Q: What can I do with Adzuki beans? I bought a stockpile of them from the bulk section for no other reason than that they were new and unfamiliar. After getting home, I realized that they're the base for the red bean paste I know and love in Chinese and Japanese desserts, but I have far more than can be consumed through desserts alone.

Q: I have been given tons of beef jerky. As much as we like to it, there's only so much beef jerky one can eat. Does anyone have good ideas on how I could cook with it? Or other ideas for using it?

Sent by Wee

Q: My wife works all day and commutes to the city in the evening to finish up her law degree. After two years of this, she's coming to the end of her rope regarding her dinners: a peanut butter sandwich does not a dinner make. 

Q: My husband and I got a bottle of port late in the winter. We haven't used much, and now the weather is quickly warming up. Neither of us likes to drink port in warmer weather. What else can I do with it? Are there any cocktails with port? What about food recipes for the spring and summer?

Sent by Alison

Q: I live in a humid first floor apartment with poor ventilation and I cannot keep potatoes good for any amount of time. They sprout incredibly fast and get really mushy. Right now I keep them in a paper bag with a few holes punched in. The paper bag is in a wicker basket with onions. 

Q: I'm making pozole this weekend and want to use dried corn (not canned). I'm confused because many sites describe treating the corn with lye (nixtamalization), while other sites imply that some dried corn has already been treated. I purchased the dry corn shown here: maiz morado para pozole (purple corn for pozole).

Q: I'm baking a gluten-free wedding cake and I would love some help! The wedding is for 100 people this September. Do you have a gluten-free wedding cake recipe? Non-gluten-free-but-adaptable wedding cake recipe? 

Q: Help! For the past two weeks, my apartment building has been without gas, rendering my oven and stovetop completely useless! We just found out it will be at least another week until we can expect to receive replacement electric ovens, and probably longer. I have an electric kettle, a slow cooker, a fondue pot, and a waffle iron. Any good recipes or dinner ideas?

Q: I'd like my household to be completely plastic- and foil-free — and the freezer seems to be the last holdout. It isn't an issue for hot meals because we use glass but I'm struggling with how to package items like breakfast sandwiches, bagels, and burritos to freeze without plastic wrap or foil or freezer bags.

Q: I made my first ever vegan key lime pie today for dinner guests. I put in twice as much lime juice as the recipe called for and it still wasn't as limey/tart as we like. I also used silken tofu and was a bit confused because the recipe called for extra firm silken tofu, which the store didn't have.