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I love it in the soups at my local lunch place - chicken lemon rice, split pea, just about anything. Cold pizza is also a favorite.

Preparing things ahead of time. I used to do the bare minimum to start a recipe and then try to constantly prepare other ingredients as I go ("I'll cook these onions and as they go, I'll trim the meat, chop the herbs, open the tomatoes, peel the carrots, measure the wine..."), but I couldn't keep up. It's so nice to have ingredients ready to go so I can pay more attention to how things are cooking and tasting instead of rushing around in a mad dash to have things ready for Step 6 of the recipe.

No expert, but I'll take a tasty bibimbap any day. And a dozen or two side-dishes never hurts...

Does whiskey count? No? OK, mom's stuffed shells, I guess. (Or a Craigie Burger.)

Tony Maws

By itself, with a side of tasty bread.

Like so many others, The Joy of Cooking was gifted to me as I moved out. It didn't always get a lot of use during those years (I knew the recipe for Kraft's Spirals 'n Cheese by heart though), but it was a good inspiration to have as I began to give a shit about cooking properly!

I spread my love around and will go with any vendor that is offering up tasty fruit! And unusual varieties of veggies are always appreciated too.

I would love some homemade spicy pickles that stayed crunchy and delicious.

Our grilling mishaps always involve, "Oh crap, what do you mean we're out of gas? And you were too lazy to go re-fill the TWO spare tanks after depleting those too? OK, well - I guess we could just broil these..."

Running around as evening came and stores closed, looking for some kind of weird yogurt-type beverage in a village in the Netherlands. Strange freedom.

By having my favorite sushi chef create it!

Dark chocolate cookie and hazelnut filling, please.