It's 106 degrees. I think I'll make soup. Yes, soup. The hotter-than-hot days we've been enduring lately don't lend themselves to much, except sitting on the couch, watching Food Network, waiting for the heat to be over.

I'm not much for diet ingredients.

You might say I'm frugal. Food-wise, that is. I don't eat out much, I take my lunch to work, and I try to shop grocery store sale ads as much as possible.

Confession: I'm a cake-mix person.

Bee food writer Kerry McCray and her family discover the wonders of beer-can chicken.

Walnut-coated fried chicken. Mac and cheese topped with walnuts. Coleslaw studded with walnuts. I like walnuts, but these recipes sound ... well ... weird.

Dear Rachael Ray, I love your show. Especially your funky refrigerator and your vintage yellow stove.

Do not make this salad.

Each spring, Bee food writer Kerry McCray and her husband engage in the "Great Asparagus Argument." She wants it for dinner pretty much every night. He doesn't. Guess who wins?

Tuna casserole can't hold a candle to, say, chocolate, but does rank high on my list of comfort foods.

To say our recipe testers didn't care for this week's dish would be putting it mildly. One called it cream of crap. Another threw the whole pot out after an hour or so of chopping and simmering, and made an entirely new dinner for herself and her family.

The worst mistake I've made as a journalist is offending the Crock-Pot crowd.

ATTENTION: Do not make this recipe if you value your teeth. Yes, the photo on the Web site looks good -- mouthwatering even. And the ingredients, including a whopping three sticks of butter, seem innocent enough as long as you're not counting calories.

Everyone has a cookbook these days. And I do mean everyone.

I'm obsessed with sizzling rice soup. You know, the kind they serve at Chinese restaurants?