Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Broccoli rabe with red pepper flakes and garlic, sweet potatoes, roasted cauliflower - and butter 24/7. Hey, too little fat is dangerous, right???

at 55, I went to pastry school, then into a professional kitchen at the now-closed Maison Robert in Boston. I was too unexperienced to know how odd that was, and too much in love with baking to care! I've worked with people 20 and 30 years younger than me, with worse physical problems, i.e. if your feet hurt so you can't stand after 2 hours on the job, it's probably time for a career change even if you are only 24 with school debts! Most chefs were very good to me, seeing me as more stable: I lasted a year on a job where the previous range had been in weeks, and very productive. The kitchens I've worked in didn't play music - but Mexican death metal would have been FUN!

The physical work does take it's toll, but what grates most is that pastry haslow pay for high skill levels. I could have made more, with less physical and mental stress, by peeling potatoes!

Baker! Bread and desserts. I don't like to eat it, but I love the precision and psychic sense of timing it takes to acheive repeatable perfection with so many variables. Thay may be why I like playing with chocolate, too. Cooking- I can throw together stuff that turns out tasty, but there's so much more leeway.

Thank you for participating, and congratulations to our winners:

mayam
fritesandfries
reneerobinson
mama43
redbike

Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page.

Alcoholic- margaritas hands down (fresh limes though)
Non Alcoholic- iced tea

Mint juleps! Forget mojitos, I prefer this classic work of art in bourbon, mint, sugar and ice - the perfect compliment to relaxing on a porch swing or rocker.

I love a Sea Breeze - vodka, cranberry juice, and a squeeze of fresh lime. Ahhh!

for me its gotta be lemonaide or a margarita...yum!