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The flaws of home cooks

This Chowhound thread is really making me feel better about myself. In it, Chowhound users are confessing to their sins in the kitchen. A quick survey shows that a lot of users are bad about replacing their spices after 6-12 months. This may be the most common "sin," and I think it bears examination. Who are the people insisting that we buy all new spices once a year? Have they ever priced spices? Come on, that stuff is expensive! And when you are talking about dried spices, is it really that big a deal?

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September 8 is Grandparent’s Day

Grandparents’ Day is just around the corner. Do you have any plans with your family? Here are a few ideas if you need something to get you started.

Spend the day with a grandparent. Ask him or her to tell you stories about growing up, traveling and your family. Take notes, then make something to commemorate the stories—whether it’s a family tree, a shadowbox with mementos or a framed photograph.

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What to do with cherry tomatoes

I'll be honest with you, my main mode of eating cherry and grape tomatoes is "one at a time, out of hand." Cherry tomatoes are one of the few reliable garden products in my area, and every late summer I get boxes of them from friends, family members, and neighbors. And I eat them all.

I always think, "I should at least slice these and add salt and pepper." Then I keep eating them.

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Secret family recipes

The Chowhound folks are discussing secret family recipes, and it's fascinating to peek into other people's lives this way. A lot of special family recipes are not, truth be told, all that special. Does adding ketchup to boxed macaroni and cheese count as "special"? To a lot of people it does, not because it is special in and of itself, but because it's how their family does it.

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Churn it! Churn the butter!

Yesterday I asked my husband to pick us up some heavy cream so we could make homemade butter. Wood Sprite was amazed during the entire process! It’s the easiest thing to make, although it does take time and lots of shaking. Here’s what you do:

Pour a small container of heavy cream in a jar with a lid and seal it well. (You can see that we used a pasta sauce jar.) Then shake!

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All about basil

Basil doesn't grow terribly well here in the Pacific Northwest, but if you can find the right spot for it, it can work its way up to something halfway decent before the first frost comes along and kills it. Basil is, at heart, a Mediterranean and tropical Southeastern herb which loves the poor soil and merciless heat of places like Italy and Thailand.

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