I am laughably bad at building gingerbread houses. In fact, the process is so stressful, several members of my family refuse to partake in this holiday activity with me. Beyond aesthetics, my main issue lies in the fact that my houses are always falling down, and that makes me say ugly words, but I've found some tasty reinforcement in the form of Rice Krispies Treats.

It's no secret that I am a big fan of parchment paper, but what of its less-expensive, but still non-stick friend, wax paper? Why does it exist? And do you need it?

Any day can be Doughnut Day if you try hard enough. Honestly though, I love any opportunity to talk about doughnuts, and would like to use this holiday to bring awareness to my favourite summer dessert: grilled doughnuts.

The word "salad" does not denote "healthiness" or a lack of kilojoules (in fact, they can be worse for you than burgers). Nevertheless, something about the word implies a scarcity. Packing a salad for lunch seems to doom one to an afternoon of hunger pains or emergency vending machine runs, but no more. We're going to tell you how to build a salad that will leave you full, satisfied, and happy.

Sriracha lovers recently went into a panic on hearing news of a possible rooster sauce shortage. Even though that didn't happen, it's good to know you can make your own homemade version with just a few ingredients and less than half an hour - and customise the flavours exactly to your liking.

They say everything has an expiration date, but it turns out that certain foods will keep indefinitely. Survivalists and zombie-apocalypse preppers - this is your shopping list.

Great news for people who hate doing dishes: if you have a dishwasher, washing your dishes by hand is a colossal waste of water, energy, time, and money, and you can prove it with maths.

Today, we're talking about the most perfect cookware material on Earth: Stainless steel. Before you smash that comment button, I want to make it clear that I'm not disparaging cast iron. I would never do such a thing.

My 30cm cast iron skillet is my very large, heavy son and I love him dearly (he turned 8 in July, thank you for asking). Here's the truth, though: Stainless steel is the only truly all-purpose cookware material you can buy, which is why I recommend it above all others.

I develop recipes for a living, which means my stovetop is basically always a disaster. Cleaning sucks, and even though I know it creates more work in the long run, I’ll find any excuse to avoid wiping oil spatters off my stove.

As a carnivore whose foodie philosophy is "make things as delicious as possible, whatever it takes," I used to see vegan dinner guests as something I had to work around, and for that, I apologise. Vegan foodies can go on about how delicious soy bacon is, but as a cook who eats meat, I tended to think they were using a different measurement stick for "delicious."

I was selfishly aggravated at having to "dumb down" dishes and sacrifice taste for accommodation.

The kitchen is truly the heart of the home, and anyone who's lived with roommates has, shall we say, a more nuanced understanding of that old cliche. Kitchens feed resentment and bitterness just as easily as they produce joy and, unless you and your roommates communicate directly, you're in for a very bad time. Here are some guidelines to help you get off on the right foot.

Most leftovers last four days in the fridge, but do you really remember whether that takeaway is from Friday or from Saturday? And here are the meatballs from yesterday — or wait, are they from the batch you made last week? Get in the habit of dating your food, and you can stop wondering.

We love roasted vegetables around here, and we’re always interested in simple ways to make this already-versatile technique even more appealing. A recent oven fries bender got me thinking: if a little cornflour can turn sad, limp, roasted potato sticks into crunchy, basically fried goodness, can it do the same for other vegetables?

If you're cooking in someone else's kitchen this long weekend, here's how to make it less stressful. My first piece of advice, glib as it sounds, is to avoid it if you possibly can, especially if you have a strained relationship with the kitchen's owner.

There are a lot of "correct" ways to cook vegetables but -- though I'm not a huge fan of culinary presciptivism -- I'm going to go ahead and say that roasting is the most correct. Everything from tender green asparagus to hearty root vegetables tastes phenomenal when prepared this way, and it's super easy to execute.

Stocking up on staples is a great way to stretch a budget and minimise waste, so a good chest freezer is a boon to the budget-minded home cook. Sadly, common misconceptions about their energy usage and footprint size discourage the people who would benefit the most from a chest freezer — apartment-dwellers with decrepit, barely-functional appliances — from buying one.

Every party spread, no matter how fancy the shindig, should contain a dip or two. Dips are easy to make, fun to eat, and much loved by pretty much everyone. French onion dip is never a bad choice — you can learn to make an excellent one here — but there are other options. Below you will find three luscious, creamy, flavour-packed dips and spreads to make, take and serve.

Saladas are more than a mere cracker. In fact, I might go so far as to call them an icon. The seemingly humble cracker may lack the pizzazz of flavour-blasted, modern-day snack foods, but it's the salada's simple nature that makes it infinitely adaptable to all sort of culinary applications, from appetisers to dessert.

Video: Don’t know how to plunge a toilet? Still taping Scarface posters to your wall? Not sure whether that shirt really needs to be washed or if it can last another few days? We’ve been there, and we’re here for you. This is Lifehacker’s Adulting series, where we’ll guide you through some real-world basics to help you take charge of your life. Now clear away those beer pong cups — we have work to do.