There is no scent that is more familiar, enticing, or comforting than that of freshly baked bread, but for many, the process of mixing and kneading the dough and then waiting for it to rise may seem intimidating. The best way to enjoy the taste and aroma of a warm loaf straight from the oven without all the fuss is with Dutch oven bread—a perfect alternative to a more traditional dough that is ...
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Recent Posts in Holidays Category
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Winter Warm Up: Your New Favorite Dutch Oven Bread Recipe
December 17, 2019 -
Microwave No More: How to Make Popcorn on the Stove
December 10, 2019 Microwave popcorn may be quick and convenient, but it is no match for the taste and quality of traditional stovetop popcorn. By itself, popcorn is a relatively healthy snack, and making popcorn on the stove allows you to control the amount of fat and salt you consume which can benefit those with health concerns or dietary restrictions. If you have ever read the label on a package of microwave ...Continue Reading -
Create Something Together: Helpful Tips for Baking with the Kids
December 3, 2019 One of the many challenges of parenting is finding fun activities to keep your kids engaged. In the summer, it’s easy to spend afternoons at the park, but during the winter, you may be cooped up inside. If you’re short on ideas, Mr. Appliance® is here to help! How about creating something in the kitchen together? There’s no better way to spend time with your kids on a cold and/or snowy day than ...Continue Reading -
How to Be a Good Host or Hostess
September 24, 2019 Your home is an intimate space that reflects your personal taste and style, and while it may be the place that you feel most comfortable the same may not always hold true for your guests. Whether you are having extended family over for an impromptu game night or hosting friends for a formal dinner party or informal backyard barbecue, Mr. Appliance® has some great tips on how to be a good host to ...Continue Reading -
The Best Gifts for Cooks
September 17, 2019 For some, cooking is merely a means to end but for others, it is a passion. Whether you know a well-seasoned chef or one who is just starting to learn, each will have their own unique sense of style and flair when it comes to creating a meal. While this can make it challenging to shop for these individuals around birthdays or holidays, the kitchen experts at Mr. Appliance® have a number of great ...Continue Reading -
How to Become a Soup Kitchen Volunteer
September 17, 2019 Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community in which you live and can be a valuable and rewarding experience. By becoming a soup kitchen volunteer you can help to provide hot, healthy meals to those in need and make a real difference regardless of how much time you have to spare. Read on to learn how to get started, with helpful information and tips from the dedicated team of ...Continue Reading -
Grandparents Day Gifts | Tips, Ideas, and Inspiration
September 3, 2019 In addition to signalling the start of the school year and the first days of fall, September is also a time to honour grandparents. As this special day approaches and you are searching for the perfect Grandparents Day gifts, the team of dedicated professionals at Mr. Appliance® has some great ideas to help inspire you. What is Grandparents Day? The origin of Grandparents Day dates back to 1973 ...Continue Reading -
10 Ways to Make Thanksgiving Easier
October 4, 2018 The holiday season is a great time to reconnect with friends and extended family, as you gather around the table for a delicious feast, complete with turkey and all the trimmings. Unfortunately, it can also be a time of great stress, as the added pressure of cleaning, shopping, and meal preparation take their toll on both time and budget. This year, spend less time in the kitchen and more time ...Continue Reading -
Resolve to Take Better Care of Your Appliances
December 29, 2017 It's hard not to take your appliances for granted - you use them so often that they've become a normal part of your day-to-day life, to the point where you don't even give much thought to their use. However, once an appliance begins having issues or, even worse, breaks down, you suddenly realize what an important function it played in your life. Because of this, you should make taking care of your ...Continue Reading -
2017 Laundry Gadget Gift Guide
December 19, 2017 The laundry room is an area of the home that is often ignored, which is exactly why picking up a laundry gadget or two as a gift can be a great idea. The laundry room is a space that's often messy, cluttered, unorganized and somewhat inconvenient in its function. The following are a few laundry room accessories that could improve all of that: Astar Magnetic Ironing Mat - The traditional ironing ...Continue Reading -
From Our Kitchen to Yours: What to Bring to Your Office Christmas Party
December 5, 2017 Office Christmas parties can be a lot of fun, especially if they encourage everyone to bring a dish. This allows everyone to be involved and gives you a chance to get creative in the kitchen as well. When it comes to trying to decide what kind of food to bring to a potluck at the office, consider that most people will be there to socialize. This means that dishes that are easy to eat while moving ...Continue Reading -
The Perfect Mother's Day Gift
May 3, 2017 As you brainstorm for the perfect Mother’s Day gifts to give this year, consider the condition of your mom’s kitchen appliances. Does she continually complain about dishwasher’s loud cycles? Is her fridge outdated and expensive to operate? Does she pine for a new oven? This could be the year you surprise Mom with a new kitchen appliance. If your budget allows, you might even spoil her with a ...Continue Reading -
St. Patrick's Day Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
March 16, 2017 What a better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than by baking some minty chocolate chip cookies! This easy recipe yields about 3-dozen cookies and is perfect for any celebration this St. Patrick’s Day. What you will need: 2 ½ cups of flour ½ tsp. of baking soda ¼ tsp. of salt 1 ½ cups of sugar 2 sticks of unsalted butter 2 large eggs 1 tsp. of peppermint extract 15-17 drops of green food ...Continue Reading -
Organize your Pantry to Start the New Year Off Right
January 1, 2017 Do you enjoy cooking during the holidays, or does stepping foot in your pantry increase your stress level to an unhealthy degree? Pantry organization isn’t the same as organizing the rest of your kitchen because you constantly draw from and restock the pantry. If you’re not careful, this could lead to a state of constant disarray, not to mention food waste as expiration dates come and go. Now’s ...Continue Reading -
Mix Up the Milk and Cookies this Year
December 20, 2016 Everyone knows Santa loves his milk and cookies, but if we all leave out the same treat for him on Christmas Eve, he’s bound to get sick of it. Why not mix up the milk and cookies this year and leave Santa a different kind of goodie he’s sure to love just as much! Here are some of our favorite festive ideas that require no baking to free up the oven for cooking Christmas Eve dinner. Peppermint ...Continue Reading -
2016 Kitchen Gadget Gift Guide
December 16, 2016 Do you have a friend or family member who’s always hard to shop for at Christmas time? How about finding a quirky kitchen gadget to make cooking and baking a little easier? From highly useful to a little extravagant, here are the top kitchen gadgets that could serve as the perfect gifts for Christmas 2016. Melon Scoop Cantaloupes and watermelons are popular favorites, but preparing and eating them ...Continue Reading -
How to Clean Your Refrigerator
December 1, 2016 In your efforts to prepare the kitchen for the hectic holiday baking season, you may have already cleaned the oven. Now it’s time to think about cleaning the refrigerator so there’s room for holiday leftovers without any funky smells or sticky spots to slow you down. Use these tips to achieve a clean refrigerator and keep it looking good for months. How to Clean Your Refrigerator Ready to deep ...Continue Reading -
Holiday Prep: Clean the Oven
November 8, 2016 With the holidays quickly approaching, you’re probably anticipating all the cooking you’ll be doing. Is your kitchen up to the task? The oven is the first place that likely needs attention. Having a clean oven to work with makes holiday baking much more pleasant. Here’s how to clean your oven, no matter what type you have. Self-Cleaning Ovens Whether convection or conventional, self-cleaning ovens ...Continue Reading -
From Our Kitchen to Yours: Cutest Halloween Party Finger Foods
October 28, 2016 With Halloween upon us, are you looking to try out a few new, spooky fun recipes? There are tons of ways to turn a basic snack into a festive party treat that both you and the kids will enjoy. All of these creative ideas were found on Pinterest. Crescent Mummy Dogs A tasty alternative to the typical sugary items commonly found during Halloween! What you will need: 10 hot dogs 1 can of refrigerated ...Continue Reading -
Art Displays: Alternatives to the Fridge
October 21, 2016 With the holidays approaching, your children might start bringing home lots of pumpkin-themed crafts and art from school! Their little creations will certainly be sentimental and you will probably want to hang them up; however, they will fill up your fridge fast. With all of these pretty art pieces, you might lose sight of your family calendar or invitations to holiday events. Here are a few ...Continue Reading -
Scary Lunchbox Snacks
October 14, 2016 Silly Apple Bites These eye-catching snacks are a great treat, especially with Halloween coming before we know it! What you’ll need for eight bites: 2 green apples Sunflower butter 32 sunflower seeds 2-3 strawberries 1-2 candy eyes per apple bite Optional: whipped cream. How to make: Slice the apples into quarters and cut the middles out of each quarter of the outside of the apple to create a ...Continue Reading -
Green with (Kitchen) Envy
March 17, 2016 The kitchen is the center of the home. It is the room in which family and friends congregate, and the room where you teach your children to cook. As the kitchen is generally a high traffic area, we want it to be modern and warm. These beautiful kitchen styles are timeless in their elegance and inviting in their character. White on White on Grey Bright, uplifting kitchens are on trend right now. ...Continue Reading -
Top 5 Tips for Winterizing Your Home
February 11, 2016 Winter is among us and so is the biting weather. Don’t let the cold catch you off guard; prepare for the frigid forecasts with these easy-to-follow household tips. Give your home some tender, loving care as we enter the Valentine’s Day weekend, and you won’t regret it when the thermometer dips! Turn Your Ceiling Fan Clockwise Use your ceiling fan around the clock by reversing it to run clockwise ...Continue Reading -
Pumpkin Bread
October 12, 2015 By Maggie Saint John While growing up, fall time in my home always meant our house was filled with smells of nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin. Since I was young, my mom has always made the most delicious, homemade pumpkin bread. Hopping off the bus every Friday afternoon, I ran threw the back door to find my mom in our kitchen and the pumpkin bread in the oven. This is home. This is fall. There are ...Continue Reading -
Cooking for Mom
May 7, 2015 There’s just something about Mom. Moms are truly extraordinary people that may not always receive enough appreciation for all that they do. That’s why Mother’s Day is the perfect time to show all the moms in your life just how special they really are. Since Mom is always the one to do the family’s cooking, give her a break this Mother’s Day and cook for her instead! Start her day with a delightful ...Continue Reading -
Outdoor Entertaining Mistakes: How to Avoid Them
April 29, 2015 Summer’s here and it’s time for outside get togethers with friends and family. Planning an event can be hard, but take our advice to avoid outdoor entertaining mistakes. You certainly don’t want to sacrifice your summertime outdoor lifestyle because of a few preventable mishaps. Watch your weather forecast and be careful to not have your event at the hottest time of the day. Plan for rain, whether ...Continue Reading -
National Love Your Pet Day
April 29, 2015 Chicken Jerky Ingredients: Two to four chicken breasts Instructions: Preheat oven to 200 degrees After removing any excess fat, slice the chicken into 1/8-inch thick strips Bake the strips on a baking sheet two hours (your chicken should be dry and hard) Let it cool and watch your dog go crazy of their jerky! Trail Mix Ingredients: Unseasoned meat pieces Potatoes Assorted fruits and veggies ...Continue Reading -
Cheat Sheet for The Ultimate Mom's Night Out
April 29, 2015 Moms, you remember the carefree days of calling up your girlfriends on a whim to meet up for some dinner, cocktails, manicures, pedicures, shopping, and maybe dancing until the early morning hours? Remember when you could really do anything “on a whim?” Now getting together with your girlfriends takes a good month to plan, and sure enough half of you won’t be able to make it because one of your ...Continue Reading -
5 Ways to Repair Your New Years Resolutions
April 29, 2015 Haven’t been awesome about keeping those New Year’s Resolutions this year? Statistics tell us that most of us aren’t. So you’re not alone! At Mr. Appliance®, we believe in maintaining your lifestyle and in working towards improving life for our customers. Maintaining, restarting, or actually starting to make promises, or resolutions, for improving your life is a good thing. But how can you get ...Continue Reading -
Natural Oven Cleaning Tips
April 29, 2015 From our own Mary Kay Liston, VP of Mr. Appliance For burnt-on food, sprinkle baking soda over the bottom of the oven and then spritz it with water from a spray bottle. Let it sit overnight and then remove it in the morning with a sponge, and most of the gunk in the oven will come out with it. If baked-on spills still remain, sprinkle on some more baking soda and then add a little bit of white ...Continue Reading -
4th of July Grilling Ideas
April 29, 2015 Bobby Flay once said, “Grilling takes the formality out of entertaining. Everyone wants to get involved.” Isn’t that what summer is all about – having fun with friends and family without a lot of fancy, formal fluff? When you think of summer don’t you think of a party on the patio, with guests wearing flip-flops and bug spray while eating on Styrofoam plates with plastic utensils? And in order to ...Continue Reading -
Best Hot Dogs in the US
April 29, 2015 Happy National Hotdog Month! So, hotdogs have kind of been a big deal for a long time now. Did you know the first hotdog-eating contest was at Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island back on July 5, 1916? The event is still a crowd pleaser 98 years later. As a matter of fact, Joey Chestnut just scarfed down 61 hotdogs in 10 minutes to win his eighth consecutive hotdog-eating contest this past July 4. The ...Continue Reading -
Decorate Easter Eggs with These 5 Ideas
April 29, 2015 Hop out of the box with your Easter egg decorating this year and follow these Pinterest-inspired nontraditional techniques. Glue and Glitter Dip your eggs in glue and then roll them around in glitter, beads or sequins. For polka dots, drop dots of glue and then sprinkle glitter. This method also works great with sprinkles. Pretty patterns Using a Sharpie or other fine-pointed writing utensil, draw ...Continue Reading -
Welcome in the New Year
April 28, 2015 New year, new opportunities indicates weekly trips to the gym, carrots instead of candy and an opportunity to break bad habits. How about a resolution that goes beyond 2012 and keeps your children and home safe for years to come? This year, make it a priority to childproof your kitchen and clean beyond the countertops to keep your family happy and healthy all year long. “Your kitchen never gets a ...Continue Reading -
Feeding a Large Family on a Shoestring Budget
April 23, 2015 “♫♪ Here’s the story of a lovely lady. Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold…♪♫” Yes Mrs. Brady was bringing up three lovely girls, and also three sons, but she had help! What would she have done without the assistance of Alice, the trustworthy housekeeper, who handled not only the cleaning, but also cooked all the meals. Ann B. Davis played Alice not only in ...Continue Reading -
3 Tips for Using Pumpkin Seeds and Guts
February 26, 2015 Don’t you just love pumpkins! This time of year pumpkins are everywhere – pumpkin spice latte, fall festivals and everyone’s favorite…jack-o-lanterns. For some, carving a jack-o-lantern is a family tradition. From elaborate designs and intricate cuts to traditional triangle eyes and noses, each jack-o-lantern has a story. But to get to the intriguing spectacle that is the jack-o-lantern you’ve got ...Continue Reading -
Fall Into Apple Delight!
February 26, 2015 It’s fall! Leaves are changing colors and the weather is getting cooler. That means one thing – apples are ripe. When I was young, fall meant trips to the farm to pick out our own pumpkins and apples. Those were times full of fun and nostalgia. I think that my love of apples comes from those trips. I have always loved apple pie but recently I discovered a new delicious way to enjoy apples that ...Continue Reading -
Stay Healthy at Holiday Parties
February 26, 2015 Oh, don’t you just love this time of year? True, our schedules are unbelievably busy, but intertwined within the hustle and bustle of shopping, parties and get-togethers, there’s the most amazing food imaginable. Most of these seasonal delicacies are once-a-year goodies; so, when you think about it like that, it’s completely ok to overindulge, right? Well, that may not be the best strategy. ...Continue Reading -
Cook Like a Pilgrim: No Appliance Recipes
February 26, 2015 We recently asked the folks on the Mr. Appliance Facebook page to finish the following sentence: If my microwave stopped working today, I would __________. The results were anything from plug in the crock-pot to simply not eat. Well now, we certainly don’t want someone to stop eating simply because of a modern-day appliance break down. Obviously, if your have an appliance that stops working the ...Continue Reading -
Easy Holiday Cookies
February 26, 2015 Sandra Lee is known for her “Semi-Homemade” cooking show on the Food Network. She once said, “Baking cookies is comforting, and cookies are the sweetest little bit of comfort food. They are very bite-sized and personal.” We think Sandra hit a homerun with this statement. There’s just something about a cookie – especially a Christmas cookie – that can bring out the inner cookie monster in anyone. ...Continue Reading