Butter

An estimated 5,000 lynchings took place during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. Most went unsolved, but some of the people responsible for those and other horrific race murders are still alive. There is still time to hold them accountable. That's the idea behind the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a 422 to 2 vote but has since stalled in the Senate. The bill would create a "cold case" squad in the Justice Department to pursue unsolved civil rights murders.

Like most cooks, when I decide to have a dinner party, I usually pick the main course first, then figure out the rest of the menu. Rarely does a side dish become the inspiration for a meal. This past week, however, after testing a recipe for buttered orzo tossed with peas, fresh mint and parmigiano-reggiano cheese, I changed my mind. I was so excited about this delectable spring pasta and vegetable creation that I planned an entire menu around it for a coming dinner for friends. Orzo, the oval-shaped pasta that looks like large grains of rice, can be cooked simply in boiling salted water for a few minutes until tender, then drained, tossed in butter and if desired, seasoned with some grated cheese such as parmesan.

Amy Ackerman of Aurora, Ore., was looking for a recipe for a scalloped-potato-and-salmon dish she thought was called "Loxlotta." She said that she ate this casserole many years ago in a small town in the northeast corner of Oregon - where salmon fishing is an important industry - populated by many people of Finnish and Norwegian backgrounds. Irma Ollila of Clatskanie, Ore., had a recipe for a salmon casserole she calls "Laxlada" that seemed to be exactly what Ackerman was looking for. It can be made using either canned or fresh salmon.

Charles Warner of Santa Rosa, Calif., was searching for a recipe for making peanut butter. Kathleen Kosinski of North East looked through several of her cookbooks and found a recipe for homemade nut butter in her copy of Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars by Ceil Dyer. This recipe is a cinch to make provided you have a food processor or blender. It can be made with almost any type of nut, salted or unsalted, depending on your preference. I tested it with dry-roasted and salted peanuts, which I processed with vegetable oil and honey until smooth.

PARIS -- This is a city for lovers, yes? Well, I came prepared with a checklist for my romantic dates in love-soaked Paris. Butter? Check. Small silver knife? Check. Napkins. Check. Plan de Paris (that indispensable book of street maps)? Check. Next, I purchased a carnet, that nifty bundle of 10 train tickets for the Paris Metro, and off I went. Off to consummate my love affair with that most quintessential of all French things -- the baguette. Some people go to Paris to traipse through gardens; to take in magnificent paintings, ancient textiles and other gleaming bits of antiquity; to marvel at cathedrals boasting magnificent windows of colored light.

If you can bypass the butter, popcorn is a low-fat, whole-grain snack full of fiber. But it can be tough to resist the beast. This Rosemary Cheese Popcorn recipe gussies up fat-free microwave popcorn with an herb and cheese and a single tablespoon of butter to make the popcorn stick. When buying microwave popcorn, watch out for "butter flavoring." Recently the Associated Press reported that a man who had eaten three bags of microwaved popcorn a day for several years was diagnosed with a severe respiratory ailment known as "popcorn lung."

The Pastry Queen Christmas By Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman Christmas Sweets Georgeanne Brennan Chronicle Books / 2007 / $18.95 Talk about visions of sugarplums. This book will have you rolling dough and sharpening your X-Acto knife to create a gingerbread cookie box. Apricot-Pistachio Bars are gift-giving pretty. And the creative packaging ideas for your edible gifts spread the good cheer. joannah.hill@baltsun.com Apricot-Pistachio Bars -- Makes about sixty-five 1 1/2 -inch squares 1 teaspoon butter plus 1 cup (2 sticks)

My cooking students tell me repeatedly that when entertaining they look for dishes that can be prepared ahead and need only minimal last-minute attention. They don't want to be burdened with so much kitchen work that they miss socializing with their guests.I certainly kept that thought in mind as I planned the menus for this fall's classes. For my first session, I chose a Provencal theme and selected simple racks of lamb that are seasoned with garlic and herbs, then roasted for 25 minutes.

After I asked one of my new culinary assistants to test Bittersweet Chocolate Toffee Squares, she called back quite enthusiastic.She loved these squares made with a butter-rich crust spread with a thin layer of dark chocolate and a topping of chopped pecans and toffee bits. She reported that her children and husband had already eaten a good amount of the stash. What she was most excited about, however, was adding this recipe to the traditional ones that she and her mother and grandmother make each year when they get together to do their holiday baking.

1919: Prohibition begins1920: U.S. women given vote1921: Carver invents peanut butter1922: KKK active in South

Louise Wolfe of Bend, Ore., wrote on behalf of her 75-year-old neighbor who is in search of a recipe for a sour cream chocolate cake. Her neighbor had a recipe that she enjoyed from many years ago that she lent to someone and never got back. Mary Alice Lawson of Jackson, Miss., sent in a recipe that was given to her in the 1950s when she was first married. She says she has made it countless times over the years and it remains a family favorite to this day. This cake is an old-fashioned, pure and simple, melt-in-your-mouth slice of chocolate heaven.

Linda Watkins of Knoxville, Tenn., was looking for a recipe for a type of cookie that her grandmother used to make. She called them "old butter cookies." She would take dough cut into squares and put a pat of old butter and some sugar into the center, then fold the corners into the center and bake. Alice Nulle of Woodstock, Ill., sent in a recipe for what she calls Butter Squares. It sounds just like what Watkins' grandmother used to make except, thankfully, it does not call for old butter.

Ann Paszkiewicz of Fallston was looking for a recipe for a rice-cheese bake that she said was probably at least 35 years old. Mary Rollins of Martinsburg, W.Va., sent in this recipe from an old cookbook called Recipes Out of This World by the Women of St. Agnes Catholic Church in Charleston, W.Va. Recipe request * Patti Kress of Osprey, Fla., said that while visiting Baltimore some years ago she had a wonderful Asiago cheese spread that she purchased at the cheese store in the Cross Street Market in South Baltimore.

Hometown: Baltimore Members: Peter Wile, vocals, guitar and harmonica; Gena Smith, guitar, vocals and pedal steel; Corey Zook, guitar; Lance Smith, drums; Nick Jewett, bass Founded : 2007 Style : rock/Americana Influenced by : Bob Dylan, the blues, Hank Williams Notable: Tomorrow, the band will officially release its first full-length album, Hearts, Roads and Tears. Instead of building a song layer by layer, band members set up and recorded live in studio. Quotable : "We're a live band, so we figured we'd play them live," Zook said.

Late in the afternoon, a time of day when many teenagers were chilling, those in Wendy Parker Robinson's class were still in school, still sweating. Clad in chef's whites, they were chopping squash, searing chicken breasts, forming balls of goat cheese and beautifying butter. They were getting ready to feed 200 people dinner at the National Academy Foundation High School, housed on the Digital Harbor campus in Federal Hill. It was the school's first Restaurant Night, when students in its hospitality and tourism classes would serve a three-course meal to anyone quick enough to book a reservation.

Dripping with butter and maple syrup or topped with fruit and whipped cream, the humble pancake is at once so decadent and comforting that it is right that it should have its own holiday. Pancakes are the traditional food for the last meal before the start of Lent, the Christian season of fasting that starts next week. Whether it is known as Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, this day was used by our penitent ancestors to consume the last of the sugar, butter and eggs before the traditional 40 days of denial began.

Mary Bertek of Traverse City, Mich., was looking for a very old recipe for Nutmeg Cake. It was her grandmother's recipe, which Bertek lost when she moved into her "new" home in 1955. For years she tried to find one like it, with no luck. She said the cake was very moist and delicious and needed no frosting. Eileen Shrey of New Freedom, Pa., had a recipe given to her by her mother-in-law. The cake is fairly simple and has a strong nutmeg flavor. Shrey's recipe called for using lard and sour milk and did not have a baking time, which gives you an indication of how old her recipe must be. I decided to substitute unsalted butter for the lard and used buttermilk instead of the sour milk because I thought they would improve the taste.

Two Baltimore children are among eight Marylanders reportedly sickened by salmonella contamination that federal authorities have traced to peanut butter products from a plant in Georgia. Baltimore's health commissioner, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, confirmed that the children, ages 1 and 9, were among three Baltimore residents sickened late last year. The third was a 20-year-old. All have recovered. The eight Maryland cases identified so far are among 475 salmonella infections in 43 states linked by DNA analysis to the outbreak that began last fall.

More companies join recall of peanut butter snack foods WASHINGTON : The company that sells Little Debbie snacks announced a recall yesterday of peanut butter crackers because of a potential link to a deadly salmonella outbreak. The voluntary recall came one day after the government advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods with peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination. The announcement by McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn.

Claire Krach of Glen Arm was looking for a recipe for Nancy Reagan's Persimmon Pudding that she said dates to the Reagan White House. Janet Morrissey of Baltimore had the recipe, which was clipped from a newspaper and taped to a recipe card in her mother's recipe box. She says it is a very good dessert that everyone in her family loves. Persimmons are available from October through December. This dense, velvety pudding will make for an elegant and festive finish to any holiday meal. If you are looking for a hard-to-find recipe or can answer a request, write to Julie Rothman, Recipe Finder, The Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278, or e-mail recipefinder@baltsun.