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Bottlerocket is great if you're looking for a really user-friendly, streamlined wine buying experience. The staff is helpful, and the wine is organized by food pairing (wines for BBQ here, wines for seafood there).

Astor Wines has a much larger selection, and their staff is really knowledgeable and can answer pretty much any question without making you feel dumb.

Both stores have classes, too, if you're into learning more about wine.

I'd certainly try those, but I don't think eating the shells is a good idea, even if you're "supposed to." That kind of thing can cause an indigestible ball of fiber to form in the gut if eaten too often. Scary!

I think most scones in bakeries are overcooked to get a better color on top. There's a small window of time between most and delicious and mouthful of sand. You just need to make them yourself and pull them out of the oven when they look almost done and their bottoms have just turned golden (flip one over to check).

My favorite scone recipe has a handful of oatmeal to bump up the health factor, and can be adapted for dried fruit, fresh berries, citrus zest, cheddar & chives, and of course, chocolate.

I'm a big fan of Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons. It's light-hearted and fun to read, and all the recipes are packed with flavor. I like it better than Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, which is nice but a little stiff.

Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian is also great. She's a great curator of dishes from all cultures.

You could swing by the Momofuku Milk Bar for some egg-topped pork buns, Stumptown coffee, and outrageous baked goods.

It's within reasonable walking distance of the Greenmarket (it's at 2nd Ave and 13th St), and if you go there first, hubby will be able to endure your vegetable quest a bit longer.

I just had the hot roast beef from Defonte's - well, half of it. Maybe they were making up for yesterday, but I got close to a pound of meat on mine. The eggplant was a little soggy and added more grease than flavor. Certainly everything was high-quality, but the sandwich needed some sort of spicy or acidic counterpoint. I guess I'm not as into giant fatty sandwiches as I thought.

No, we don't need to impeach him. What we need are more high-level critics so his isn't the only opinion in the game. We need people with good palates and writing skills who can report on restaurants in an intelligent, unbiased, and interesting way. Then Bruni will no longer have such a monopoly on public opinion.

Your pans are fine. It sounds like they have some sticky oil build-up.

Just give them a good scrub with the business end of a scrubby sponge (the blue wavy brand-name ones work best) and some grease-cutting dish soap. Use lots of hot water, too.

Kimchi jigae, with just a little bit of bacon to cook the onions.

Don't buy skate! They're a threatened species. And everytime you go to an aquarium, you'll have to the graceful manta rays, sadly gliding around their little tanks.

In your recipe, substitute a tender, flaky white fish like halibut or tilapia. For a list of sustainable seafood in your area, check out the 2009 Monterey Bay aquarium site.

There are a few hives already on city roofs. It would be great if we could have more safe places to raise bees, since they're disappearing at an alarming rate.

I'm all for it - just signed the petition now.

If you find your dough is rising too quickly, you might want to transfer it to the fridge to slow the yeast reproduction. Also, take a look at your yeast. If you're using instant yeast, or rapid-rise, it'll speed things up. The recipe - especially if it's an older classic - might have been written for a less-active kind of yeast.