Dinner

Will it be hot?Last week I mentioned that restaurateur Gonzalo Fernandez, formerly at Michaelangelo in Annapolis, will be opening his own place soon. The restaurant is called Jalapeno (85 Forest Drive, Annapolis), and should be open for business in early April.The Spanish-Mexican menu will include some of the Spanish dishes from Michaelangelo, but the food will be more moderately priced, with dinner entrees costing from $8.50 to $15. The chef, Obed Serrano, is from Mexico. His signature dishes include paella and stuffed chili peppers.

ABIRDSEED SALE TO benefit Mount Airy's Audrey Carroll Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, off Old Annapolis Road, is being held this month.Local volunteers, including Scouts and Linganore High School's Ecology Club, have donated their time to help the sanctuary promote environmental education, habitat restoration and preservation, and good stewardship of natural areas.As part of the National Audubon Society, the goals of the Audrey Carroll Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary include conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

An elderly Kent County man was in critical condition yesterday after contracting salmonella poisoning at a dinner held by a volunteer fire company, health officials said. At least 16 other people were sickened by the bacteria.Authorities would not identify the elderly man but said he was admitted Wednesday to Kent & Queen Anne's Hospital in Chestertown. "He's more critical today than yesterday, and we're very concerned," said Dr. John A. Grant of the Kent County Health Department.The dinner was held as a fund-raiser by Millington Fire Company March 20, one of four such meals the company prepares each year.

By the summer, patrons at a new and expanded Harry's Main Street in Westminster will be able to order a beer with their chili dogs or an Irish coffee after dinner.Owner Harry Sirinakis was granted a liquor license last week by the county's Board of License Commissioners, but the license won't take effect until after a planned $540,000 expansion and renovation of his West Main Street restaurant."We're not a bar -- we're a family restaurant -- I'm a family man," said Sirinakis, 37 and the father of three, not counting the restaurant that he likens to a fourth child.

After organizing free Thanksgiving dinners for the last 18 years -- including a huge feast yesterday -- Bea Gaddy will step aside as she takes her place on the Baltimore City Council.Gaddy, 66, a longtime advocate for the poor and homeless in East Baltimore, was elected to the 2nd District in November and will take office next month. Her charity organization will continue to run under new leadership."I will give the reins to someone else," said Gaddy, standing outside Dunbar Junior High School yesterday.

Guests at the Maryland Institute, College of Art's Artafare didn't have to go far to have dinner in the French countryside, or in a New York cabaret, or in the midst of the Milky Way. Those exotic locales, and seven more, could all be found in the institute's main building.Mingling in the main court before dinner was an eclectic collection of 470 guests, including Fredye and Adam Gross, event co-chairs; Fred Lazarus, Maryland Institute president; Ann South, the institute's event planner; Doreen Bolger, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art; and Kay MacIntosh, editor of Style magazine.

Victor Sciukas will be navigating the grocery aisles this week, studying a list that would intimidate the most experienced shopper. He needs a dozen hefty turkeys, numerous cartons of stuffing mix and fresh fruit by the case."

For Janet Gates, serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner meant preparing nearly 80 pounds of turkey, 50 pounds each of potatoes, homemade stuffing, sauerkraut, dinner rolls and pumpkin pies for more than 200.That was before the food services director at the Carroll County Detention Center headed home to New Windsor to cook today's holiday dinner for her family.Gates had help. She could call upon three full-time staff cooks and a dozen or more inmates to assist in the preparation, service and cleanup.

Victor Sciukas will be navigating the grocery aisles this week, studying a list that would intimidate the most experienced shopper. He needs a dozen hefty turkeys, numerous cartons of stuffing mix and fresh fruit by the case."

The South Carroll Republican Club will have its third annual Ol' Glory Days Dinner June 18 at Martin's Westminster.Guests will be U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, an Arkansas Republican, and U.S. Sen. Robert C. Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who is a presidential candidate.A private reception with the guests will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by the dinner and program.Tickets are $40 for the dinner and $100 for dinner and reception. Deadline for tickets is Friday.Information: 410-781-6316 or 410-875-0605.

TODAY LIVING FOODS DINNER: Jodi Allen from Loving Life Cafe in Pennsylvania hosts a five-course dinner featuring the flavors of Italy at Pizzazz Tuscan Grille, 711 Eastern Ave., at 7 p.m. The menu includes minestrone soup, pesto-stuffed portobello mushrooms, fresh fennel and organic figs, organic tricolor linguine and gelato or tiramisu. The dinner is $40 per person. To reserve a place, call 410-528-7772 or go to opentable.com. KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND: If you're one of those people incapable of holding still when you hear such boogie anthems as "That's the Way (I Like It)

Iwent to dinners with the mayor of New York City on two consecutive evenings last week. (Well, I didn't exactly go "with" him, but he did kiss me twice as we passed like ships in the night.) What really happened is I sat next to the wily and clever Steve Rattner at the MOMA dinner, and he and I plotted how we could help Mike Bloomberg get a third term: Set aside the absurd Ronald Lauder "term limits" rule, get that on the ballot in November and turn out 51 percent of voters who want Mike to stay on. (The suggestions of those who "might" run for mayor otherwise leaves any thinking person dejected and limp.

Disc jockey Johnny Dark is on the air five hours a day, seven days a week -- but don't try listening in the U.S. He is now on WorldSpace satellite radio and commutes to its Silver Spring studio three times a week from his Reisterstown home. At last count, he is heard in 132 countries around the globe. "I get e-mails from Qatar and sunny South Africa," he said yesterday about his music and his program, The Hop, which features songs of the 1950s through the early 1970s. "There are no commercials, and I find myself educating people about the oldies.

It's less than a week before Valentine's Day, and you haven't thought about where to have dinner yet. You despair of getting in at your favorite - or perhaps any - restaurant. Baby sitters are booked. And who can muster much energy for a big dinner out on a Tuesday night? This year, consider invoking the L-word. Not love. Lunch. Perhaps you remember lunch. That meal you used to eat out, more than occasionally, during the week. You semi-lingered to catch up with old friends, to deepen relationships with clients, even to grab a few relaxing minutes with the one you love.

It's hard to buy Ed Norris dinner in this town. Six months in the slammer would hardly kill a guy's appetite for fine dining, so that's not the problem. Fresh from federal prison, his job options limited but his tragically hip palate intact, Norris is all champagne tastes, bread-and-water budget. "I'm broke," Norris says with cheerful bravado when he accepts my recent invitation for an over-dinner interview. Norris suggests a few restaurants, including Sotto Sopra, the chic Charles Street eatery whose Italian name roughly translates to "You spent HOW MUCH on duck ravioli?"

The story of how Maryland cooks is a tale of two kitchens, our latest reader survey finds. Older cooks tend to make dinner from scratch, eat in the kitchen or dining room, favor American cuisine and say the late Julia Child is their favorite chef. Cooks younger than age 35 use prepared foods more often, prefer Italian cuisine, are fans of TV chef Rachael Ray and often eat dinner in front of the television. More than 1,500 readers responded to the third annual Taste survey online and in the newspaper.

WASHINGTON - In a town better known for turning its back on friends in need, the embattled House majority leader, Tom DeLay, was saluted last night as a hero to the conservative movement in a glittering hotel ballroom packed to capacity. "We don't run from our wounded," declared Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation. As ethical questions about his travels, fund raising and close ties with lobbyists engulf DeLay, conservative leaders joined forces to praise the Houston Republican and to beat back Democratic attacks over filet mignon and Atlantic salmon.

Many women would agree that men perform few tasks worse than planning for Valentine's Day. And for men, trying to please a significant other without going broke is a struggle. "One of the least romantic days of the year is Valentine's Day," contends Michael Webb, a relationship author and operator of TheRomantic.com Web site. "The majority of men act like robots, purchasing flowers and chocolate for their sweethearts because that is what everyone else is doing. Many people celebrate the day out of obligation rather than celebration."

A Carroll County church is offering an Election Day drive-through spaghetti dinner to those too weary to cook after a day at the office and lines at the polls. Patrons can pick up the Italian fare, with tossed salad, garlic bread and choice of homemade desserts. While about 200 pounds of pasta and 50 gallons of sauce simmer, the youth ministry at Wesley Freedom United Methodist Church in Eldersburg will set up tented serving stations on the parking lot today. They promise prompt delivery to dinner guests, who can buy meal tickets and place their orders, choose salad dressing and dessert and carry off heaping plates of warm pasta, all without leaving their cars.

An Eldersburg church is offering an Election Day drive-through spaghetti dinner to those too weary to cook after a day at the office and lines at the polls. Patrons can pick up the Italian fare, complete with tossed salad, garlic bread and choice of homemade dessert. While about 200 pounds of pasta and 50 gallons of sauce simmers, the youth ministry at Wesley Freedom United Methodist Church will set up tented service stations on the parking lot today. They promise prompt delivery to idling dinner guests who can buy meal tickets and place their orders, choose salad dressing and dessert and carry off heaping plates of warm pasta, all without leaving the comfort of their cars.