Q: I'm looking for a recipe or a tip on how to make homemade pirouette cookies similar to Pepperidge Farm's version.

I've found several recipes for the thin rolled wafers, but I don't know how I'd go about getting the chocolate cream and nuts in the middle. Any ideas?

Sent by Lily More

Home cooks have to be a careful when it comes to a cookbook written by a restaurant chef. There often can be a disconnect between what it takes to get restaurant food onto our home tables when we don't have exotic ingredients flown to our doors and a dozen employees to prep them, not to mention years of professional training and the extraordinarily high btu's of a huge, multi-burner professional stove. So when I picked up San Francisco chef Mitch Rosenthal's new cookbook Cooking My Way Back Home, I'll admit I was a little cautious. Was this going to be one of those books that frustrated me with hours of prep work, and too many ingredients and complicated techniques? Read on for what I discovered. More

When you dine at WoodSpoon restaurant in Los Angeles, the waiter often brings a carafe of ice water with a cinnamon stick inside. It's an unusually refreshing beverage – and one that's easy to make at home, too. More

When I go north, I expect the weather to cool down — not unreasonable, right? So when Montreal flouted this expectation last month with an unseasonable flush of heat, I was not prepared. On one particularly warm afternoon I fled into a café, escaping the sun, my entire body prickly with heat and irritation.

As I brushed by one of the enormous open windows on my way in, the smell of basil and rosemary rose up to greet me. The windows of this café were overflowing with pots of herbs. I slid behind a small wood table and ordered something uncharacteristic, for me: Iced green tea. I think I was drawn to it by its name — they called it an "elixir," and when I took the first cold sip it was almost magical in its cooling power. More

Q: I'm looking for a copycat recipe for Veganaise. Do you know where I can find it, please?

Sent by Shamrock More

Q: I had the Chana Bhatura at Dosa on Valencia in San Francisco and it was stunning. I live in NYC and have been craving it since then. Do you have a Chana Bhatura recipe that you could share?

Sent by Tom More

Q: I'm looking for a restaurant-style tikka masala (and/or butter masala) sauce recipe to pour over homemade paneer.

I've tried dozens with no luck; they're always either sickly sweet, too thick or too thin, or don't have the right balance of spices. My boyfriend and I prefer it to be on the medium-spicy side. Please help?

Sent by Megan More

Chef Trevor Rudd of City State Diner in Portland, Oregon walks us through one of America's most beloved diner specials, the wedge salad. You know you want to find out the secrets behind this iconic dish! More

Q: It's hard to find canned salsa that satisfies my taste buds these days.

Any tips on making restaurant-style salsas?

Sent by Katrina More

Want to learn a wonderful recipe that perfectly celebrates the flavors of spring? The bright tang of lemon, smoothness of Parmesan cheese and earthy nuance of one of the season's most ephemeral and lovely stars, wild ramps — just a handful of ingredients come together to form a heavenly meal. One bite and you will transcend time, shooting straight through blurry thoughts into the present moment. Chef Timothy Wastell from DOC in Portland, Oregon, walks us through one divine plate of rice. More