I've been trying to hone my domestic skills lately. There have been some failures (I won't mention them) and two great successes (hint: those latter two recipes are kind of idiot-proof) There's a little pub down the street that serves a grilled salmon and cranberry goat cheese salad and I've re-created it pretty successfully. I'm getting to the point where I'm better understanding the art of grocery shopping for two. It's difficult: I'm a pretty light eater and Nolan is sporadic and unpredictable, as he is in everything else. There's still occasional waste, usually of lettuce or a bunch of grapes, and I always feel bad as I toss them in the garbage.

So when I read that most American families waste 14% of the food they buy, I thought, whoa. That's bad. That should probably be fixed.

And, lo, the article contains a really helpful list of tips that can help you to prevent wastage. A few of the tips:

• Chill your bananas
• Do not store fruits with veggies (fruits give off a gas that speeds ripening in vegetables)

The article has some more tips you may want to know -- I think they'll prove helpful to me.