Blender

Anyone who's been to Baltimore Pride -- or any Pride, really -- knows there is a lot to see. It takes a lot to make me raise my eyebrows, but I did on several occassions during the parade and block party in Mount Vernon on Saturday -- mostly with a smile. How boring would it be if that wasn't the case at the state's largest gay party? But beyond the shocking, and beyond the funny, a few broader themes also stood out. Here's Baltimore Pride in a blender: a quick mix of insights from a rowdy day of celebration, political posturing and hometown charm.

Anyone who's been to Baltimore Pride -- or any Pride, really -- knows there is a lot to see. It takes a lot to make me raise my eyebrows, but I did on several occassions during the parade and block party in Mount Vernon on Saturday -- mostly with a smile. How boring would it be if that wasn't the case at the state's largest gay party? But beyond the shocking, and beyond the funny, a few broader themes also stood out. Here's Baltimore Pride in a blender: a quick mix of insights from a rowdy day of celebration, political posturing and hometown charm.

Vagabond Opera will wander into Baltimore on Friday night, bringing with it a reputation for delivering genre-bending, sometimes madcap entertainment. Based in Portland, Ore., the sextet takes its name seriously. "We sing real opera in our shows," says saxophonist Robin Jackson, "and fuse it with other things." In addition to arias, the group puts into the blender such elements as cabaret songs, klezmer tunes, Arabian and Balkan folk music, swing, belly-dancing and a cupful or two of camp.

  Smoothies are an easy and healthy breakfast option. Just throw a few ingredients into your blender and in five minutes you're ready to eat. Just about every fast food restaurant has caught on to the smoothie fad and added them to  menus. If you take that route make sure you check the nutrition content. Not all smoothies are made the same. Some includes sugar-laden yogurts and sometimes even ice cream. The better option may be just to make your own smoothies at home.

Here are some tips to keep you safe in the kitchen.* Cut away from your fingers, not toward them, and direct knives downward, toward the cutting board or other surface. Hold knives firmly and don't cut too fast.* Keep knives sharp; dull blades can slip off objects you're cutting, such as onions or tomatoes, and cut your hand.* Store knives in a designated drawer and make sure the entire family knows that's where they go. A knife in another drawer or at the bottom of the sink or dishwasher can cut someone who doesn't expect it to be there.

NEW YORK - Most editorial decisions at Blender, the irreverent music magazine that has thrown a scare into Rolling Stone and won a "launch of the year" award from Advertising Age, are conjured in a tiny conference room dominated by an armless punching bag dummy just like Mariah Carey's. The dummy was acquired under the auspices of journalistic research, an accessory to an article the magazine ran on the diva's reinvention, and it has been customized by the staff to the point where it has a new identity: dummy as editorial muse.

The best thing about Good Housekeeping's newest cookbook is just about every cook already has the most important ingredient you need: a blender. Blend It! (Hearst Books, 2003, $14.95) is a collection of 150 recipes from the folks who do simple better than anyone else, Good Housekeeping magazine's triple-testing editorial kitchens, under the direction of author Susan Westmoreland. And the appeal of this cookbook is that the blender isn't the only ingredient that cooks often have on hand.

Pina Colada. Frozen Daiquiri. Blue Hawaiian. They all sound tempting right about now, don't they? In the heat of summer, nothing refreshes quite like a frozen blended cocktail. Alas, too many calories accompany these delights. A Pina Colada can pack about 500 or so, including nearly 5 grams of saturated fat - that's more than the average fast food hamburger. Unfortunately, some of those calories are unavoidable (another reason not to drink alcohol to excess), but some are not. Generally, frozen drinks that rely on whole fruits or certain unsweetened fruit juices (lemon or lime, for instance)

Cold and creamy, a lassi is a perfect treat for a summer day, especially when it's flavored with fresh, ripe fruit. Lassis, as fans of Indian food will know, are similar to milkshakes, except they're made with yogurt rather than ice cream. And like a good milkshake, a lassi is versatile enough to carry a wide variety of flavors. If you're like me, you tasted your first lassi in an adventurous moment at an Indian restaurant. Chances are the flavor was mango, which is always a good choice but especially now when fresh mangoes are abundant.

Turn any oil-based salad dressing into a creamy-style dressing by whirling it in a blender until it has slightly thickened.-- Food Lover's TiptionaryPub Date: 9/06/98

Vagabond Opera will wander into Baltimore on Friday night, bringing with it a reputation for delivering genre-bending, sometimes madcap entertainment. Based in Portland, Ore., the sextet takes its name seriously. "We sing real opera in our shows," says saxophonist Robin Jackson, "and fuse it with other things." In addition to arias, the group puts into the blender such elements as cabaret songs, klezmer tunes, Arabian and Balkan folk music, swing, belly-dancing and a cupful or two of camp.

With the exception of an appliance for stone-grinding and kneading whole grains, no fancy gadgets grace the shelves of Sukumaran Muralidharan's North Baltimore kitchen. Two cast-iron woks stacked on the stove, a blender, coffee grinder (for spices) and a motley selection of pots and pans give no hint that within 10 minutes, Muralidharan will produce a vegetarian Indian meal that rivals anything found in local restaurants. He tosses a handful of green chiles, peeled ginger and cilantro into the blender with a soupy mix of fermented cream of wheat and cumin seeds.

WHAT TO DO This week in Ocean City 1. HAVE A SUNDAE IN THE PARK / / The free family concert series continues at Northside Park (127th Street and the Bay) tonight with a tribute to Elvis from Jesse Garron. 2. HUNT FOR CROCS / / The ubiquitous summer shoe is a big seller at Coconut Kids, a children's boutique at 8001 Coastal Highway. The store also carries surf wear. 3. SEE A MERMAID / / More than 200 likenesses of mermaids can be seen in an exhibit at the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum.

As a duo, spinach and feta cross all ethnic bounds and global borders. Throughout the Mediterranean, this couple flourishes. Greek pies such as spanakopita ooze with spinach and melted feta. Turkish phyllo pastries called boreks and even Italian stuffing for vegetables and meats depend on this duo. How did these two become so universally popular? Because they taste so good. SPINACH FETA EDAMAME HUMMUS Makes 4 cups 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach leaves, defrosted and squeezed to remove excess moisture 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tablespoons tahini juice of 2 lemons 2 teaspoons hot sauce 1/2 cup crumbled feta salt, to taste 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup shelled, cooked edamame (see note)

events virtualchocolate.com Does your tongue hang out when you think about chocolate? Pick up a free program of rotating chocolate wallpapers (or flowers if you're abstaining), send a virtual postcard, browse the bookstore, read about famous chocolatiers and link to the real thing. Knight-Ridder Tribune Kitchen tip "I use my pastry blender to chop avocados for guacamole. It's fast and easy and it keeps them nice and chunky." Jane Trahanovsky, Newport Beach, Calif. Know a helpful shortcut in the kitchen?

One more time, father knows best - or at least hits the hardest, especially with the pitcher end of a blender - in the fast and furious Firewall. As Jack Stanfield, Harrison Ford again gets to reveal the mettle behind a white-collar professional and devoted husband, as he did in The Fugitive and Air Force One and his Tom Clancy adventures a decade ago. Ford's latest embattled good guy, a computer security V.P. for a Seattle-based bank, displays as...

  Smoothies are an easy and healthy breakfast option. Just throw a few ingredients into your blender and in five minutes you're ready to eat. Just about every fast food restaurant has caught on to the smoothie fad and added them to  menus. If you take that route make sure you check the nutrition content. Not all smoothies are made the same. Some includes sugar-laden yogurts and sometimes even ice cream. The better option may be just to make your own smoothies at home.

Carolyn C. Hawke of Farmville, N.C., requested a recipe for a jellyroll that she once made for her six children and has lost. "It was in the '60s and I found the recipe in a small booklet which came with my blender. The batter was made in the blender and poured into a jellyroll pan." Neil Blumenthal of Pennington, N.J., responded. He wrote: "I saw your request for the jellyroll recipe that was from a blender cookbook. I have a 45-year-old Waring blender cookbook left to me from my parents.

My wife has lost 15 pounds and feels great. She loves cooking, but recently put away her muffin pans, tubes for icing cakes and blender (she loves milkshakes and margaritas, but wants to cut them out of her diet). Any suggestions on healthy cooking contraptions I could buy her to encourage her to keep up her favorite hobby? There's no reason why your wife can't enjoy cooking good-for-you foods just as much as she used to love cooking with Crisco. First, retrieve the blender and wrap it up along with a copy of Judith Millidge's Handbook of Smoothies and Juicing.

Making your list and checking it twice for the fitness enthusiasts in your life? Here are a few ideas: On the run She loves to run. Loves the camaraderie and competition, too. Waking up and placing her feet on the marathon rug's "I can do 26.2!" slogan will surely get her out of the door and on the jogging trail. On the front: a diverse field of stick-figure runners journey toward the finish line. On the back: a label with space for the runner's name, race date and finish time. The 3 1/2 -foot-by-5 1/2 rug, made of hand-tufted acrylic, is available in blue, red or gold.