Stephanie

In the kosher Indian restaurants I've been to in the East 20s, there are sinks in the dining room where you can wash your hands and make the proper blessing before you eat. How these are different from the sinks in the bathroom, I'm not sure.

I'm more surprised at the "Ethnic Village." When I was growing up, the Monmouth County (NJ) fair only had various fried things and meat on a stick. But ah, that funnel cake.....

The key lime pie is from Steve's, who operates out of Red Hook, Brooklyn and has FABULOUS key lime pies. Glad to see they are taking advantage of the local baking talent. I like Pret a lot. They were great to have around when I was visiting London & needed quick, cheap lunches and I'm glad that they're here. I do wish they had some of the British varieties though (like prawn salad and poached salmon). It will be interesting to see what Claudia Fleming does with the chain.

I like cereal a lot, because frankly I'm too brain-dead on weekday mornings to plan anything more elaborate than a bowl of cereal or toast. I also grew up in a household where sweetened cereals were banned, though later on Mom relented just enough to let my younger sister have Honey Nut Cheerios. Consequently, none of us like the really sweet glop. In fact, when I was in college, the dining halls had cereal out all day, and I tried Froot Loops for dessert (w/o milk) and found it too sweet even then! I add raisins for extra sweetness (though I don't like Raisin Bran--raisins are too dry and the flakes get soggy very quickly). Nowadays I usually buy cereal at the Coop. Kashi, Barbara's, and other brands have good-tasting cereals that have lots of fiber, plus they're way cheaper at the Coop than most anything at the supermarket. I also like Cheerios, Chex, Kix, and Just Right & that ilk. I usually eat cereal only at breakfast but will sometimes grab handfuls as snacks.

Make brownies or any other bar cookie without first checking that my pan is the correct size. If you want to ruin a recipe, this is one of the easiest ways to do it.

I second tomatoes. Didn't like their taste as a kid, now I love 'em. However, the biggest change for me has been beans. When I was a kid and my mom made chili, I would eat around them. But as a poor college student I found it cheaper to cook with beans rather than meat, and now there isn't a legume I won't eat. How about the converse question: what foods did you like as a child that you won't eat as an adult? One of mine is watermelon. I dunno--can't get into the taste anymore. Actually, I think its whole appeal was the seed-spitting thing.

Born in Brooklyn, raised in Matawan, came back to NYC in '93. I know this is so off topic, but what about Delicious Orchards? I think it's a great place, but it's not really a farm anymore (though I think they still have the apple orchards & make their own cider).

Omigod! I'm from Matawan, and we went to Samaha's religiously in the summer. They've always had the BEST corn. My folks still live there and still go. I'm glad to see it's still around and that their little corner of land hasn't been developed yet.

Yes, that's them. Forgot the "proper" name--all the stores around me call them white cherries.

Reading the "Summertime" thread below got me thinking about seasonal foods in general. Advances in agriculture, refrigeration, transportation, etc. have made some previously seasonal foods available year-round, but thankfully some are still only on the market at the proper time. So, which are your favorites that are available but for a brief few weeks? (The ones where if you blink, they're gone.) And I'm opening it up to all seasons, not just summer. Mine is white cherries. I like them so much more than the regular cherries, and they're sold for maybe 3 weeks in June/July. I always buy a lot & gorge myself, knowing that they're not always easy to find and are pricey to book.

Whoa....that sounds like junk food Nirvana.

I take it you are not from the UK? Also - who wants a sarnie to be your last meal? No, I'm from NY, where there are several Prets now. I have to say I actually like their sandwiches, plus Prets were a godsend when I was in London by myself & trying to save money. And as for the last meal, better a sandwich than rubber chicken! I don't particularly want fine dining in an airport anyway, just something halfway decent & a cut above McD's.

Heathrow Terminal 4 has a Pret a Manger, which is certainly reliable if not spectacular. They've spruced up the food options at Newark, including a pretty decent "Jersey Diner." When I fly out of there in November to go to Houston, I am definitely eating in the terminal rather than take my chances with whatever Continental will be serving.

I do. On Fridays at work they give us free bagels, and I often have cream cheese with (grape) jelly. Don't know why, but it works for me.

I second that. I was on a business trip to NO in 1998 and went out with clients to a 6-course tasting meal at Emeril's with 4 matching wines (7 courses if you count the bonbons and extra bottle of Sauterne we had at the end). Everything was top-notch, the wines matched perfectly, and the presentation was nothing short of military-sharp. And best of all, it cost me not a cent. I also ate at Brennan's on that trip--good old-fashioned NO Creole food. I disliked most of NO but I didn't have a single bad meal.

In terms of coach food, the best I've ever had was Virgin Atlantic. I remember the quality being several cuts above the norm. Plus, they were the first airline I flew to have personal video screens in coach. I've only been in business class once, and I was bumped up to it on a Delta flight from Amsterdam to JFK. Alas, I had the start of an awful cold so I couldn't appreciate the food (though I did appreciate not being ill and crammed in coach for 8 hours). The worst food I ever had was (a) rubber pancakes on an old Eastern Airlines flight from Orlando, and (b) eggs that actually caused me to get airsick on a United flight from San Francisco.

Gee, my story is pretty tame compared to everyone else's (though I have had my share of cuts & other accidents). I was in college & fairly new to cooking anything more complex than breakfast. I decided to make chili using dried beans. Turns out I didn't soak them long enough and ended up with crunchy chili--good thing I was the only one who had to eat it. I've used canned beans ever since.