Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I have read the comments with great interest. I live in New Zealand and generally there is no tipping. If I take a taxi I round up the amount owing, if the fare is a straight $20, then that is what I give. That is the norm here. There is no tipping of hairdressers for instance, and you might tip a waiter/waitress after having received truly good service and on a special night out. That amount is given as a thank you but it is not expected. The minimum wage here is $12.00 per hour from age 16 and that is before tax. I can't get my head around tipping. I feel that a working person ought to receive a "proper" wage and should not have to rely on tipping (people's mood etc etc) to make a living. Let the price of the meal reflect the true cost of that meal. Having said that, should I travel to the States, I would make an effort to find out how to tip correctly but I would prefer not to have to think about what is appropriate to give and suffer embarrassment through ignorance.

My name is Chris and I live in New Zealand. I came across this site by sheer fluke about two months ago and I enjoy coming here for "blobbing out time" (me time). I am a self taught cook. Meals were very basic when I grew up and I developed an interest in cooking only after I was married - it was a sink or swim affair. I work as a secretary and I am looking forward to more time in the near future to experiment with food and making my own chutneys, preserves etc. I have started baking bread (Zoe Francois' recipes). There is never problem here in New Zealand getting really fresh and good quality produce and because of the huge influx of immigrants here from mainly Asian countries lately, the cuisine is varied and ingredients from all over the world are readily available in the big cities nowadays. I enjoyed very much reading about you all and about the interesting lives you are leading.

Meyer lemons are the lemons most commonly grown in gardens here in the north of the North Island in New Zealand.
They have much less acid than other lemon varieties and are lovely for making lemon drinks because they need much less sugar. Also, like StripeyChef says, they are great in a lemon merengue pie and for lemon syrups to be poured over certain types of cakes.

bitterwaitress.com a very funny and unfortunately frequently accurate site. I am a fifty-plus year old who has worked in the restaurant industry since i was old enough to hold a job and i have experienced the best and the worst that this occupation has to offer. I have been waitress, bartender, pastry chef, sous chef, manager, you name it- in several areas of the united states and in france. My personal observation is that most snarky customers who undertip or stiff the servers are generally HUGELY unhappy people who make themselves feel bigger and better by trying to make others-servers-feel small. Power trip. Supercilious behavior. General jerkiness. I once worked in a great beer-plate lunch-burger joint where we could tell the customers to screw off, get out, basically give thier guff right back to them. Sometimes it felt really good to call a jerk a jerk. I also like the line a fellow waitress friend uses on occasion when being jerked around by a customer. She sweetly smiles and says," boy, it must suck to be YOU." Generally, i love my job. I only wait part time now, and on most days it still takes me an hour or so to "decompress"--but i know that those snarks are out there and the law of averages states that i will have to wait on a few of them. I try to ignore them while giving them marginal service-sufficient service, nothing more. Then there are those times that the stereotype doesn't hold true. That is a welcome thing; unfortunately though, here in the deep south the stereotype usually holds true. I try to be a fair tipper--standard 15 percent, 20-25 percent if i have great, attentive service. Good tipping really IS good karma.

I'm Rosezilla (named for my three year old daughter and the giant lizard thing that stomped Tokyo...it's what I call her when she's being...how you say...willful). My real handle is Mandy. I live in Santa Barbara County again after growing up here, but lived for 11 years in western Sonoma County...home of fabulous food and wines. It spoiled me rotten, to become an adult surrounded by all of that luscious produce and foodie opportunity. I managed a microbrewery's kitchen for 6 years, and have SERIOUS opinions about ales, should anyone care for them. Now I'm a home cook primarily, although I do a little catering here and there. My daughter's favorite foods are salmon and broccoli, so I feel as though I've triumphed a bit over the three-year-old beige-food diet. We do, however, eat at McDonald's every Friday after school...it's our little Happy Meal indulgence...and those tiny cheeseburgers are SOOO good. I live with and cook for my mother, as well. I am dating a high school band director, who has actually LOST weight being with me, as he's eating more asparagus and less fast food. I think that size 14 should be the new size 6. I am curvy, healthy, happy and active...and think that excellent foods should be part of everyone's diet. I am active in the "S'Cool Food" movement here, which tries to bring local and sustainable healthy food into school cafeterias. And I love, love, love this website.

Bro recently made these avocado eggrolls for a party. They are wonderful. We didn't use a sauce - no one noticed :D.

Whip 'em up and bring 'em down to the party!!

Mrs. L, a, ahem, 40 something (at least for two more weeks) who is just learning to cook and dealing with the fact that I own over 500 cookbooks (over 400 that have never been cooked from!). I live in San Jose CA and I see dead people for a living (no really, I manage a cremation business). I love serious eats to help me find out what's going on in the food world and to make me feel even more behind cuz I cook recipes I see here rather than open up one of my many cookbooks!

Hi,

I just found this wonderful site -- I found a link at FoodNetwork.com. I live in New Hampshire, love cooking and experimenting with new types of dishes. As a cook, I've gone from a repeating 15-20 dishes to new dishes everyday (or so).

I'm particulary found of Ellie Krieger's Healthy Appetite, Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa.

I also collect cookbooks - and my favorite right now (non-FoodNetwork) is Gordon Hamersley's Bistro Cooking At Home. Gordon owns a local Bistro in nearby Boston.

Looking forward to a long association with you all!