Just a few generations ago, people knew how to make stock, braise vegetables, fashion a pie crust, julienne a carrot, debone a chicken and roast a turkey. But a peek into most kitchens today finds clueless cooks — if they are to be found in the kitchen at all! Hopefully, this summer's big screen adaptation of the popular book Julie & Julia will go a long way toward inspiring people to get back to the basics of cooking. But we're curious: What are some culinary skills you'd really like to gain? Are you interested in learning how to use knives with confidence, make homemade pasta, choose the rights cuts of meat or prepare vegetables to their best advantage? Do you wish you could put away more food? Maybe it's time to learn how to can and dry foods, and which foods freeze with ease. Please use the comments section below to expound on which kitchen skills you lack. We want to help!

It's lavender harvesting season in our neck of the woods, and we have plenty of culinary lavender on hand especially since we went to an organic, U-pick lavender farm last weekend. In addition to making some fabulous lavender shortbread, I'll be making sure I have plenty of Lavender Honey Lemonade on hand for those hot summer days.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, head up to the Olympic Peninsula for North America's largest lavender event, the Sequim Lavender Festival, July 17 to 19, 2009. If you do go and harvest some lavender yourself, you can easily dry it by wrapping the bundles with rubber bands and hanging them upside down with a paper clip in a cool, dark room.

Lavender Honey Lemonade

Ingredients:
1 cup honey
5 cups w ater
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender (or 1/4 cup fresh lavender blossoms)
1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, strained
Ice cubes
Lavender sprigs for garnish 

Directions:
Combine honey with 2 1/2 cups water in a medium pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the honey.

Add the lavender to the honey water, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand at least 20 minutes (and up to several hours).

Strain mixture and discard lavender. Pour infusion into a glass pitcher. Add lemon juice and another 2 1/2 cups of cold water. Stir well.

Refrigerate until ready to use, or pour into tall glasses half-filled with ice, then garnish with lavender sprigs.

I don't know about you, but I love foods made with mascarpone cheese, even though I inevitably always mispronounce it. It's that triple-cream cheese that's used in making tiramisu and a whole host of very tasty sweet and savory Italian dishes. You can also serve it with fruit or it can be mixed with cocoa or coffee.

Unfortunately, it's also very expensive to buy, that is, if you can find it in stores. However, luckily for us, it's actually quite easy to make yourself.

Homemade Mascarpone Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:
16 ounces (not ultra-pasteurized) organic whipping cream
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium-sized heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the water in the skillet.

Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. It will take about 15 minutes of gentle heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. The whipping cream will become thicker and will cover the back of your spoon thickly.

When the cream reaches the temperature, keep it at that temperature for 5 minutes. Then remove the bowl from the water, and let the mixture cool for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Pour the mixture into the lined sieve. Once it is cooled completely, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the sieve overnight or up to 24 hours. Transfer to a sealable storage container or your mouth, whichever comes first.

Yields about 12 ounces.

You can check out my other homemade cheese recipes in my easy cheese series.

If time is of the essence, sometimes a one-pot meal is all we can manage to scrounge up. It happens to the best of us. But quick and simple doesn't have to mean bland and generic — or expensive, unhealthy and ordered out — now does it? Plus, the beauty of one-pot meals is that they usually can be prepared in advance. That way, you can do the prep work when you have the time, and skip being chained to the stove when you don't.

If you have recipes for easy one-pot meals (or crockpot/slow-cooker, pressure cooker and casserole recipes ... that sorta thing), please share them below. A home-cooked meal is almost always cheaper and healthier than takeout, so just think of all the families you'll be supporting with your fab recipes!

Never heard of a one-pot meal? Check out this slew of crockpot recipes.

Here's one I want to try soon: Vegetarian Crockpot Stuffed Zucchini. Doesn't sound bland to me!

Are you a fan of pink, grey or brown salt? What about red sea salt or smoked salts? When do you use specialty salts, and why? Got any recipes to share? Here are some of my favorite salts:

* Grey Sea Salt is unrefined, still a bit moist, usually hand-harvested, and contains trace minerals from the sea because it hasn't been processed. And you can really taste the minerals. It's a bit like drinking mineral water, and you'll love it! I always use far less grey sea salt than I would any other kind of salt, because its flavor is pretty potent. One of the best things I ever tasted was half of a baked Kobucha squash, dotted with grey sea salt and cultured butter, and eaten with a spoon! (A brand I really like is Celtic Sea Salt.)

* Gomasio is a mixture of sesame seeds and sea salt, and is a staple in Japanese kitchens. Frequently, I use black sesame seeds and also mix in dried garlic. You can buy gomasio ready-made, or mix your own to save a little money. This is my all-purpose seasoning blend; I use it in just about everything.

* Lemon Zest Salt is a blend I make myself with coarse sea salt and the zest of lemons (or sometimes other citrus fruits, especially grapefruit). The zest perfumes the whole blend, and the flavor is delicate and really just special. My favorite use for lemon salt is over grilled asparagus.

* Herbed Salt is another easy-to-make blend. Finely chop a small amount of herbs, blend with sea salt, and use on anything savory. Fresh rosemary salt is particularly intoxicating.

* Truffle Salt is fine sea salt mixed with ground black (or white) truffles. Even a small quantity of truffles in the blend will perfume the salt heavily. In fact, the aroma just about knocks me over (with ecstasy!) every time I open my jar. I use this precious salt blend over items that are otherwise largely unseasoned. Try it with roasted celery root, mashed potatoes, baked macaroni and cheese, or over a simple green salad. Again, you can mix your own or buy a ready-made product. Beware the cost of truffles, and remember it doesn't take much!

* Smoked Salt is usually pretty powerful stuff. It may be smoked with different kinds of wood or flavorings. The best one I've come across is Maine Sea Salt Company's Apple-Smoked Salt. It makes roasted new potatoes sing. And if you're lucky enough to live near that company, you could be treated with locally harvested salts with your CSA subscription.

* Cheese Salt is for making cheese. It melts easily and contains no iodine, which could kill the bacteria that you are trying to support in your cheeses. I use it in cheesemaking. It doesn't cost much more than table salt, so it lasts a long time. I get mine from New England Cheesemaking Supply.

* Rock Salt is used for making homemade ice cream (yea!). The briny solution surrounding your ice buckets draws heat away from the ice cream mixture, allowing it to freeze as you churn.

OK, now it's your turn! Please tell us about your favorite salts and how you use them in the comments section below.