Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I love my no-name Santoku, given five years ago as a going-away gift when we left San Luis Obispo. My husband refers to it as the "Big Mama Knife" and my Henckels paring knife as "Little Brother."

I came into my own as a food-lover and cook in my first kitchen in California, with a few feet of counter space, an electric stove and a microwave perched on the refrigerator above my head (CAUTION: hot soups from above!).

It was in that kitchen that I made gallons of lemonade and 5 different kinds of lemon bars using fruit from the tree in our backyard. It was there that my first Pyrex pan exploded (and we picked the glass bits off the fish and ate it anyway). In that kitchen I made my first grown-up batches of Christmas cookies to distribute at work and a big bowl of pasta salad so garlicky, the old ladies in the church choir were fanning themselves.

I made a LOT of mistakes there, but that kitchen was where I learned to love food, and worked up the confidence to try new things. I'll never forget it!

Living in Madison has its perks, and the Dane is definitely one of them! My husband loves the burgers at Church Key; I have been a big fan of the ones at Coopers Tavern, which is new. And Brasserie V is a must-visit -- their frites are fantastic!

-- Lindsay in Madison (forkfulofnews.com)

I made roux. I don't know why I couldn't make it before, but I finally got it smooth and thick and perfect for mac and cheese.

Wow. Some of this stuff I have never heard of.
My own pantry/fridge ghosts...

-- Jar of olives, purchased for FIL's martinis. He's only visited once in the past two years; those olives are still there.

-- Four kinds of salsa, purchased or gifted for parties. I don't like salsa, so they stay until the next fiesta.

-- Stirrings "Simple Margaritas" mix. Ick. Maybe my dear husband bought it?

-- Artichoke spinach dip that expired last September.

-- The freezer is where stock ingredients go to die. I have never made stock, but I know I should and I keep meaning to ... Ina has a great recipe in "Back to Basics" that I am determined to attempt.

We'd been married for about two weeks. We decided to try to make two small fillets of fish in our newly gifted Pyrex glass baking dish. A few minutes after I put it in the oven, I heard a strange BAM, like a gun went off. The dish had shattered -- spiderwebbed cracks lined the glass and sprinkled chunks onto the bottom of the oven.

Best part? We didn't have any money to replace the fish, so we gingerly picked the big chunks of glass out and tried to salvage what we could. Neither of us died, but probably not the best risk to take!

Bagel shop!

I never liked chicken paprikash. I can't abide liver but we were never really made to eat it. My mom was an awesome cook, and I actually liked salmon patties with creamed peas. Mmmm.