Q: My boyfriend’s cottage has the sweetest vintage stove I’ve ever seen. The only problem is that the oven is limited to two settings: high and off. The only way to regulate the temperature is by opening the door until the oven cools down, and then closing it until it gets too hot again. 

Q: I recently purchased some fresh chamomile from the farmers market. The flower buds are present and the greens and roots are also still attached. They smelled so amazing I couldn't resist. I can only find recipes for making tea with the flowers. Any ideas for using the whole plant?

Sent by Laura

I'll never forget the time I bought some food souvenirs on a trip to Seattle, immediately popped them into the plastic zip-top bags I had brought with me, and the merchant chuckled and said, "You must be a visiting food blogger." How did he know? Do all food lovers and bloggers carry plastic bags when they travel? I'm not sure, but I certainly do. 

We know that fresh fava beans can be a pain to prepare (...or maybe not), but once we've got the pesky little things, what do we do with them? I've got an idea or two that will make shelling a bunch of fava beans worth the trouble.

How boring is it that I learned the secret to making perfect pasta in Italy? Yes, fresh made pasta is amazing, and no, that's not the technique I'm about to share with you. (Now that you know I'm not going to talk about fresh made pasta, are you a) disappointed, b) disgusted, or c) totally excited, because pasta should be easy?) My friend's Italian husband Peldi taught me the five steps to a perfect bowl of pasta:

Q: I have been wanting to move my cookbooks into my kitchen on a couple of shelves for better access, but my husband thinks that they are going to get that icky cooking grease film on them. We don't have an extractor fan (it's a rental) but the books would be on a different wall about six feet from the stove. 

Q: My friends and I recently went on a 3-day kayaking-camping trip. We didn't have room for coolers so we had to get creative with meals.  Our stand-by is PB&J, fruit, and mac & cheese, but we'd like to class it up a little! Any ideas for meals or ingredients that keep well on a multi-day camping trip?

Dehydration leaves you tired, anxious and queasy. The best thing you can do for yourself on an airplane is drink all the water. Every time you are offered a beverage, just say yes to good old H2O. I do, and I arrive at my destination feeling refreshed and ready to enjoy myself.

Q: I have a fabulous go-to butternut squash soup recipe that is really simple: onions, spices, stock, and squash softened in a deep pot and pureed with a hand blender. However, as summertime looms, it's tough to find good squash at the grocery store. What spring/summer vegetables would you suggest using in this type of simple soup?