Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'm a fan of most olives, and my favorites are the wrinkly salt-cured black ones that I don't have a name for.

Mmm, chicken pot pie. My comfort food meal of choice.

In the restaurant world, food costs are generally around a quarter of the retail price, so that might give you a starting point. Keep in mind that they're not paying retail, which you will be, so you'll probably need to have a lower markup to be competitive.

Obviously, the decorated cake is a different structure - then you're billing more for time than ingredients.

I drove from California to Florida and back a couple of years ago, and had my fill of bad hotel breakfasts to choose from, but the one that I remember is the Best Western (I think) somewhere in Texas that had the do-your-own-waffle setup, but the waffle iron was in the shape of the state of Texas. I have a picture of that waffle somewhere.

Bacon needs no "why."
It is in itself just good.
We love the bacon.

I'll go with my home state of Idaho, and rather than the predictable potatoes, I claim huckleberries as the greatest thing to eat. And they're better than the ones in Oregon. Fresh huckleberry pie is one of life's greatest pleasures.

One last hope - salt - I find that oatmeal needs quite a bit of salt to be palatable, but no one ever tells you to add it.

Chunky stuff helps with the texture, too. I like dried cherries and a little bit of the darkest brown sugar I can find.

But oatmeal bread is pretty tasty, so it's not a total loss even if you decide you really just can't eat it.

Made this, sans cucumber, as a grilled tomato soup and it was great. Served it hot the night we made it, and having the rest cold for lunch.

I like El Dorado Kitchenette (the little coffee shop on the corner) for coffee, pastries, light & crazy cheap lunches.

The Girl & the Fig has the best cocktails, but the bar area is a little, well, French. El Dorado Kitchen has a better bar space, but I'm never wowed by the drinks. Food-wise, I don't find that there's a lot to choose between EDK, Estate, Girl & the Fig, Harvest Moon & Cafe La Haye - they're the big players in town, and all are good, but not always great. EDK is more contemporary Californian, Estate is Italian with good antipasto, G&F is French, Harvest Moon is Californian and more independent feeling, and Cafe La Haye is tiny & Italian.

The town of Napa is only about 20-25 minutes away, which opens up a ton of other options - personally, I'd rather go to Ubuntu or Bounty Hunter than just about anyplace in Sonoma.

For bargains, you'll find taco trucks practically outside the Fairmont, just pick one. Also in that area is a good, red-sauce Italian/pizza place called Mary's - they've been there for something like 50 years. And Barking Dog Roasters is right across the street from the Fairmont and has good coffee (take some beans home). Another good bargain(ish) place is Fremont Diner, which is on the highway a few miles south of town.

If you like the bike idea, you can rent bikes in town and go wine tasting - the bike place on Broadway by the high school will give you a map for a 10-13 mile loop that's pretty easy and takes you to several decent-to-good wineries.

Bacon! If the seasoning looks a little iffy but it's not terribly rusty, just make a big batch of bacon. The fat and heat will work together to reinforce the seasoning.

One really good tomato, sliced, one a piece of really good bread, toasted. Sprinkle on a little salt, and if everything is perfect, it doesn't need anything else. Although a little goat cheese on the bread doesn't hurt!

The constants in my (week)day are a latte for breakfast, and dinner around 7 or 8. And I pretty much have a coke when I get home from work/with dinner every day, unless we're having cocktails.

Aside from that, I'm all over the map. I might have a granola bar in the morning and a yogurt in the afternoon, or a few pieces of fruit, or I'll actually order lunch from work, which will be pizza or pasta. I try not to have any more coffee, but if I'm starving, I might run to Starbucks for another latte.

Vodka should serve your purpose nicely - it's relatively flavorless, but should do the trick. About 2 teaspoons per quart is what I use in sherbet, and won't be enough to taste or get a buzz from.

But it won't compensate for not enough sugar, so make sure you aren't cutting back too much on the sugar.