Nooo! I open my kitchen cabinet, and what do I see? Yet another gadget, cut down in the prime of life. Oh, the humanity! This is what I get for having agents of entropy do the dishes. (Those agents of entropy also know my kids.) A roving band of teenagers constantly remind me the universe trends towards chaos. No matter how many times I say “Gently! Careful! Easy there!”, they still bang stuff around like it’s made out of adamantium. This time, it was the 1-cup beaker from my set of Oxo Measuring Beakers. Sigh. Time to re-order. Kitchen gadgets aren’t supposed to be consumables, right? Oxo 7-Piece Measuring Beaker Set [Amazon.com] What do you think? Share your tales of kids destroying everything in the comments section below. Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner [via email] and share this post with your friends. Want to contribute directly? Donate to my [Tip Jar], or buy something from [Amazon.com] through the links on this site. Thank you.

Unfortunately, “Death and Taxes” is not just a metaphor this year. I’m taking the week off; I have a family funeral to attend, and I have to get my tax documents to my bookkeeping service. I’ll be back next week. Until then, do me a favor? Tell someone you love that you love them.

Ugh. My weight has crept up again over the last year. (One of the occupational hazards of food blogging.) I want to weigh 225 pounds; I was so close last summer. Then I had hernia surgery and sat around for a couple of weeks recovering. More important, I stopped paying attention to what I ate at about that time and my weight started creeping up. To slow down the extra pounds, I started exercising a few months ago, determined to fill the exercise rings on my Apple watch. And, even though I’ve met my exercise goal for (checks phone) the last 131 days, my weight still went up. It seems to have leveled off, bouncing around 245 pounds for the last month or so. That’s…not good. It’s the New Year, and it’s time to carefully follow my rules for losing weight. Portion control is the big one – I keep reaching for a second helping, even when I know I shouldn’t. Wish me luck… What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the …

Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to 2019. Sorry for the slow posting over the last week or so; first I was spending time with my family, then I got a nasty ear infection that knocked me down for a few days. Here’s a look back at some of my most popular posts from 2018, top 5 list style: Top 5 new recipes for 2018 Pressure Cooker Asian Zing Chicken Wings (From Frozen)Pressure Cooker Baby Potatoes with Butter and ParsleyPressure Cooker Pork Steaks, St. Louis BBQ StylePressure Cooker Oreo CheesecakePressure Cooker Beef Back Ribs Texas BBQ Style Top 5 non-recipe articles from 2018 Review: Instant Pot Ultra 6 Quart (vs Instant Pot Duo Plus 6 Quart)What to Do if I Dump Liquid Into My Instant Pot Without the Pot LinerHow to Fix Instant Pot Quick Release Spraying StarchIs Instant Pot Delay Start Safe to Use?Reader Survey: Pressure Cooking Frozen Chicken Drumsticks? Top 5 Holiday Recipes in 2018 New Year’s Day: Pressure Cooker Black-Eyed PeasEaster: Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)Father’s Day: Grilled …

Charlie Brown: I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal, and maybe toast. Linus: That’s right, I’ve seen you make toast. [Charles M. Schultz, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving] Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Planning is everything, the plan is nothing. How I schedule my Thanksgiving dinner.

Merch time! DadCooksDinner logo t-shirts are back.

Big news in the eBook world: Walmart teamed up with Kobo to make the Walmart eBook store! Walmart and…Kobo? Who’s that? In the US, Amazon is the elephant in the eBookstore, with the vast majority of the market. Outside the US, Toronto-based Kobo is giving Amazon a run for their money, making them a close second in global eBook sales. Kobo is a subsidiary of Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce giant. Rakuten also owns OverDrive, which most libraries use to loan out eBooks. In other words, Kobo has some eBook muscle. Walmart and Kobo are a fascinating pairing that could give Amazon serious competition. Kobo has a reputation for well-made e-readers as well as the usual reader apps for iOS or Android, and a vast eBook selection to rival Amazon’s Kindle store. Walmart is…Walmart. You may have heard of them?  As an eBook author, I love the idea of e-readers promoted in every Walmart in the country. That means, at least indirectly, my books are now sold in Walmart! As an eBook reader, I like the …

Ten years. Holy cow. In 2008 I was a food fanatic with a seven-year old, a five-year old, and a three-year old, and a brand new blogspot account. Now I have a high school senior, a daughter itching to get her learners permit, and a just-turned teen. And a successful food blog. It’s easy to get caught up in the rhythm of posting every week. Stepping back, seeing where I am now, and how much I’ve grown in ten years? That’s harder. I’m wired to worry about today’s problems, not to sit back and reflect. But, ten years is such a big, round number that I can’t let it slide by. So, here are a few thoughts about ten years of writing DadCooksDinner. What have I learned? Get better by doing the work. How did I learn to cook? I cooked dinner every night for my family. How did I learn to write? I wrote ten years worth of blog posts. I was a hobbyist photographer back before I had kids, but the improvement in …