“I’ve been making it for the last 20 years, and even my worst batch is still better than anything I’ve ever had from the store.”

As a Senior Editor at BuzzFeed, I cover books and politics, and I also created the daily vocabulary-boosting word game SAT Scramble.

"I keep a jar of it in my freezer as it keeps extremely well in there. It has a high enough fat content that it's easy to scoop out as much as you need for whatever you're making straight from the freezer. Great for single-serve pasta dishes, to throw in with sautéed veggies, or as a quick topper for fish, chicken, pork, etc."

"Growing up in Michigan we ate mashed avocado, mixed with a seasoning packet from the grocery store, and called it guacamole. I didn’t have real guacamole until my mid-20s, and I was blown away! I started making it fresh and bringing it to parties, which made people think I was some sort of cooking genius. Nope, I just copied what the waiter did at the Mexican restaurant when I visited the 'big city.'"

"I've been making red sauce for the last 20 years, and even my worst batch is still better than anything I've ever had from the store."

"Same same. The recipe I use is also really nice with a drizzle of oil and some herb salt on top. It makes a great flatbread style side that I can have ready in 30 minutes."

"Shop-bought ones are too sweet and more like jam. I always liked it as a kid, but one year, my mom decided to make it, and it's incredible. Not as sweet and so much more complex. The difference is night and day. We make a lot every winter now and jar it for use throughout the year."

"I am not sure if everyone knows it, but it is so easy to make chicken broth in a rice cooker. You just put in the bones (it's better with bones from a roasted chicken) and some root veggies, fill up the pot, push the soup mode button, and in two hours, you have a broth without a single intervention."

"I have like eight giant mason jars of pickled stuff in my fridge right now. Onions, radishes, poblanos, corn, red cabbage... It's addictive to pickle things."

"You can also get dehydrated milk/powdered milk, and add 1 tablespoon to the cream, and it will help stabilize it for longer. If you were making a pie with whip, but it wasn't being eaten until that night, the milk powder makes it so the whipped cream is still high and full of air, vs. starting to deflate. Can stabilize, in my experience, up to a full 48 hours before any deflation/melting starts happening!"

"Jarred white sauces are the most vile thing I can think of. Even just adding a little milk, butter, and canned Parmesan to your noodles would still be superior to paying several dollars for a jar of wallpaper paste."

"I’ve found that nine times out of 10, I’m perfectly happy with the same basic vinaigrette on most 'kitchen sink' type of salads made from whatever whole food goodness is knocking around that week. Some avocado oil, Dijon, honey, balsamic, and lemon juice take about three minutes to put together and put away."

"People don’t understand how easy, cheap, and delicious homemade hummus is. Sabra is like eating fucking glue compared to delicious fresh hummus.

Plus, you can add all sorts of ingredients for a spin on the classic. I love beet hummus with balsamic glaze. I also dig black bean hummus with habaneros."

"I always make my own waffles, too, but many people don’t own a good waffle iron. The Breville waffle maker is truly outstanding. Perfect every time. No waffle sticking to the iron, ever."

"I make great Mac and cheese from scratch, but honestly, sometimes you just want the box stuff. It's kinda like ramen. The packages are nowhere near as good as proper ramen, but sometimes you crave it."

"I take whole milk and salt and bring it to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.

Then I add 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar per liter of milk,  and stir it in at the moment I turn off the stove and just twice. Then, I don't touch it (this is important!) Leave it for about ten minutes, then transfer it to a strainer with a double-lined cheese cloth. Let it sit for as moist or dry as you’d like it, 5-30 minutes. 

"I must try this! I often make paneer using a very similar method, and it's foolproof."

"A good tip to add a little kick is to rub a garlic clove on them after toasting. The toasted surface grates a little garlic on. I like doing this when I make caprese."

"Yes! A cup of oil, an egg, and some spices. My family likes cayenne in it, but we like cayenne in everything."

"This is my mom’s favorite dish, and it is the easiest thing ever if you throw all the onions and butter in a crock pot and let it go for 18-20 hours. Onions are as dark as old pennies, and the stock is to die for."

"If you have a smoker, try smoking the onions first. It is amazing!"

"And it’s not hard. I grew up eating homemade mashed potatoes all my life, had instant potatoes at school but never liked them. I tried making boxed mashed potatoes one time and burned them to the bottom of the pot. My husband still makes fun of me for it. Now I just always make them myself, and it tastes so much better."

"Sometimes I make a cross between sauerkraut and curtido: I add shredded onion, carrot, and jalapeño to the cabbage. So good, I crave it when I don’t have any in the fridge."

Mix well by hand/spoon/hand mixer/whatever until it forms a dough. Softening the butter and cream cheese makes it easier to mix, but be sure to chill the crust before you bake it. Makes enough dough for two double-crust pies. Freezes very well."

"I made fresh gravy for Thanksgiving, and my in-laws looked at me like I was a wizard. They always use the jarred stuff, bleh."

"Same. The repeated disappointment of having a special dinner at the steakhouse everyone’s raving about, and the $60 ribeye tastes like ashes and gristle."