The Absolute Best Way to Store Your Coffee

I’ve been drinking some form of coffee since I was 6 years old. Was I too young? Maybe; it's unclear. Was it mostly milk, though? 100%. Flash forward to two decades later, and I still adore coffee. Hot, iced, pour over, latte, drip, you name it, I’m a fan.

I know everything there is to know about my perfect cup of Joe, but when it comes to storing it, I don’t know beans. In my pantry? In a canister? In the freezer?

Don’t reinvent the wheel.

The best way to store coffee is to store it in the bag it comes in When coffee is roasted, gases (mostly carbon dioxide) form inside the beans and need to escape. Most coffee bags are designed with a gas release valve on them, which does a great job of letting that gas expel without letting air in.

Another plus of original packaging? It keeps out sunlight, which also ages coffee beans. If you do want to transfer beans to your own canister, make sure it's airtight and protected from sunlight, you’ll degas beans naturally when you open to prepare your coffee.

The freezer can still be your your friend.

While many experts agree that storing beans in the freezer is a no-no, I have other thoughts.

Coffee likes to be climate stable. We’re seeing a lot of people come back to the idea that freezing your coffee is okay. I think for ground coffee, especially, tossing it into the freezer actually helps with the aging process because it’s definitely away from sunlight, it’s definitely at a stable temperature, and if it’s in its original package, it can be degassed.

If you do keep your coffee in the freezer, avoid thawing. Allowing the beans to warm up before going back in the ice box creates moisture, which ages the coffee.

Less is more.

Coffee can last for months on the shelf after it’s roasted, but that doesn’t mean it’s fresh.

Roasted coffee starts losing its super nuanced sparkles about two weeks after it’s been roasted. I recommend buying coffee you can get through in a two- to three-week stretch of time. For me, that’s a bag every two weeks if I’m making a cup or a pot of it every day. If you’re sitting on a giant canister of coffee for months at a time, by the end of that canister, your coffee will start tasting differently than when you popped it open in the first place.

Coffee is a seasonal product, it’s a good idea to buy smaller batches more frequently, anyway. It makes me try more varieties of coffee, to get to know the nuances and differences. There’s always something new to try.

Common Reasons for Hair Loss in Women

Often thought of as a male disease, hair loss in women accounts for about 40 percent of the cases in the U.S. While it’s generally acceptable for men to experience hair loss, that’s not the case for women. Here are common causes of hair loss in women and how each condition could be treated.

Telogen effluvium

Telogen effluvium (TE) is a phenomenon that occurs after a stressful event, such as pregnancy, major surgery, extreme weight loss, cancer treatment, or intense stress. It may also be a side effect of specific medications. Women may notice hair loss three to six months after a stressful event, but they will re-grow hair after the shedding slows.

Hypothyroidism

Millions of women suffer from hypothyroidism and don't even know it. Hypothyroidism is when your body produces too little thyroid hormone, which is the hormone responsible for metabolism, heart rate, and mood. This means the thyroid is underactive. The thyroid hormone is responsible for everything from your basal metabolic rate to the growth of your hair, skin, and nails.

Iron deficiency anemia

Women who have heavy periods or don't eat enough iron-rich foods may be prone to iron deficiency, which is when the blood doesn't have enough red blood cells. The symptoms of iron deficiency include extreme fatigue, weakness, and pale skin. Also common are headaches, difficulty concentrating, cold hands and feet, and hair loss.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS, which can begin as early as age 11, is caused by a hormonal imbalance in which the ovaries produce too many male hormones. Women suffering from this condition may experience facial hair growth, irregular periods, acne, and cysts on the ovaries. While women may experience hair loss on the scalp, hair may grow elsewhere on the body.

Scalp condition

Inflammation of the scalp can make it difficult for hair to grow. Skin conditions that lead to hair loss include seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff), psoriasis, and fungal infections such as ringworm.

A physical exam of the scalp will help determine which condition you have. A fungal culture and possibly a biopsy of the scalp may be used to determine if it's ringworm.

Too much styling

Believe it or not, all of your hours spent straightening, curling and dyeing your hair could be the cause of your hair loss. Heat and chemicals can weaken the hair, causing it to break and fall out. It's usually the combination of treatments (keratin, coloring, and blow-drying) that does the most damage.

With this type of hair loss, you'll notice shorter pieces of hair falling out and not strands of hair with telogen bulbs at the ends.

Birth control

Women who use oral contraceptives might be surprised to learn that hair loss is a common side effect of the pill. The pill’s primary function is to suppress ovulation, which is achieved by using the hormones estrogen and progestin to stop fertility. Since hormones are also the primary trigger for hair loss, the pill brings a risk that you can start losing hair.

Hereditary hair loss

Hair loss that is genetic is known as androgenetic alopecia. With this condition, the majority of women have diffuse thinning on all areas of the scalp.  Androgenic alopecia in women is due to the action of androgens, which are male hormones typically present in only small amounts. Androgenic alopecia can be caused by a variety of factors tied to the actions of hormones.

What to Cook Every Night This Week (January 28 - February 3)

Shopping List

1 bunch sage leaves
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
1 lemon
1 lime
13 garlic cloves
2 white onions
2½ red onions
1 bunch green onions
1 small head cauliflower
1 spaghetti squash
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 pint cremini mushrooms
1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1½ cups pitted marinated olives
1 small piece fresh ginger
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese   
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese 
1½ cups diced provolone cheese
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices unsmoked bacon
¾ chicken stock
4 cups white rice
3⅓ cups marinara sauce
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1½ pounds pizza dough
3 tablespoons red curry paste
2 tablespoons harissa paste
One 28-ounce can cooked chickpeas
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
1½ cups frozen peas

Monday: One-Pan Creamy Chicken Fricassee with Sage

It tastes like it took all night to make. (Hint: It didn’t.)

Ingredients: 6 servings

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 rosemary sprigs
4 slices unsmoked bacon, roughly chopped
Scant ½ cup white wine
2 large egg yolks
12 large sage leaves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1 white onion, sliced into half-moons
Generous ¾ cup hot chicken stock (or hot water)
Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Peel back the skin on each chicken thigh and push a large sage leaf underneath. Replace the skin over the sage. Season the chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs to the skillet, skin side down, along with the rosemary and garlic. Cook until the chicken skin is golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Turn the chicken thighs over, add the bacon and onion, and cook until the bacon is lightly browned and the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

4. Pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce for around 5 minutes, then add a third of the stock or hot water. Bring toa boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.

5. Cook, partially covered, until the meat is cooked through and falls easily away from the bone, 30 to 40 minutes. During the cooking time, keep the level of the liquid topped up with the remaining stock or water so that it doesn’t dry out. You should be left with around 1 cup of liquid left in the pan for the sauce. Roughly chop the remaining 6 sage leaves and add them to the pan around 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

6. Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Move the chicken thighs to one side of the pan so that the juices pool on the other side. Turn the heat to very low. Gradually add the egg mixture to the pan to thicken the sauce (you may not need to use all of it). Move the chicken around the pan to distribute the sauce. Serve immediately.

Tuesday: Firecracker Chicken with Rice

Because getting every single pot and pan dirty isn’t exactly our idea of fun.

Ingredients: 4 servings

2 large eggs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup vegetable oil

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped

⅓ cup cornstarch

Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup sriracha

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, divided

Steamed rice, for serving

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon rice vinegar

½ teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes

Sesame seeds, for serving

Directions

1. Make the Chicken: In a large bowl, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and toss well to coat. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and beat to combine.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg and then add to the skillet.

3. Cook the chicken, turning a few times, until each piece is evenly golden brown and fully cooked, 7 to 9 minutes.

4. Make the Sauce: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

5. Add the sriracha, rice vinegar, brown sugar, crushed red-pepper flakes and half of the green onions. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring continuously, and cook for 1 minute; remove from the heat.

6. When the chicken is done cooking, transfer it from the pan to a large bowl. Add the sauce, and toss well to combine.

7. Garnish with the sesame seeds and remaining green onions. Serve with the rice.

Wednesday: Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

It’s just as easy as opening up a can but about a million times more delicious.

Ingredients: 6 servings 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

1 sweet onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 pint cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 cup wild rice

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

4 cups chicken broth

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup heavy cream

⅓ cup parsley leaves and tender stems

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

Toasted ciabatta bread, for serving

Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Place the chicken breast, onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, wild rice, garlic, bay leaf and chicken broth in the bowl of a slow cooker.

2. Turn the slow cooker on low and cook until the chicken and rice are tender, 6½ to 7 hours.

3. Season the soup with salt and pepper and stir in the heavy cream. Cook until heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the parsley and thyme and serve with toasted bread.

Thursday: Vegan Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Marinara Sauce

Tasty enough to make any Italian grandma proud.

Ingredients: 4 servings 

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds removed

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pint cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 cups marinara sauce

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the inside of the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

2. Place the squash cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast until fork-tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

3. While the squash cooks, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until browned and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the thyme and rosemary; season with salt and pepper and transfer to a plate.

4. Add the marinara sauce to the skillet and cook over medium-low heat until warmed through, about 5 minutes.

5. Remove the squash from the oven and shred it with a fork. To serve, top the squash with marinara sauce, mushrooms and nutritional yeast.

Friday: Red Shakshuka

Easy, healthy, inexpensive. Win-win-win.

Ingredients: 4 servings 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, minced

1 red bell pepper, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons harissa

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 large eggs

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Crusty bread, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. In a large, oven-safe skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 1 minute more.

3. Stir in the harissa and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes, stir again and bring to a simmer. Add the cumin and coriander; season with salt and pepper. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until the flavor develops.

4. Make 8 wells in the tomato sauce and carefully crack an egg into each. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the egg whites are fully set, but the yolks are still slightly jiggly, 23 to 27 minutes.

5. Garnish the shakshuka with parsley and cilantro. Serve immediately with bread for dipping.

Saturday: Baking-Sheet Pizza with Olives and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

You don’t need a pizza stone or wood-burning oven to reach pizza nirvana.

Ingredients: 8 to 10 servings 

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1½ pounds pizza dough

1⅓ cups tomato sauce

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese    

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1½ cups diced provolone cheese

½ red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1½ cups pitted marinated olives

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease a baking sheet with 3 tablespoons of the extra-virgin olive oil.

2. Gently stretch the pizza dough over the baking sheet and then use your fingers to stipple the dough further. Brush the surface of the dough with the remaining olive oil and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Stipple the dough again; it should now stretch to the edge of the baking sheet. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the dough.

4. Sprinkle the Parmesan, mozzarella and provolone evenly over the sauce. Arrange the red onion, sun-dried tomatoes and olives in an even layer.

5. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and golden brown and the crust is well browned, 18 to 20 minutes.

6. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving warm

Sunday: Chickpea and Vegetable Coconut Curry

It’s ready in 30 minutes flat

Ingredients: 4 servings 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets

2 teaspoons chile powder

1 teaspoon ground coriander

3 tablespoons red curry paste

One 14-ounce can coconut milk

1 lime, halved

One 28-ounce can cooked chickpeas

1½ cups frozen peas

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steamed rice, for serving (optional)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, and sauté until nearly tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic, and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Add the cauliflower and toss well to combine. Stir in the chile powder, coriander and red curry paste, and cook until the whole mixture darkens slightly, 1 minute.

3. Stir in the coconut milk and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cover the pot and continue to simmer until the cauliflower is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Remove the lid and squeeze lime juice into the curry, stirring well to combine. Add the chickpeas and peas, season with salt and pepper, and bring the mixture back to a simmer.

5. Serve with rice, if desired. Garnish each portion with 1 tablespoon cilantro and 1 tablespoon scallions.

Why You Suddenly Love That Vegetable You Always Hated

Once upon a time, you’d battle it out with you mom over eating your veggies. Broccoli? No thanks. Tomatoes? Hard pass. 

But fast-forward to today, and that face-sized salad you had for lunch says that perhaps your taste buds have changed. But...does that actually happen? Or is it just a turn of phrase?

First things first: What exactly are taste buds?

Fun fact: You can't actually see your taste buds (those little bumps on your tongue are called papillae, and while they do contain taste buds, they also help with chewing, speaking, and cleansing your mouth).

Taste buds are all over your mouth-not just your tongue-and there are a lot of them. Each taste bud is a collection of about 50 to 100 cells that are tasked with testing your food before you swallow it.

Once the food dissolves in your saliva, it activates receptors at the tips of the cells, which can distinguish between sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (a.k.a. savory). The receptors then send a signal to your brain to relay the exact flavor you’re experiencing.

So, can your taste buds change? If so, how often?

Taste buds die off and regenerate every couple of weeks (sometimes more frequently, given their vulnerable position in the mouth). Essentially, every time you burn or chomp down on your tongue, you kill off more taste buds. (Luckily, they grow back ASAP, which is why you only go a few days without the sweet taste of coffee after scorching your tongue.)

Age also plays a role in how often (and how fast) your taste buds turn over. As you age, your body slows down in regenerating cells, including the taste and smell receptor cells, leading to potential loss of taste buds as you get older.

When does this happen exactly? Nothing’s set in stone, but some research says that a change or loss of taste might start kicking in around 60 years old.

Taste buds may also die out due to external circumstances, like taking certain medications or undergoing chemo or radiation, but they should come back once your treatment is done.

But what about liking (or disliking) new foods? What's up with that?

This has to do with more than just your taste buds (which are there to taste, yes, but not to dictate whether or not you like something). Just FYI: Your sense of smell plays a role in taste too, by helping determine the flavor, which, unlike taste, is a multi-sensory construct that our brain 'composes' from multiple sensations, namely taste, smell, sound.

While everyone has a similar sensitivity to the various basic tastes, you develop personal preferences over many years, depending on other factors like habits, upbringing, culture, memories, and context. You may have grown to hate salmon for example, because you got the stomach bug after eating it once, so now you associate it with nausea (bleh).

All of those factors can also play into why you might hate Brussels sprouts, while your sister loves them because your experiences with the food differ. 

But that doesn't mean you'll hate certain foods forever, either. You can actually retrain your brain to like certain tastes by eating them more frequently. And just as you can acclimate your tastes to like something new (or re-like something old), you can also change them to start disliking something. Take sugar, for example: I recently tried to cut out soda from my diet and after a short time I found just a sip to be sickly sweet.

Honestly, a lot is still unknown about why you might've hated something like tomatoes up until, say, a year or two ago. It could be as simple as experiencing a certain type of food in a new way (like, roasted broccoli instead of steamed), Or, frustratingly enough, the brain can also change its mind, your mind and perceptions (taste, smell) are constantly undergoing changes throughout your life.

The bottom line: Your taste buds regenerate every couple of weeks-but your ever-changing mind and personal experiences have more to do with why you might start to like or dislike a new food.

This Is the Most Expensive Item on Amazon

Sometimes it seems like you can get absolutely anything on Amazon. In this heyday of online shopping, you can be just a few clicks away from a new winter jacket, vacuum cleaner, or even backyard shed. Amazon is notorious for luring people in who were intending to make a single purchase, only to leave them staring in disbelief, hours later, at nearly-empty wallets. After all, these hidden Amazon gems you’ll wish you’d always owned are pretty tempting, no?

But even your most reckless Amazon spending spree probably (or, at least, hopefully!) doesn’t even come close to the price of the most expensive item the site has to offer. Brace yourselves, savvy shoppers: The most you can spend on one item on Amazon is $1,963,655.99.

What’s the magical item that’ll set you back nearly $2 million? Well, it’s technically not actually a single item, it’s 9,000 separate items. It’s a collection of signed NFL memorabilia: football jerseys, helmets, footballs from actual games, and cards. The collection comes with a certificate of authenticity from James Spence Authentication. The site lists the 9,000 artifacts as a single item, and it’s clearly an all-or-nothing purchase. 

Besides that, though, the Amazon product listing is not very descriptive about exactly what you’ll get for that hefty price tag. There’s no list of the individual items, or even any specifications regarding which players the items belonged to. The retailer is Sports Memorabilia, whose name is pretty self-explanatory; they sell lots of football, baseball, basketball, and hockey artifacts, mostly for far more reasonable prices. Even the most passionate football devotees might be better off purchasing their Super Bowl commemorative plaques or authentic helmet replicas.

A word of advice for those still interested in making the purchase: Though Amazon recommends that you “order soon” there is, after all, only one 9,000-item collection of NFL memorabilia in stock—you’re actually probably more likely to get a better deal if you wait. Perhaps because there have been no takers, the price of this collection has lowered significantly in the past few months. In July 2018, Lux Authority reported that it once cost nearly $3.5 million. At the moment, the product description on Amazon says that it was marked down from $2,749,118.39. That’s right; $2 million is a sale price!

And, of course, because the online market is so fluid, who knows if it will remain the most expensive item? Perhaps some even stranger, pricier collection of merchandise will come along and dethrone it. 

Why TODAY is the most depressing day of the year

Combination of post-Christmas finances, bad weather and long wait for summer combine for 'Blue Monday'

Today is the most depressing of the year with people's moods affected by their post-Christmas finances, the bad weather and the long wait for summer.

Researchers have dubbed January 21 as Blue Monday after finding that people are at their loneliest, debt levels are at their highest and the weather is at its worst, at this time of year.  

26% of British people claim that this month is when they feel the most isolated. On top of this, 87% of the population also feel the weather has a direct influence on their mood, 

But it might not just be the gloomy skies bringing the country down, as the data also suggests two-thirds (61%) of people feel depressed on their way to work.

Manchester and Leeds topped its list of the places which suffer worst from the January blues.

While there is no hard science behind the date, the third Monday in January earned the title of the gloomiest day of the year.

On Monday, people are less likely to smile before 11:16 am, they complain for 34 minutes on average, an additional 12 minutes to any other day, and almost half of the female participants call it their ugly day.

Monday is also the most common day to have a heart attack or stroke. 

A tourism company in Britain brought the idea into fruition as part of a media campaign encouraging people to travel out of the UK winter and into warmer climates.

In other parts of the world, though, the third Monday of January falls in the peak of summer, generally ruling out icy-cold weather as a factor in people's moods. 

7 Ways You’re Accidentally Committing Tax Fraud

Not every fraud artist is a sketchy identity thief or faux Nigerian prince from the dark corners of the internet. You might end up committing accidental tax fraud or accidental tax evasion if you don’t pay careful attention this tax season.

Individual slip-ups usually result from negligence rather than ill intent, but even white lies fall into the latter category. The IRS is serious about nipping fraud in the bud, which is why you should check and double-check your return before filing your taxes to avoid tax fraud penalties. Get the deductions and credits you’re entitled to, but make sure you do it legally. So that you don’t accidentally commit tax fraud, educate yourself on how do you commit tax fraud 

What Is Tax Fraud?

Wondering how to commit tax fraud? The IRS defines tax fraud as “an intentional wrongdoing on the part of a taxpayer with the specific purpose of evading a tax known or believed to be owing.” To meet the IRS’s tax fraud definition, there must be both a tax due and owing, and fraudulent intent. Keep reading to find out about tax fraud examples that might surprise you.

1. Filing a Return With Missing or Incorrect Information

It’s crucial to file complete and accurate tax returns — or you might be committing tax fraud. For example, if you paid thousands of dollars to attend college this year, you might be eligible to claim an education tax credit to reduce your taxes.

If you claim an education credit, however, don’t forget to include Form 8863 for education credits  with your return. Forgetting to include vital data like your Social Security number,  or entering it incorrectly,  also creates headaches.

How to avoid it: Professional tax preparers or tax preparation software can come in handy. Often, tax software with built-in e-filing won’t let you submit your forms unless all your necessary data is included.

Potential penalty: Typically, if you forget or make a mistake on your return information you’ll experience delayed processing of your tax return. Keep in mind that omissions prompt the IRS to take a closer look at your forms, and maybe even target you for tax fraud. If omitted data changes your status from owing money to getting a refund, or even just makes your refund higher — your mistake could be interpreted as willful failure to supply information, which comes with penalties of up to a year in prison, $100,000 in fines or both.

2. Incorrectly Claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit

Claiming the earned income tax credit when you’re not eligible for it is a major IRS audit trigger. If you qualify for the credit, which is designed to offset the burden of Social Security taxes for low-to-moderate earners, you can get credited up to $6,431,  but you must meet specific requirements. When filing your 2018 taxes, the EITC income limits range from $15,270 to $54,884, depending on your marital status and number of qualifying children.

How to avoid it: Don’t file for the EITC if you have investment income exceeding $3,500. Child support, alimony, Social Security benefits and unemployment benefits do not contribute toward earned income. Your eligibility might fluctuate from year to year, so read the requirements closely each tax season.

Potential penalty: This issue could result in a delay, denial or required payback of your EITC refund  and possibly a ban from claiming the EITC for anywhere from two to 10 years.

3. Abusing Tax Shelters

Chances are, a tax shelter that sounds too good to be true likely is. Often, accountants and wealth planners tempt taxpayers with vague or deceptive tax shelter “opportunities,” or offer “captive” insurance structures that are at odds with your genuine financial needs, duplicate your existing coverage or provide coverage for totally implausible events. Your barbershop in Indiana probably isn’t going to get attacked by tigers, so don’t use that excuse as a tax shelter.

How to avoid it: If you’re in over your head on tax shelters, seek out an independent opinion. Be especially wary of ambiguous micro-captive insurance tax shelters, which have been highlighted for the past four years on the IRS’s annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scam

Potential penalty: “These scams can end up costing taxpayers more in penalties, back taxes and interest than they saved in the first place,” said former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. In addition, the IRS can count this as tax avoidance or evasion, which might net you fines of up to $250,000 and jail time of up to five years, with the average jail time for tax evasion at three to five years, according to the law firm Golding & Golding.

4. Claiming the Wrong Deductions

For the 2018 tax year, job-related expense deductions have been eliminated for individuals but if you are a small business owner or self-employed, you can still deduct necessary business expenses. However, you should make sure an expense is really necessary before you try to deduct it. If you think it’s clever to take the family along on a business trip just to deduct the vacation as a business expense, think again. When April rolls around, forget about claiming your family’s side trip to Disneyland.

Some commonly misused deductions  likes writing off groceries that you didn’t explicitly buy for clients or employees, are just plain mistakes. But if you are knowingly lying on your tax return to get more money, expect trouble.

How to avoid it: Again, tax prep software helps prevent errors — it typically shows the deductions for which you qualify. If you’re going “old school,” explore the IRS website, which offers tips for deducting business expenses and full breakdowns of what you can legally deduct. Key IRS documents like publications 334, 535 and 538 detail eligible business expenses and offer tax guides for small businesses.

Potential penalty: If you’re guilty of fraudulent activity or false statements, you could be looking at some combination of imprisonment of up to three years and fines of up to $100,000.

5. Taking Inflated Deductions

Your chances of being audited are low. In 2017, the IRS audited 1.1 million tax returns, which is only about 0.5 percent of all returns filed in calendar year 2016, the latest year for which this information is available. That might make it tempting to claim your whole basement as a home office deduction, but don’t.

Even if the chances of getting caught are low, inflated deductions are still illegal. You don’t want to roll the roulette wheel and have the little white ball land on your number

How to avoid it: Don’t stretch the truth. If you think you’ll have trouble paying what you owe all at once, work out a payment plan or installment agreement with the IRS via its Online Payment Agreement Tool or Form 9456.

Potential penalty: For an incorrect filing like this, the IRS can hit you with a $5,000 fine, a fee of 20 percent of the disallowed amount or a penalty in the amount of 75 percent of the full income tax you owe. You might even face an IRS criminal investigation.

6. Failing to Report Income

It’s easy to not claim all your tips  in fact, the IRS estimates up to 40 percent of tips go unreported. But don’t get too comfy ,failing to report your income to the Internal Revenue Service might count as tax fraud and evasion, or failure to supply information.

How to avoid it: If you’re a server, keep a daily record of all tips you receive and use Publication 531 to report your tip income. Whether you’re a server or not, don’t fall victim to common misconceptions , use the most recent version of Publication 525 to keep track of what the IRS considers taxable and nontaxable income.

Potential penalty: For not reporting tips, you’re subject to a penalty equal to 50 percent of the Social Security, Medicare, Medicare or Railroad Retirement taxes you owe on unreported tips. Regardless of your industry, tax evasion penalties can cost you up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in cash.

7. Falling Victim to Tax Preparer Fraud

Choose your return preparer carefully because you entrust them with your private financial information that needs to be protected, About 56 percent of U.S. taxpayers use tax professionals to prep their returns  and the vast majority of those pros are honest, according to the IRS. It’s possible, however, that the preparer you rely on might dupe you into claiming credits or deductions you’re not entitled to in order to increase his own fee.

How to avoid it: When choosing a tax preparer, always confirm his IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number and professional credentials via the online IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications.

Potential penalty: Penalties like jail time typically fall on the preparers for defrauding their clients. If you get caught up in an illegal scam, though, you’ll be up against what the IRS calls “significant penalties,” which include interest charges and possible criminal prosecution.

The sad history of the Elkmont ghost town

Several years ago, an article went viral about a hiker “discovering” a ghost town in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The wording was thrown out of context a lot and people literally thought this ghost town was unknown but the hiker never intended to say he “discovered” as in no one else ever had but rather that he discovered as in he stumbled upon it.  In fact, if you’ve ever visited the Elkmont Campground, possibly to see the synchronous fireflies, or hiked the Little River Trail then you’ve probably noticed there are several abandoned historic buildings in Elkmont and this is the Ghost Town he discovered.

While this was happening, the Wonderland Hotel was also constructed on a hill nearby in 1921, a 50 room resort also for city dwellers to escape into the woods.  The Appalachian Club membership became harder to obtain and so a group of businessmen from the city (Knoxville) purchased the Wonderland Hotel, in 1919, and created the “Wonderland Club.”  Ten or so more cottages were built around the hotel surrounding the Wonderland Hotel.

Soon after this, the national park movement began and several Elkmont land owners took it upon themselves to help advance it in the Smoky Mountains.  Around 1926, the founder of the Little River Lumber Company made the initial sale of 76,000 acres to the states of Tennessee and North Carolina.  The Elkmont cottage owners were able to sell their cottages at half price in exchange for lifetime leases while everyone else within the park boundaries were forced to sell their properties.  These leases were converted to 20 year leases in 1952, and renewed again in 1972. The National Park Service refused to renew the leases in 1992. Most of the leases for the cottages and the Wonderland Hotel expired in 1992 and were reverted back to the National Park Service.  While the NPS wanted to remove the structures and allow them to return to their natural state, the Wonderland Hotel and many of the cottages were places on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 – protecting them from being destroyed.

For 70 years, roughly 80 families vacationed in the cottages and cabins located in Elkmont and then were practically forced to stop doing so.  While it is in fact abandoned technically, it is not fair to say that these homes were abandoned willingly.

In 2005, the Wonderland Hotel collapsed and in 2009 the National Park Service announced the intention of restoring the Appalachian Clubhouse and 18 cottages in the Appalachian Club section. Seventeen of the 19 structures to be renovated are located in what was known as the “Daisy Town” section of the Appalachian Club. The other two structures to be preserved are located in the “Millionaire’s Row” and “Society Hill” sections of the Appalachian Club. All other buildings are to be documented and removed.

In March 2017, the National Park Service plans to demolish 29 structures in the Elkmont area. The majority of structures in the Elkmont region of the park are not preserved and many have fallen into disrepair. For public safety, some structures are being demolished. Thankfully, this is part of a larger plan to preserve more buildings in Elkmont, including the Levi Trentham Cabin, the Mayo Cabin, the Mayo Servants’ Quarters, and the Creekmore cabin. Prior to this demolition, there were 74 structures in Elkmont. Following this project, there will be 45 remaining. Most of the demolition will take place on Millionaire’s Row and Society Hill.

So, next time you’re in the Smoky Mountains make sure to check out the Elkmont Ghost Town and the Abandoned Wonderland before most of the buildings are gone! 

9 Things You Didn't Know About Gray Hair

While some women proudly sport a silver mane, many others face the arrival of new gray hairs with dread. The good news if you fall into the latter category: Scientists are hard at work on how to prevent them. So, what do researchers know that you don't?

1. Normal aging is the biggest culprit.

Okay, no surprise here. Dermatologists call this the 50-50-50 rule. Fifty percent of the population has about 50% gray hair at age 50, And like skin, hair changes its texture with age

2. Your ethnicity makes a difference.

Caucasians tend to go gray earlier - and redheads earliest of all. Then Asians. Then African-Americans. Scientists haven't figured out why yet.

3. Stress seems to play a role.

"Stress won't cause you to go gray directly," But stress is implicated in a lot of skin and hair issues." During an illness, for example, people can shed hair rapidly. And hair you lose after a stressful event - like getting chemotherapy - may grow back a different color.

4. Your lifestyle makes a difference.

Smoking, for example, stresses your skin and hair. Low vitamin B12 levels are notorious for causing loss of hair pigment, try eating foods such as liver and carrots. Foods packed with certain vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants may help protect cells against toxins and help prevent heart disease, cancer, and other ailments (and perhaps gray hair!).

5. Hair and its color are separate things.

Hair stem cells make hair, and pigment-forming stem cells make pigment. Typically they work together, but either can wear out, sometimes prematurely. Researchers are trying to figure out if a medicine, or something you could put in your scalp, could slow the graying process. (Hair dye simply coats your hair in color but doesn't alter its structure.)

6. Your hair basically bleaches itself.

You may be familiar with hydrogen peroxide as a way to go blonde, but it's also the way we go gray. According to a 2009 study published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, hydrogen peroxide naturally occurs in our hair follicles, and as we get older, it builds up. This build-up blocks the production of melanin, a.k.a. our hair's pigment.

7. Your hair doesn't turn gray - it grows that way.

A single hair grows for one to three years, then you shed it - and grow a new one. As you age, your new hairs are more likely to be white. Every time the hair regenerates, you have to re-form these pigment-forming cells, and they wear out.

8. Gray hair isn't more coarse than colored hair.

Gray hair is actually finer than colored hair, but it may seem drier because our scalps produce less oil as we get older. Another reason it could seem more rough? "Your hair may also 'feel' coarser if you pull out your first few grey hairs," This is because constant pulling-out of hair can distort your follicles, resulting in more crinkly hair.

9. Gray hair can be resistant to color.

If you opt to color your hair, your may find that it's more stubborn about taking color than before you started going gray. Some gray can be resistant to hair color. If this is true for you, consider dropping down a color level or using something darker on your roots to deliver even more coverage.

What to Cook This Weekend: January 18–20

Banana Bread

Yield: Makes one 9x5" loaf 
Active Time: 35 minutes 
Total Time: 95 minutes

Ingredients

•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
•1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
•4 medium very ripe bananas (about 13 ounces), peeled and mashed
•1/4 cup sour cream
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
•2 large eggs, at room temperature
•1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Special equipment:
•A 9x5" loaf pan

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan with butter and dust with flour, tapping out any excess.

Combine banana, sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed in another large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 1/2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until fully combined, about 1 minute each. Add banana mixture and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients in 2 batches, beating on low after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl if necessary, until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds per batch. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula.

Bake, rotating halfway through, until batter is set, top is dark golden brown and starting to crack, sides are starting to pull away from pan, and a tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean, 60–65 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack at least 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around perimeter of pan to loosen loaf, then tap pan gently on its side until loaf releases. Transfer to a cutting board or plate and let cool completely before slicing.

Cooks' note:
To quickly ripen unripe bananas for baking, bake them unpeeled on a baking sheet at 250°F until soft, 15-20 minutes. Do ahead: Banana bread can be baked, cooled, then wrapped in plastic and left at room temperature up to 3 days, or frozen up to 3 months.

Recipe #2:  

 Pastrami and Potato Hash with Fried Eggs

Yield: Serves 4 servings 

Ingredients

•4 tablespoons unsalted butter

•4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

•1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 large), scrubbed, cut into 1" pieces

•1/2 pound winter squash (such as acorn, butternut, or kabocha), peeled, cut into 1" pieces

•Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

•2 leeks, white and pale-green parts only, chopped

•1 garlic clove, chopped

•1 pound pastrami or any leftover braised meat, cut or shredded into bite-size pieces

•4 large eggs

•1/4 cup sliced chives

•3/4 cup sour cream (optional)

Preparation

Heat butter and 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add potatoes and winter squash and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 25–30 minutes

Add leeks and garlic to hash and season with salt and pepper. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula, lightly smash vegetables. Add pastrami and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is warmed through and flavors have melded, 10–12 minutes. 

Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Carefully crack eggs into skillet one at a time and season with salt and pepper. Cook until whites are set and slightly puffed but yolks are still runny, about 2 minutes. 

Divide hash among shallow bowls and top each with an egg; scatter chives over top. Serve with sour cream alongside, if desired. 

Woman drinking wine out of Pringles can at Walmart warms internet’s jaded heart

The story of the Texas woman who reportedly got banned from Walmart for riding an electric cart around the store’s parking lot while drinking wine out of a Pringles can, spread like wildfire across the digital grasslands. America had found the hero it didn’t know it needed.

The woman had been riding around in the parking lot for hours, starting at about 6:30 a.m.

The electric shopping cart she was riding is usually used for people with physical limitations.

Police found her in a nearby restaurant, and told her that she had been banned from that Walmart, at the request of store employees.

She was not arrested.

Most importantly: She was drinking wine out of a Pringles can. Does the salty leftover detritus add a special element to that Yellow tail chardonnay or whatever?

As this important news gained momentum over the weekend, many speculated about the possible details behind this incident:

So true. Like what flavor of Pringles? Didn’t the liquid make the Pringles can soggy? Did she eat all the Pringles first? What happened to the wine bottle? Did she purchase either of these at Walmart itself? 

But many just adopted her as our collective new internet hero, clamoring for her Walmart return.

7 Subtle Signs That You Know Someone Isn't Right For You, Even If You Can't Admit It

We talk a lot about how to know whether or not someone is right for you. We talk and daydream endlessly about how we'll know when we've met "the one" and what they'll be like and how our lives will change. This is normal. Fairy tales and Hollywood and our own intrinsic desires have facilitated it enough. But we paint this image in our heads as though there is one person who is "right" and we know instantly, and to the same degree, we know that all the people leading up to them are "wrong." Most of the time, though, relationships fall somewhere in the middle: the "I think this could be it, let's try and see" space.

So it becomes the case that we never realize how terrible someone is for us until it's too late. We get into unhappy and unfulfilling and generally "meh" relationships and we stay there, we justify it with: "You can't expect it to be perfect all the time" (though that's true) and that "People have off days" (also true) and that you have to "wait and see" whether or not it will work out (also true!). The whole problem is that we piece together these independently valid ideas and use them as justifications. That's why it's easy. That's what makes it wrong.

Everything's always clear in retrospect, but wouldn't it be easier if we had some way to know that we were making regrets before we actually made them? Well, that's not impossible. (And it's preferable, in fact.) Here, the little signs someone isn't right for you (that people usually don't pick up on until after-the-fact):

You Don't Want The Same Things

Your five year plans don't overlap in any way. You want kids, they don't. They want a country home, you're more of a city gal. You like to spend your weekends on the couch reading, they want to be out drinking with friends in their spare time. There's a difference between "compromise" and "understanding you're inherently different people whose lifestyles won't align". Don't find yourself on the wrong side of that equation before it's too late.

You're Defensive About Why It Should Work Out

You find yourself constantly reiterating why you're so perfect for each other, or how it's just "supposed to be." If you have to go on and on about the reasons why it's a good fit, it probably isn't. You're subconsciously trying to prove to yourself that it is, though.

Haven't Gotten Around To Introducing Them To Family And Friends

Even if you aren't conscious about not wanting to show them to nearest and dearest, you or they always find a way to skirt around the meet-up, or at least feel very anxious about it. This could be for two reasons: you know the people closest to you will know it's not a right fit, or somewhere inside you you know it won't last, and you don't want to get everybody else involved too.

They Make You Question Whether Or Not You Even Want To Be Committed To Someone Right Now

All of a sudden you start wondering whether or not you ever wanted a relationship in the first place. It's not them, of course, you think. You just suddenly happen to realize you really want to be single. ... Maybe forever.

You Find Yourself Shutting Down Intimacy In Very Subtle Ways

You find yourself cutting a make-out session short, feeling more comfortable sleeping by yourself or intentionally keeping elements of your life secret, as though you're trying to show yourself life is just a little more comfortable when they're not in it.

You Always Have To Reach Out First, Make Plans, Or Keep The Conversation Going

Effort is not exerted in equal proportion. Days could go by without them reaching out to see how you're doing, and often do. It's easy to convince yourself that's not the case (see: I can tell they love me when we're together! but they're just busy!) but the golden rule of dating is, and always will be: if someone wants to be with you... they will be. If someone wants to make time for you, they will. End of story.

You Have To Hide, Alter, Or Otherwise Augment Aspects Of Who You Are

It seems innocent at first, omitting the less flattering details to sparkle and charm your new love. But when it gets to a point that you have to hide or actively behave differently even just for the fear that they'll judge or dislike you... they are not "the one." This is also easy to believe is a matter of just wanting to be better for someone you love... but it's really more sinister than that. All in all, if they can't accept you for who you are warts and all  they won't be able to accept your relationship for what it really is, either.

Here's the Surprising Ingredient Grandma Used for Unbeatable Coffee

If your family's from the Midwest (especially Wisconsin or Minnesota), you might remember your grandma boiling up big batches of what she called Scandinavian coffee (or perhaps Norwegian or Swedish coffee, if she wanted to get specific). If she was making it for a church get-together, she might have called it church basement coffee and brought along one of these heavenly desserts. But what was the secret ingredient in coffee that Gran made? If you peeked in the percolator, you might have seen it. 
What's in Scandinavian coffee?

Eggs! They are what make Scandinavian coffee the richly-flavored, amber hued, perfectly balanced brew that it is. Or more specifically, a raw egg, shell and all, which you crack over and mix it into your coffee grounds to form a thick slurry. (We'll get to the how-to just below.) 
But why?

Not everyone knows this, but eggs have a seemingly magical power to "clarify" liquids from broth to wine to... yes, coffee. As the liquid is heated, the egg coagulates, drawing impurities out of the liquid and into itself. In the case of coffee, those impurities include substances that can cause coffee to taste bitter or burnt. Ultimately, the impurities also include the grounds, themselves. In other words, the egg acts as an "ick" magnet, filtering your coffee without the need for a paper or mesh filter (yay!). After a mere three minutes, the egg and grounds have formed a unified lump that you can easily strain as you pour yourself a cup. 

How to make Scandinavian coffee

What you'll need:

• 3 tablespoons ground coffee 
• 1 egg, including the shell
• 4 cups plus 3 tablespoons of water

What to do: 

Set three cups of water to boil in a pot. Set aside one cup of cold water.

In a small bowl, combine coffee grounds, egg (crush the shell as you mix it up), and the remaining 3 tablespoons of water. This is your slurry.

When the water is boiling, add the slurry to the water and set a timer for three minutes.

When the timer goes off, remove the pot from the heat source and pour in the cold water.

Strain into a pitcher (you'll leave behind a large clump of egg and grounds) and serve.

A word about salmonella 

Raw eggs are perhaps the most common source of salmonella food poisoning. Scandinavian coffee eliminates that risk by boiling the eggs for three minutes, meaning they are fully cooked and you can drink with confidence.