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I was planning to make soup with merguez, kale and potatoes. But it's suddenly kind of warm again in NY, and now I'm reconsidering....

The first cookbook that I really have memories of is my dad's old better homes and gardens cookbook which was a sticky, stained five-ring binder including lots of clipped and saved recipes from newspapers as well as hand written recipes tucked into its pages.

If I was on that corner, I'd have a burger at 12th Street Bar. The rest of the food there has gone downhill in my opinion, but the burger is both gut busting and delicious.

Camping was my first thought too. When I camp, I use the coffee bags (like tea bags, but coffee), and they are disgusting.

Perhaps a naive question... I understand that late blight is hugely destructive to crops, and therefore, if detected on a plant in a home garden, that plant should be sealed and discarded. But, assuming my tomato plant has been infected with late blight and I don't know it (is it just me, or is it very hard to distinguish between plain old brown spots and brown spots due to late blight in those photos?!), is it harmful to humans to ingest fruit that is infected?

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. I didn't find any wholesale in time, but ended up getting 4 dozen wellfleet oysters for the pretty reasonable price of $15/dozen at Fish Tales on Court St. in Brooklyn. People shucked their own and they were fantastic! Fresh, briny and delicious. A nice addition to the all-american bbq fare we had.

Kerry - I really love your stories about food and family - they never fail to make me smile and make me hungry. I went back to look at your archives and personal blog after reading this piece and realized that you are P'05. Might I have seen you last weekend (I'm '02)? Sadly, I did not sample any of the real culinary treats while I was there, just Thai Village and the Wa, but sometimes nostalgia and yuengling-fueled hunger win over good taste. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I enjoy your work. Keep doing what you're doing! -Jessica

bagel, lox, cream cheese, slice of tomato, red onion, and capers. purchased at h&h and zabars, and assembled by me.

I'm on a huge spinach kick. Spinach salad, wilted spinach with garlic, spinach and chickpea soup. I yam what I yam.

NSW - there is a farmers market on Saturdays at Grand Army Plaza, and I think another one further down Prospect Park West on Wednesdays in the spring/summer. Check this link:

http://www.prospectpark.org/dest/main.cfm?target=gree

This is a bit of a digression, but I really love cracker jacks too, and wanted to know if anyone else had noticed that the ratio of popcorn to peanuts has changed drastically in the past 15 years or so. Where have all my peanuts gone??

Mind sharing the crust recipe?

Hm...I'd say sun dried tomatoes were kind of a fad that has faded. Still great and used, but not as ubiquitous as they once were.

But real food fads that have passed, yes! How about casseroles and jello molds with savory ingredients?