Cheese

Zachary Seitz was ready to party. Grinning from ear to ear, he ogled the presents piled on his table and rushed off to play his first game of air hockey.The birthday boy was celebrating his sweet 6th in style. Surrounded by family and friends, he entered a glittering world of bright lights and music, dancing animals and arcade games.A dazzling array of entertainment options -- kiddie rides, flashing video games, Skee Ball and free-throw basketball -- beckoned. Within a few minutes, Zachary had spent four game tokens and proclaimed the celebration his "best birthday ever."

For the second time in a year, I find myself in Paris on an extended stay. My good fortune in returning to France's capital is due to my spouse, a college professor who teaches a seminar on Paris and comes here to do research. As a writer and cooking teacher, I love to spend time in this city where food is one of the most important aspects of daily life. We have returned to the same Left Bank apartment that we rented on our last visit, the one with the tiny but efficient kitchen. The neighborhood shops are now familiar.

This may not be the true-blue version as Southwesterners see it, but there's a lot of debate about what the authentic tamale pie holds and this one is sure to please.If cutting fat is a goal, trade ground white-meat chicken for the beef and the low-fat varieties of the cheese, corn muffins and sour cream. Build a salad from the salad bar or use packaged vegetables. Finish off with fresh fruit. Tamale pieServes 412 ounces ground round (or ground chicken)1 medium onion, finely chopped1 1/4 cup medium (or hot)

At the Greek Orthodox Cathedral near where I live, volunteer cooks, kitchen managers, engineers, advertisers and entertainers, to name only a few, pool their resources, time, energy and expertise to pull off a four-day food festival year after year. Something like 25,000 diners usually attend. This means you're looking at 14,000 grape leaves, 10,000 squares of spanakopita and 10,500 pieces of baklava. Looking well-satisfied, everyone leaves saying, "I love Greek food." What makes Greek food Greek?

Remember when mozzarella meant a brownish-yellow cheese that was low-moisture rubbery? A firm, cut-it-with-a-sharp-blade lasagna ingredient? Thanks to cheese pioneers such as Paula Lambert, now fresh mozzarella cozies up next to cheddar and Jack in the marketplace. Its soft texture and bedsheet-white appearance have become commonplace, sold refrigerated floating in whey-and-water baths in small plastic tubs. Twisted into braids, balls or knots, fresh mozzarella has musical, polysyllabic names like bocconcini, ovolini and ciliegini.

Lately, I haven't been able to enjoy my preferred International Coffee moment in the afternoon, and I'm getting a little cranky. I like a particular flavor called Orange Cappuccino. It lacks that freshly ground aroma and isn't particularly citrus-y, nor does it have the foamy head of a true European cappuccino, but what can I say? My pedestrian tastes find it pleasing. I always have some on hand so that I can trick myself into experiencing what the commercials promise: a cosmopolitan me, sitting on my fashionable tuchis at a sidewalk cafe with a nice cup of pick-me-up.

Cheeseballs make great holiday gifts and hostess presents. They require few ingredients, most of which are in your cupboard, and they can be prepared very quickly.Serve with crackers and/or fresh vegetables. Makes 3 cups.-- Better Homes and Gardens MagazineSilky Roquefort Spread6 ounces blue cheese1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese1/4 pound (1 stick) butter or margarineDash of Worcestershire saucePlace both kinds of cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and allow to come to room temperature.

It's nothing more than a dressed-up piece of bread, but pizza has become America's national dish. It's filling, fast and versatile enough to satisfy anyone -- even children who refuse to eat anything else.The old standby pepperoni-cheese-mushroom pizza now shares the limelight with so-called designer pizza, for which California is generally credited. We have pesto; smoked chicken; all manner of cheese ranging from blue to goat; refried bean and salsa; and countless other versions.These days, if you can put it on bread, you can call it pizza.

* Item: Tombstone Half & Half Pizza* What you get: 4 servings* Cost: About $4.59* Preparation time: 14 to 16 minutes in oven* Review: Modeling itself after your neighborhood pizzeria (where you can split your pizza toppings as you see fit), Tombstone has come out with a series of double-flavored pizzas. They may need a little more fine-tuning, however. We tried the Pepperoni/Cheese flavor and found the grease from the pepperoni migrated farther than expected. All of the cheese slices tasted faintly of pepperoni, not just the ones that were next to the pepperoni side.

You'll find Drovers Grill & Wine Co. along a quiet and hilly stretch of western Howard County highway in Mount Airy. Iif you wanted to take a nice walk after dinner, you could stroll over to Carroll and Frederick counties and make it back in time for an after-dinner drink. Sweet at its core, maybe a little odd, Drovers Grill, which opened last November, is an unpretentious yet fairly ambitious family-run restaurant. On a recent night, Kevan Vanek, the ebullient paterfamilias, was in the kitchen, working alongside one of his seven children.