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My husband will also drink it straight; so do I, when I remember. Our commonest use for buttermilk is RANCH DRESSING. We always make our own, never buy it. Half buttermilk, half mayonnaise, a splash of cider vinegar, a little salt and plenty of minced garlic. Herbs to taste. Fresh basil is good, but I'm thinking a pinch of chipotle flakes next time.

Hubbards are good eating, too; sweet and dense. I was told, long ago, that the squash that goes into commercial "pumpkin pie filling" is actually Hubbard squash. I'm inclined to believe it, because the few times I've made pumpkin pie from actual pumpkin, it was bland and watery by comparison.

Sometimes I indulge in very small quantities - which is a relatively new development for me. Two berries instead of a handful. Eaten attentively, they're just as effective.

Other times I promise to eat as much as I want "tomorrow," which might turn out to be "in two weeks," if I'm lucky.

Between that and lessmeatarianism, I've lost about 20 pounds in the past year, without trying very hard or even thinking about "dieting" very much.

That fruit syrup/drizzle/thing would probably cook up pretty well in a crockpot, if it's too hot for the oven.

Let's see, stewed apples over or in bread pudding. Apple crisp. Applesauce (pretty good even without added sugar).

The rest can be cut into chunks, frozen on cookie sheets, and food-processed into a very simple sorbet with a little milk or cream and your favorite sweetener.

It even works with cucumbers (but no milk) and honey. It's another Mark Bittman trick.

After many years of planning menues by the week, only to see my (overambitious) plans fall into ruins almost every night, I have pretty much given up planning altogether. I just decided to keep all our favorite ingredients on hand at all times. For a long while I was improvising on this basis, until my brain wore out, and then I went looking for a nice big compendium of recipes. Curiously enough, I thought How to Cook Everything looked like a promising title, and I was right. My go-to cookbook now is the Vegetarian version, and our family is "lessmeatarian" now.

So, yeah, planning meals? I still don't. I buy what I've been craving, what's on sale, and what looks good - anything that's 2-for-3 on that shortlist ends up in my shopping cart. So long as it's a vegetable or a whole grain or some such.

Anyone who doesn't have a ricer but does have a food processor – put your cooked potatoes through the grater blade. Makes 'em nice & smooth. Then take them out and stir in butter, salt, pepper, and whatever else you like. Learned that from a 1970's food processor cookbook by Roy Andries de Groot.

Boiled or steamed? I dunno. Never tried steamed.

I agree with dbcurrie: They'd have to pry bread and other glutinous products out of my cold, dead hands. I've been an enthusiastic and competent bread-baker ever since I learned to stop killing the yeast.

That being said, I'm all for a vegan diet. Mark Bittman's "Vegan Before Six" plan works very well for our family. (In the past 6 months since I adopted it, my blood pressure has fallen about 60 points, blood sugar about 30, and I've lost 13 pounds – and our grocery bill has dropped by about 1/3.)

Bittman calls himself a "lessmeatarian" and limits himself to one serving of animal protein a day. He wrote an entire cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, many of whose lacto-ovo recipes convert to vegan with ease. It's a beautiful vegetable-heavy book. The recipes are nutritious, flavorful, simple, and mostly inexpensive. I cook out of it almost constantly.

Bon appétit and good luck.

Harriet M. Welsh was right: you can't beat a tomato sandwich.

Canned green beans are only fit for three-bean salad, the only context in which fresh or frozen just don't taste right!

All canned tomato products, however, are acceptable in any dish that calls for cooked (or cooking) tomatoes.

Canned olives are all right if you can't get the good Greek style. Unfortunately, I can eat a whole can by myself.

Canned beans are always welcome in our house, though home-cooked-from-dry always taste better (and so easy in the crockpot or solar oven).

Canned coconut milk is one of the cheapest luxuries I know.

Sardines and Kipper Snacks – in fact, any kind of canned fish except salmon. If you're not worried about mercury. (I'm reluctant even to eat fresh fish any more :(

I also agree with Pavlov about any kind of home-canned fruit. Haven't had any since my grandmother was still cooking for her family. I really need to keep in touch with the local gleaning group and see if I can score some fruit to can, before the summer's over.

It's just a variation on the Fatty Melt, which is a hamburger with grilled cheese sandwiches for a bun. It was invented by one of the bloggers at A Hamburger Today. I hope KFC is giving him royalties.

I haven't had breakfast, so this new KFC mutation and the Fatty Melt both look better than they should.

@unpocojmoney: Try alternating ham and chocolate next time.

Oh, and cilantro? Salsa - which can be made with just about anything, so long as there's onion and cilantro in it. Cucumbers, even :)

Well, OK...
Solar oven: sliced kuri squash in one pot, small whole onions & melted butter in the other. Install reflectors and walk away for 4 hours. To serve, halve onions, cut peel off squash. Drizzle onion-infused butter over both vegetables.

Rice cooker: Mushroom pilaf with brown rice; just use your favorite recipe. Can start on stovetop, but finish in rice cooker.

Stovetop, low heat: Simmer fresh tomatoes with sage, cumin and garlic until soft. Add 2-3 cups of precooked red beans. Salt & pepper to taste.