My partner and I started out sharing a 450sq ft apartment. We're both computer geeks, so we squeezed two computers onto a long desk. Three years later, in a much bigger apartment, the same trick st...

For brownies, an easy solution is to try a cocoa powder based recipe. Hershey's Best Brownies is a good starter version, and...

We don't have a car, and I make a point of patronizing local businesses. The easy farmer's markets run Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The university butcher shop is only open on Fridays. Everythi...

It's looked like that for quite a while now. It's pretty depressing since I (and an awful lot of other people) would love to have one. On the bright side, their bike shop seems to be d...

Uh... The Stokemonkey is not currently available . Hasn't been for over a year, partly due to liability concerns from people trying to cram one on desi...

We use a reusable filter. The current coffeemaker takes basket style filters which are a pain to find (means I have to go to the grocery store I dislike, and they only sell filters that are a smidg...

Tea has a wide range of health benefits. First off, it's a good way to get water into someone. The antioxidants, caffeine, warmth and so on are also good. *Milk* has a wide range of health benefits...

I'd never try to hide veggies. If I did, the one adult male I know who is not a veggie fan would never trust anything I cook ever again... He has a serious migraine problem, and has ve...

They can be reasonable. Their bulk foods tend to be obscenely expensive ($3/lb for red lentils vs $1/lb anyplace sane... and I'm not even buying the damn organic lentils! granola and rice are even ...

Use generic names of ingredients (semi-sweet chocolate chips, not "Tollhouse chips" No no no! If you know the correct generic term for the ingredient, use it. If y...

I've had real buttermilk a time or two, but only the fresh version. If you make butter at home, you only get about 1/2 cup of fresh buttermilk from 1 cup of heavy cream... and that doesn't last lon...

I take a lot of basic techniques from Tigers and Strawberries . Her default style is much more influenced by India and China than mine is, which h...

If the recipe only gives US style volume measurements, that's probably the cause. Most professional bakers only work off of weight, which lets them adjust for humidity (or the lack of it). If I'm t...

My Better Bottle fits in my bike's water bottle cage... and doesn't fit in my partner's cage. My cage is fairly flexible, his isn't. What I really wanted was a 1L bottle, but I couldn't find one th...

I can't think of one that I truly dislike. If beans bother you, don't do them on the stove. A crock pot works well and doesn't take anywhere near the monitoring the stove does. And if ...

If you've got dust mite allergies, going bagless is not a good idea. Great way to make vacuuming a miserable chore. Bagless vacuums also tend to be less durable. Those two factors mean...

But bicycles are already portable. Aren't they? Why do they have to fold up? Amtrack, most intercity bus services, and most in-city mass transit allow folding bikes on board. If...

I'm glad no one has inflicted that kind of horror on me. I do a ton of baking, so I have a nice set of stacking *steel* mixing bowls. Easily cleanable, holds up to heavy use, and looks good. ...

Wing chairs are very comfortable. They're a traditional shape (much like your couch), and can look neat with a "modern" style upholstery fabric. Not very mod, but if you've already got a piece you ...

I spend most of my presentation effort on family style dishes. Making a roast chicken look appetizing is not difficult. Same for making a bowl of soup look nice. And it's no harder to make a pan of...