Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Everyone should always have canned tuna in their pantry. It's saved my hungry butt more than once. I still love fresh tuna, but it is not something you can always have on hand or have time to go get or can afford.

Some of the tests you can do when making custard are as follows. When you cook custard make sure you stir it with a large spoon. Preferably use a wooden one. As it cooks lift the spoon occasionally to see how the custard sheets off the spoon. As it gets thicker it will start to sheet into two streams instead of one. Also, another sign as starts to thicken up, is to lift the spoon and drag your finger across the back of the spoon. If the custard is thick enough it will retain the mark of your finger. Another test you can do is to freeze a plate and put a dollop of the custard on the plate to cool and put in the freezer to cool it down quickly to see how thick it gets. These are some of the same tests you do when making jellies and jams.

This is a hard one. Too bad you didn't go by state. Well I grew up in a suburb of Houston and they do have really good food there. San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and Ft. Stockton all delicious. But I also lived in Alamogordo, NM, and I was always amazed that no matter what time of night and at the most out of the way places like truck stops you could get amazing Mexican food. Santa Fe and Albuqurque were also pretty amazing. I also lived in Phoenix and cannot say that I ever had anything that exciting there. California Mex is a whole different animal and so is the stuff from Chicago and while good they just are not the same as Tex-Mex and New Mex-Mex.

Nooooo! these can't be called corniest muffins because they have too much flour in them and worst of all they have sugar. It's just wrong. You need to call them Yankee Corn-Cake Muffins and put some buttercream on them. Instead of a cup of cornmeal, increase it to 1-3/4 cups and only use a 1/4 cup of flour and eliminate the sugar. Also, put two eggs in a two cup measure and add enough buttermilk to make two cups. Also, add a chopped jalapeno, a few green onions, and some cheddar cheese. Sorry, but cornbread is a sensitve subject for me.

In the cookbook "Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann there is a recipe for macaroni and cheese that uses uncooked macaroni. It is very good.

In the winter, I buy a lot of grape tomatoes. One of my favorite winter salads is:

Orzo Salad with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella and Spinach

While water is boiling for the orzo, (16 oz. bag) and then the orzo is cooking, prepare in a large bowl

Grape tomatoes, cut in half (I use about 2 pints) and season with some fresh black pepper, salt, garlic powder, etc.

Fresh Mozzarella cheese, cut up (1 lb.) in nice bite-size chunks

Baby spinach, (remove the stems) (about half of a bag of the pre-washed stuff)

Green onions, and/or shallots, minced (I use both, if I have them)

Lemon zest and lemon juice from 1-2 lemons

Add the hot drained orzo (do not rinse) and stir in about 2 tablespoons or more to taste of Pesto Sauce

Add either some wine or Balsamic Vinegar, some Virgin Olive Oil, and Parsley (fresh if you have it) I also like to put in either a little finely grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese at the end.

Then season to taste with some fresh grated black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and seasoning salt, etc.,

Note: This salad is also really good with some Kalamata or Greek olives, marinated artichoke hearts, and some toasted pine nuts.

Like I said this is a good wintertime salad when you cannot get fresh basil and the grape tomatoes are the only decent ones.