(Image credit: Joe Lingeman/The Kitchn)

Coming of age in the High Mall Era meant the food court was the first stop before buying a new halter top or catching Freddie Prinze Jr.’s latest flick. Despite being a mall regular, I always debated between choosing the oversized pizza slice or sticky-sweet chicken teriyaki. Chicken teriyaki always won. Today, I rarely make it into a mall, but on days when my energy is low and the need to feed my family is high, the urge for chicken teriyaki takeout is strong.

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This week my daughter started kindergarten in her new school in our new city. We’re still working on finding preschool for our littlest kiddo, but it feels like we are finding our way back to a regular school-year schedule. After a hectic summer, it feels glorious.

I imagine most of you are in the same boat we are: looking for easy weeknight dinners that will make this first week back into a new schedule enjoyable. This week’s meal plan is exactly that: Five family favorites that are perfect for back to school.

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Are you thinking of hosting an Empty Bowls gathering in your area? Empty Bowls is about raising funds and awareness to fight hunger and building community over a bowl of soup. While the emphasis is on raising funds, having a nice selection of delicious soups to serve is always a good idea. Here are some guidelines for your Empty Bowls soup selection, plus a roundup of our favorite soup recipes for a crowd.

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How To Make Classic Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Gravy

(Image credit: Christine Han)

In the U.S. college campuses offer an array of dining options from all-you-can-eat buffet-style dining halls to trendy fast-food restaurants at the student union to late-night greasy bites that fuel students through long evenings of cramming for exams. But in Sweden, the college food experience is much different. Students meet their friends for a daily fika (coffee break), cook most of their meals at home, and get their junk food fix with snacks like “creamy taco”-flavored potato chips and salty octopus-shaped licorice candies.

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There’s something festive, transfixing, and special about cooking around an open fire. It’s a ritual as old as humanity that transcends time and place, and immediately bridges everything I miss and love from my past with everything wonderful about my present. When we fire up our grill on our small stone patio in Brooklyn this summer, surrounded by high wooden fences and climbing ivy, I’m instantly transported back to my happy place: My perfectly spiced childhood in North Africa, the freedom and fun of that distant time, and the mouthwatering grilled food that so often fueled my days and nights.

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(Image credit: Melissa Ryan)

That thing that saves my weeknight dinners? I don’t call it a Crock-Pot^®, or even the more generic “crockpot,” which technically isn’t a word, at least not according to spellcheck. I call it a slow cooker, because that’s what it is and I’m a stickler when it comes to words and not the least bit dogmatic when it comes to dinner.

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I love spicy food as much as the next person, but working with spicy peppers? Not so fun. There have been many times when I’ve diced up serranos or habaneros for salsa or tiny little Thai chiles for a curry or stir-fry and suffered from stinging, burning fingers when they come in contact with the oils in the peppers. And don’t even get me started on the time I accidentally rubbed my eyes!

Here are some easy remedies to soothe those stinging hands after they’ve encountered the effects of chili oil.

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You already know the slow cooker is the shining star that effortlessly tackles dinner on busy nights, but it is also the tool that can help you restock the pantry. Skip the store-bought items in favor of an afternoon of DIY projects and you might just be surprised at how easy and fun it is to make things like ketchup, granola, and apple butter when the slow cooker is involved. Here are 10 to try.

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There’s one technique to learn for better chicken breast: pounding chicken breast into thin, even pieces. Pounding doesn’t require any forethought or planning, it relieves a little mid-week tension, and helps chicken breast cook faster and more evenly.

If flattening chicken seems arduous, there’s a simple equipment hack to make the job easier, less messy, and maybe even a little fun.

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From Apartment Therapy → Why Cursive is Making a Comeback

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