Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Did anyone ever get the sample boxes in with the Sunday newspaper, on top of the comics? We were also a non-sugary cereal household and ever so rarely those mini box variety packs would be purchased. But the most delightful ones were the 1-2 boxes that came with the newspaper for FREE! Who cares what the flavors were; it was tiny, and generally sugary, and free free free!

Wow, this is a ridiculously timely article. I just had this happen to me just this past Sunday brunch where we used @ecca31's method. But when the bill came, it reminded me why I was hesitant to even meet up with these people who I knew through a friend of a friend. What was a lovely birthday brunch turned into 14 people (half of whom were out of town for the bday gal) trying to figure out why a $215 bill was short by $25. Two people ducked out early and no one could confirm what exactly they paid and for what. The boyfriend paid for the birthday gal's meal, but then revealed to us that he was calculating tip and tax way differently (and waaay lower) than the rest of us, and yet wouldn't pony up the difference and just stared defiantly at his smartphone. If it was my normal group of friends we wouldn't have issues with either method (splitting evenly or by each individual order), but holy shit, the birthday gal was almost in tears and I felt so bad for her that none of her longer term friends were willing to reconcile the difference. it just made me happy that I ensure I spend as little time as possible with these people.

Making bacon chocolate cupcakes a few years ago and feeling both awed and perplexed by the flavors...

Meat is murder is definitely a favorite. But winning a gift certificate would help me explore a new food shirt!

Buying local produce and eating healthy.

Agghh...I have to revert back to the Californian in me and say that my all time favorite is how In 'n Out prepares their burgers. If you hand me a burger with a soft bun with a nice crisp grilled touch, crunchy lettuce leaves, a thick juicy tomato, and hearty onion slices, I'll be golden. Drizzle it with maybe a sriracha ranch type of dressing, and I'll be even happier!

I'm surprised by the handful of commenters who still insist on using flash for their photography. Especially the person who said it makes it better for greasy food. Wouldn't that just come out worse as a glossy glean of white? Flash is one of my biggest pet peeves about food photography because it just gives the rest of polite food photographers a bad rap.

With my point and shoot, I've alternated between digital macro and auto shots for close and entire plate shots. If anyone is using flash for the reason of getting blurry photos, realize that you're at a table. Glue your elbows, or your forearms to the side of the table for your tripod and get more practice in. Most point and shoots are already equipped for higher ISO sensitivities and (if you dare fiddle) exposure settings and mine is 3 years old!

I guess frying those prawn chips with my mom was always a fond memory. I always loved how you could bite into one and the chip would get stuck in your mouth.

Either a spicy creamy shrimp penne or a basic spaghetti with homemade sauce of mushrooms, onions, and ground beef.

Frying batter-covered sticky sweet cakes for Chinese New Year's with my mom. She always let me do the fun part, which was to turn over the slices in the frying pot and pick them out when they were done.

I usually end up eating biscuits plain (or to sop up gravy or sauce from a plate). But I do notice that when I get biscuits on a rare fast food craving for KFC, I'll split it in half. One is to spread it with mashed potatoes and gravy, the other is covered with honey. How odd of me.

mm...a really nice turkey melt with some delicious provolone and heirloom tomatoes..