Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Love sauerkraut cooked with pork, but never make it because it smells up the house - and not in a good way

I agree with the the salty gravy thing, so usually buy some wings or other parts and make stock a few days ahead of time to use for gravy - will then use the drippings judiciously with the pre-made stock. Another bonus - plenty of gravy!

I made a big bowl of lemon tabouli yesterday that I will eat for lunch all week using other raw veg as scoopers. Lots of chopping, but no cooking.

I'll cruise through there from time to time when looking for ideas, or just some basics - was there earlier tonight looking for an interesting slaw recipe. Generally though, Epicurious and Food Blog Search are my go to sites. So, don't love it, but sure don't hate it.

I like to cook, and generally host everything because I care about it and enjoy doing it. I know very few people who give a darn about food, and are just as happy eating frozen meals, run of the mill chain restaurant food or grocery store deli stuff. So, in the end I know that it really is more about me being able to play with food. Reality is I care, but most other people just don't... so take the day off and bring what they asked for. If you feel like making something special, take that too.

As I'm reading the posts, I am watching over a balsamic barbecue sauce as it reduces - I use Costco's Kirkland brand for this kind of thing.

Make mint sugar - throw a few dry mint leaves in with some sugar, give it a whirl in a food processor. Beautiful color, and good on citrus fruits, watermelon, or in tea. Maybe use it to rim that mojito glass!.

I like a pasta toss using penne, lemon & olive oil, oregano, kalamatas, sun-dried tomatoes and feta. Grab some hummus and/or tzaziki and pita chips from the store and a big salad.

We used to eat a lot of what we called "box potatoes" but that was years ago. I love salty things, so Ramen is right up my alley and I will buy that when I'm in the mood it. I definitely will use a box cake mix, mostly because I don't care about cake in general. A little canned soup is OK in by me, and I actually love bottled Italian dressing. I pour off the oil on top and call it low fat. I always make vinaigrette for guests, but just for me - right out of the bottle is just fine. And, I'm happy to open up that nice roll of piecrust right out of the box.

I buy frozen veg mostly for soups, except corn, which is the only one that I really like "straight up". I will also pick up a Digiorno's once in a while. I also love frozen strawberries, blueberries and peaches - eaten in a semi-frozen state as a snack. Ice cream, once in a while a pie (which I never really like, but will do in a pinch) puff pastry or phyllo is usually in there left over from the holidays. Almost everything else that is in my freezer did not come from the store that way.

I use a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, throw in some dried oregano, garlic powder and a little salt. I simmer it, mostly just to thicken it up and then add a generous splash of red wine vinegar. If it seems chunkier than I want, I hit it with a stick blender.

I love to cook for my family and friends at any time of the year - always like to try new twists on the classic Thanksgiving dinner. My favorite part is researching new recipes and spending the day in the kitchen hanging out with whoever is willing to lend a hand or just keep me company. But then, when dinner is done - I throw that carcass in a pot and start on my favorite dish - the soup!

I've got one - "Loose dips sink chips", of course with appropriate graphic.