Lucenda Plancarte with her reborn doll. Photograph: Daniel Hollis/The GuardianA subculture of lifelike baby dolls is thriving on social media – despite enthusiasts being dismissed as grown women playing mommy by Kelli KorduckiI’m not sure what I expected a collector of hyper-realistic baby dolls to look like, but Kellie Eldred isn’t it. On the frigid midwinter morning that I arrive at her Ithaca, New York, home, she greets me brightly in leggings and a cropped sweatshirt branded with the logo of a local Pilates studio.

Ask Annalisa BarbieriFriendshipYour childhood neglect is at the heart of this, says Annalisa Barbieri. Try to give that little girl in you what she needs now, rather than hoping your friends will I have a wonderful husband, happy children, good health and a close relationship with my family. But I’ve always struggled with friendship. Every time life has changed (new job, change of home) I have a new optimism that this time I’ll get it right.

The simple fixFoodA glorious muddle of lamb, roasted aubergine, Middle Eastern spices and crisp chickpeas Last year I was at Breddo’s, an extremely good taqueria in London’s Soho, and found myself ordering the crab nachos. They were superb, and reminded me why deviations from “authentic” recipes are not always a bad thing. El pastor, an exquisite street-food staple of Mexico City, is a rendition of the Lebanese kebab. Nachos now fly off the pass at Wahaca, with zingy avocado and tomato salsas and sobrasada.

THE BODY BEAUTIFULTo keep my feet warm I often wear two pairs of socks, a thin pair and a thicker pair (because two thick pairs = feet too big for shoes). Does it make any difference to heat retention which pair I put on first, thick or thin? Bob, Twickenham, England I would suggest thin one first; as this will create 2 layers of air (created by the layers of sock) closer to the skin and provide a thicker layer of insulating material on the outside.

Top 10sBooksClosed off for half a century by the generals, there is a shortage of writing about this richly diverse country available in English – but there are some gems Burma is such an enigmatic country that the first question for any writer is what to call it. The nation has been known officially as Myanmar since 1989, when the then ruling junta discarded Burma along with other place names associated with British rule.