Fruit Salad

Including kids in meal preparation provides a pinch of learning during the summer. Measuring, pouring, stirring and observing chemical reactions in a mixing bowl is exciting stuff for curious, growing minds. While educators refer to such activities as "teachable moments," there is more than instruction going on. When we spend uninterrupted time with our kids, we are building both skills and relationships.Here's a delightful summer salad you and your kids can make together. Serve it in a half shell of a pineapple.

The characters in the newest Wendy's ads are transvestite parodies of the hamburger chain's adorable little-girl mascot. Wendy's summery fruit salad - introduced two years ago in the depth of winter - flopped. Around the same time a hoaxer put a severed finger in an order of Wendy's chili. McDonald's and Burger King are eating Wendy's lunch. No wonder Wendy's shareholders got mad. But at least they can sell their stock. Breaking up isn't so easy for Wendy's franchisees. They are joined at the hip to a company that hasn't gotten it right since founder Dave Thomas died, and have finally decided to turn up the heat.

Must be a clue-plate specialWHAT IS Mo's Seafood Factory trying to tell us? Confused Glen Burnie residents are scratching their heads over this "X-Files"-style marquee message at the neighborhood restaurant:MON THCPA 1$ BeeAFTEP 8 PM-- Rosemary ArmaoFresh store, fresh fruitSupermarket competition along Ritchie Highway grew a little stiffer last week with the opening of a Weis store in the Festival at Pasadena Shopping Center.Just so you know the lineup heading south on Ritchie from Glen Burnie to Severna Park, it's Giant, Mars, Weis, Giant, Weis, Metro, Valu, Giant -- with a Food Lion under construction somewhere in between.

Ellicott City-ites now have more options for dinner - thanks to the new gourmet takeout, Noah's on the Side, just opened by husband-and-wife chefs Sharon and Russel Braitsch. After years of working for Linwood's, Peerce's Plantation, Corks and Savannah, they wanted to open their own restaurant, Sharon Braitsch says. But, once they had a son on the way, they knew they wanted to have enough time to spend with him. "And with restaurant chefs' hours, we knew that was impossible," Braitsch says.

It's tough being a vegetarian restaurant these days.On the one hand, consumption of beef, butter, bacon and eggs is on the rise. My guess is that people are a little less into self-denial than they have been, especially when they're eating out.On the other hand, if you are a vegetarian, you can find wonderful non-meat dishes at any number of ethnic restaurants. And just about any chef at any type of restaurant these days is happy to make a vegetable platter for his customers.So I feel sorry for Sprouts, the relatively new natural foods cafe in Owings Mills.

LEANDRA'S 1016 S. Charles St. Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. (410) 837-0130. Ever notice how freshness is next to godliness? Vegetables and fruit, of course, taste their very best the closer to picking that you get your teeth into them. And sandwiches and salads can go from simple to sublime when the slicing and dicing occur after you've ordered one.LeAndra's (subtitled: Creative Catering & Carry Away) is one of those tiny Federal Hill storefronts that seem several steps closer to freshness than other eateries.

We have become a nation of consumption without responsibility.After all, think for a minute about the proliferation of All-You-Can-Eat-Everything Bars.For one fee simple, you can force yourself to eat more in one sitting than you would ordinarily eat in an entire day -- in the name of economy.It's a great deal like our national debt.We now have all-you-can-eat smorgasbords of crab legs, barbecued everything, breakfast items and, of course, salads.Now there's food for thought.A salad BAR.''Yes, I'm eating light tonight.

The characters in the newest Wendy's ads are transvestite parodies of the hamburger chain's adorable little-girl mascot. Wendy's summery fruit salad - introduced two years ago in the depth of winter - flopped. Around the same time a hoaxer put a severed finger in an order of Wendy's chili. McDonald's and Burger King are eating Wendy's lunch. No wonder Wendy's shareholders got mad. But at least they can sell their stock. Breaking up isn't so easy for Wendy's franchisees. They are joined at the hip to a company that hasn't gotten it right since founder Dave Thomas died, and have finally decided to turn up the heat.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost- cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyWhat's July Fourth without hamburgers with all the trimmings of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, mayonnaise and mustard?

When Wall Street opened today with the Dow Jones industrial average standing at 3,833.43 -- 79 points above (!) its New Year's Day level -- Faith Fishkind, Baltimore, led our annual forecasting contest with her year-end prediction, made last January, of 3,830. Second is Doris Wade, Sykesville, at 3,838, followed by Mary Jane Meisel, Ellicott City, at 3,827. The final winner receives dinner for two at his or her favorite restaurant, guests of Mr. and Mrs. Ticker. Runner-up, ditto for lunch.

It had been a really bad day at the office. I'm sure you know what I mean. Whether you are an astronaut or a postal worker, there are days when you leave muttering, "They don't pay me enough to put up with this nonsense." Head down, shoulders sagging, grim-faced, I trudged to the parking lot and decided that I would stop at the grocery store on the way home. I would cook myself out of this funk. Once there, I threw items into my grocery cart that I generally don't allow myself to purchase.

To most people, golden leaves and cooler temperatures signal fall's arrival. For me, it's the bounty of the harvest. What has taken the farmer months to nurture finally comes to fruition. And perhaps the most extraordinary fall arrival is the pear.The flavor of pears is lighter and more subtle than that of apples. Pears should be picked while still hard. Unlike most fruit, pears improve both in texture and flavor after they are picked. Luckily, today's transportation methods make pears from around the world readily available, including French Comice, red and golden Bartletts, Boscs and Anjous.

Must be a clue-plate specialWHAT IS Mo's Seafood Factory trying to tell us? Confused Glen Burnie residents are scratching their heads over this "X-Files"-style marquee message at the neighborhood restaurant:MON THCPA 1$ BeeAFTEP 8 PM-- Rosemary ArmaoFresh store, fresh fruitSupermarket competition along Ritchie Highway grew a little stiffer last week with the opening of a Weis store in the Festival at Pasadena Shopping Center.Just so you know the lineup heading south on Ritchie from Glen Burnie to Severna Park, it's Giant, Mars, Weis, Giant, Weis, Metro, Valu, Giant -- with a Food Lion under construction somewhere in between.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost- cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyWhat's July Fourth without hamburgers with all the trimmings of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, mayonnaise and mustard?

The first time I went to Grandmother Zimmerman's house for Christmas Eve dinner, the last thing I was thinking about was food. My husband, Todd, and I had only been dating six months then. The annual gathering at his grandmother's farm was our first big holiday together.To be honest, there were a lot of new experiences cluttering my mind that first Christmas. Todd is a fifth generation dairyman who's never worked anywhere but the family farm. I grew up in the very middle class suburbs of Montgomery County and hadn't spent too much time around cows, though I was an agriculture reporter when we met. Even after six months on a working dairy farm -- and I knew after the first few weeks that this is where I wanted to stay -- the reality of farm life hadn't quite set in.That first Christmas Eve began like those I have spent since: In the barn, because the cows never take a holiday.

Including kids in meal preparation provides a pinch of learning during the summer. Measuring, pouring, stirring and observing chemical reactions in a mixing bowl is exciting stuff for curious, growing minds. While educators refer to such activities as "teachable moments," there is more than instruction going on. When we spend uninterrupted time with our kids, we are building both skills and relationships.Here's a delightful summer salad you and your kids can make together. Serve it in a half shell of a pineapple.

It had been a really bad day at the office. I'm sure you know what I mean. Whether you are an astronaut or a postal worker, there are days when you leave muttering, "They don't pay me enough to put up with this nonsense." Head down, shoulders sagging, grim-faced, I trudged to the parking lot and decided that I would stop at the grocery store on the way home. I would cook myself out of this funk. Once there, I threw items into my grocery cart that I generally don't allow myself to purchase.

Ellicott City-ites now have more options for dinner - thanks to the new gourmet takeout, Noah's on the Side, just opened by husband-and-wife chefs Sharon and Russel Braitsch. After years of working for Linwood's, Peerce's Plantation, Corks and Savannah, they wanted to open their own restaurant, Sharon Braitsch says. But, once they had a son on the way, they knew they wanted to have enough time to spend with him. "And with restaurant chefs' hours, we knew that was impossible," Braitsch says.

When Wall Street opened today with the Dow Jones industrial average standing at 3,833.43 -- 79 points above (!) its New Year's Day level -- Faith Fishkind, Baltimore, led our annual forecasting contest with her year-end prediction, made last January, of 3,830. Second is Doris Wade, Sykesville, at 3,838, followed by Mary Jane Meisel, Ellicott City, at 3,827. The final winner receives dinner for two at his or her favorite restaurant, guests of Mr. and Mrs. Ticker. Runner-up, ditto for lunch.

It's tough being a vegetarian restaurant these days.On the one hand, consumption of beef, butter, bacon and eggs is on the rise. My guess is that people are a little less into self-denial than they have been, especially when they're eating out.On the other hand, if you are a vegetarian, you can find wonderful non-meat dishes at any number of ethnic restaurants. And just about any chef at any type of restaurant these days is happy to make a vegetable platter for his customers.So I feel sorry for Sprouts, the relatively new natural foods cafe in Owings Mills.