1 ½ cup vanilla bean ice cream ¼ teaspoon vanilla

To ensure you never suffer dry chicken again (at least, not when you’re in charge of the cooking), we compiled our Test Kitchen learnings on: How long do you bake chicken at 400 degreesWhat temperature to bake each cut (fresh or thawed chicken)Do you cover baking chicken with aluminum foilHow to store chicken after it’s cooked If you follow our instructions, every piece of chicken you make will be delicious....

What Is Lychee? Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is a fruit that belongs to the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, and is native to the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien in southern China. A lychee tree grows between 30-100 feet and produces clusters of 2-20 fruit. Lychee exterior is red, oval-shaped, and about 1-2 inches wide. Beneath the skin lies the thick, translucent-white portion of lychee fruit covering a seed. Choose fresh lychee fruit that is reddish-pink (though browner skins are perfectly OK to eat as well)....

What Is Shiplap? Shiplap might be relatively new on the scene as an interior design element, but the more practical use of shiplap has been around far longer. Shiplap originally referred to the horizontal boards or planks used to construct boats. They employed a tight groove system that kept water out and, thus, boats afloat. Shiplap was eventually used for a similar function (aside from the floating part) on the exterior of homes, but today has morphed into an aesthetic element....

1. Tear out the tub and build a new shower. One way to update a bathroom is to remove the existing bathtub and add a new shower unit. This is not a small job, so call a professional contractor to help you assess the space and potential solutions. In the footprint where the tub stands, you’ll likely have plenty of room to build a shower, but you’ll want to add a tile or solid surface curb to keep the water from spilling out into the bathroom....

Methods for Harvesting Kale There are two different ways to pick kale. One is to snap off individual leaves from the stem as needed. To do so, grip a leaf at its base where it meets the main stem and gently twist until the leaf breaks off. Or use pruning shears to snip off the leaf close to the stem. When you harvest kale this way, it allows the rest of the plant to continue growing and making more leaves for you....

Exterior Doors Because wood has a tendency to warp as it expands and contracts with the weather, a door can’t be made from a single slab of wood. Centuries of experience have resulted in the practice of making doors from interlocking pieces. On a panel door, you can see the rails, stiles, and panels. But even flush doors—those built with sheeting like MDF or plywood—have frames and fill-in pieces, all covered by a solid piece of veneer....

Xerces Society, a non-profit environmental organization, reported that just 1,800 monarchs were found overwintering in California, with 95% of the data recorded. The establishment predicts the final count will be less than 2,000 monarchs total. Populations have dipped for years, but this is a sharp, incredibly concerning decline; there were about 30,000 butterflies found in the area in the past two years. The current number of monarchs in California is less than ....

Yarrow Care Must-Knows Yarrow is extremely easy to grow and requires little maintenance to thrive. The most important thing to know is that yarrow won’t do well in wet soils, so make sure to plant them in well-drained soil. Once established, yarrow is highly drought tolerant, making it an excellent plant for low-maintenance, dry gardens. While it tolerates some shade, yarrow will do best in full sun. It will be more prone to flopping stems in any less light....

Where to Grow Venus Flytrap Instead of originating one planet away from Earth, Venus flytraps are perennials native to boggy areas of coastal North and South Carolina. They grow in moist, acidic soils in full sun but only survive winter outdoors in Zones 8-10. Gardeners in colder winter climates should grow Venus flytraps in a moist environment, such as a terrarium that can go indoors during winter. Venus Flytrap Care Tips Light Venus flytraps do best in bright but indirect light....

When to Plant Onions About 2-3 weeks before the average last frost date for your area is the best time to plant onions outdoors. Exactly when to plant them depends on how soon you can work the ground in spring. Onions, which are a cool-season vegetable, can survive light frost but it’s best to wait until your low temperatures stay above 28°F. In warmer regions, onions can be planted in the fall, at least a month before cool weather arrives so they have time to grow some roots....

This thick-bed installation relies on a troweled mortar mix, which when properly mixed is like a sandy clay. Floating a thick bed takes two steps: floating the sloped sub-base for the membrane and floating a reinforced top floor that follows the slope of the sub-base. Because of its considerable weight, you should install it only on a slab or properly supported wood subfloor. You’ll need to devote two to three days to frame the enclosure, float the floor, and tile and grout the interior....

Placing a New Window Start by deciding the style and location of the window. A new window can enhance the appearance of a home’s exterior as long as it complements the other windows. Sizing and properly placing windows calls for making aesthetic and design decisions as well as some structural determinations. This placement depends on the room, the architecture of your home, and which direction your exterior walls face. We’ll offer pointers for placing your new window, plus we’ll explain the optimal heights for hanging windows....

You don’t have to be a regular at Santa’s workshop to master this bow. Our technique is easy enough for beginners and works for all kinds of ribbons. If this is your first time making an intricate bow, we recommend starting with a wire-edged ribbon, such as this plaid wired ribbon ($9, Walmart) we used. The wiring will allow you to style the bow’s loops, easily hiding any imperfections....

Although the arrangement looks free-form, Tanya carefully planned each cubby’s size and position. She built each kitchen cabinet cubby a different size for variety but kept them to either 12 or 16 inches deep to best fit the pieces in her collection. “If one cubby was slightly too big or too small, it would throw off everything,” she says. The entire project took about four days, and Tanya kept costs to $250 by using materials she had....

How to Make Crab Cakes We’re going to reference our classic crab cake recipe for this process, but you can easily use these steps to create your own crab cakes. Step 1: Prep Crab Cake Ingredients There are two basic categories of ingredients you need for a crab cake recipe: Binders such as eggs, mayo, bread crumbs, and cornmeal to help the crab cake hold together.Flavor enhancers include mustard, fresh or dried herbs, onions, peppers, and seasonings to complement the crabmeat....