We’ve got five videos of Chef Thomas Keller sharing tips, tricks and inspiration from his newest book, Ad Hoc at Home, and we’ll be posting a new one every day. Check back tomorrow for another!

All creatures great and small…we want jokes for them all! Your joke could win you a copy of the NEW 2011 Animal Crack-Ups Page-A-Day Calendar!

Animal Crack-ups is good, clean fun for the whole family, and we need YOU to fill it with your best animal jokes! Each page of the calendar will feature an animal joke, along with an irresistible photo of that animal cracking up.

From elephants and tigers to bears and penguins, no creature is too obscure and no joke too corny. The only requirement is that the humor be family-friendly—and the more original the joke, the better! For inspiration check out these standard-bearers of silliness:

Kangaroo: I hate April!
Wallabee: Why?
Kangaroo: It rains so much, the kids have to play inside!

What happens when 50 rabbits hop backwards at the same time?
You get a receding hare line.

Post a comment below with your joke and email address for a chance to win! We’re looking for jokes that emcompass the entire animal kingdom, from monkeys and dogs to hippopotamuses and lizards—even the occasional llamas and hyenas—and everything in between. All we need are jokes to go with them! All submissions must be made by December 31, 2009. If we use your joke, you’ll get a free copy of the 2011 Animal Crack-Ups Page-A-Day calendar!

Read the official contest rules here

Chef Thomas Keller talks about his newest book, Ad Hoc at Home. Ad Hoc at Home is filled with family-style home-cooking recipes and Keller’s perfected versions of classic comfort foods.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Put another way, one kid’s nasty pair of kicks is another kid’s rubbery playground surface.

Inspired by the hundreds of no-cost ways to make a difference featured in How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist,  we decided to do our own small act of no-cost giving and hold a sneaker drive.  At the end of the week, we had collected a whopping 130 beat up, stinky, too tight, too old sneakers. 

The sneakers  were for the Nike-Reuse-a-Shoe program which recycles the sneakers into Nike Grind, a rubbery material used in athletic surfaces like running tracks, basketball courts and playgrounds. Nike has donated Nike Grind to 300 sport and playground surfacing projects across the country.

The picture above doesn’t do the pile justice.  It took three people toting four huge garbage bags through the hot, crowded streets of midtown to get them to the Niketown store.

It may not be John D. Rockefeller’s brand of philanthropy, but then again, the scientists of his day never found a clever way to recycle top hats.

John D. Rockefeller contemplates the merits of a Standard Oil spats drive

Watch yourself…If you’ve ever accidentally touched your eye after chopping habaneros, you know the pain. Capsaicin, the alkaloid that makes chiles hot, is the same one that’ll make you feel like you’re going blind.  So just avoid the danger in the first place, by wearing gloves when handling chiles – and don’t rub your eyes! When you’re working, or cooking with them, try to keep your face as far away as possible. If you do get a little too close, here are a few ways to alleviate the burning:

• If you burn your hands, coat them in vegetable oil and rub for about 30 seconds and then wash with a strong detergent and water.  Or you can rub the burning area with isopropyl alcohol and follow with a salve, such as Preparation H.

• When you burn your mouth or tongue, eat a thick dairy product like cream, sour cream, yogurt, or ice cream and swirl it around in your mouth before swallowing.

• If you get capsaicin in your eyes flush with eyedrops, keep blinking, flush some more, and wait. It may feel excruciating, but it’ll pass.

For more from The Complete Chile Pepper Book, check previous posts with the Pickled Peppers recipe and How to Pickle

Abby Stokes, author of “Is This Thing On?” A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming, talks computers with Pat McMahon of AZTV7 in Phoenix, AZ. Watch her weigh in on Mac vs PC, protecting yourself from identity theft, online shopping, avoiding spammers, and more in the videos below.

If you’re feeling confident with your pickling skills, try them out on this recipe from The Complete Chile Pepper Book:

Pickled Peppers

2 pounds jalapeño, serrano, yellow wax, cherry, habanero, or pepperoncini chiles, whole.
4 sterilized pint jars

Brine:
3 cups water
1 cup pickling salt

Pickling solution:
3 cups water
3 cups 5 to 6 percent distilled white vinegar
3 teaspoons pickling salt

This recipe works well with a variety of chiles. So if you’re a lover of pickled peppers, mark this recipe, as you’ll be using it a lot. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation and does not have to be processed in a water bath.

1. Combine the salt and water and cover the chiles with the mixture.

2. Place a plate on the chiles to keep them submerged in the brine.

3. Soak the chiles overnight to crisp them. Drain, rinse well, and dry.

4. Poke a couple of small holes in the top of each chile and pack them tightly in the sterilized jars, leaving ¼ inch headroom.

5. Combine the water, vinegar, and salt in a pan. Bring the solution to a boil and pour over the chiles, leaving no headroom. Remove trapped air bubbles.

6. Store for 4 to 6 weeks in a cool, dark place before serving.

For more picking tips, check out yesterday’s post, How to pickle, make pickled peppers, and not get burnt in the process

Pickling is one of the better ways to handle an especially fruitful pepper plant or an overly-enthusiastic trip to the farmer’s market. And as The Complete Chile Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland points out, while pickling does require spending some time at the stove, it’s not difficult, and the trade-off of having “almost fresh” chiles at your fingertips year-round makes it all worthwhile.

Here are a few basic rules to follow when pickling:

• Sterilize the jars and lids in a boiling water bath for 10 to 15 minutes. Bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil in a large pot with a folded dish towel in the bottom. Place jars into the water mouth down, along with the lids, which can just be set between the jars. Turn down the heat to keep the pot slowly boiling or simmering.

• Use pickling salt rather than table salt, which contains undesirable (for pickling) additives.

• While cider vinegar is more flavorful, 5 to 6 percent distilled white vinegar should be used to avoid discoloring the chiles.

• Do not boil the vinegar for a long period of time, as that will reduce the acidity.

• Poke or cut a hole in each chile to keep it from floating and also to allow the pickling solution to work into the entire chile.

• After filling each jar, remove any trapped air with a spatula or knife blade inserted between the chiles and the wall of the jar, or by gently tapping the jar.
• After processing in a boiling water bath, remove jars to a draft-free location and allow to cool for 12 hours before handling.

Check back tomorrow for a recipe from The Complete Chile Pepper Book.