Cities
I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and never understood the antagonism suburbanites have for cities. What did we have in the suburbs? More and more malls (now more and more empty), strip malls, movie theaters, chain restaurants, office "parks."
On the other hand, what does Philly have? Reading Terminal, the Italian Market, Pho, live shows, Fairmount Park, public transportation, Chinatown, art and science museums with summer camps, top-tier research universities, hospitals that weren't jokes, Walnut Street shopping, Manayunk, South Street.
Jewish apple cake
As much as I love a chocolate-chocolate layer cake, I couldn't live without this cake that Grandmom always had on hand. Mom tried adding nuts to it and other heresies, but I'm a purist: cake, apples, cinnamon.
My favorite city, Philadelphia. Did they throw snowballs at Santa last century? Yes. But he was drunk