I must confess that I have never had a problem with my roommates eating my food. Ever. (I’m knocking on wood as I write this) So, needless to say, I had little idea what to suggest. The only thing that comes to mind is to label everything and have each person have their own shelf. If that fails, give them food poisoning. The latter option seemed a little extreme, so I turned to my friends and asked them for some tried and true advice.

1. Psychoanalyze. Liz, the psychologist of the group and budding nurse, had to contend with this …

It is no small secret that I love to bake, especially cookies, which is why I was so excited to get The Cookiepedia. What could be better than an entire book devoted to cookies? The answer: not much! This collection does not disappoint either. It has something to interest everyone. For the break-and-bake types it explains the science behind cookies and “cookie speak” so that you can bake like a pro and actually sound like you know what you’re doing. For more advanced bakers, there are easy to follow recipes for some of the cookie world’s more daunting creations, …

My Dad is what you might call an “adventurous” chef. He loves to experiment with cooking techniques, try exotic foods, and test bizarre flavor combos. His culinary thrill-seeking has led to some noteworthy family meals. There was the Thanksgiving when Dad deep-fried [read: torched] a whole turkey, followed by his foray into Scandinavian cuisine [pickled herring, anyone?]. This past winter, he developed a fixation for braised meat. The piece de résistance, though, was Dad’s Super Bowl 2009 creation, a heart-stopper, otherwise known as the Bacon Explosion.

This kind of mad scientist mentality has also translated into a library of …

This past weekend was graduation at my college, and it got me thinking.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a graduation ceremony of sorts any time there was a momentous occasion in your life? I’m not talking about the pomp and circumstance of it all, just some words of wisdom and a good party. I think it would be really fantastic—especially the party part!

Therefore, in honor of those of you who are graduating from Small Kitchen College to Big Girls, Small Kitchen, I asked two famous female chefs to share some words of wisdom (not really, but this …

When I was in high school, Wednesdays were always the worst days.

Strike one: it was chapel day. I went to an Episcopalian high school, and Wednesdays we always had to go to a chapel service. It was SUPER boring, and there was this one girl in the choir who thought she could sing but really couldn’t. We also had to dress appropriately, which meant coat and tie for the boys and nice clothes and heels for the girls. I hate heels. I’m tall enough as is, and they are nowhere near as comfortable as my footwear of choice—Rainbows. But, …

Cinco de Mayo is the ultimate excuse to drink margaritas, take tequila shots and eat chips and salsa. However, I don’t like frozen margaritas, and I don’t like to chase my tequila shots with salt and lime. This makes celebrations a little bit more difficult for me, but only slightly, because I’m nothing if not resourceful. The shots part is easy enough to fix. Instead of limes and salt, I like to use oranges and sometimes a little bit of cinnamon. My substitute for margaritas is called an agua fresca, which means fresh water in Spanish. It’s a traditional …

April 22, 2011 marks the 41st anniversary of the first Earth Day. According to Wikipedia (therefore, everything I’m about to write is undoubtedly true), Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson created the first Earth Day as a teach-in. He chose April 22nd because it was a convenient date for almost all college students. It was after spring break, Easter, and Passover but before finals. This is the only real “holiday” that is specifically geared toward college students (except spring break), so it stands to reason that every student should do something to commemorate the day. Here are some fun and …

I love chocolate more than most people. I’m what you would call an extreme chocoholic. For instance, I tell people the reason that my best friend and I have remained so close for 14 years is because she’s allergic to chocolate, which means we never fight over who gets the last bite. Also, I’m not ashamed to admit that I once ate a five-pound chocolate bar in three days. I even ate bugs once just because they were covered in chocolate. Therefore, I’m clearly not above finding ways to sneak chocolate into all my meals.

All of these ideas are …

Cooking for yourself for the first time can seem like a daunting task, but it’s also incredibly liberating. You don’t have to eat everything on your plate or the nasty veggies that your mom makes. You can eat whatever you want. However, you don’t really know how to cook. This should not give you license to subsist purely on Lean Cuisine, hot pockets or take-out. Here are five simple cooking techniques that will help you get started in the kitchen.

1. Using your Knife. Most people hold their knives like they are Rambo going into battle. The meat is already …

Many of us did some kind of volunteer work in high school because we thought it would look great on our college applications. I know I did. I was all over the place. I was part of the community service group at my high school; I tutored kids on the weekends; I even got to school at 7 am (a whole hour early) on Wednesdays to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a DC soup kitchen.

However, I think many of us, myself included, stopped volunteering (or cut back significantly) once we actually got into college. Whether this was …