Upside Down Glass Water Trick

I have a confession: I hoard glass jars. I buy mason jars whenever I get the chance. When I finish a jar of pickles or mayonnaise, there's no way that glass jar is going in the recycling (thankfully, they're easy to de-stink). And when my sister gives me a basket of her homema ...more

We are visual animals. So when it comes to food, presentation is everything. In deciding what to eat, certain colors and textures instantly turn us off or on. Think of runny sautéed spinach versus a salad of fresh vibrant spinach. Which one would you reach for first? Restaura ...more

We've all been there: you're staring at a fantastic-looking salad or sandwich full of your favorite ingredients. You take a bite, and you taste only one thing—raw onion. A glass of water, a toothbrush, and an hour later, and your breath still tastes like only one thing—raw oni ...more

Easter may have come and gone, but my love of hard-boiled eggs sure hasn't. Yet as much as I love hard-boiled eggs, I hate making them; I have to work in small batches to have consistent results, and they're always a little overdone, crumbly, and sometimes even green. Enter t ...more

The balanced and refreshing taste of a cocktail should always entice you into another sip. You'll know you're drinking something of quality when no specific ingredient, including booze, dominates its taste. A great cocktail can even mirror a great meal by exhibiting flavors li ...more

Contrary to popular belief, sushi is not the raw fish that one gets at Japanese restaurants, but the rice that comes with it. It's hard to tell whether this popular misconception led to or came about because of the primary flavors that we think of in sushi are the fish. We oft ...more

If you're anything like me, you probably think it's borderline sacrilege to even think about a sandwich or a burger that doesn't have a layer of smooth mayonnaise. But I don't just keep a jar of it in my fridge for lunch—it's also there for practical purposes. I learned this ...more

Whether you live in foggy California or icy Massachusetts, you've more than likely struggled with a cloudy, vision-impairing window that makes even the shortest commute impossible. While you can get rid of fogged up windows pretty easily using your vehicle's defogger system, ...more

Show your significant other just how much you love them by surprising him or her with one of life's most precious, romantic gifts—bacon! Best thing is, this passionate treat works for any day of the year (Valentine's Day, a first date, anniversary, etc.), since love and bacon ...more

While Kobe beef cows get massaged, American dairy cows are taking a real beating. Many people are cutting back on dairy while a growing number of people are discovering that they're lactose intolerant. As the public's disdain of cow's milk grows, milk sales themselves are at a ...more

Throwing a party means making sure everyone has fun, but that pursuit can quickly get out-of-hand. Before you know it, you're once laid back get-together has received so many RSVPs that it becomes obvious you're throwing the party of the century. With an over-abundance of beer ...more

If you're a child of the '70s, then you'll probably remember Pop Rocks, those fizzy little candies that created such a buzz. They went out of style in the States for a while, but now they're back with retro status. I was surprised to see them in my kids' Halloween bags a few y ...more

Once upon a time in America, there was coffee and there was decaf. That's it. No capuccinos. No espressos. And certainly no Starbucks. Coffee was just coffee, something that you bought at a gas station or donut shop. If you made it at home, it was either in a metal pot or inst ...more

The oven is arguably our most essential kitchen appliance (right alongside the fridge, freezer, and yes, even the microwave). But even though we've been using them for a few millennia, many of us know so little about our ovens that our cooking or baking can feel like a roll of ...more

Even if you've put aside your percolator and have gone the way of the pod coffeemaker, there are still dozens of ways to use your leftover coffee filters. Incredibly cheap, absorbent, and shaped with a ruffle, coffee filters are useful in the kitchen, garden, and around the ho ...more

The next time you finish that last pickle spear, don't pour the leftover green juice down the drain. You can use your leftover pickle juice in cooking, in cocktails, and as a post-workout performance shot. Pickle juice gives the salty, sour flavor to cucumbers, and is made of ...more

Instant ramen and just-add-water noodles are lifesavers because they are convenient and fast, but they are also usually chock-full of processed ingredients and unrecognizable pieces of dehydrated meat and vegetables. These DIY cups o' noodles are still portable and fast for B ...more

I know people who hate mayonnaise. I know people who detest ketchup. But I know almost no one that hates mustard, and that's because mustard has a complexity and depth that bland mayo and ketchup do not. Mustard runs the gamut from smooth and subtle to sharp and spicy, especia ...more

There are hundreds of delicious ways to enjoy caramel, from chocolate confections to sticky caramel apples and carnival bags of caramel corn. Caramel might be the special sauce that makes every dessert taste better, but it's also surprisingly simple to make. In about 7 minute ...more

In order to make your food taste good, your favorite restaurant is most likely using way more salt than you think they are (among other pro secrets). Which is why when you ask just about any professional cook what the biggest problem with most home-cooked meals are, they almos ...more

There's nothing worse than biting excitedly into your indulgent restaurant-style burger only to find a soggy mess of a bun on your plate. The conundrum of keeping a patty moist but bun dry has perplexed home cooks and chefs alike, and even top burger joints are guilty of soggy ...more

To say we're a nation of coffee-lovers is putting it mildly. Americans consume 400 million cups of joe in one day alone, but how well do we actually know our morning BFF? We know it comes from a bean, and that more coffee drinks exist than there are ways to skin a pig, but wha ...more

Sometimes it's hard to remember that lasagna, pizza, cannoli, and other dishes are actually Italian in origin; they're so much a part of the American culinary landscape at this point. Wherever they come from, Americans of all kinds love to eat 'em. This guy was released from a ...more

The other day I was perusing my Instagram when I came upon a curious hashtag... #OnePotPasta. Intrigued, I investigated further and discovered a whole world that was previously unbeknownst to me. How was it possible, I asked myself, to cook pasta with all of the ingredients i ...more

A few years ago I went hog-wild trying to achieve a zero-waste lifestyle. I didn't succeed, but the experiment taught me that we throw away things we could—and should—be using more. In ye olde days of our forefathers, people generally used every part of the animal in cooking. ...more

Pumpkin carving and decorating is a favorite October pastime. After you've carved an amazing design or face into a pumpkin or two, you want to show it off through your window or set it out on your porch for the neighbors to see. But, without knowing the tricks to save your ho ...more

Minor mishaps occur all the time in the kitchen, whether you cut your finger while dicing an onion, scorched your hand in a grease fire, or burned the roof of your mouth because you were to eager to taste-test your killer pasta sauce. While the old standbys of ibuprofen, band ...more

Pies and soufflés: these are two dishes that can try even the most experienced cook. Berry pies can be especially challenging, since the high water content of cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries often leads to a big, leaky mess once you cut into your beautifu ...more

There are several reasons why restaurant food tastes so good. One is that the cooks know how to make reductions, which involves cooking down large amounts of liquid until it becomes a pool of thick, glossy sauce. While this technique isn't hard to learn, it can be time-consumi ...more

Break out the office supplies and kitchen utensils, because improving your morning makeup routine is about to get a lot easier. Some of the things you have lying around the house can provide the perfect solution for some of the most common beauty problems. We've collected 10 o ...more

Biting into a perfectly ripened piece of fruit is enough to convince you to give up baked goods and plant your own garden. The combination of flavor, juice, and sweetness in a ripe mango, apple, plum, or berry is the stuff of life itself. Alas, most people don't know how to c ...more

There's nothing better than gathering up all the cushions, pillows, and blankets in your home and having a good ol' fashion movie night. But if you're still rocking the old 19-inch TV your parents gave you in college, you may want to upgrade to something bigger. If you've got ...more

Everything you thought you knew about cooking pasta is wrong. When I took cooking classes in Italy, they taught me to bring a large volume of salted water to a rolling boil, add a drop of olive oil so that the noodles wouldn't stick together, and wait several minutes until it ...more

Got a clogged kitchen sink? Before you reach for the plunger, see if you can fix the problem using Alka-Seltzer tablets and white vinegar. Simply drop four Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain and follow that with 1 cup white vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes before flushing the ...more

"Tempering chocolate" is one of those intimidating-sounding kitchen tasks that keeps novice cooks away from some really fun stuff like making candy, chocolate-dipped biscotti, and fruit. It's really not as hard as it sounds, and although you can skip this step, it really make ...more

The paper towel is a wondrous invention. It allows cooks to wipe up really gross stuff without having to constantly do laundry and drain fried foods so they're crunchy and crispy instead of oily and heavy. But did you know that your humble paper towel has several other uses be ...more

If you've been to a farmer's market during tomato season, chances are you know that heirloom tomatoes are pricier (and funnier-looking) than their hybrid counterparts. Heirloom tomatoes, bursting at the seams.. These eccentric tomatoes have become a sought-after alternative to ...more

Got a stubborn splinter lodged into your finger? There are a number of ways you can remove it easily using materials found around your home. Elmer's glue, banana peels, eggshells, potatoes, and baking soda are all great at painlessly extracting those tiny pieces of wood, glass ...more

Many lazy cooks skip rinsing off their grains before they cook 'em, but that's a big mistake for a few reasons. Some grains have coatings on them that need to be rinsed off to cook properly and taste good. In other cases, grains are stored with diatomaceous earth to keep out ...more

Many home cooks were taught never to press down on a burger as it cooks since that would ruin your all-beef patty by getting it to release the juices it needs to stay tender and moist. Turns out that is total hooey—a complete myth. In fact, wildly successful burger chains Sha ...more

I love my cast-iron skillet, but I never seasoned it properly. Instead, I took that sucker out of its packaging, wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove any factory dust, and started cooking with it ASAP. And you know what? It works just fine. Here's the thing: if you have ...more

Certain ingredients that a professional chef might work with in a restaurant-style setting may seem bizarre, dangerous, and even downright scary to a home cook, and for good reason. One of these examples is lye. Yes, that's lye, the alkaline base used to make soap, dissolve h ...more

For the novice cook, fungi can be weird because, well, they're fungi. However, if you've been afraid to get acquainted with mushrooms, you've been missing out. Vegetarians love mushrooms and with good reason. Their rich, savory flavor comes a close second to umami-rich meat. ...more

The microwave oven is a monumental technological achievement that's saved college students and single people from starvation for decades. Almost 97% of all American households have one, which makes it the most-owned kitchen appliance in US homes right after the refrigerator. ...more

We've already shown you how to dunk a regular-sized Oreo cookie while keeping your fingers pristine, how to upgrade Oreos into different desserts, and even make them into lazy ice cream sandwiches. Now we're going to introduce you to a few other essential Oreo hacks that will ...more

When the arrow is moved to a particular distance behind the glass, it looks like it reversed itself. When light passes from one material to another, it can bend or refract. In the experiment that you just completed, light traveled from the air, through the glass, through the w ...more

Whisking liquids seems somehow quaint, especially since there are good, cheap devices out there like immersion blenders and hand mixers that can whip cream, turn egg whites into meringue, and mix batters for you. However, I still love my whisk and use it often, and here's why ...more

To optimize your day, chug down 16 ounces of water first thing in the morning. Your body is already dehydrated after a full night's sleep, and studies have shown that drinking water immediately after you wake up increases your metabolism by a significant amount for the first 9 ...more

Your phablet's large screen is perfect for viewing movies and music videos wherever you are, but as gorgeous as the Note 3's screen is, holding it gets old and you can't always find something to prop it up at a decent movie-watching angle. But there's a secret you might not k ...more

Many of the beauty products you buy at drug and department stores are loaded with potentially toxic ingredients like parabens, while their active ingredients are made of things like glycolic, lactic, malic, and alpha hydroxy acids and retinoids, which are all derived from food ...more

Like Costco's price codes or the tags on your bread, the numerical codes printed on those sticky little fruit and vegetable labels can reveal a lot of information to us consumers. Once you understand the codes, you can look at that little label (also known as PLU, or "price lo ...more

Bees are the key to pollination and healthy vegetation, and wasps may help by assisting in pest control, but despite their benefits in the world, they're still a real pain in the ass if they're in your face. This would probably warrant an expression stronger than "pain in the ...more

It's always tempting to grab yesterday's shirt and toss it on in a fit of laziness, but before you do and venture outside, it's probably wise to freshen it up a bit first. The most obvious way to do that is with some Febreze, but if you don't have any around, your liquor cabin ...more

I used a plastic water filter for years. Who wouldn't? It cuts down on buying bottled water, which, as it turns out, is pretty much the same as unfiltered tap water. Plus, bottled water is terrible for the environment and your wallet, too. Water that costs only pennies a day a ...more

The point of ice in your cocktail is to make it cold, right? Yes and no. Obviously, ice does lower the temperature of your cocktail, but it also does other things: enhances certain flavors while masking others (handy if you're drinking less than stellar booze or wine). As Sim ...more

Cleaning a blender thoroughly is a pain in the ass, especially when you try and get all the goop out from underneath the sharp blades without nicking your knuckles. Alas, it is a necessary chore, otherwise you end up with disgusting dried gunk that ends up in your next batch o ...more

You've been there. Those precarious few seconds between dropping your expensive smartphone right on its face and reaching down to survey the damage. Or maybe you got thrown in a pool while your device was in your pocket, or you dropped that sucker right into the toilet bowl. H ...more

Mouth burning with pain from eating too much hot sauce or some seriously "spicy" food? Well, ignore your first instinct and steer clear of that cup of cold water — it won't help. Instead, reach for a glass of milk, a lemon slice, a spoonful of sugar, or some starchy bread to d ...more

I've already shown you an easy last-minute prank involving toothpaste-filled Oreos, now here's a great joke involving an integral part of the cookie-eating experience—milk. For this April Fool's Day prank, you'll be solidifying milk, which will befuddle your coworker, roommat ...more

It's easy to take the food we eat for granted, but the truth is, there are a lot of bizarre, wonderful, and just plain weird things about what we eat and drink, the effects it has on our bodies, and vice-versa. Read on to learn how bugs provide food dye, the Japanese grow squa ...more