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Bobcat Bite, Santa Fe! Was just there last week, so the buzz is fresh.

With the fantastic sweet butter & sugar corn we get in Massachusetts, all I do is add some salt, pepper, & smoky paprika to olive oil, brush the husked corn, and toss the ears directly on the grill. Turn a few times until about a quarter of the kernels start blackening, and you've got a summer memory.

Redbones BBQ in Somerville, Mass.

Try Jacques Pepin's "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen"--very entertaining, and his down-to-earth personality really comes through. An older must-read is A.J. Liebling's "Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris" about eating in Paris in the 1920s. I also loved "Appetite for Life" and the two early Ruth Reichl books. Amanda Hesser is mostly annoying, but that's just me.

The best apple is the Macoun, which is actually seasonal and available only in the Northeast. They are what MacIntosh aspires to. If you can find one, try it!!