Letters
Eat the street food I thoroughly enjoyed the article ("Feting the Dead," Oct. 5). I wanted to plead my case for Americans traveling abroad to sample street food. The guides in Mexico continue to disappoint with their...

Staying Home / What better year to get back to basics?
Lynette Evans
If ever there were a year when we all need a holiday, 2008 is it. This has been a time of mighty changes for all of us - a presidential election, sky-high gasoline prices, rising food and electricity prices, a meltdown...

5 Things in November
Sam Whiting
San Francisco: "Maya Lin: Systemic Landscapes," brings the designer of the Vietman Veterans Memorial to the de Young. The show runs concurrently with "Where the Land Meets the Sea," Lin's piece at the Academy of...

PROFILE: ROB FISCHER / The Baker / The lie in "Liar's Pie" is the Pyrex dish it comes in. The perpetrator of the lie is Rob Fischer, 53, owner of the Palo Alto Creamery. He lives on Potrero Hill.
On the lie: We bake them in glass dishes. You can buy the pie, take it to wherever you're going and say that you baked it yourself, which I think is a great concept. On the pie: For Thanksgiving we'll sell in excess of...

STATUS QUO: RETAIL THERAPY / Shopocalypse now! / How'd we come to be the land of buying nothing at all?
Carol Lloyd
With visions of Wall Street's bloodbath still dancing in my head, it's difficult to accept that the season of spending is already upon us. Couldn't we reorganize the seasons this year and pretend Jesus was a summer baby?...

Suite deal for dinner / Never mind your home and your family's emotional baggage. Avoid all that holiday angst by checking in to the Fairmont, Huntington and the Palace penthouses
Sam Whiting
Many a holiday dinner ends with someone feeling put upon, over-stuffed or underappreciated. It is often the host, or a guest whose specific culinary skills were not considered in assigning a dish to bring. Or whose new...

Natural Appeal
Deborah Bishop
Every year around this time, transplants from the East Coast and Midwest fall prey to a particular strain of seasonal affective disorder. Often precipitated by a string of sun-dappled days, the symptoms include...

SIX OF A KIND: By the Fire / Seeking Warmth / Six spots for escaping winter's wrath
Michael Bauer
Newcomers to the Bay Area complain we don't have seasons, but those of us who have been through a few seasonal rotations can attest to the differences. As fall progresses, temperatures may be similar to what we have in...