Married ...with Dinner's Profile

@rberry it's Ikea Värde: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/14631607/

I have really enjoyed the recipes in "The Gourmet Prescription: High-Flavor Recipes for Lower Carbohydrate Diets" by Deborah Chud. They're made with real food, not convenience products, and they're actually the sort of food I like to eat, as opposed to the 30-minute meals that many low-GI cookbooks seem to gravitate toward.

I also agree that Kalyn's recipes are awesome, whether youu're on South Beach or not.

we use the paper-towel roll-up trick, too. it works like a charm.

if you spread a very thin layer of olive oil on the surface of the avocado and then wrap it in plastic wrap (or place it on a reusable piece of oilcloth, like an Abeego wrap) it will create more of a seal than the wrap alone. I have had avocados stay fresh this way for days, and the oil does not degrade the flesh the way that acids do.

I share my pressure canner with friends all the time; it's silly for everyone (especially those with small apartments) to each have their own. Another couple actually borrows our canner and we borrow theirs, when we have big batches to put up.

I'd definitely be up for lending other appliances and bulky items to friends. I'm amazed that the apartment share closet works properly, though -- human nature being what it is, I'd expect things to go missing.

Dasmueller: I bought mine on eBay -- that's probably your best bet.

yeah, hello? biggest change is the new microwave.

I use Abeego flats and wraps for a lot of the things I used to use plastic wrap for. They're washable/reusable oilcloth that's coated in beeswax (it smells so good!):

I bought mine on Etsy: http://abeego.etsy.com

we have a side-by-side (and a counter-depth model, at that) in our kitchen, because there wasn't enough room for another option without destroying the layout. And also, we both prefer the easy access of the s-x-s layout. We also have a another fridge in our basement -- a top-freezer model.

We mostly bought the spare to store stocks, pasta sauces, bulk meat purchases, and other 'pantry' items in the freezer; we didn't like any of the upright chest freezers we could get at the time, and most of them were so big that we'd have struggled to keep it full (which is the way they run most efficiently). So now we have plenty of space for our frozen backstock, as well as fridge space for our seltzer deliveries, extra beer, flours and grains, and all those condiments that don't get used that often. When we entertain, or when we have the occasional item that's too wide for the upstairs fridge, we can keep larger items downstairs, too.

What's the purpose of not waterbathing preserves? I get it for pickles and other things where additional (or any) cooking changes texture, but jellies and jams are already cooked down. Why take the risk?