Good Housekeeping (editor) - Good Housekeeping Home Skills: Master Your Domain with Practical Solutions to Everyday Challenges

Home is lifes headquarters.

Its the physical command center where the business of living takes shape. Its where our heart is and our hearth lies, where we bring the bacon, where we set out from and, often, where we long to return. Home is where we nurture, nest, and nourish ourselves and our families.

Much has changed since Good Housekeeping was founded in 1885, but our focus is still on showing people how to best care for their homes, enjoy them more and appreciate the small moments that happen there. Thats why Im so excited about Home Skills. Its an entire book dedicated to demonstrating how to home better, wherever you are and whatever home means to you.

This is a compendium of must-master basics with more than 850 genius ideas, DIY projects and encouraging guidance from our editors and the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute. It will become your go-to guide for kitchen know-hows, cleaning and organization tricks, home decorating and outdoor living ideas, maintenance and repair how-tos and entertaining advice for any occasion. It has instructions on how to butterfly a chicken () and so much more! Flip through the pages for inspiration or use the detailed table of contents in each chapter to find the skill you need right when you need it. Throughout, keep an eye out for QR codes that lead to helpful video content. However you use it, Home Skills will make your home a little sweeter, a little neater, a little happier and a lot more fun.

Taking care of your home can be so rewarding: bringing calm, building confidence and even caring for the self. After all, a space that truly feels like home allows for big thoughts, big projects and, ultimately, big living. It lets you be the version of YOU youve always wanted to be.

So dive in and discover everything it takes to make your home look, feel and run like a dream. Living your best life just got a little easier.

Jane Francisco

Editor in chief, Good Housekeeping

LAB TIP Think beyond drawers when it comes to storing kitchen supplies. Hanging frequently used equipment within easy reach is a practical choice that adds visual interest to your space.

CHAPTER 1

PREP & COOK

OUTFIT YOUR KITCHEN

When it comes to cookware and tools, there are so many options. How to choose? You can whip up almost any meal with the following key items.

Appliances, Gadgets & Tools

Cheese grater

Colander

Cutting boards (one for meat, one for produce)

Food processor

Food scale

Ice cube trays

Immersion blender

Knives (see for the only knives youll need)

Measuring cups (for wet and dry ingredients)

Offset spatulas, variously sized

Peeler (see for an awesome hack)

Reusable food wrap

Scissors

Slow cooker

Storage containers, variously sized

Zester

Pots & Pans

Dutch oven (6-quart)

Roasting pan (13-by-9-inch)

Saucepans (2- and 4-quart)

Skillets (8-, 10- and 12-inch, nonstick and cast-iron)

Square pan (8-inch)

Stockpot (8-quart)

Bakeware

Cake pans (two 9-inch pans)

Cookie sheets or jelly-roll pans (two 18- x 12- inch half sheets)

Pie plate (glass)

LAB TIP Use an ice cube tray to make single-serve portions of leftover pasta sauce, pesto or chopped herbs (covered in olive oil). Toss them into a hot pan for soups, pastas, sauts and more. You can also freeze wine to chill sangria, or leftover juice and coconut milk to add to smoothies and cocktails.

Know Your Knives

Pros swear by this triple threat. So do in-the-know home cooks.

Chefs Knife

The go-to blade for chopping, slicing and dicing. With its pointed tip and hefty rear, it can handle virtually every kitchen chore think of it as the prepping workhorse youll use most often.

Paring Knife

This little blade is ideal for peeling potatoes, segmenting oranges, slicing mushroom caps and performing other small jobs.

Bread Knife

Its serrated blade easily cuts through crusty loaves, flaky desserts or delicate items like ripe tomatoes.

LAB TIP Look for a knife that feels comfortable and balanced in your hand.