Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

It is so hard to pick just one, but my first love was The Amateur Gourmet.

Adore the Friendly Toast. I haven't been in years but now I can't wait to go back! It is an institution in Portsmouth....one of my favorite places when I was a student at UNH.

Fresh vegetables! I especially crave steamed broccoli that is sauteed with a bit of olive oil and lots of garlic.

I made a wonderful chocolate cake topped with fluffy white 7-minute frosting for a birthday several months back. It came out perfectly and the frosting has become my "go to" recipe ever since.

I shop at Hannaford and have noticed the star ratings pop up within the past year. If I remember correctly, I read that even the one star rating has a certain level of nutrition it has to meet, so something like bacon, even a leaner cut, would not get a star at all.

I think the system is probably helpful for people who don't have a lot of knowledge of what's healthy, or they don't do a lot of cooking. For someone like me, and probably a lot of us here, we're not going to grab a box of Healthy Choice cookies with a 2-star rating because we still know it is a lot of unnatural/processed crap. But for a person who normally goes for the package of double-stuff Oreos (and damn they are tasty), the star rating guide at least steers them in a "better" direction.

As a VT neighbor, Ben & Jerry's has a special place in my heart and emotionally, is probably my favorite. I also admit I love their creative and quirky flavors and flavor names. When it comes to pure taste, especially for basic flavors, Haagen-Dazs wins.

Seared tuna with a very rare center. Perfect.

My first cookbook when I started learning how to cook was the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.....the one with the red and white check cover. It was really great for a lot of basics.....I still reference it on a pretty regular basis.

Canned chickpeas! My favorite there's-nothing-in-the-house-and-I'm-starving meal is to saute a diced onion, clove of garlic, diced tomatoes (fresh or canned), and a can of chickpeas. Season with salt, pepper, and garam masala. Yum!

A cookbook for me is more than a collection of recipes. I've been known to curl up with a good cookbook on the couch in much the same way I would with a work of fiction. While I use and enjoy many, many recipes online, it's just not the same as having a wonderful book to look at, touch, and cozy up to on a Sunday afternoon.