Congratulations to hardlikearmour, whose Winter Fruit Salsa won the contest for Your Best Persimmons!

Once again, we want to give a big thanks to all of our volunteer recipe testers for your thoughtful comments and for helping us continue to strengthen our recipe recommendations. You can read the winning headnote and tester's comments by clicking through to the Community Picks recipes — the comments are at the top. And even if the recipe you tested wasn't chosen as a CP, please feel free to leave your testing notes in the recipe's comments section. Constructive criticism is always encouraged!

From tasty persimmons to illegible birthday cakes, this week's Test Kitchen day was full of happy surprises.

It's that time again -- help us pick the contest finalists for Your Best Persimmons! 

Persimmons -- have you submitted your recipe to this week's contest yet? -- are a winter fruit easy to overlook. They're sold unripened, to start, which can be confusing. But your patience in ripening them is rewarded with silky, gently jellied, intensely sweet flesh that can be used in everything from salads to baked goods.

Every week we take a peek inside the lunches of the luckiest kids in Brooklyn. Read on, suppress your jealousy, and get a little brown bag inspiration.