We touched on making mayonnaise from scratch in today's story on things that are better, and generally cheaper, when made at home versus store-bought.

Though we still say it's OK to buy the Hellman's without feeling too guilty, we were inspired in our research after talking to chef Mark Mendez at Carnivale, whose own mayo-making method is this:

"Take one of those tall, to-go containers you get at an Asian restaurant. Put in a whole egg, a cup of oil. Then take the immersion blender. It takes about three seconds. It's the coolest thing."

On the flip side, Oak Park local food champion Rob Gardner today offers his old-school, elbow-greased version on his Web site, the Local Beet.

Gardner was quick to dig into his batch of white gold, making BLTs, then dipping crudites and finally, riffing on Thousand Island dressing, that crafty, lucky bastard.

Got any other mayo ideas? Send them our way.