Fortunately, it’s easy enough to make pumpkin purée yourself. The final result retains its health benefits and color and is made without shelf stabilizers or flavor additives. Bonus: Roasting the pumpkin adds a warm, autumnal scent to your home—no candle required! The puréeing process is quick, and one pumpkin (depending on its size) yields enough purée for at least two pumpkin pies. Here’s how to get started. Ingredients While any pumpkin can be puréed, culinary professionals prefer certain varieties for various uses....

I’ll jump on any mention of a new method for making a better from-scratch margarita (skip the Triple Sec and use fresh-squeezed OJ) or a way to reinvent the Moscow mule (make them into slushies), but my favorite home-mixology experiment to date has been incorporating as many fresh herbs, spices, and fresh-slash-frozen fruits as possible. Between the finally-growing herbs on my countertop and a pantry filled with an excess of nothing but booze, spice bottles, banana bread, and frozen blueberries, making infused cocktails has been a solid creative outlet and for me and my sanity....

The most traditional way to stuff chicken breast is to cut a two to three-inch length-wise slit into the thickest part of the breast to create a side pocket that will hug the stuffing mixture. Using toothpicks to seal the pocket helps to keep the filling in, but it’s not a must if you don’t have any on hand. This classic method works great for grilled or pan-seared chicken breasts....

Use better bread. In most sandwiches, bread is the component that takes up the most physical space, so start with good bread. Investing in a $5 loaf (or baking one yourself) and slicing it right before you make the sandwich gives you a huge flavor and freshness boost relative to pre-sliced bread or a low-quality loaf. Keeping that bread kept out of the fridge and sealed will prolong the life of its flavor and bite....

Chemical-Free Ways to Kill Weeds If you’d like to avoid using harsh chemicals of any kind in your garden, first try these natural ways to kill weeds. Mulching Anything that covers and smothers weeds is a type of mulch, including biodegradable products like cardboard and newspapers. Mulch also helps conserve moisture. An organic mulch works best in two ways: It offers weed control, and it breaks down to make your soil more fertile....

Here’s a step-by-step guide to coordinating meals for friends and family. Susannah Ludwig, a life coach in Brooklyn, N.Y., helped organize a meal train for a friend with cancer. “She had a six-month treatment schedule,” Ludwig says. “I asked her priorities, and she asked for meals for the days immediately after treatment.” If there are kids, factor in their appetites as well. When Katherine Bell Butler of Sharpsburg, Ga., lost her husband, she had two young kids....

Cake is great. You are allowed to eat cake and truly enjoy it. But your body does require variety—a reasonable balance of disparate, nutrient-loaded, energy-packed foods—in order to feel good and function well. If you’re reaching for goodies like cake every single time your stomach growls, you’re missing out on opportunities to feed your body with other valuable goodies, too (like fiber, protein, probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals). The Secret to Making Balanced Food Choices How can you make it easier to choose something like fresh fruit over cake (again)?...

Unless you order produce online, you can have some control over the crispness of your cucumbers and the juiciness of your nectarines–as long as you know what to look for at the supermarket. We’ve compiled the ultimate A-to-Z guide to choosing produce like a pro. Created with expert advice from the USDA, a nutritionist, and a recipe developer, this handy chart takes the guesswork out of grocery shopping. Print this guide and keep it handy the next time you’re perusing produce; you’ll know exactly how to pick the best of everything on your list....

Weight Heavier, thicker towels tend to offer the softness and absorbency any sensible person wants from a bath towel, but judging if one is heavy or thick enough can be tricky, especially if shopping online. This is where grams per square meter (GSM) comes in. A towel’s GSM refers to its weight and, typically, according to the Micro Cotton team, the higher a towel’s GSM, the better performance you can expect....

How to Put Out a Charcoal Grill The best way to extinguish charcoal is to close the lid on your grill, cutting off the charcoal’s air supply. Fire needs oxygen to keep burning, so by completely closing your grill, any flames will die down and the charcoal will cool. It may take up to two days for the coals to completely cool off; there isn’t a great method for how to put out a charcoal grill quickly that’s as safe as just letting the coals burn out and cool on their own....

We’ve all been there—worried that reaching out to someone you used to work with will seem disingenuous or like you’re asking for something you don’t deserve. But the thing is, people really do get it. Chances are that someone you reach out to could realize they’d love your guidance or require a favor in the very near future too. So let go of your guilt and focus on making the most of your existing network....

Acute Inflammation (“The Good”) Your body has an inflammatory system that can respond to trauma and infection, says Maria Borelius, a biologist and author of Health Revolution: Finding Happiness and Health Through an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle. The first type, called acute inflammation, is a response where an area of your body hurts and becomes red and swollen because it’s circulating more blood there to repair damaged tissue. Say you accidentally slice into your thumb while chopping an onion—it will likely throb and stay red and swollen for a few days as your body heals....

So how can you remove them safely? If the icicles are less than 1 foot long and 1 inch wide, they can be removed with a telescoping roof rake (like Snow Joe rake, $49.99; amazon.com), says Don Mandeville, a Home Depot district manager in Flint, Michigan. (Call a contractor for help with larger ones to prevent roof damage.) Wear safety goggles and gloves (icicles can hurt), extend the rake from a distance, and gently push the base of the icicles to free them....

A note on safety: Wear gloves and a mask while you clean, and work in a well-ventilated area. Do not mix cleaners, and follow all the manufacturer’s instructions on any products you use. Before Getting Started Note that bleach may cause discoloration on certain fabrics, so spot test an inconspicuous place before using. How to Remove Mold from Patio Furniture Mild cases of mold can be scrubbed off of most outdoor furniture with a mixture of water, soap, and a little bleach, says James Conner, former vice president at Molly Maid....

Why Table Setting Is Important You may be wondering, “Why bother learning the correct way to position plates and silverware? The food will taste the same either way!” Here’s why: It signals to guests who do appreciate proper table settings that their feelings are important to you. You’ll be setting an overall tone—that it’s your pleasure to dine with them. Also, a properly set table can make the food itself look better....

Lifting weights doesn’t just enhance your quality of life (yes, lugging grocery bags from the car will, in fact, be easier), but “strength training is very important, more so than cardio, for long-term health and longevity,” says Stacy T. Sims, Ph.D., exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist. Plus, as we age, we start to lose that good-for-you muscle, making it all the more important to maintain it. In fact, Sims notes, “if you’re not strength training, you can lose up to 50 percent of your lean skeletal body mass by your 80th birthday....

While there’s no magical gadget that will clue you in to the frustratingly small window you have to eat a perfectly ripe avocado, there are some tricks you can use, and steps you can take to ensure your avocados last long enough to become homemade guacamole or a healthy toast topper. As you’ll see, exactly how you store an avocado depends on a few factors, including how ripe the fruit is, and what you intend to use it for....

Since cherries don’t ripen off the tree, like how a banana does, they can be enjoyed fresh from the grocery store or farmer’s market. When shopping for cherries, look for those that have bright green stems and shiny skins with bold colors. The tastiest cherries should feel dense, firm, and plump with no bruising or signs of spoilage. Read on for our best advice for how to store cherries to keep them fresh and delicious for as long as possible....

But what happens if your baking spree depletes your supply of brown sugar? Luckily, there’s a quick and easy solution for this. You can substitute white sugar for brown sugar in one of two ways: either by using them interchangeably or by relying on our Test Kitchen’s easy brown sugar substitute. How to Substitute Sugar for Brown Sugar In a pinch, white sugar in an equal amount will work just fine as a brown sugar replacement....

My unscientific polling tracks with a 2018 Bankrate survey that showed millennials to be twice as likely to openly talk salaries than boomers, ushering in an end to “salary secrecy.” According to Forbes, this new era of salary transparency is a good thing. Employees of companies with salary transparency report feeling less underpaid and have more negotiating power, which works to close the wage gap as younger, marginalized employees feel more empowered to ask for their worth....