Cleanliness is next to godliness. My interpretation of that age-old adage means that keeping your house clean is just as un-fun and boring as being a goody two shoes. That's why they call things like laundry and doing dishes "chores," I assume. Yuck.
Harry Potter fans got a treat last week when Pottermore, a site created by Harry Potter author, J. K. Rowling, released a test that let users learn what form their Patronus protective charm would take.
My husband's and my daily schedules are constantly changing. Frankly, it's complete chaos sometimes, so I can't plan to have elaborate dinners on the table at six o'clock every day. And by the time we actually get to eating in the evening, we've become so hungry that our moods have taken a nosedive.
While a hot dog with all the typical American condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish) is heavenly for kids, as an adult, I realize there is nothing wrong with switching things up a bit and getting creative. In fact, a plain hot dog can be a fantastic blank canvas for chefs to work with—a great, edible example of going from drab to fab.
Hands down, chips and dip are the best entertainment foods to ever exist. This fact can be confirmed in an instant by any grocery shopper strolling down the chip isle on Super Bowl Sunday or New Year's Eve. However, you may want to hold off on buying those standard salsas or dips at the store—especially if you own a food processor.
Uh-oh: you wake up one morning with the telltale signs that you are coming down with something. Your throat is sore, you can barely breathe out of your nose, and you have a nagging cough.
Dumplings have been around for centuries in various forms; spätzle, as well as chicken and dumplings, are dough-y dumplings with no filling, whereas Russian pierogis and Chinese jiaozi are dumplings that contain meat, vegetables, or both.
In my opinion, biscuits made from scratch (American biscuits, that is, not the British kind) are just flat out amazing, but I'm typically too lazy to actually make them. That's why I always have a can/tube of refrigerated biscuits on hand. They're not only good for quick biscuits and gravy or as a simple side of bread, they can be used for so much more—sweet or savory!
Fall is my favorite time of year, yet I cringe every time it begins. Why? Because it seems like every business is in a frenzy to start the Christmas shopping season the day after Halloween ends. For those of us who are fans of pumpkins, that's a buzzkill.
Look, I'm no food snob. I once dedicated an entire day to eating only deep-fried things (butter, Twinkies, Oreos, pickles) at the Minnesota State Fair. But even I draw the line at instant mashed potatoes. I mean, why bother? It's not that hard to make perfectly delicious and fluffy mashers yourself.
Facebook will let you do pretty much anything via a text message, but unless you still have a flip phone, it's more of a novelty than actually useful.
Thanksgiving is pretty much the only day out of the year when you can be a complete fatass. It's totally expected, if not encouraged. In fact, if you aren't stuffing your face with a bunch of delicious and unhealthy food, people start to look at you funny.
If you want to start the party out right, you have to impress the crowd with your awesome bartending skills. While lighting cocktails on fire is a nice way to warm up the crowd, it's been done by thousands of bartenders across the globe. Plus, if you're not careful, you could end up like this guy:
If you have a few minutes you can create delicious potstickers at home. Besides the potsticker wrapper, you will need to make the stuffing. Be sure to have the following ingredients:
Cook anything from frozen! For this recipe, you will need: 10 frozen chicken thighs, handful of frozen onions, half a teaspoon fresh ginger, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 red chili, pinch of garlic, 1 frozen cube of stock, handful of frozen veggies, sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce and white rice.
Nearly everything in this recipe has been frozen! You will need: 10 black pitted olives, 2 tablespoons of capers, 6 diced tomatoes, 2 fresh red chilis, 1 lemon, 16 frozen raw tiger prawns, 1 cube of frozen chicken stock, frozen roasted veggies, extra virgin olive oil, pinch of garlic, pinch of basil, pinch of parsley, grated Parmesan and your cooked spaghetti.
The most important meal of the day, but sometimes you just don't have the energy in the morning to make something healthy. This video shows you a quick and easy recipe for a hot and delicious power breakfast using grape nuts, banana, pecans, honey and milk.
This is a delicious recipe that makes an excellent fall breakfast (or, really, breakfast any time). You will need pancake mix, 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin (canned or mashed), 1/4 cup of walnuts, 2 cups of milk, cinnamon, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
This dessert looks complicated and difficult, but it's really not. It's a great recipe to make when you need to bring a dessert to a potluck. Bake a batch of delicious cupcakes that have been stuffed with other delicious foods.
Chocolate bark is an excellent gift or dessert for Valentine's Day. Crunchy, rich, and sweet, it's an aphrodesiac that'll get your taste buds off. But don't take the easy way out and just purchase some bark at the store.
You can bake a loaf of bread that looks exactly like a woven wicker basket! It's not too terribly difficult, and is sure to impress people. You're given both the recipe and the technique for making it look like a cute little basket.
If you're a college student, then you're super busy all the time. Between running around to classes, hanging around with friends, fraternity parties, volunteering, and work there's very little time to devote to preparing a healthy meal.
What better way to finish off your Thanksgiving meal than with a nice hot slice of apple pie? As Thanksgiving as Thanksgiving desserts come, apple pie has mesmerized our collective taste buds since it was invented because of its perfect balance between tartness and sweetness.
During Thanksgiving, cooks, who are often limited by time and oven capacity, must choose between classic Thanksgiving side dishes like mashed potatoes and more interesting, novel ones like Italian stuffed pasta shells. Have both a classic dish and a new one by checking out this video.
Spice up and warm up those cold winter nights by preparing chan toor dal. Chan toor dal is a combination of channa dal (chickpeas) and tur daal.
Move over ketchup; salsa is officially America's favorite new condiment. This is great news, since salsa has infinitely less fat, calories, and bad artificial gunk than ordinary ketchup.
When you think of bruschetta, you probably start thinking about its crispy, drool-worthy texture and the tomato, vinegar, and olive oil dip that usually goes on top. But bruschetta, which is the Italian word for "bread," can actually be topped with anything.
This may not work for everyone, since each person has a different pH balance. Or you may need to alter the recipe a bit. What you need is: shea butter, baking soda, corn starch, cocoa butter, Vitamin E gel caps and your favorite essential oil.
Are you having a baseball playoffs party soon but are getting a little tired of serving the same storebought chips and dip and greasy slices of pizza? Opt for a healthier - albiet just as delicious - alternative by baking some soft pretzels instead. Check out this food video to learn how to make soft pretzels without lye.
You don't have to know what kathal pulav means (jack fruit pulao, or jack fruit plus rice pilaf) to enjoy its mildly sweet and rich flavor. Jack fruit is a supersized fruit (the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, in fact ) comes from a Southeast Asian tree that grows in tropical regions.
Angel food cake is a wonderfully light dessert, but it's even better with a peachy flavor. If you're planning on making a peach-flavored angel food cake, follow the recipe in this video, because it only involves two ingredients! Robin Benzle of Chow Time shows you her secret to a peach angel food cake, which goes great with ice cream.
Coffee cake was invented to be enjoyed alongside coffee (duh!), but we just as easily eat it alone...by the cakeful. We especially love coffee cakes with a tender, moist inside and a crumbly, crunchy top filled with the sweetness of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Why be a vegetarian when there's so many good meat-based recipes out there? Well, at least that's our reasoning.
Sure you can make Christmas punch this year, but that's just plain boring! Go even more traditional with Wassail! A fantastic alcoholic drink that was primarily consumed in the 14th. century by Anglo Saxtons. In this video you will learn how to make the Wassail with a fantastic recipe!
Want to incorporate more veggies into your daily eating but don't want to feel like you're force feeding yourself stuff that tastes like cardboard? Break out of your bland vegetable rut and experience vegetables the way they were supposed to be experienced - succulent, juicy, and delicious - with this recipe.
You know how every time you hit up a fancy restaurant every dessert has delicate shavings of chocolate and some dishes have shaved cheese on top? Though these toppings may seem super high class and difficult to do at home, we've got a little secret for you: All you need is a vegetable peeler.
Chicken is one of our favorite foods because there are an infinite number of ways to prepare it. And making chicken recipes on the go is a cinch.
Going out and eating at those Chinese fast food places are the best! And a staple of all of them are the orange chicken! But instead of getting take out, you can make it at home for much cheaper, and healthier! In this video chef Jason Hill takes you through the steps of making his orange chicken recipe as a sautee' instead of a fry.
Sometimes simple is the best way to do it, and what is simpler than green beans? Well, they aren't THAT simple, but the concept is easy to grasp. Green beans can make a fantastic side dish to any meal if you know how to cook them right. In this video, chef Jason Hill introduces you to a simple, but delicious green bean recipe with garlic and shallots.
There are few dishes quite so American as fried chicken. This recipe from Epicurious shows you how to make authentic Southern fried chicken, served with collard greens lightly sauteed in bacon drippings, thick mashed potatoes and a delicious country gravy on top.
