Q: I recently took a trip to India and brought tons of spices back home. I stumbled across something that I thought was saffron, but when I got home, it did not smell like real saffron. How do I tell the difference between real and synthetic saffron? Could there be geographical variations?

Sent by Isabella More

Some people think health-conscious food is boring or bland. (Open any pre-packaged portion control meal from the freezer section at your local grocery store and you'll see why.) But the truth is, flavor doesn't always come with extra calories. More

Not every meal is a fresh new recipe or an exciting twist on an old classic. Many, many meals are grab-what-you-can endeavors or thrown together affairs using up leftovers from the refrigerator. In these instances, it's nice to have a well-rounded pantry to supplement and build a meal from not a whole lot. Here are 10 of our own low-budget pantry staples. More

Q: I have a bunch of fresh vanilla beans I'm itching to use up. (Painful problem to have, I know.) I'm having a few friends over and would love a recipe for a fairly easy, portable (i.e. non-cake), vanilla-laced dessert.

Sent by Katie More

Q: Today I made a marinade for flank steak with chipotle peppers in it. Now I have half a can of chipotle peppers left over and no idea what to do with them. Any ideas?

Sent by Nichole More

It's certainly not news that fresh spices give life to ho-hum leftovers or turn a simple pot of beans or rice into a fragrant treat. Certain spices remind me of my travels, others remind me of childhood. Do you have one particular spice that always sits up front in your cupboard? More

We like it on our steak, we like it on our salad, we like it just about anywhere. Let's give three cheers to this mightiest of spices, the enchanter of palates, the king of the tabletop: black pepper! More

I volunteered to help in a layer cake baking class this past week, and the issue of salt came up. There seems to be some confusion and disagreement about when to use certain types of salt in the kitchen. It's time to change that. More

Q: My aunt and uncle are living in the Middle East, and they have a local source for wonderful high quality saffron. Every year when they come back for a visit they bring me some. Problem is, I'm not using it fast enough! (Terrible problem to have, I know.)

I don't know what to do with it beyond adding it to rice. Anyone have any suggestions for other ways to use my saffron stash?

Sent by Maria More

Take a look at this pasta dish from Richa at Hobby and More: It looks pretty good, right? Pasta, broccoli, toasty crumbs... but there's more. There's something very special sprinkled over this basic dish: DIY, homemade Doritos spice mix. More