SIDENOTE FOR REGULAR READERS: I’m taking a break from “Tip Tuesday” and going with “Treat Tuesday” instead for a few weeks. So starting today and on future Tuesdays until I change my mind again, you can check here on Tuesdays for Treats, not Tips. Or maybe now it’s just really ­Tips about Treats…. Well, whichever way you prefer to look at it, enjoy the eats!

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I thought I’d start out easy on this first Treat Tuesday and post a list of a few of my favorite food and recipe blogs, websites, TV shows, books and/or magazines. These are the places where I gather much of my inspiration, so I’d love to share the wealth with you, RMT’ers. Happy browsing!

Salad in a Jar   This blog started out as a guide about how you can eat anything and everything you want, so long as you start it out by eating a “salad in a jar.” While I haven’t explored this in depth, what I have learned here are several “fake-and-bake” recipes, microwave-versus-oven baking techniques, and other shortcut preparation tips for cooking and baking both.

My Baking Addiction   I found a recipe here for microwavable lemon curd, which is simply dangerous yet delicious to know – and it makes a fabulous lemon meringue pie filling, too. So when life hands you lemons, make limoncello from the rinds, and lemon curd from the rest!

Real Simple   This website and the print magazine are both fabulous go-to sources for quick weeknight meals and desserts, which involve short and easy ingredient lists and preparation times. Also if I ever do a search on how to do something in the kitchen and Real Simple comes up as one of the options, it’s my first choice because I don’t have time to decipher anything once I’m in the kitchen working. I need it to be, well, real simple, and they truly live up to their name.

America’s Test Kitchen  and Cook’s Illustrated   A true testament to the trial-and-error that surrounds creation of the perfect recipe, ATK on PBS is a remote-stopper in our house. And when I’m looking for something special, especially around the holidays when I’m baking, their sister magazine CI hits my sweet spot. Last Christmas I found several new and yummy recipes in the special cookie issue, many of which will become new traditions at our house at the holidays.

Food Network  I have just two peeps here: Alton Brown and Giada De Laurentiis .

If you want to learn more about the science of cooking and don’t know about him already, AB is your guy and his kitchen is your laboratory. He teaches viewers of Good Eats exactly why eggs emulsify the way they do into certain mixtures, or why certain ingredients at room temperature are just going to behave in certain ways versus straight from the fridge. It’s through his basic breakdown and understanding of food behaviors that he helps recipes become even better than they are off the page.

As for Ms. G, there’s no one who can chef up basic Italian favorites better by keeping it down-home  and family-style, but at the same time she still manages to add that special spice into the mix to keep it fresh and new just the same. Have some leftover spaghetti and marinara sauce? Well, then, do this: mix an egg and some milk into it with some parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper; fry it up in a skillet; and you have yourself a nice Italian pasta frittata breakfast.

I’ll elaborate on more of my food finds as Tuesdays come and go. Until then, share with me… what are some of your favorite food blogs, magazines, or television shows that you get your inspiration from?