m asked, “Heather, what cookware do you recommend?” I find it a difficult question to answer. I have my set I’ve used for years to which I’ve slowly been adding a few enameled cast-iron pieces, and of course I have experience with restaurant grade equipment. At this time I don’t have a large …
Heather says: I found this a few months ago via Andre Pope. South Carolina’s youngest Certified Senior BBQ Judge, naturally. It’s quite silly, but gives a good overview of the many kinds of BBQ out there. I will admit to never having been brave enough to try it Alabama style and yes, when I’m through, …
Dear Home Ec 101,Here’s my dilemma. The house is clean, but there is a fusty, musty odor, like a large dog is secretly living in our house. We have an older, small house with the kitchen being basically open to everything. Sometimes I think it is cooking odors that are being trapped in the rest …
Dear Home Ec 101, I just got some new stainless steel appliances–and they streak–and have blotchy places on them. Any ideas? Signed, The Streak Heather says: You aren’t the first homeowner to fall for the gleaming lure of stainless. It’s so pretty there in the show room. What you don’t see are the legions of …
Heather says: Why would anyone want to cut up a whole chicken? It’s a useful skill to have, I tend to buy whatever is on sale and if whole chickens are on sale that week, then I load up. By buying a whole chicken, I have not restricted myself to one form of cooking or …
Jo-Lynne tried out the shrimp étouffée recipe and shared her results (the site no longer exists). One of her readers, Amy Bayliss, commented that it’s far too hot in the summer to stand over the stove making roux and that in Louisiana they get around it by toasting batches of flour in the oven for …