I've been cooking since I was 10 years old and some of my family's favorite recipes use a lot of eggs, so I thought I was pretty good handling eggs. Well, from the land of "You Never Know Who You Can Learn From," I just learned a better way to crack eggs from my 19-year-old nephew, who is finishing up certification as a pastry chef.

For the first time, my family and I are participating in a CSA, which stands for "Community-Supported Agriculture." We bought our "share" in a farm in upstate New York. Every Wednesday, June through October, I drive to a nearby church and pickup our weekly bounty.

My new favorite way to create great taste at home is by using flavored extracts. We've all used conventional flavorings such as vanilla, lemon, almond, mint, etc., in baking and perhaps coffee. But my local gourmet market opened my eyes to a whole new world of delicious extracts. Now my home pantry stocks extracts such as hazelnut, coconut, blueberry, apricot, maple and strawberry. And there are many more we haven't gotten to try yet.

I love leftovers -- they make meals so easy. So a long time ago, I got into the habit of purposely cooking more food than my family would eat that day. I think most of us do that. I also hate wasting food. I used to get frustrated when I discovered spoiled leftovers in the fridge that we forgot to eat... but I've solved that problem.