I love to bake, but my electric hand mixer is on a very high shelf, and even once it's down, it's so daunting — the splatters, the cord-wrangling, all the twisty bits to wash. Which is why I am devoted to these two recipes, which require nothing more high-tech than a mixing bowl and spoon.

Making a hamburger isn't that hard, especially if you just grab a bunch of pre-made ingredients from the supermarket. Unfortunately, home burgers never quite taste the same as the ones from your local fish-and-chip shop. Well, it's a good thing cook John deCaux is here to show us how it's done.

Dried beans are a truly versatile kitchen staple that everyone should have in their pantry. Not only do they keep pretty much indefinitely, but they're actually extremely easy to cook and customise to create super tasty, inexpensive meals.

Happy weekend, my friends and welcome back to 3-Ingredient Happy Hour, the weekly drink column featuring super simple yet delicious libations. This week we're going to be drinking my favourite cocktail to come out of American Bar in London, the Hanky Panky.

Though I like to bake, I don't consider myself a "serious baker". Sure, I make my own pie crust and can bake a pretty decent loaf of bread, but one thing I have wanted to mess with is puff pastry.

Helping with homework is part of everyday life once your kid hits school age. For the first couple of years it isn't hard stuff, but you know that one day your kid will have an assignment that stumps them and you. Luckily, you have other options besides furtively googling the answer while your kid isn't looking.

Stocking your freezer with sauces, soups and smoothies makes dinner quick and easy on busy weeknights, but it can be a pain to defrost a whole bag when you only need a couple of ladlefuls of liquid. A pencil helps you portion out your liquid so you can grab what you need.

Have you ever heard of emotional labour? The concept has been around since the sociologist Arlie Hochschild defined the term in 1983. It's essentially the work that we do, either professionally or personally, to regulate and present our emotions in a socially acceptable way — and to care for the emotional well-being of others. An epic thread on Metafilter about emotional labour touched on the kinds of things that people (often women) are expected to do to maintain relationships: Make nice holidays and meals, shop for appropriate gifts for their families and often their partners' families, and — here's the kicker — send birthday cards.

Smoked barbecue meat tastes heavenly — especially as the chill of winter begins to set in. There are several types of smoker on the market and they all have their pros and cons. This infographic from Tasty Meat lays out all the mouth-watering essentials.

Your cat knows what's up. Even if she doesn't run and hide at the sight of her carrier, there's no way she's going into that thing without a fight. But the fight stresses her out and can leave you frustrated and scratched up — not to mention late for the vet. Enter the kitty burrito.

Honey, syrups, and bottles of oil tend to get drippy and sticky over time and, if you store them upside down (as I do my honey), they can spill all over your pantry, turning your shelves into a tacky mess. Luckily, The Kitchn has a very elegant solution to this: Just store the bottles and jars in a ramekin.

Marie Kondo has built an empire around her "life-changing" method of tidying up, inspiring millions to quit the cruelty of rolling socks into balls and start the practice of thanking inanimate household objects that spark joy. She's now reaching a new audience: Graphic novel fans.

Making chicken stock at home is great — you end up with a house that smells like soup and a pot full of savoury broth. Whether you make your stock from fresh ingredients or saved-up scraps, one secret ingredient will help make your chicken stock extra rich and delicious.

In order to be classified as a "craft beer," The Brewer's Association requires the brewery making it to be small, independent, and traditional. That means that while some breweries owned by companies like Anheuser-Busch might call themselves "craft" they aren't. If you don't pay close attention, it can be hard to tell the "big" beer from the small guys when you're at the bottle shop. Now there's an app for that.

Today every kitchen would seem “under-equipped” without a microwave, with its efficient ability to cook, defrost and reheat a variety of different foods. The handy appliance uses microwave radiation to do so. This is a type of electromagnetic radiation similar to radio waves and infrared light.

Although generally recognised as safe, the internet is awash with articles about the dangers microwave radiation poses to your food. Some claim using microwaves can cause “cataracts and cancer”. Other posts says it “zaps the nutrients right out of your food”.

Whether it's Leslie Knope, the non-Lisa Simpsons, Vernon Dursley, or your racist uncle who draws scientifically bunk parallels between salad consumption and gender identity, I can't think of a food that's cooler to hate than salad. That's really too bad, because a well-constructed salad is one of life's great pleasures.

Whether or not you're familiar with yoga, the idea of doing yoga in the air can seem ... odd. But not to worry: "Aerial yoga" doesn't mean you're going to be doing downward dog on a trapeze. Instead, you'll be supported by a soft hammock, which allows your body to let gravity do some of the work.

In the great game of lunchbox snack trading, few items hold as much clout as a a violently pink or — if you're very lucky — tie-dye fruit roll-up. Though I still have a soft spot for the confection, I would hesitate to include it in my five-a-day count. Luckily, you can get more fruit in your fruit snack by making your own.

Happy (much-needed) weekend, and welcome back to 3-Ingredient Happy Hour, the weekly drink column featuring super simple yet delicious libations. This week we're making a very small modification to the beloved Gin & Tonic.