Sorting waste can be a real challenge in a small kitchen. First there's your basic trash, then there's recycling (co-mingled if you're lucky) and compost. Like most people, we didn't want to give up precious floor space for these bins, so we came up with a semi-custom and affordable solution.

Fortunately, switching to plastic-free food containers has gained a lot of steam. With steel and glass as the main alternatives, how do you choose? Both containers have their advantages, like being BPA free and long-lasting. To make choosing easier, here is a list of pros and cons for each.

Chinese or Lunar New Year falls on this coming Monday, January 23rd. In honor of this very important holiday, Bee of the beautiful and delicious website Rasa Malaysia brings us a traditional recipe for hot and soothing soup. Welcome, Bee!

A traditional Chinese New Year meal is incomplete without dumplings and a dish of nourishing and soothing Chinese soup, hence I've combined the best of both worlds into this pork dumpling soup. This dish is a Cantonese delicacy and the dumplings are called "Siu Kow" in Cantonese, or literally "water dumplings."

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Ilke of the lovely blog Ilke's Kitchen, writing about her family's New Year's Eve traditions of bingo, red underwear (indeed! read on and it will all become clear!) and a scrumptious rice pilaf. Welcome, Ilke!

Growing up in a Muslim family in Turkey, celebrating Christmas was not a regular thing for our December routine. There was no Santa to sit on his lap and tell our wishes, no cookie baking craziness all month long, no nonstop Christmas music on the radio. I don't think Santa tradition and trying to make kids behave with the Santa threat would be a long-lived one in Turkey anyway.

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: My friend Chris Gardner, fellow denizen of the Midwest, and managing editor of the rad DIY site Curbly. He also writes a blog called ManMade DIY, and he's sharing some great cocktail recipes from there today. Enjoy!

I love discovering new cocktail recipes and original ways to experience different, unique flavors with classic spirits. But, these days, discovering "new cocktails" on the internet usually means "new fandangled drinks that use a bunch of specialty liqueurs and spirits you don't have and aren't gonna buy a whole bottle of to try a new drink."

So, with that in mind, I decided to come up with five tasty, holiday-ish cocktails using stuff you can find in an average liquor cabinet.

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: We're bringing you one more post from Melanie Widmann of Coffee Tea Gastronomy. Melanie is a true tea aficionado, and I loved this unique pudding — a delicious and gluten-free holiday dessert.

Located right next door to Los Angeles is Ventura County California, the number one producer of lemons in the country and the home of Ventura Limoncello. Ventura County as well as the classic combination of black tea and lemons inspired this layered pudding.

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Nicky Stich of one of our favorite food blogs, Delicious Days, with a lovely little treat for New Year's (or any time).

I never considered myself much a Christmas person; I prefer to rather make gifts or write cards to loved ones when they least expect it. Seeing their wide eyes, the expression of disbelief and surprise, usually followed by a "Wait, but why...? What have I done to deserve this?" — that's what makes me really happy.

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Jess Goldman, Sodium Girl, talking about health during the holiday period. Yes, I know Christmas is over, and Hanukkah nearly is as well, but there is a whole week of feasting left through New Year's, and these tips may come in really handy.

Most of the year, we eat for sustenance. Yes, of course, we eat to socialize, too. But in general, we snack to cure rumbling stomachs. We lunch to break from the work hours. We dine at night to close the day. And we breakfast in the morning to fuel up for the new one ahead.

And most of the year, if you're on a special health or allergy-related diet, you navigate these food-focused engagements rather easily. You stuff your bag with treats to keep full. You eat where and when you can. You make satisfying meals at home to curb cravings, all while keeping tabs of those nutritional goals.

But during the holidays, that's a different beast.

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Nancy Singleton Hachisu. A native of California, Nancy now lives and works on an organic farm in Japan. I have been so inspired this year by her blog, Indigo Days, and by what I have seen of her forthcoming book, Japanese Farm Food. Welcome, Nancy.

I spent my first Christmas Eve in Japan eating hand-rolled sushi and sipping sweet sparkling wine. Oh, and I had a slice of the obligatory Christmas Cake, a cloyingly sweet concoction of generic sponge cake smeared with whipped "cream" and adorned with winter strawberries. At least we didn't have the bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken that many Japanese eat on Christmas Eve (instead of turkey?). The family I was visiting knew me better.

They knew that my love of sushi had inspired me to want to learn Japanese, thus propelling me to Japan the summer of 1988. My friend prepared a large platter of freshly cut sashimi, along with some other garnishes that I have forgotten (shiso leaves, daikon sprouts, green onion?).

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Terry Boyd. Terry is a longtime reader and community member of The Kitchn, and he writes his own blog, Blue Kitchen. I always learn something when I visit there!

Fresh rosemary adds a subtle, mysterious something extra to Hazelnut Rosemary Jam Cookies. And unlike so many holiday treats, they're not overly sweet. So they're perfect with a cup of tea — and when holiday guests drop by.