Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I looked this up a couple of months ago and found advice to add either salt or sugar (depending on the intended application) to keep them from getting lumpy/gummy. I added about 1/4 tsp salt to 4 egg yolks, beat them with a fork, and froze them and subsequently made a great hollandaise with them.

Mine was at Otto - there must have been a set party menu because they brought tons of delicious vegetable side dishes, several pizzas and endless bottles of wine. It was perfect.

Midwestern girl in NYC for 8 years...every time I go home I must have biscuits and gravy, and pork tenderloin sandwiches.

My husband and I have done a big family meal (the meeting of the parents!) at Zucchero e Pomodoro on the UES. Nothing intimidating, simple but tasty Italian food, lots of choices, always good service. We live on the UWS now but I can't think of anything here that I would recommend as much as Zucchero for your purposes. Congratulations on your graduation!

When I was in high school I would preferentially eat the leftovers of whatever my mom made for dinner the night before. My fave was spaghetti and meat sauce. This morning I had one bite of my husband's muffin, and some chips and hummus.

oh, hummus!

Wabash cannonball!

Yes, tons of vegetables. Stir-fry is an easy way to have vegetables for dinner and also to use up the vegetable odds and ends that accumulate. We just had a delicious stir-fry with broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots and red pepper. Plus a little tofu. Yum.

Usually just whole grain mustard...but maybe a pickle too.

I like the Cuisinart grind & brew but it is louder than bejesus in the morning. Good coffee though.

I made this cake from Amanda Hesser's recipe for my best friend's birthday last month. It was extremely rich but quite delicious, and very easy.

Chocolate Dump-It Cake
(Adapted from Judith Hesser)
2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups Nestlé's semisweet-chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sour cream, at room temperature.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack to catch any drips as the cake bakes on the middle rack. In a 2- to 3-quart pot, mix together the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter and 1 cup of water. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan.

3. When the chocolate in the pot has cooled a bit, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions, and without overmixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice to blend. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack. (This can be tricky -- if someone is around to help, enlist him.) Let cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, then let cool to room temperature. Stir in the sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth.

5. When the cake is cool, you may frost it as is or cut it in half so that you have 2 layers. There will be extra icing whether you have 1 or 2 layers. My mother always uses it to make flowers on top. She makes a small rosette, or button, then uses toasted slices of almond as the petals, pushing them in around the base of the rosette.

Yield: 10 servings.