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Cedar River Smokehouse in Renton, WA. Maybe not the best barbecue I've ever eaten, but it's very good, cheap, smoked Texas-style, and the BBQ sauce is amazing at whichever heat level you prefer. And they NAIL the brisket, it's delicious and falling-apart tender.

Deviled eggs.

Rice balls with hard-boiled eggs and Sriracha.

With a little heat. Pink peppercorns being the tingly-spicy heat-bringer of choice.

So, more specific than everything? I love coating nuts in Sriracha and honey and then roasting until crisp. Thai spicy honey-roasted walnuts!

A cheap Henkels hollow-edged santoku, it's a great knife and it was so inexpensive I'm not worried about bringing it to barbecues or packing it out camping.

Picked up a stamped Henckels hollow-edged santoku for just over a ten-spot on Amazon, has served me well for over two years and it's so cheap I'm not afraid to bring it along, because it's as cheap to replace it as get it properly sharpened.

American flavor is a greatest-hits collection, lifting amazing flavors from here and there and mashing them together into something new. It goes wrong when done in an industrial or fast-food manner, but at home or at a fine restaurant, it can allow you to enjoy old flavors in an entirely new way. (Go Tex-Mex!)

Biting into my own homemade bacon for the first time. Entirely worth the effort, it was truly amazing and delicious, beyond what I could have hoped for.

Does 'bacon-wrapped' count as a topping?

Working through my skills with some tougher but more flavorful cuts of beef, like skirt steak. Rarely are the fruits of my labor so delicious.

Porterhouse in general, but I've been really enjoying different ways of cooking flank steak.