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Chapter One
Cooking at home is cheaper, healthier,and just plain better.
Wake Up Happy •••
"I do think anyone who can read can learn to cook." -Mildred Kalish
How to Make Blueberry Pancakes
Step 1: If you've got the blueberries, chances are you've also got everything else you need to make these tasty flapjacks for two. Gather your ingredients: 1 egg (beaten but not conquered), 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons canola oil (or melted butter), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 cups flour, teaspoon salt, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and cup blueberries (fresh or frozen).
Step 2: Did that take you forever? If so, chug a cup of joe. Then, in a large bowl, using an electric or hand beater, mix your egg, milk, oil, and sugar.
Step 3: With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Don't stress about the lumps! It's better to leave a few in.
Step 4: Pop a few blueberries in your mouth, and then add the rest to the batter.
Step 5: Add a pat of butter (or a drizzle of oil) to a frying pan, and bring it to a sizzle on medium heat. No matter how hungry you are, resist turning up the flame or you'll have burned pancakes with raw insides.
Step 6: Using a ladle, drop some batter into the center of the pan to form a flapjack of your desired size. A quarter cup drop will yield about nine palm-sized cakes.
Step 7: When the edges begin to bubble up, scoot a spatula beneath the flapjack and flip it over. Refrain from throwing it in the air, unless your floor is super clean and no one is watching.
Step 8: Once both sides are golden brown, remove from heat, plate, and serve.
More Nifty Tips:
• Spritz a few drops of water into your frying pan before adding the batter. If it sizzles, you'll know it's ready. If not, keep it on the fire a little longer.
• Serve with real maple syrup if you've got it!
Be a Strong Chick •••
"Chicken was a special dinner, because we didn't buy any meat back then. We'd just get one from out back, wring his head off, cook him, and eat him. I didn't dread doing it then, but I wouldn't want to do it now." -Elouise Bruce
How to Roast a Whole Chicken
Step 1: Go to your local butcher, farm, or grocer and buy the whole bird. You'll need about pound per person. Dig out your roasting pan, and crank up your oven to 375 degrees. Then, shush! Give a listen. Is your belly growling? If so, have a little snack. It takes a good hour to roast a 3- to 3-pound bird.
Step 2: Get acquainted with your chicken. If you're temporarily grossed out, there's no kind way to say this: Get over yourself. You're about to eat this bird (and it's going to be delicious), so you might as well take responsibility for cooking it. Then, peek inside your chicken. If you see a bag of parts, pull it out. (It's the giblets, or heart, neck, and liver of a chicken, not necessarily your chicken. You can simmer them in water to make a broth or gravy, or you can just toss them.)
Step 3: Give your bird a bath for good measure. Rinse it, inside and out, under cold water, and then pat it dry with a paper towel.
Step 4: Prepare your seasonings. Mix softened butter (about to stick) with generous amounts of your favorite...
Author: Erin Bried
Bio:
Erin Bried is a Senior Staff Writer at SELF magazine, where she's penned nearly 200 stories, including 60 cover stories, in the past nine years. In addition to interviewing and profiling celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Sheryl Crow, she covers health, fitness, nutrition and psychology. Formerly, Bried was a Senior Editor at Glamour, a contributor at Golf For Women magazine and a Senior Editor/Writer at Condé Nast's Women's Sports & Fitness. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
"How to Sew a Button is a must-have book for anyone who wants to reap the wisdom of our grandmothers. I learned so much from my grandmother--ironing, how to bake the perfect cheesecake, as well as other cherished life-long tips--but what I learned most from her was how to enjoy these everyday tasks and the true essence of life. The grandmothers in this book are inspiring to all of us." - Cat Cora, Iron Chef and author of Cooking from the Hip
"Erin Bried makes being happy and healthy so simple and fun. She's a girl after my own heart!" - Jillian Michaels, Biggest Loser trainer and author of Master Your Metabolism
"Thank goodness for grandmothers and thank goodness for Erin Bried, who compiled his compendium of useful, clever, need-to-know advice, wisdom and practical information. With this book, every woman will feel they are at their grandmother's knee, learning the most vital life skills any of us need to be smarter, happier and better people too. Happy reading!" - Lucy Danziger, Editor-in-Chief, SELF magazine
"How to Sew a Button is fun, funny, and empowering. With high good humor, Bried provides instructions on how to do really useful things. Take control of your life with this great handbook. It'll give you confidence. Learn and enjoy!" - Mildred A. Kalish, author of Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During
"Erin Bried's How to Sew a Button is full of crystal clear, friendly, and funny instructions on how to do hundreds of little things that your mother forgot to teach you-not just sewing on buttons, filleting fish, and making gravy, but balancing your checkbook, tying a necktie, and (my personal favorite) how to waltz. A fun, valuable home book for just about anyone, male or female." - Cheryl Mendelson, author of Home Comforts
"A breezily useful guide to timeless home-ec skills." - O Magazine
"Combating domestic illiteracy one button at a time, How to Sew a Button is a refreshing take on DIY and self-care, valuable for women at any stage of life." - Bookpage
"The perfect book for these hard economic times when money is tight, but ingenuity is plentiful...As comforting as a hand-sewn quilt, and filled with beguilingly retro illustrations, the tips are a snap, empowering, and fun...Bolstered with nostalgic charm, every page is filled with age-old wisdom for brand new do-it-yourself empowerment." - Boston Globe
"How to Sew a Button is a handy guide to running your household and, in many ways, your life." - Washington Post
"For the domestically challenged among us, there is hope. Her name is Erin Bried." - Detroit Free Press
"Charming and timely. Unlike dry household manuals or tomes of thrifty tips, this is filled with brief, clear, step-by-step advice coupled with good-natured humor and the loving spirits of grandmothers, teaching us to take good care of ourselves, our relationships, and our treasures. Even readers who learned practical household skills from their elders will relish its reminders on the soft skills involved in being a good friend or fine neighbor, volunteering, and speaking up at city hall." - Library Journal
