Posts by Katy Willis

Somewhere in a parent’s basement there’s a box nobody has opened in thirty years. A dented toy truck. A stack of comics with soft corners. A rubber-banded bundle of baseball cards. You’d put the whole thing at about ten dollars, and for most of it, you’d be right. But the 1960s were a strange decade […]

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner for twelve is a different job from making a Tuesday meal for three. The extra equipment doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does need to earn its place: a pan big enough for the turkey, enough utensils to serve the sides, and containers for the food everyone wants to take home. […]

Your job has stopped paying enough, but going back to college for four years isn’t remotely realistic. Tuition is only one problem. There’s also rent, bills, and the awkward question of how you’re supposed to earn a living while retraining. No degree doesn’t mean no training. Some careers have paid apprenticeships that take years. Others […]

The turkey is still in the oven, someone has claimed your only clear stretch of counter, and the butter is sitting out in its wrapper. November entertaining has a way of exposing the little kitchen things you have stopped noticing. A handsome pot, a proper cutting board, and clean striped towels can make the room […]

Aldi’s food finds for Nov. 11–17 include several useful Thanksgiving buys: a dozen herb rolls for $3.29, turkey gravy for $1.19, and pumpkin pie mix for $1.99. Buying pantry ingredients ahead can spread the cost across grocery trips and leave less to pick up just before the holiday. There are also options for everyday meals, […]

A casserole balanced on the passenger seat is a fairly convincing argument for owning a proper carrier. November tends to expose these little gaps in our household supplies, along with the slippers that have lost their soles and the extension cord that stops three feet short of the porch. Aldi has some sensible fixes for […]