I've never in my life come across bad mashed potatoes. (I take that back. Potato flakes and a blender are coming to mind.) But usually my taste buds do not discriminate: cream, buttermilk, garlic, and Parmesan are all welcome additions to my favorite spuds, and I will never turn my nose up at cream cheese, truffle oil, even powdered ranch. I can assure you that I will eat any mashed potatoes — all mashed potatoes — with joyful glee. However after devouring these gouda smashed potatoes for the second time, my standards may have just changed. More

Even chefs have to eat. And, boy, do they eat! Staff meals, served family-style in the dead zone between the lunch hour and arrival of the first dinner guests, are made of the odd bits and leftover scraps from the restaurant's regular menu dishes. But don't think this means that these dishe are boring, sloppy, or otherwise unexciting. The quirky and creative staff meals served at some of the world's best restaurants, gathered in this cookbook by Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy, show that sometimes the cooks eat best of all. More

I recently had the best Pad Thai of my life. It was one of those restaurant meals where the person cooking takes us under her wing and simply says, "How about I just cook for you?" Chef Ngamprom "Hong" Thaimee of Ngam in NYC's East Village then brought out plate after plate of regional Thai cuisine from her native Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I was floored.

Normally when I have this kind of meal out, I try to savor it as just that: a meal out that I will probably not make at home. But this was different. In particular, Hong's Green Papaya Pad Thai was a game-changer. Replacing the traditional rice noodles with shredded green papaya isn't a new trick — and one that's gaining a wider audience thanks to its lower carb count — but I'd never thought to make it that way at home. So I called her the next day and asked her to please teach me. This week, I visited her kitchen. More

Oh, monkey bread! How we love you — little pull-apart nuggets of buttery, gooey cinnamon goodness. And I've been thinking about how easy monkey bread is when you've been making pizza! What? How are they related? Well, leftover pizza dough is a perfect base for monkey bread and other breakfast treats. And even if you haven't been making pizza lately, store-bought, ready-made pizza dough is also a way to get these into the oven (and into your mouth!) that much quicker. More

When I moved from Los Angeles back to the South, I begrudgingly left behind a handful favorite restaurants. Not that there isn't amazing food in Atlanta, but some of these places just can't be replicated. Whenever I return to California, I have to check each one off my list so that I can stay fully satisfied until my next visit. Many times friends ask if I want to try somewhere new, and I just look at them like they're crazy. Why would I ever want to do a thing like that? More

Nothing gets my creative gears rolling like a superb salad. A great salad is balanced — sweet, salty, crunchy, fresh, often with something a little special thrown on top. Salads like this generally take some work to prepare, so I am always scouting restaurant menus for delicious salads that someone else will make for me. And then, quite predictably, I want to go and recreate them at home. Does this happen to you? And if so, what's your Holy Grail of salad recreations? More

Q: Does anyone have a recipe for Chinese pizza? I don't know if it has another name but that's the only one I know. It's like a thin crepe/tortilla, crunchy on the bottom, kind of chewy and topped with a thin layer of egg and a lot of chives. It's really nice and I wish to be able to do it at home.

Sent by Susana More

There's something slightly cheeky about making our take-out favorites at home. We get all the fried, noodle-y, cheese-filled, and sauced-up foods we love, all while saving money and probably eating a little healthier than we would otherwise. Here are some of our favorite take-out classics to make at home. More

While spending time in Santiago, Chile I had the opportunity to learn a simple, elegant dessert from Chef Mauricio Valdovino. His recipe for chilled papaya soup utilizes ingredients the country is known for; it's bursting with fresh, tropical flavors. The chilled soup also comes together in less than ten minutes and would be perfect for a spring gathering. Join Chef Mauricio in making this quick, easy dessert.
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Q: I love Trader Joe's falafel chips. Do you know of a copycat recipe?

Sent by Jennifer More