Carrot Cake

The rock music is deafening when you enter the dark bar, and people are shouting to be heard over it. Your head starts to pound in time to the music. You know you don't want to eat dinner with this much noise, but you don't much feel like turning around and walking out again. So you start up the steep staircase to the dining room, past the surprisingly elegant little aquarium set in the wall, up to the door at the top.And you're in another world. (As long as the door is shut.)The second floor of this Charles Street rowhouse consists of several small rooms connected by a hallway.

Given all the violent crime in these parts, it's almost charming to see something like this pop up in The Sun's police blotter: "Woodlawn. Burglary - Someone entered the rear yard of a house in the 5900 block of Johnson St. on Saturday morning and removed a tomato from a tomato plant. The tomato was valued at $3, police said." Who was covering cops, Beatrix Potter? This garden caper is a little darker than the one with Peter Rabbit and Mr. MacGregor. The alleged fruit-napper - veggie-napper for any Reaganites out there - didn't slip away.

As a rule, dads don't get taken out to restaurants on Father's Day. Restaurants are trying to put families in seats on Sunday, luring them with steaks and golf balls. If you know of other restaurants with Father's Day promotions, drop me a line at richad.gorelick@baltsun.com Cinghiale ¿ Families can add to the collection of decorated wine bottles on display here by personalizing a wine bottle in Dad's honor. Bottles can be taken home. The Father's Day menu will highlight steaks, crispy fried vegetables and a unique fried Italian desserts.

Feeding kids has never been easy.Time crunches, grab-'n'-go lifestyles, single-parent families, two-working-parent families and mounds of confusing nutrition information increase the pressure.But help is at hand, and it's free!The ABC's of Children's Nutrition is a 20-page, magazine-size pamphlet stuffed with sound nutrition information that's geared to make meal times easier, while improving kids' performance at school and at play.Written by Mindy Hermann, a registered dietitian and mother of twin boys, the pamphlet covers special nutritional needs from pregnancy through the teen years.

Mom gets taken out in May, Dads not so much in June. Could be that's changing. Baltimore restaurants are tempting pops with steak, golf balls, beer and whiskey. Here's what I know about local restaurant promotions for Father's Day. Tell me more, either in the comments, or in an email to me at richard.gorelick@baltsun.com Cinghiale – Families can add to the collection of decorated wine bottles on display here by personalizing a wine bottle in Dad's honor. Bottles can be taken home.

It's hard to imagine, but some of you really want to gain weight. Surprisingly, it's tough to do. You may have a small appetite, or you may eat a lot and burn a lot.To gain 1/2 pound per week, you'll have to eat 500 calories more each day than you do now, and add a little exercise. The weight you gain will be either muscle or fat. For most very thin people, a little of each is just fine.To gain muscle, you'll need to exercise. But don't overdo it. About 30 minutes three times a week is enough for general conditioning.

Think of it as the American equivalent of a tapas bar. Mitchell Pressman has opened the Chesapeake Wine Co. in the American Can Co. building. At the center of the dramatic space where his wine shop is located is a wine bar and tables. There you can get wines by the glass and food provided by Spike & Charlie's.Right now the food is mostly individual pizzas, savory tarts and baguettes with cheese, olives and the like; but Pressman is planning to introduce salads soon. He thinks of his place as "a happy-hour restaurant"; but with hours starting at 11 a.m. every day, the Chesapeake Wine Co. would be a good place to have lunch as well.

There can be only one champion in the junior division of the baked goods category at the Talbot County Fair, and it comes down to this: an 8-year-old boy vs. a 10-year-old girl. His yellow butter cake vs. her white cake. The decision is in the judges' hands (pinched off in bite-sized morsels because the 4-H volunteers couldn't find any forks). Holding one piece is Glenn Burgess, a 64-year-old retired carpenter whose culinary credentials include marrying a cook, fathering two chefs and developing a potbelly.

Class 2A state championship No. 1 Hereford (13-0) vs. Potomac-Prince George's (13-0) Time: 11 a.m. Where: M&T Bank Stadium Outlook: The coaches have seen each other's teams five times each. Hereford's Steve Turnbaugh has visited the Wolverines' stadium so often, he jokes about how the grandmother of Potomac WR Eric Westbrooks started giving him homemade carrot cake as soon as he arrived. Potomac coach Eric Knight, meanwhile, grew accustomed to eating the pit beef from the concession stand at Hereford's field.

I've often been asked, "Why is there always a line at the G&M Restaurant?" But I wasn't able to answer until a recent visit to satisfy my curiosity. I now have an answer - well, maybe several answers. The service, the food, the atmosphere. And did I mention the food? Never have I had crab cakes with such huge chunks of crab meat. If you like crab cakes, these are heavenly. But I'm jumping ahead. When we arrived at 6 p.m., without reservations, there was a moderate line outside the Linthicum restaurant.