Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

"There is nothing new under the sun."

That said, about half of what I make is made up. Lots of riffs on burritos, Israeli couscous, pasta concoctions with fresh vegetables and strange sauces, udon noodle dishes, risottos, etc.

Notable failure: The night before Thanksgiving I was going to bake a Dutch apple cheesecake to bring to my sister's. After work, though, I went out with a friend and her coworkers and got just staggering blind drunk -- I'm usually a pretty careful drinker but that night I just lost track and we ended up at my place with my boyfriend and her husband dancing around the house to Abba, and somewhere in there I made the cheesecake. I honestly have no memory of the actual baking part, but at least I didn't burn the house down. On the other hand, it tasted like cardboard and I had to do Thanksgiving with a wicked awful hangover.

Other than that, over a lifetime of baking I've had a really good success rate, so no complaints.

Limonata with Absolut Ruby Red and a sprig of mint. Been a favorite over here for a couple of years.

About once a month she tells me that she's found the most wonderful new recipe and she's going to send me home with a big batch for me and my honey. And it always turns out to be some slight variation on spicy chili mac. As she gets older this has become her big dish. So hey, bring on the chili mac, mom!

"True love will take you in new directions," which was subsequently graffitied to read "True love will take you in nude erections" and lived on our refrigerator door for years. Did it come true? Hey, this isn't that kind of website.

Laurie Colwin, MFK Fisher... I'm old skool.

Dip pecans in it.

Today? Vacherin Fribourgeois. Tomorrow could be something else.

I've cooked all sorts of Martha stuff, but the only one I come back to is her 1-2-3-4 Lemon Cake recipe.

Eggs Benedict or dim sum

Both. But OK, dark.

Oyster po boy and a cup of coffee from Café du Monde.