Home Ec 101

Hi Home-Ec 101,I made a beef roast yesterday and even though it was perfectly rosy on the inside it was still pretty tough… Enough so that I’m not finding the idea of leftovers particularly appetizing. Is there a way I can use the meat up that will correct (or at least disguise) the t...

Dear Home-Ec 101,Last week I was cruising through Sam’s Club and found a great deal on fresh mozzarella, which I have never used before. I picked some up and froze it. I thawed one pound of it in the fridge and grated it in the food processor for pizza. It tasted okay, but the consistenc...

Heather says:It’s time to pull out your menu and recipes and put together your time table.What time will dinner be?How many of your side dishes can be made the day before? How will you reheat them in a timely manner.What will have to be done to ensure everything is hot at the same time?If y...

Heather says:Recently a reader posed this question in the comments:My dughter is a vegetarian and has been asked to bring something for Thanksgiving that she can eat and that will provide a taste of something good and different than the usual Turkey-day fare. We have’nt come up with anythin...

Heather says:In September I had the pleasure of meeting a representative of Chefs Requested at the Type-A Mom conference. We began talking and I was asked if I would be interested in trying out their products here on Home-Ec 101. I thought about it for a moment and decided I had best be up-front ...

Heather says:It’s a shop from the fridge and pantry kind of week. I have a bunch of potatoes that need to be used up. I’ll round everything out with fresh produce.Monday – Loaded baked potato soup, spinach saladTuesday – Trying out recipes from the BBC – pan grilled ...

Heather says:One of my main goals here at Home-Ec 101 is to help others realize that no one has it completely together. If from the outside they look as though everything is in order, chances are they have a fear that someone will find out they are hanging on by their fingernails? It’s ok t...

Heather says:My first encounter with a fried turkey had to have been around 1997. I was visiting the family of my then boyfriend down in Jacksonville, FL. The family was big and friendly, but I was extremely shy, so I lurked outside with the dad who was in charge of frying the turkey.  Circumstan...

Heather says:Let’s play catch up:Is your dining room table free from junk?Have you invited & confirmed guestsHave you written the menu?Do you have all the recipes doubled or halved based on your need?Have you figured out which serving dishes & utensils are needed?Have you kept up wi...

Heather says:I won’t lie. My hands down favorite way to cook turkey is to head outside and plop that bad boy into peanut oil. However, that’s not an option for many of you. Since turkey is running at $0.69 lbs and my 6 year old has a hollow leg, I call that a bargain I can’t pas...

Heather says:Yay! It’s time for boring announcements. Woo! Ok, I’ve improved the print function. I found a new plugin that allows a reader the ability to retain pictures or delete them. The best part is you can also delete specific paragraphs of text. So now, if you want to print say ...

Heather says:There’s no heavy lifting today, only some more planning.How are you serving your meal? Is it family style around the table or are you setting up a buffet where everyone helps themselves? Now it’s time to take a look at your menu and take an inventory of your serving dishe...

Heather says:This autumn side dish is nearly as easy as the sweet version. Use herbs that best compliment other elements of the meal. Consider using thyme instead of rosemary or stick with black pepper if neither seem to complement the main course.Ingredients:Butternut squash, halved & seeded...

Heather says:The best part of this dressing, aside from it being fabulously tasty is, it’s gluten free! I have several friends who are either celiac or have friends who are. I love when I have a great recipe I can pass along, especially for a holiday meal.I’m not a huge fan of egg in ...

Heather says:Guess what! Chiiiiiiiicken butt.Sorry, my two year old has been saying that all week and it’s stuck in my head. It’s already Friday again, how does that happen? It’s a good thing I was ahead of the game by being fearless on Sunday when I played hostess to a large gr...

Heather says:Inside the bird it’s called stuffing, outside it’s dressing. Sometimes families or regions will call one the other. It doesn’t matter here. This recipe is for a savory dressing that contains sweet apple, tangy dried cranberry, and crunchy almonds. The original recip...

Heather says:Yay! Another pen 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. This one has three versions, your ideal Th...

The ultimate in photo & video sharing. Easily create online photo albums. Share, store, organize and print.

Heather says:Thanksgiving will be here in just over three weeks.If you have company coming, now is not the time to launch any big home improvement type projects. I’m not talking about necessary repair, if you have a hole in your roof, by all means get it fixed. If you’ve never played ...

Heather says:Today there are two things to do. First, if you’re hosting it’s time to decide: who, when, and where. Even if you have family obligations on Thanksgiving itself, many people would enjoy a gathering on the following Saturday or Sunday. Sit down with pen and paper and decid...

Heather says:Yesterday’s turkey dinner has given us some leftovers to enjoy for the next two days. There was hardly any turkey left (from the two we made), so we’ll just have sandwiches rather than trying to do anything special with the meat. I’ll use one of the skeletons to mak...

Heather says:Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year. I’m a firm believer that all have two families, those we are born to and those we create and this is a time to celebrate with both. This year, I’ll be posting: recipes, shopping lists, a break down of how to get things done in a t...

Heather says:First of all congratulations to commenters #82 Rachel & #11 @StacyHuggins (who knew begging would convince Random.org?)  they are the winners of the Notes on Cooking giveaway.Next up, I’m working on a project and I need a description of what brings the readers of Home Ec 10...

Heather says:Does anyone ever notice how Thursday just seems to sneak up on a person? I mind my own business, but it seems to happen every seven days or so. This week I managed to squeeze in a quick Fearless Friday. I decided to try out making a homemade version of PopTarts™. Guess what? They are...

Dear Home Ec 101,I am on hour sixteen, and they still aren’t tender. I gave up the stove top and moved them into a crockpot hours ago.(electricity to run the crockpot is far less expensive than the cost of the gas for the stove) They soaked for 2 days, not kidding. what am I doing wrong? I ...

Dear Home Ec 101,My spouse, it’s not me, no never me, has a bad habit of leaving his dirty plastic containers in the back of his car. I have to tell you, they are FUNKY. How do I remove the bad odor?Signed,Smelly in SmyrnaHeather says:I feel your pain.First let’s talk prevention. What...