Q: I am one of those "can't boil water" people who never really cooks. I want to learn, but I'm not sure where to start. I'm finally moving into my own place this summer and I don't have any tools of my own. What do I need and what are some easy recipes that I can start learning with?

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I cook a lot. These past couple of weeks, for instance, I've been cooking through all the un-photographed recipes in Bakeless Sweets and shooting them for the book's website. The amount of dishes generated by these 75 recipes has been mountainous. So this clutter of dishes expresses how my kitchen looks, most of the time (and actually, this isn't too bad, in comparison! I will under no circumstances, however, show you my stovetop right now.). And yet I have an open kitchen, with the mess on display for everyone to see. (See my whole kitchen renovation reveal here.)

So can you guess what the most important element of my open kitchen is? 

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Do you live with roommates? If so, you know that sharing the kitchen can have its challenges. How do you keep the peace when you're dealing with different dietary needs and storage styles? One simple way to keep the lines of communication open — and foster a little good will at the same time — came to us from Lauren in Portland. We recently photographed Lauren's kitchen for The Kitchn's upcoming cookbook, and here's the tip she offered for sharing a kitchen with two housemates:

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So you've scraped a vanilla bean to use in in a recipe — don't toss it! Vanilla beans or pods aren't cheap, so you might as well make the most of them. Plus they still have plenty of fragrance and flavor. How about using them to make your own vanilla extract? 

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Sometimes there are just no words. I mean, this is... I don't know. Amazing? Incredibly ingenious? Completely wacked out and hilarious? But hey, you have to admit it's practical. Why carry a lunch bag when you can just wear one? All kinds of questions arise, though: does she match her snacks to her clothes? Does she follow the rule of style to 'look in the mirror and take one thing off' and take out one snack instead? The mind boggles.

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Q: I love making homemade salsa, but when I buy cilantro, half the bunch always goes to waste. I use quite a bit in the salsa, but I just don't know what to do with the rest. Are there any good ways to use the rest up?

Sent by Whitney

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There are no secrets about food in our home. Our children, if they're paying attention, know where it comes from and what it was doing before it ended up on the plate. Though we don't forbid anything, we aren't shy about letting them know the difference between that fast food chicken sandwich and the chicken we got from Mr. Eubanks at the farmers' market. Much like adults, kids will eat what they want, in spite of what they know. But we like them to know what they're getting into. Take soft shell crabs, for instance. 

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If someone were to take the doors off all your kitchen cabinets and snap a photo, what would that image say about you? That's what Dutch photographer Erik Klein Wolterink explores in Kitchen Portraits, a photography project and the subject of his new book by the same name. 

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If you followed along with Faith's kitchen renovation, you already know about Semihandmade, the LA-based company that makes custom fronts to fit IKEA kitchens. She said ordering from them was "the single best decision" she made through her entire kitchen renovation process. High praise indeed! If you're new to this company, here's what you need to know:

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My husband and I always know if the other hasn't eaten in awhile, and not because we go on about how hungry we are. No — we know because we both suddenly and somewhat inexplicably get grumpy and a little too snippy. What two minutes before was just a mole hill is now a mountain of a mess — clearly! — and you are in my way and this all just sucks. Yes, I should stock up on a few of these cards right now.

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