You know the frustration when you spend a ton of time selecting the best produce, haul it home, and a couple of days later you’re faced with limp or gross fruits and veggies? It happens way too often to me, so I’m on a quest to do fix it. First off, I’m trying to buy less with each trip to the store. That means more frequent trips, but when I can contain myself to a fresh … [Read more...]

Around here, Gaeddert Farms Sweet Corn stands are everywhere. The stands first open the beginning of July, and every year I swear that I’m going to be a regular customer and buy loads of corn while the prices are low and the ears are plentiful. I start out going great guns with the plan to put up tons of corn for use later in the year. Then, every year life happens and it’s … [Read more...]

One of the purposes of the 3 Things I Learned series is for me to have an excuse to research topics. A huge problem at Hectic Manor is the amount of spoiled food we have. Over the years we’ve gotten better, but I’m still embarrassed by the amount of food we pitch. This week I investigated that topic to discover what we’re doing wrong…and learned a ton! As always, if the … [Read more...]

I’m not the guy you want to play in Trivial Pursuit or Trivia Crack. I’m a storehouse of information that is marginally useful. Ask my kids…I know some of the weirdest stuff. Part of my success is because I constantly collect things for later review. Upon discovering the Evernote web clipper I went wild. I clip from the browser and use the iOS share sheet mercilessly. … [Read more...]

Tongue-in-cheek Warning:  Right up front I’m going to address the snickering and giggling. This is a family-friendly blog where that sort of silliness is not going to be tolerated. I especially don’t want you to be forced to explain why you’re giggling uncontrollably at a kitchen blog. So as you’re reading, don’t head towards the thought-gutter when I’m writing about … [Read more...]