5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

"Don't mess with a good thing."

"There's no need to reinvent the wheel."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

However many adages there are that extol the virtues of the classics, there is always room for minor tweaking - especially when it comes to matters of taste, like cocktails.

According to Adam Bernbach, the bar manager of Proof and Estadio restaurants in Washington, D.C., there are a couple of things experimental imbibers should pay attention to when riffing on the classics.

Five Tips on Getting Creative with Classic Cocktails: Adam Bernbach
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

If your New Year's resolution involved being more adventurous in the kitchen, hold on to your toques - Charles Phan is opening up his highly anticipated first cookbook, "Vietnamese Home Cooking," for you courageous, budding culinarians.

Phan is the acclaimed chef and owner of The Slanted Door, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco, California.

"These dishes all have memories for me and my family and have become favorites for one reason or another. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different cuisines at home, these are all very easy to make, " Phan said. "Go a step further with our wine or cocktail suggestions and everyone will think you’re a professional and might not want to leave."

Five Vietnamese Recipes to Try At Home: Charles Phan
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Overdid it with the booze a bit last night? You're in excellent company. Twitter and Facebook abound with tales of over-consumption, repentance and just plain old pain after the revels of the New Year.

Luckily for you, Jon Harris, lead bartender of Firefly in Washington D.C. is too much of a pro to leave you hanging. He's got recipes, tips and cautionary tales to cure what ails you.

Hair of the Dog Cocktails and Other Hangover Tips: Jon Harris
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

When Adam Roberts started his food blog, The Amateur Gourmet, as a way to unwind from the rigors of law school, he had no idea what he was cooking up. Nearly nine years later, Roberts is a full-fledged pro in the food world, with a passionate online following, a stint as an online show host for Cooking Channel and a food writing career that spans multiple publications and two published books.

He likens his most recent cookbook, "Secrets of the Best Chefs," to "an amateur guitarist getting to play for a year with The Rolling Stones...or an amateur athlete getting to train with the New York Yankees." In the course of writing "Secrets," Roberts worked side-by-side with some of the nation's most prominent and accomplished chefs, learning and translating their recipes and techniques to help enthusiastic home cooks (like him) who are eager elevate to their meals.

Readers who follow Roberts' and the chefs' approachable, easy-to-follow advice might not be ready to hop on the line in a restaurant kitchen, but they'll have friends and family standing in line, waiting for seconds.

Five Chef Tricks to Use at Home: Adam Roberts
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Ron Ben-Israel is rooting for you to use fresh ginger.

"It's spicy and peppery with a fresh, tangy flavor - and a snappy aftertaste," said the master pastry chef and host of Food Network's "Sweet Genius."

This knobby little root, which is actually the rhizome or underground stem of the ginger plant (Zingiber officinale), not only packs a serious aromatic punch, it has long been revered for its medicinal properties.

Here are five, gingery recipes to make in a snap this holiday season.

Five Ways to Use Fresh Ginger Root: Ron Ben-Israel
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

As fall turns into winter, the produce aisle tends to mimic the slate gray sky - everything's a bit darker, duller and more somber. Knotted parsnips take over where crisp, red radishes once sat; tart cranberries replace sweet strawberries.

Yet, despite the season's best efforts, squash shines even brighter this time of year in a cornucopia of shapes, sizes and colors.

Justin Woodward of Castagna Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, wants to quash your notions of the winter doldrums. Behold the squash.

Five Fall Squashes Worth Trying: Justin Woodward
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Editor's Note: Dana Gunders is a food and agriculture-focused project scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. She recently authored "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" and blogs regularly about food waste here.

Once a year, we feast to celebrate that our ancestors had enough food to survive their first winter, acknowledging that once upon a time food was something to be grateful for. Then the next day, we throw half of it away.

This Thanksgiving, Americans will trash a whopping $282 million of uneaten turkey, contributing to the 40 percent of food that goes uneaten every year. That’s enough turkey to provide each American household that is food insecure (17.9 million American households suffer from food insecurity) with more than 11 additional servings.

Along with throwing away the turkey itself, all the resources it took to get that bird to the table will have gone for naught. For instance, it takes 105 billion gallons of water to produce that much turkey - enough to supply New York City for more than 100 days.

This year, give gratitude for food and waste less of it by following these five tips to make the best use of your feast.

Five Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Thanksgiving Feast: Dana Gunders
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

A very wise frog once told us, "It's not easy being green." No vegetable knows that plight better than the Brussels sprout.

The tiny green orbs cause such visceral reactions among some eaters that you'd think a plate of rotten eggs and moldy bread was in front of them.

Walter Bundy, the executive chef of Lemaire in Richmond, Virginia, argues otherwise. In fact, he thinks Brussels sprouts are quite fabulous when done right – and we're going to have to agree.

“I love to cook with Brussels sprouts because they seem to represent autumn and winter to me. They are very robust with an earthy flavor. They have a slight bitterness that works well with so many other foods, " says Bundy.

Five Ways to Cook with Brussels Sprouts: Walter Bundy
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

It's no wonder the holidays and macaroni and cheese go together so well: They're both warm, comforting and filled with more than their share of cheesy moments.

With Thanksgiving but a week away, we've enlisted cheese expert Laura Werlin to show you the whey to macaroni mastery.

Laura Werlin is the James Beard award-winning cookbook author of The All American Cheese and Wine Book. Her sixth book, Mac & Cheese, Please!, will be released December 4. You can find her on Twitter as @cheezelady if that tells you anything about her fervor for fromage.

Five Tips to a (Mac &) Cheesy Thanksgiving: Laura Werlin
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Editor's Note: Gregory Hall is the founder of Virtue Cider, a Chicago-based craft cider company. Hall served as the Brewmaster of Goose Island Beer Company from 1991 to 2011.

I became a big fan of hard cider on a trip to England in 2000 with a group of brewers from Goose Island. We visited several breweries on the trip, but the highlight was visiting a pub called The Maltings in York.

They were hosting a cider festival with casks from small producers all around the English countryside. We were all blown away by the variety, complexity and just plain wonderfulness of those ciders.

Here are five of my favorites, in no particular order.

Five Hard Ciders to Try Right Now: Gregory Hall
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