heatherparlato's Profile

i've found that any sort of archiving format has done more to hide my favorite recipes from me than help me use them. i still keep cookbook favorites, but even had to write top 5 lists of what i love in each of them so i could remember what-all is there.

first of all, get all your bon appetites & gourmets, set up an account at epicurious and start a recipe box, then look through your favorite issues, search your favorite recipes and add them to your box. i have die-hard go-to recipes i love from the 90s and they're ALL right there online.

second, choose your favorite bookmarking site. i use pinterest because i like the public sharing, but many people love evernote, or prefer something that is not photo-centric. you can search out and bookmark many of your other beloved recipes from many other magazines and food blogs.

third, you'll start to trust and understand that many recipes out there repeat themselves. you can probably find on a blog what is very similar to what is in those magazines, with far shorter search times.

from there, you should have a very manageable archive set, maybe one you can put in a high-traffic place and refer to far more often than i did with mine. keep your absolute faves, those ones that nobody can replace. and if you keep getting magazines, make this a practice once you enjoy reading them.

i'd be so interested to taste it! before modern brewing, wild yeasts were caught and much more tart, intense flavors were imparted to the beers, ciders & ales. i love them!

i keep paper towels too, mostly for cat cleanup. i think using them sparingly for that kind of cleanup is a far better use of paper than the tons of wasted laser prints in offices every day.

when i had them, it took all kinds of experimenting before i found out they were crawling up the sink pipes from downstairs [my solution ended up being to leave the drain plugs in when the sink wasn't in use, since the owner & downstairs neighbor seemed fine with this problem].

definitely try the boric acid bait, and diatomaceous earth [which is good for all kinds of bug problems, indoors & out] clean out any paper packaging, and if you think they're coming in the walls, tape off seams in built-in cabinets [this was another thing i tried--it drove me so nuts that i had to try it, until i figured out the plumbing issue].

i did use traps, which seemed to reduce the population to very small, young roaches, but unless you see total effectiveness, they will persist. if you do live in a building, try plugging your drain with an inch of water whenever the sink isn't in use and see if you have the same problem!

as a person who is self-employed, i love it and i think working from home is perfect for me. but one of the most common things i hear from my employed friends is that they don't think they'd work if they didn't have their bosses looking over their shoulders. i think there are just a few types of people, some of whom thrive at being self-directed, and others who do best with direction [and still others who fall into neither clearly]. there's also the possibility that some of these employed friends just haven't thought about how they'd truly behave if they'd started a business and invested in it. giving up on all the work i've done to be in this position isn't even part of my reality, and i think a lot of them would agree if they had a similar experience.

i've heard both sides from executives at my last job too, though. some said they never got more done than at home, others seemed entirely suspicious that anyone who wanted to work from home just wanted to watch tv on the job.

personally, though, nothing beats a day when i've got soup on the stove and laundry in the machine while i'm working. i trade my commute time for exercise, i get to focus on blocks of work when i'm most productive, and not be chained to my desk when lulls happen. doing all this while not also having to run my business--just doing the work? i coudln't imagine anything easier. for proactive, self-directed people, working from home is great!

i think it's funny that anyone cares that the shapes would be different. that's what handmade pasta looks like--handmade. i've always liked doing it by hand, though someone bought me a crimper at one point [like a pizza cutter, but cuts and crimps as you roll it], but honestly i think a good old fork is just fine. and if you're rolling the pasta out thin enough, you're getting the lowest pasta-to-filling ratio of any pasta dishes.

i use them to store my dry pantry goods, and for room-temperature- or refrigerator-safe vinegar and olive oil preservations [like oven-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers].

i also make my yogurt in them, and fit them with cheese cloth and a canning ring for sprouting beans.

as i continue to replace dry packaged goods, i find these jars are excellent storage!

hmm, maybe that's why my eggshell & coffee rich compost keeps slugs away? we have a lot of both in our compost and we don't have slugs. interesting!

i have heard eggshells are good for the soil as well, so i dehydrate mine in the oven [just with the pilot on over some days] so they're easier to break into the compost bin. i would imagine the sharp edges would be similar to diatomaceous earth.

i like to make fruit salads through spring & summer, sometimes with lemon juice, zest and a bit of orange flower water or rose water. this is especially nice with yogurt.

add some to a blended lassi!

i see someone from celery has commented, but i wanted to chime in as well: beyond being a great product, celery design has used their redesign as a case study in eliminating waste of materials and resources at every stage of the packaging. it was a really impressive presentation, and i was happy to see a company like bon ami supporting best practices.