Design*Sponge has a cute idea for what to do with blank nesting dolls: turn them into salt shakers! Or rather, "anything powdered" shakers. Suggestions include pepper, cinnamon sugar, and Parmesan cheese. Related Salt-n-Pepa Salt and Pepper Shakers Cute Salt and Pepper Shakers Film Canister Salt and Pepper Shakers... More

Photograph from nicisme on Flickr Food blogger Nicisme of Cherrapeño teaches you how to make melted snowmen cupcakes with cranberry cake as the base and carefully shaped fondant and icing for the malformed snowman. Or if the "snowman" part is too much trouble, just make "melted snow cupcakes." [via Boing Boing] Related Photo of the Day: Jack and Jill Cupcake Thanksgiving, the Only Reason You'd Make Cupcakes Resembling Turkeys Photo of the Day: Thanksgiving on a Cupcake... More

"Three: Don't go in hungry. The last thing you want to do is show up ravenous at Charlie Trotter's and dive headfirst into the bread plate. Have a protein-rich breakfast and a light lunch, and snack if you're hungry. The key to the tasting menu is pacing yourself, and that's hard to do if you're ready to gnaw off your own arm before you've even left the coat check." [MenuPages Chicago]... More

Here's a handy primer on how to serve wine, including how to chill wine quickly, proper serving temperatures for a range of popular wines, and whether or not you should let red wine breathe. You can use this advice all year around—but it's especially nice during the holidays to cross one worry off your list. More

Savvy Housekeeping If you're in the habit of incorporating cottage cheese into your breakfast, you might want to know how to make it. It's pretty darn easy and makes good use of any milk you might have that's about to go bad. It takes only some vinegar, a thermometer, and cheesecloth—along with a colander and a pot. Savvy Housekeeping has the details.... More

Just because J. Kenji Alt is one of our burger correspondents on AHT, doesn't mean he's scared of tofu. Over at Goodeater, he argues that tofu shouldn't be a meat substitute, but a delicious addition to meatopia. In fact, he thinks homemade tofu can rival pork belly. As he notes, "you can't make a great burger with bad meat, and you can't make great tofu with bad soy milk." Start with a quart of the best unflavored soy milk you can find and add a couple drops of nigari. He makes a good case for coagulated soy bean juice, considering he's such an adamant carnivore. Related How to Make Old-School Miso Soup Talk: Tofu Throwdown Bacon vs Tofu: Battle... More

Evil Mad Scientist has a detailed guide on making edible googly eyes for cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods. The trick lies in using edible gelatin capsules cut down into eye domes, with jumbo round sprinkles as pupils. Sprinkles go in the cut-down capsules, and capsules are affixed to an appropriate substrate: It "needs to be sturdy, so that it can support the rest of the eyes, light in color, and completely dry and free of oil. At the same time, it needs to be soft enough that we can press the gelatin capsules into it." Whoppers cut in half seem to make an ideal substrate. For the complete how-to, step into the EMS laboratory.... More

I've been waiting for someone to make bacon cologne (are you listening, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren?), but Blogadilla tells us how to make the next best thing: bacon soap. Actually, what I would really like is a bacon-scented deodorant. Wouldn't that be awesome? Blogadilla had two missions: to see if making soap from bacon fat was possible and to make the result look like bacon. Both were accomplished. It's pretty similar to making regular soap, except in this case, Liquid Smoke is an optional fragrance option. Previously Wake N' Bacon Alarm Clock In Videos: How It's Made—Bacon... More

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories You know what happens when you flatten your hot dog bun so you can toast it on the grill: The "hinge" breaks. Crap! But wait! Windell at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories came up with an ingenious solution. A little A-frame jig that you can easily make yourself. Instructions here. I know what I'm doing this weekend.... More

Perfect for settling household disputes (and preventing foodborne illness, of course), ABC's guide to spoiled food goes in-depth on proper food temperature, changing your doggie bag habits, and just how seriously to take mold.... More