(Andrew McDaniel)

DealNews.com has a rundown of more than a dozen items that will likely see a price hike in the coming year, some because they’re more in-demand, others because of resource shortages, and others because they are plane tickets whose pricing is a mystery.

The list is a big bummer to sybarites on a budget, as some of your indulgences are undoubtedly included.

There’s bourbon, which may or may not be experiencing a bona find shortage, but which has definitely seen increased sales in recent years. And when you have a higher demand on a product that takes years to age properly, prices are going to go up regardless of whether the shortage is real or manufactured.

To go along with your pricier bourbon, how about a more expensive steak or pork tenderloin? Or you could just enjoy that Bourbon Caramel shake from Red Robin. However you choose to pair your meat and booze, be prepared to pay more as the already soaring price of beef and pork will continue to rise.

And what party is complete without guacamole? Probably a lot of them if the predicted avocado shortage happens and prices rise in 2015. The higher cost of avocados was already one of the contributors to Chipotle’s first menu price change in years.

When dessert rolls around, we hope you don’t crave too much chocolate, because the world is apparently short on that too, with farmers in Africa taking a hit from too-dry weather and a fungus that wiped out a third of their crops.

If you can’t have chocolate, at least you’ll be able to enjoy a post-dinner coffee, right? Yes, but it will probably continue to cost you more, following a drought in Brazil.

And don’t plan on getting away from it all — at least not cheaply — as airfares are expected to continue to rise in price even while the cost of jet fuel sinks. Perhaps the mere threat of a federal investigation will start a price war among the tiny number of domestic airlines still operating, but until then don’t expect too many deals next year.

For the full list, check out DealNews.com.

What’s the difference between a home cook and a chef? For me, the answer lies right there in the pages of Daniel Boulud’s braising book which came out back in 2006. I’m a big believer in braising; nothing makes me happier than to sear a tough piece of meat, stir in some aromatics, add a cooking liquid, and then to let thing go for three hours, only to have the meat melt beneath the tines of a fork when you’re done, the sauce right there without any extra labor. But as for those individual elements–the meat, the aromatics, the liquid–the best I could come up with, if pressed, would be all the usual suspects: chicken thighs, onions, garlic, white wine, etc. That’s because I’m a home cook. Chef Boulud, on the other hand, fills his pages with the most startling combinations: beef shank with coconut and avocado, pork belly with pineapple and plantains, lamb shanks with mint, prunes, and bourbon. And so on Saturday, I decided to channel my inner-chef and make the recipe that called out to me the most: Pork Shoulder with Guinness, Dried Cherries, and Sweet Potatoes.

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When you know how to do something, you have a skill. When you understand how something works, you can alter that knowledge and adapt it for your best uses. This gives you confidence and the ability to grow.

It's also the best piece of advice developer Matrin Rue received from his grandfather. He explains its importance:

If you simply remember how to do something, then all you can do is use it the same way over and over, but if you understand how it works, you can reason about it. Once you can reason about something in your mind you can contemplate why it is the way it is, you can apply your entire creative mind to making the most of it, and you can implement and question improvement – you own it intellectually.

Information only gets you so far. Learn how things work and you can expand upon them infinitely.

Understand How It Works | Martin Rue

Photo by Biter Big (Shutterstock).

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I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, a musical can be built around the poetry of Ezra Pound.

Wait, that was a ridiculous line from last week’s Smash (as recapped, hilariously, by Rachel Shukert here). What I meant to say was: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, it’s worth knowing how to make a curry. I’ve done it with chickpeas, I’ve done it with cauliflower, and today I’ll show you how to do it with a sweet potato.

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