We're sitting down with our favorite writers and cooks to talk about their upcoming cookbooks, their best food memories, and just about anything else.

Today: We chat with our beloved Piglet co-founder Charlotte Druckman about her fantastic new book on women in the restaurant world, Skirt Steak: Women Chefs on Standing the Heat and Staying in the Kitchen.

Set the stage for your dream kitchen. 

In all likelihood, there is an island, or at the very least, counters that go on for miles, on which you chop, dice, and mix. (You set up separate stations for each, just because you can.) There are appliances and tools ready for you at your every mixing and churning whimsy, places to bake, and then to cool, all of your latest creations. And somewhere -- maybe above the stove, maybe beside it -- there are likely copper pots, beautiful and shining and ready to simmer. 

This is the final installment in our 3-part series on food science from the Modernist Cuisine team. We're giving away a copy of Modernist Cuisine at Home below, along with some handy equipment for your own Modernist kitchen. We're also selling Modernist Cuisine at Home at an exclusive discount you won't find anywhere else in the Food52 Shop.

If cakes are the reliable, put-together friend in the world of desserts, caramel is the angsty adolescent.