There are about as many techniques for hard-boiling eggs as there are recipes for them. I use the American’s Test Kitchen’s fool-proof method which I have found to be, indeed, fool-proof. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled as long as you use a pot large enough to hold the eggs in a single layer, covered by an inch of water.

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Artichokes can be scary. But that’s why I’m here, to take the scary out of scary. Er, never mind. Really, I needed some artichokes and I couldn’t justify buying canned artichoke hearts when fresh ones are bursting through the produce section. So I gulped, took a big breath, squeezed my eyes shut and reluctantly bought a few artichokes. And it’s true, there is a lot of waste when it comes to fresh artichokes, and a lot of prep work. We just have to accept it and move on, because fresh food is always better than canned or frozen food.

There are a few things you should know before getting into the dirty business of de-choking and artichoke. These babies turn brown faster than you can blink. If you are needing artichokes for a salad or something where their green color is pivotal to your presentation, then you will want to have some lemons on hand. Just like when preparing apples and avocados, rub the juice from a lemon wedge over your artichoke as you work. You can also keep the parts of the artichoke you are not preparing submerged in lemon water to prevent the browning process.

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A few months ago my mom gave me her treasured cast iron skillet — not any cast iron skillet, but a very special cast iron skillet. It belonged to my Great-Great Grandmother, and has been passed down mother-to-daughter for four generations, so this baby has been around for a while. When I received this piece of history, let’s just say it had seen better days. So if you have a cast iron skillet that is really old or been stuffed in the cabinet for so long that it looks like an ancient artifact, here are a few quick how-to’s to get that skillet back to its former glory.

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