Ann Fisher

Also guilty of using cake mixes on occasion. I have two recipes from my grandmother that stipulate a yellow cake mix. The first is her Heaven and Hell Cake (which is not remotely like any recipe of the same name I've ever seen, but Grandma called it that so I do too), made from a box of golden cake mix with homemade fudge frosting. The second is her pineapple upside-down cake. I could make the cake batter myself, but I loved those cakes as a child and I still love them and I see no reason to mess with them. The real sin is that I have let people think I baked the cakes from scratch.

I live on the top floor of a six story walk-up in Brooklyn and I'm no spring chicken. Consequently I've developed a hybrid approach to grocery shopping. I order non-perishable staples from Fresh Direct once a week (they carry the boxes up!) and then my partner and I decide the night before what meats and/or produce will need to be picked up for dinner the next day. He commutes through Grand Central three times a week, where there is a good (though expensive) market, allowing him to grab the necessaries on his way home. I'm a consultant, so I'm all over the city or out in New Jersey, and I base my dinner plans on where I'll be that day and what shops or green markets are near-by.