Home Helper

My family has some of the best cooks. Ever. So, given this, you’d think that I’d want to preserve our top recipes so that I could prepare them in my own kitchen one day. And yet, right now they are all a jumbled mess of scraps of paper, notes written on napkins. They’re not only unusable like this, but they’re in no way preserving our family history of amazing cooks!

Several years ago, grandmother took the time to organize some of her favorites into a book and shared it with me and my three cousins. It’s in a tiny little binder and was a wonderful gift, but sadly doesn’t allow for updating with new favorites or additions from other family members.

My passion for cooking has been passed down for generations. My grandmother would always greet me with a warm baked pie or vegetables picked from her garden. I especially enjoy making recipes from scratch with fresh ingredients, but I often have more leftovers than I can eat in a week. I learned the value of freezing extra food early on and I can’t tell you how great it is to come home after a long work day to a homemade meal.

I recently learned interesting freezing food tips from an article in The New York Times, “Freeze That Thought.” Here are highlights from the article that may you enjoy, too:

When a birthday or holiday comes around, I like to show friends and family how much they mean to me by making gifts based on their personal taste. I make everything from customized jewelry and baked goods to quilts and handmade card sets for birthdays, weddings or holidays. For Christmas this year, I made a photo book for my parents with all the memories we shared in 2010.

Keeping shoes organized in a closet can be difficult. For years, I found myself scrambling before work to find the right pair of shoes. A friend who works in athletic footwear industry once suggested a method for identifying shoes with a photo on the outside of the box. What a novel idea! No more frantically opening shoe boxes and trying to remember the brands and styles early in the morning

Oftentimes, the original shoe boxes become torn and tattered over the years. Whenever I purchase a new pair of shoes, I go to the local discount craft store and pick up a plastic container for less than a dollar. This helps protect my shoes and keeps my closet organized with a consistent look. Then I create photo labels for all my shoes and then place them on plastic shoe boxes for a durable, organized system to find and protect my shoes.

Here are the simple steps to making your own shoe labels. ...read more

If you’re like a lot of people I know (including fellow Out of Office blogger Leah), you definitely gave some consideration to improving your wellness in the New Year. Maybe it was to find time to meditate, have better posture, lose a few pounds or try yoga. Unfortunately – at least in my experience – many of these undertakings seem overwhelming and too often people give up shortly after starting.

For me, there is one piece of advice that I always try to remember when creating a routine such as an ambitious new workout regimen: always take it one day at a time. With this in mind, I’ve found a really helpful way to keep myself focused on my wellness goals – a health journal.

 We finally made it to the end of 2010, and the holidays have me beat! But the new year has just begun and it’s time for the annual new year’s resolution tradition.

Last year I talked about my resolution idea to keep daily schedules more organized – keeping an agenda that tracked all my on-the-job and after-hours activities. For 2011, I’m sticking with that theme but turning my focus to an organized home.

If you’re like me, then you love decorating your house for the seasons. Recently, I found myself spending way too much time in the seasonal décor section at a couple of stores when the sole purpose of my shopping excursion was to buy new stainless steel pots and pans. I ended up getting back on task and decided to wait on the home décor – even though I really wanted to purchase a new table centerpiece. What better way to show the changes outside than to reflect the season inside? Autumn brings warmth to the household, along with thoughts of family celebrations, friends and good food. With Halloween and Thanksgiving just a few more fallen leaves away, why not get started decorating for them now? You can even bring in the kids to help with these easy, inexpensive DIY fall décor projects.

Guest Blogger Stephanie Buttrill is a vice president at Ketchum, the public relations agency for FedEx Office. Like many New Yorkers, Stephanie is a long-term apartment dweller. With such limited space – and very few cabinets – organization is a must!

My husband and I bought our first apartment together almost three years ago. We were young(er) and starry eyed about the whole thing – like many young couples are when diving into the real estate market. Looking back on it now, there are so many things we didn’t notice about the home we settled into that make us batty now. Most of these happen to be in the kitchen…

Take, for example, the fact that none of our kitchen cabinet doors match.

...read more

I love my Jeep. Rex is his name and I have done a lot of work to him. A 3-inch lift, 1-inch body and motor mount lift, belly-up skid plate, sport cage, bumpers, tire carrier and several other modifications. I also perform my own maintenance. I love to do my own work and get my hands dirty. I am not sure if I actually save money, but for me it is about knowing things are done right. For those readers out there like me who like to change their own oil and differential fluid, lube the chassis and perform all the other routine maintenance, there are some things you need to keep track of.

In order to keep your car under warranty, you must follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule as found in the owner’s manual. Warranty claims can be much easier if you stick to the schedule and keep good maintenance records. Not only that – proper maintenance and a documented history of that work typically helps resale value. ...read more

The new school year is upon us, and I know for many parents that means relying on a carpool to make their kids’ packed agendas possible. It takes a close network of friends to help get kids to school on time, picked up once classes and after-school activities end, and returned home safely. It can be a tough job getting a group of rambunctious grade-schoolers around – so we’ve got some tips to help things go smoothly and safely from day one. ...read more