Winter is punishing to hands -- particularly hands that regularly cook, clean, swim or care for infants.
Local television crews regularly cook food on car dashboards to show how hot it is: in Austin they baked a batch of cookies.
If you are already skilled in the kitchen, regularly cook healthy meals and, like me, enjoy the creative aspect of planning meals and exploring ingredients at the market, a meal-kit service probably won't help you eat any better, and all that packaging material does generate a lot of waste.
Thanksgiving is a time when many people who don't regularly cook try their hand at making a turkey, said Janice Stahl, a supervisor with Butterball's Turkey-Talk Line, an aid for holiday cooks that has been around since 1981.
Ironically, in reality, what you're likely to find on the other side of a rusted gate entrance (say, a table tennis hall with a largely Asian clientele) is far more original than anything the movies regularly cook up.
Norman Strang, an 80-year-old retired aerospace executive, said his wife regularly cooked dinner for Mr. Horn at the couple's home in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
My brother Charles Powell (who was Margaret Thatcher's foreign policy private secretary for eight years) had had a similar experience, having his breakfast regularly cooked for him by Mrs Thatcher in the No 10 flat while she issued her instructions.
Practice cooking regularly and cook meals in case someone comes along.
"I do the baking, shopping and chopping," said Sheri Warshaw of Westport, Conn., whose husband, Jeffrey, regularly cooks meals for her and their children.
She regularly cooks for private functions attended by 500 people, and has served as many as 1,600.
