Melissa Clark makes me hungry. Every Wednesday her New York Times dining column, A Good Appetite, has me fantasizing about my next meal. The genesis of each recipe is told in a tantalizing, straightforward way that includes memories, inspiration, mishaps and adaptations. Not only are they good reading, they work! She is the MFK Fisher of our time. And now, 50 of Clark's greatest hits from the Times plus 100 new essays and recipes have been bound together in her latest cookbook, In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories About the Food You Love (Hyperion). I've already tried a few -- pesto scrambled eggs with ricotta, extra-sharp leeks vinaigrette, brown buttered corn and broiled striped bass -- and they've turned out so well I aim to make my way all the way through to desserts like chocolate chip pecan loaf cake. It's the sort of book you can't put down, unless it's to stir.