Salon editor and writer Andrew Leonard has been barbecuing oysters for years at his annual backyard party. He shares his approach here.

Gillian Ballance, wine director of FARM at the Carneros Inn, thinks safe choices when ordering wine are New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and Argentinean Malbecs.

Some wines come with a thick wax seal on the top. To open them, says Gillian Ballance, wine director of FARM at the Carneros Inn, push your corkscrew through as though the seal wasn't even there.

CHOW Associate Food Editor Kate Ramos has seen bad things happen to roasted root vegetables. The problem: The veggies are unevenly cut. It's not a matter of the type of root, it's just a matter of cutting the vegetables into equal chunks.

Sweetbreads are the thymus (commonly mistaken as thyroid, even by professional chefs) or pancreas gland of a lamb, calf, or piglet. Their function in a live animal: helping with the immune system and digestion. Their function on a plate: deliciousness. Christophe Gerard, chef de cuisine of FARM at the Carneros Inn, blanches them in milk, then drains them and pan-fries them in butter. You don't need flour to get them nice and crisp.

CHOW Senior Editor Lessley Anderson soaks her steel-cut oats the night before, and then makes them for breakfast in just five minutes.

Craig von Foerster, executive chef of the Post Ranch Inn's Sierra Mar Restaurant, says down with macho saute-pan fires-your friends will not be impressed to see you burn your eyebrows off. Here's the right way to flip food in a pan.

CHOW Food Editor Aida Mollenkamp tones down her onions by salting them ahead of time. When mellowed, they complement, rather than take over, the rest of a dish.

Iceberg lettuce, baby carrots, waxy cucumbers, and tasteless cherry tomatoes are for the fast-food salad bar. CHOW Senior Editor Lessley Anderson identifies ways that you can improvise. Hint: texture and fruit.

CHOW Video Producer Meredith Arthur reveals how to bring a flaccid carrot back to life. And if you're being proactive, carrot-wise, don't forget to remove the tops.