Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I always have soup in the refrigerator, so soup is a quick meal. If not soup, something with eggs. Exactly what depends on what else is on hand and what sounds good.

I also didn't make a food resolution last year, but I already have for 2012.

My daughter likes ramen noodles and cottage cheese together.

I feel the same about dining alone as I do about cooking for one. It's taking care of myself and hopefully in the best way possible. I enjoy it. Sometimes it's preferable to having dining companions!

Oh, I should add that I could tell by the color of the sauce at my favorite hole-in-the-wall Chinese place that there was some tomato in their sauce. The owners confirmed this. So I add a squirt of ketchup (maybe a tablespoon?) to the sauce. Perfection!

I went to Purdue. My dh went to Purdue (after me, he was in the Army while I was there). I don't know how this happened, but I've driven by Triple XXX hundreds of times, but I've never been there.

@winternutt -- agreed about the pork tenderloin.

How in heaven's name did people survive, and thrive, before some agency told us how to eat? Oh, they ate real, whole food! There is no one ideal combination of foods; there are many. What we eat is more important than than the proportions in which we eat it.

Ree Drummond is an ambitious, determined and now successful businesswoman. She's no more knowledgeable, talented or skilled a cook than millions of other home cooks or dozens of bloggers. In fact, it's quite likely she's less knowledgeable, talented and skilled. She appears to have little understanding of or respect for food safety issues. The biggest difference between Ree and other home cooks and bloggers is that she had the resources to hire an agent several years ago.

I don't have a problem with the fact that few, if any, of her recipes are original, though I do wish she'd credit her sources more often. Most bloggers and cookbook authors adapt recipes from other sources. I do have a problem with the fact that there are frequently discrepancies between her step-by-step pictorial descriptions of making a recipe and the printable that accompanies it. The discrepancies often lead to recipe failures. Cooks who aren't experienced think it's their fault the recipe failed.

She's highly over-rated.

@conky -- I wonder what he'll say about Pioneer Woman, too. She's no better and in some ways worse than Paula Deen.

@hungrychristel -- are you confusing Pioneer Woman with Homesick Texan? Pioneer Woman doesn't have a bacon jam recipe.

@crispyduck13 -- yes, many people have this reaction to her and her recipes.

Going to college in a big city and staying there for a few years after does not make one a "city-girl."

Ree is an ambitious and talented businesswoman. She is not a knowledgeable, skilled or talented cook. At the very best, she's an average home cook. There are many other bloggers and home cooks who are far better than she is. Some of her recipes are potentially illness-inducing (reusing marinade that raw meat has marinated in without cooking the marinade).

Some of her recipes are pretty good or not bad. Others are definitely questionable -- and more than a few are absolutely terrible. It's not just that I don't like them; they're recipe failures. She rarely gives credit to other sources for her recipes.

I've seen her on morning TV shows and she's hard to watch. I don't have TV now, so won't be watching her show. Food Network has released an episode guide of her shows. If you read her blog or have her cookbook, there's no reason to watch the show. There is only one new recipe being presented.

I can't stand Papa John's pizza, but the others are only marginally better. I used to like Little Caesar's, but it's not as good now. Domino's and Pizza Hut are just okay.

There are a few small local places I like, but more and more I prefer my own. It's not quick, but it's pretty good.

Granitas. Especially those made with coffee or liquor -- or both! But I like fruity granitas, too. They're so refreshing during this hot weather.

Also cold soups.