Fancy

Parsnip and celery root are layered with nutmeg-laced cream and two kinds of cheese for this luscious gratin created by Ari Rosenson, chef de cuisine of Cut in Los Angeles. This recipe calls for a 9-inch gratin dish or deep-dish pie plate. Betty Hallock writes for the Los Angeles Times, which provided the recipe analysis. CELERY ROOT AND PARSNIP GRATIN Serves 8 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1 pinch nutmeg 2 large celery roots (about 2 1/2 pounds total)

Does the shape of the wineglass affect the taste of the wine? Yes and no, say sippers who know. When arguing in the affirmative, they tell me the proper configuration of the glass - wider at its bottom, tapered at its top - allows for the felicitous pairing of air and wine surface. This, in short, allows you to stop, swirl and smell the good stuff. World-renowned wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. likens the work done by a well-made glass to meteorological events. Swirling the wine in the bottom of the glass creates a "cyclone," he says.

Every element in the elegant mansion speaks of Colonial-era grandeur, with every brick pleasingly in place. But it is the ornate doorway of the 1774 Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, with its graceful carved roses, that catches a discerning visitor's eye. Thomas Jefferson was an early admirer. He carefully sketched the ornate street facade -- or frontispiece -- that helped inspire the design of his Virginia mountaintop mansion, Monticello. Now the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the premier historic preservation nonprofit organization, is bringing it to a wider audience.

Minutes after the Ravens' 27-26 comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 12, linebacker Adalius Thomas - who made eight tackles and a sack despite a jammed finger - took a welcome hot shower, dried himself off and prepared to get dressed. But rather than wrap his weary, 6-foot-2, 270-pound frame in, say, a long-sleeved polo shirt and sweat pants, Thomas meticulously dressed in a sharp-looking gray suit with a blue shirt, blue-and-gray tie and blue alligator shoes. Ravens@Chiefs Sunday, 1 p.m., Ch. 13, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Chiefs by 3

CHICAGO -- President Bush has a way, when asked about American treatment of alleged terrorists, of narrowing his eyes, jutting out his chin and stating, emphatically, "We do not torture." It's the most convincing declaration by a president since Bill Clinton told the nation, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Mr. Clinton was telling the truth, in his way, because he defined sexual relations to exclude oral intimacy. Like Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bush has used a seemingly unequivocal statement for the purpose of equivocation.

This fall, black is the new black. Color is out. (Give or take a splash of red.) Dark is in. Black, always in fashion, is this season's must-have color, says Michael Fink, a Saks Fifth Avenue vice president and women's fashion director. "Next to the drab grays and browns currently saturating the market, black looks positively uplifting." Some shoppers are skeptical. One of them is Catherine Hamilton, a 35-year-old who lives in SoWeBo and works in sales. Black is ordinary, she says. "Every season women are looking for something special, something that will pop, something that will make them look great.

Around noon yesterday, while most of Anne Arundel County was shut up in air-conditioned homes and offices, Marty Bonifant braved the seven-minute walk from her home to the nearest post office. She made it there, but the way back was tough going. Breathing hard and pouring sweat, the 41-year-old Edgewater resident stepped into the South County Senior Center and was promptly handed a cup of cold water. "I know they'll invite anyone in and be kind to you and take care of you," Bonifant said of the senior center, relaxing visibly after every sip. "The Holy Spirit brought me in here.

What was good at the 34th annual fancy food show at the javits center in Manhattan? Lots. I spent July 9 trawling the aisles of this annual three-day specialty-food extravaganza. According to its organizers, the show's 2,200 exhibitors displayed 160,000 items. (Though it should be noted that a good 3,000 or 4,000 of them appeared to be decorative baskets.) A panel of judges, representing specialty retailers from all over the country, was charged with the task of singling out 21 products for recognition.

In May, when the weather is benign and the bugs are asleep, all schemes for garden success seem possible. If, like me, you have never met an heirloom tomato plant you didn't like, then the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend usually finds you at the Herb Festival in Baltimore's Leakin Park (details at baltimoreherbfestival.com), up to your eyeballs in recently purchased leafage. In prior years, I have bought enough vegetables and my wife has snared enough flowers at this festival to fill a station wagon and drain a bank account.

Ernestine Crump is a teenager with a vivid imagination. When life disappoints her, she rejiggers reality into happier snippets. "At least I wish he had said that," the 17-year-old narrator of Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy says after treating us to brief scenes showing the way she'd like things to be. Crumbs from the Table of Joy Through June 11 at Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St. $10-$60. 410-332-0033 or centerstage.org