Breakfast

THE ROLAND PARK Second Presbyterian Church looked absolutely stunning last Saturday for the wedding of Natalia Pia Melanie Sommer and Richard Matthew Dohler. Thousands of wildflowers, miles of lace ribbons and tulle, and window sills decorated with Singapore orchids set the stage for the nuptials of the daughter of pop music star Donna Summer and her first husband, Helmut Sommer,and the son of Dick and Bonna Dohler, he's an Ellicott City builder.The church was filled with the music of German trumpeteer Langston Fitzgerald and selections of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi, played by the church's music director Margaret Budd on the organ.

Janet Whitman of Randallstown was looking for a recipe for breakfast rice that she lost. She said the recipe came from a booklet put out by the manufacturer of Minute Rice in the 1960s. She said her children enjoyed it when they were young, and she would like to be able to make it again. Marie Grove from Manchester sent in a recipe that she said came from a booklet called "Timeless Recipes with Minute Rice," published by General Foods in 1965. With all the choices these days for quick or instant breakfast we don't often think of rice as an option, particularly in this country, but as this older recipe illustrates, rice can be a wholesome and healthful choice.

Corner Bakery Cafe, a Dallas-based fast-casual chain, will open its first Baltimore store on Monday. The Baltimore location is in Lockwood Place, across from the aquarium, where the Best Buy is. "Feed the Day" is the motto at Corner Bakery Cafe, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The first 100 customers on Monday will receive a commemorative Corner Bakery Cafe travel mugs and free daily refills for the remainder of the year. The specialties at Corner Bakery Cafe, which had its start as small bread bakery in downtown Chicago, are breakfast scramblers, panini and made-to-order sandwiches and pastas.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley fielded questions about the Annapolis budget meltdown, the newly drawn 6th congressional district, the Wisconsin recall election and his own 2016 presidential ambitions at an on the record briefing with national press this morning. Reporters from Time, USA Today, Newsweek, MSNBC and the NewsHour were among the roughly 30 journalists to attend the "Inside Politics" breakfast hosted by CNN pundit Bill Schneider at Third Way, a think tank in Washington. The first questions were on the recent troubles in Annapolis -- the legislature adjourned last week without approving the budget that leaders had agreed upon.

Mike Smith appeared dazed in the moments after his horse, Bodemeister, was again beaten by Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another - this time by a neck in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course . The veteran jockey wore the frozen smile of a man hardly able to fathom what had just transpired. "I swear I don't know how he ran me down, man," Smith said after trainer Bob Baffert approached in the fading sunlight. "You did a good job," the 59-year-old trainer told the 46-year-old jockey, a fellow Hall of Famer and former Preakness winner who recently passed 5,000 career victories.

The Women In Business of the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber are hosting a breakfast and holiday celebration Friday, Dec. 9 from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m. at the Homewood Suites by Hilton, 8320 Benson Drive, in Columbia. Cost is $25 for prepaid members; $45 for not prepaid members and non-members. To register, go to http://www.baltwashchamber.org/BWCC_Data/getEventDetails?eventID=900 .

Col. Edward Rothstein, Fort Meade's new garrison commander, will be the featured speaker at the BWI Business Partnership's January Signature Breakfast, Wed., Jan. 18, at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7795 Arundel Mills Blvd., in Hanover, near Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Advance registration is required by Monday, Jan. 16. Members attend at no charge or $30, depending on membership level. Space permitting, nonmembers may attend for $50. To register, go to http://www.bwipartner.org and click on the event registration button, or call 410-859-1000.

BWI Business Partnership is hosting a signature breakfast Thursday, Nov. 17 from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. at the Marriott BWI Airport Hotel, 1743 West Nursery Road in Linthicum. Melvin Russell, acting director of Defense Media Activity for the Department of Defense will be keynote speaker. Defense Media Activity, the Defense Department's direct line of communications for news and information on U.S. forces worldwide, relocated to Fort Meade as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure process.

Prince George's County Council Member Mary Lehman, whose district includes Laurel, is holding a breakfast for District 1 seniors Friday, Dec. 9 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the new Laurel-Beltsville Senior Activity Center, 7120 Contee Road, in Laurel. In addition to breakfast and a chance to socialize, participants will receive information on county programs for seniors living in District 1. Guest speakers will be Theresa Grant, acting director of the county's Department of Aging; and Deborah McBroom, program manager of Maryland Access Point.

Gov. Martin O'Malley will host a breakfast in Annapolis Tuesday with some gay activists and members of the religious community to discuss his bill legalizing same-sex marriage. The governor is expected to introduce his same-sex marriage bill this evening. He told reporters that the legislation will clarify exemptions for religious organizations that don't want to participate or honor same-sex unions. "If there's a difference [this year] it will probably be in regard to the respect for religious freedom and making that a little clearer in this bill," O'Malley said.

  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.

Corner Bakery Cafe, a Dallas-based fast-casual chain, will open its first Baltimore store on Monday. The Baltimore location is in Lockwood Place, across from the aquarium, where the Best Buy is. "Feed the Day" is the motto at Corner Bakery Cafe, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The first 100 customers on Monday will receive a commemorative Corner Bakery Cafe travel mugs and free daily refills for the remainder of the year. The specialties at Corner Bakery Cafe, which had its start as small bread bakery in downtown Chicago, are breakfast scramblers, panini and made-to-order sandwiches and pastas.

On a recent, unseasonably warm Thursday night, Federal Hill was jumping with people out on dates - out for happy hour, out for dinner. But Spoons, the laid-back coffee shop that's been a Cross Street fixture since 1999, was quiet, with just a few tables filled. With a menu featuring an intriguingly global mix of comfort foods and service that's friendly and prompt, Spoons is worthy of a little more bustle at dinner time. But, please, not too much more bustle. When the restaurant's owners, Shane Anderson, John Allen, Bernard Kayes and Deborah Cogan, decided last fall to add dinner to Spoons' repertoire, they recognized that the mellow atmosphere offered a welcome alternative to many of Federal Hill's more manic spots.

Students and staff at Prince George's County Public Schools are celebrating National School Breakfast Week March 5 to 9 in partnership with Kellogg's cereal company, to increase nutrition awareness and help a local Feeding America food bank. For each school breakfast purchased by students during the week, Kellogg's will donate a bowl of cereal to a local food bank through its "Eat, Share, Prosper" program. According to school officials, Prince George's County public school serve an average of 170,000 breakfasts each week.

The BWI Business Partnership's breakfast will feature Christian Johansson, the Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development, Tuesday, March 20 from 7:45 to 9:15 a.m at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7795 Arundel Mills Blvd., in Hanover. Johansson will speak about critical issues involving Maryland's competitive business climate, both regionally and in the international marketplace; and the work of his department's Office of Military and Federal Affairs and the state's tourism promotion efforts.

The United Methodist Church of Savage is hosting Breakfast with the Easter Bunny Saturday, March 24 from 8 to 11 a.m. at 9050 Baltimore St., in Savage. Cost is $3 for one pancake, scoop of eggs and sausage; $6 for two pancakes, two scoops of eggs and two sausages. Beverages included. Bring your camera for pictures with the Easter Bunny. Call the office, 301-725-7630, with questions.

WESTMINSTER - The Carroll County NAACP branch will host its 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 a.m. at Martin's Caterers of Westminster, located at Route 140 and Route 97, Westminster. WESTMINSTER - The Carroll County NAACP branch will host its 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 a.m. at Martin's Caterers of Westminster, located at Route 140 and Route 97, Westminster. The guest speaker will be Joshua Parker, winner of the 2011-12 Maryland Teacher of the Year award.

The United Methodist Church of Savage is hosting Breakfast with the Easter Bunny Saturday, March 24 from 8 to 11 a.m. at 9050 Baltimore St., in Savage. Cost is $3 for one pancake, scoop of eggs and sausage; $6 for two pancakes, two scoops of eggs and two sausages. Beverages included. Bring your camera for pictures with the Easter Bunny. Call the office, 301-725-7630, with questions.

At our monthly breakfast gathering at the big round table by the kitchen at Jimmy's, the Fells Point diner, someone remarked that Ron Matz, the affable WJZ-TV reporter who frequently reports from there, looked dapper as a pallbearer in a black wool topcoat and dark suit. "I'm practicing for my next job, after I retire," Mr. Matz said. "I'm going to be a greeter at Sol Levinson. " Someone went a step further and suggested that Mr. Matz, a longtime Baltimore broadcaster, might finally make his fortune in retirement by anchoring live cablecasts of funerals from the Sol Levinson & Bros.

I am no longer a Baltimore TechBreakfast virgin. This morning, I trekked out of the house early, leaving my wife to fend for herself with our three little kids. I waited in ridiculous downtown Baltimore traffic, but finally made it the Advertising.com headquarters in Locust Point, where BTB was being held. ( Here's the Meetup information .) I got there, unfortunately, at the tail end of EchoPhi's presentation. (Sorry guys. Drop me a line at gus.sentementes@baltsun.com with a short summary of what you're building, please!