Bagels

Sam Lender, 84, who with his brothers turned a tiny Connecticut bakery into the company Lender's Bagels, died of heart failure Sunday in Boca Raton, Fla. The Lender family moved from Poland to New Haven, Conn., in 1929. At the age of 12, Mr. Lender began working at his father's bagel business, rolling dough into bagels with his brothers. By the mid-1930s, eight workers were producing 300 dozen bagels a day. The brothers decided to freeze their bagels, and they went national in 1967. Betty Hill, 85, whose tale of being abducted by aliens launched her to fame and became the subject of a best-selling book and television movie, died of lung cancer Sunday at her home in Portsmouth, N.H. Mrs. Hill claimed that she and her husband, Barney, were abducted by extraterrestrials in New Hampshire's White Mountains on a trip home from Canada in 1961.

Fusion beats out Italian in Fallston A month and a half ago, the Fusion Grille opened at 2402 Pleasantville Road in Fallston. "I decided not to go the Italian route," says owner-chef Michael Matassa, referring to the fact that for the past 30 years restaurants such as Aldo's and Portofino's have been at that location. Instead he's serving a casual, innovative mix of Southwestern, Asian, Caribbean and Cajun. Signature dishes include blackened tuna with a warm banana salsa and sesame-crusted, roasted red snapper marinated in soy sauce and sauced with plum tomatoes, pancetta and fresh basil.

From Pikesville to 33rd Street to Corned Beef Row, Baltimore residents and visitors were providing proof yesterday that you don't have to be Christian to have a blast on Christmas. While most mall parking lots were vacant, many of the businesses that remained open bubbled with a celebratory mood, even among those who don't celebrate the holiday in the religious sense. In Pikesville, Jewish couples whose children were in school spent their day off from work having a mini-honeymoon at Goldberg's New York Bagels.

Love Actually, the latest film from English screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones' Diary), is this weekend's scheduled feature at Cinema Sundays at the Charles Theatre. The film's all-star cast, playing a group of witty folk engaged in amusing romantic entanglements, includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Rowan Atkinson. Love Actually marks Curtis' first film as both writer and director.

City residents have two opportunities to meet one-on-one with Laurel City Council members in January. Bagels with the Council will be held Saturday, Jan. 5 at 9 a.m. at the Laurel Armory, 422 Montgomery St. Drop-In with the Council will be held Tuesday, Jan. 8 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Laurel Municipal Center, 8103 Sandy Spring Road. To contact the council office, call 301-725-5300 Ext. 2120.

A whiff of the old New Systems Bakery is in the new New Systems, which just opened under new ownership in Hampden.Jason Gallant, a 29-year-old businessman who acquired the bakery in October, said he strove to create "an old new feeling" that would not jar longtime customers or the reputation the bakery had built over decades in Hampden.So the new curtains in the window are checkered green and white, echoing the color scheme inside the shop, which is on 36th Street -- or simply The Avenue.

Q: People rave about fresh artichokes, but mine always seem to be bitter and woody when cooked. How do I know a good artichoke and what's the best way to cook one?A: To choose the freshest and most tender artichokes, look for bright green leaves that are closed tightly together, not spreading.Avoid any artichokes that feel soft or have browning around the leaves.A relatively fast and tenderizing cooking treatment is steaming. Trim the stem and pointed spike tips with kitchen shears and remove any tough outer leaves.

Average cost of Md. hospital stay rises 6% The average cost for a hospital stay in Maryland rose 6.3 percent to $10,038 in fiscal year 2007, up from $9,440 in the previous fiscal year, according to a report released yesterday by the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission. Maryland's cost is higher than the national average increase of 5.3 percent but slightly lower than the Consumer Price Index for hospital and related services of 6.4 percent, the commission said. Wegmans recalls bagels, may contain metal pieces Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is voluntarily recalling all varieties of fresh bagels and bialys purchased in its bakeries between Aug. 24 and Sept.

"The Dish," a charming nougat of a film about a giant radio telescope stuck in the middle of nowheresville, Australia, used to beam back pictures of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, is this weekend's offering for Cinema Sundays at the Charles Theatre. Based on real events, the film stars Sam Neill as the scientist in charge of the 1,000-ton telescope. The film was directed by Rob Sitch. Pierre Bely, chief engineer for the Next Generation Space Telescope, will serve as host for the screening, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Admission to Cinema Sundays is $15; four-film mini-memberships are available for $52. Free bagels and coffee will be served.

A guide to kids and nutritionChildren who are allergic to cow's milk should also avoid margarine. That's just one of the salient items in "The Yale Guide to Children's Nutrition," edited by Dr. William V. Tamborlane, an expert in children's metabolism (Yale University Press, 1997, $40 cloth, $18 paper). The book covers topics from infancy to adolescence, including feeding sick kids, teen skin problems, and food allergies. There are also kid-pleasing recipes designed to suit the whole family.