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@klg: I've never been to the taqueria for breakfast -- are those dishes as delicious as their other food? And how's the cafe con leche (one of my favorite things about La Rosita)?

Also, when I passed by the other day it seemed like they were still serving in the space next door to the main restaurant, but I didn't look too closely.

I second the comment about Zabar's being well-stocked. The prices range from "seems normal" to "if I had that kind of disposable income, I'd be rolling in it!"

If you're on the UWS already, there's a surprisingly decent housewares store at 114th and Bway (University Housewares) -- they manage to pack basically everything you need into a tiny little space. Nothing's on sale but nothing's super expensive either. But then again, it's not a place I'd go out of your way for.

Whatever type is in my refrigerator and available for tasty snacking!

Yeah, I'll second the Taqueria y Fonda -- haven't tried the others people mention, but it's cheap, it's very friendly, and the tacos and main dishes in particular are excellent.

Absolutely try the Taqueria La Mexicana (Amst. btwn 107 and 108) for delicious tacos and Mexican food - this is my default delivery option.
Also, the Mill (Bway and 113) for Korean.
Pisticci (LaSalle btwn Claremont and Bway) for Italian that's better and cheaper than a lot of those places on Bway further down.
Sal and Carmine's pizza knocks V&T out of the park, but is less of a sit-down place if that's what you're looking for (Bway and 101).

I was once a Toast partisan, but service and hygiene issues drove me away. In the bar-with-good-food category, I would suggest instead 106 (Amst. and 106). Welcome to the neighborhood!

Coconut curry with tofu, peppers, bean sprouts, whatever's around...

OK, a little Googling gives one location at 6722 Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn and 77-00 Queens Blvd in Elmhurst. But it's always fun going to suburban grocery stores, with their aisles that feel enormous!

Right out of college I relied heavily on Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone -- it was great for basic techniques and there's something about her tone that is really appealing.

Does it count as success or failure when all the chocolate chip cookies run together on the tray, creating one giant MEGA-COOKIE?

Fried noodles in Singapore.

When I was recovering from being sick, my mother would make cinnamon toast: just regular sandwich bread smeared with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and a little sugar. I was so eager to have that experience every morning that I made her buy a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, and was so disappointed to discover it was nothing like cinnamon toast...

Lasagna with instant lasagna noodles!

Our jeep got approached by a young, curious/aggressive male elephant in Botswana -- our guide slapped the front of the jeep a few times to show him we weren't going to back down, he waved his trunk at us a few times, and grudgingly went away.