To honor this most culinary holiday, I found a dessert recipe that, in true MacGyver fashion, can be made with equipment found in a hotel room. Here, a hair dryer provides heat—but couldn't save this disasterpiece.

Since Alton Brown is pretty much nerd-dom's representative on food TV, I figured I'd have to tackle one of his recipes for MacGyver Chef. I chose a classic: Beef jerky made with a box fan.

This second MacGyver Chef recipe, fish in a dishwasher, is a true classic, yet I had no great luck. I tried on two machines, and though edible, the resulting dish was either sashimi or cat food.

For the first recipe in our MacGyver Chef series, I tackled one of the lowliest of kitchen gadgets: The coffee maker. Since it sucks at brewing coffee, I wondered if there was some other use for it...