But our mother—who makes the fluffiest scrambled eggs—reminds us that we left out one important tip:

• Eggs at room temperature will take in more air than cold eggs. If you don’t have time to let them come to room temperature, put the whole eggs in a bowl and cover them with hot water for five minutes.

• Add a tablespoon of milk per two eggs. (Half and half or cream will make richer eggs—but scrambled eggs in butter are, in our opinion, rich enough.)

For fluffier scrambled eggs, beat in lots
of air. Photo by Zsuzsanna Kilian | SXC.

• Don’t salt the beaten eggs (salt toughens eggs); wait until they have set in the pan before sprinkling with salt.

• If you have herbs, add them to the mix. We love snipping tiny bits of chive into our scrambled eggs. And if you have any shreds of smoked salmon to add… (Fade in Fred Astaire singing, “Heaven, I’m in heaven….”)*

Find more egg recipes and tips in our Eggs Section.

*From “Cheek to Cheek” by Irving Berlin.

Instead of mayo, make potato salad with
bacon vinaigrette. Photo by J.Java | Fotolia.

Given America’s desire for all things bacon, put German Potato Salad on your menu. Made with bacon and onions or scallions, it can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Here‘s the recipe.

Find more potato salad recipes.

By the way, in Germany this dish is just called “potato salad” (or Kartoffelsalat).

Taking a page from the adage, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” we decided to make the chocolate bars more alluring by turning them into chocolate bark with our favorite inclusions (the professional word for mix-ins).

Nuts, dried fruit, candies and other chocolate can be mixed in. We adore pistachio nuts and happened to have a supply of Guittard’s superior chocolate chips (dark, milk and white chocolate chips plus butterscotch, cappuccino, mint—available at Chocosphere.com).

It’s a long weekend—enough time for you to become a chocolatier, and to bring the [chocolate and] fruits of your labor to a Memorial Day party.

You don’t need a pile of chocolate bars—just 14 ounces of quality chocolate. See the recipe and start chopping!

If you’re attending parties this weekend, bring some as a gift to the hosts.

This version has raisins, sultanas, cashews,
crystallized ginger and orange peel. Photo by
Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.