Frying Pan

* Item: Ore Ida Oven Chips* What you get: 9 servings* Cost: About $2* Preparation time: 4 to 7 minutes broiled, 5 to 10 minutes fried, 12 to 22 minutes baked* Review: Just when you thought Ore Ida had run out of ways to cook potatoes, here come oven chips. Thicker than the average potato chip, but thinner than a steak fry, these potato rounds are coated with a light and crispy batter. You can bake, broil or fry them. I didn't bother to deep-fry, but I did toss a handful in a frying pan with some fish, and the fries cooked up relatively grease-free.

EVERY COOK has a favorite pan, an old reliable, a cooking vessel he feels comfortable working with.Mine is an old skillet, handed down to us from my wife's mother. It doesn't have sloping sides, a nonstick bottom, or a wooden handle, features that are often touted in the kitchen equipment reviews of modern magazines. It simply cooks things well.It is a metal frying pan, cast iron I think. It has steep, straight sides, which make it hard to clean. Its metal handle can burn the careless cook who tries to pick up the hot pan without wearing an insulated glove.

An 18-year-old man, who police said slashed at a Taneytown officer with a butcher knife and swung at him with a frying pan, is being held in the Carroll County Detention Center in lieu of $10,000 bond.The suspect, William F. Burke of the 400 block of Red Tulip Court, Taneytown, also cut his wrist before surrendering to Officer Edward Engel about 4:40 a.m. Wednesday, Taneytown police said yesterday.He was charged by state police in Westminster with assault with intent to murder, assault, battery, malicious destruction of property and related counts.

Frying Pan vs. Drunk DriversPublished in the March 8 edition of The Sun were two articles detailing three different murders, one committed with a frying pan, the other two with a car and alcohol.The judge presiding over the first murder trial sentenced the convicted murderer to life imprisonment. . . .The judge who presided over the trial of the convicted murderer of two victims sentenced the man to 14 months on work release, stating he was running half an hour late for another case.Obviously, the socially unaccepted murder weapon is the frying pan. The socially accepted weapons are the car and alcohol, probably because the savoir-faire excuse of our society is "everyone does it," that is, drink and drive.

A gray-haired great-grandmother was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for using a frying pan, two lamps and a can of beans to beat an elderly North Baltimore man to death."

The problem: It's dinner time. Maybe not right this minute, but soon. It happens every night. But so do a lot of other things, all of which conspire to keep cooks out of kitchens. The simplicity of the skillet can pull them back in.A skillet, frying pan, saute pan, whatever the trusty vessel happens to be called, can be a cook's secret weapon for getting dinner on the table in a hurry. No other piece of equipment, not even the microwave oven, offers so many self-contained mealtime solutions.

Rude SenatorsI recently attended a hearing in Annapolis before the Senate Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee, and I must say that I was appalled by the rude behavior of some of the senators sitting on the committee.In particular, Sen. Michael Collins, D-Baltimore County, continually talked the entire time while testimony was being presented.It may be a political strategy (albeit a discourteous one) to talk while your legislative adversaries are testifying. To carry on conversation while a constituent is testifying, however, is inexcusable.

In an effort to get the creative juices and the maple syrup flowing, I made a new kind of pancake for the family's Sunday morning breakfast. I baked the pancake in the oven.It turned out to be a flavorful, oversize pancake, more like a crepe than a flapjack.But there were howls of protest over its appearance at the breakfast table. The dominant pancake consumers of the clan, the 12-year-old and 8-year-old, did not welcome the newcomer. They wanted the "old pancakes, the ones Dad used to make."

Don't be fooled by the long name. It's the most difficult part of this recipe. Quesadillas, pronounced kay-sa-DEE-yahs, are a kind of Tex-Mex grilled sandwich made with flour tortillas and usually filled with slightly spicy things. Since some kids don't like spicy food, we make ours with pizza fixings so everyone is sure to like them. Because the ingredients are inside instead of on top, we call them inside-out pizzas.Making these pizzas requires no fancy kitchen tricks. Even the youngest school-age child can make them with little or no assistance.

Armenian Lamb Stew2 pounds boneless lean leg of lamb, cut in 1 1/2 -inch cubes2 tablespoons butter2 medium yellow onions, peeled and coarsely chopped1 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon paprika1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper1/2 teaspoon ground allspice1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 cup tomato paste diluted with 1/2 cup water2 tablespoons dry red wineHeat a large frying pan and add the lamb and butter. Brown the meat and place it in a six-quart stove-top casserole, leaving the fat in the frying pan. Saute the onions in the reserved fat and add to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients except the wine.

When I should have left well enough alone, I strayed. It happens, in life and in recipes. I fooled around with the family's pancakes. The established recipe has served us well. It consists of a cup of flour; 3/4 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; a scant amount, maybe 1/4 teaspoon, of salt; 1 egg; 1 cup buttermilk; and 2 tablespoons of butter. I mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, beat the egg, then pour the egg and buttermilk into the flour mixture. I melt the butter in a cast-iron frying pan, then pour all but what's needed to coat the pan into the batter and cook pancakes, one at a time.

Howard County police were investigating yesterday an assault involving a gun and a frying pan, and three men who had been drinking alcohol in a North Laurel apartment, according to authorities. The only person who had been arrested was a 31-year-old man who, police say, tried to grab the gun that another man had displayed. Police said they were called for a disturbance at an apartment in the 9200 block of Livery Lane about 1:30 a.m. The authorities said that after a night of drinking, one man pulled out a handgun.

Pasteries make ideal breakfast for hurried set * Item: Pillsbury Toaster Scrambles * What you get: 6 one-pastry servings * Cost: About $2.20 * Preparation time: Just toast and eat * Review: The idea of egg-filled pastries warmed in the toaster was enough to make me want to put this box of Toaster Scrambles back in the frozen-food case. But after trying Pillsbury's latest a.m. edition, I'm glad I persevered. We sampled the Cheese, Egg and Bacon, and Cheese, Egg and Sausage flavors. Both offered relatively fresh ingredients in a light, buttery crust, making this an ideal breakfast for someone on the go. Even my dad -- who prefers his eggs fried and straight from the frying pan -- gave Toaster Scrambles high marks.

* Item: Ore Ida Oven Chips* What you get: 9 servings* Cost: About $2* Preparation time: 4 to 7 minutes broiled, 5 to 10 minutes fried, 12 to 22 minutes baked* Review: Just when you thought Ore Ida had run out of ways to cook potatoes, here come oven chips. Thicker than the average potato chip, but thinner than a steak fry, these potato rounds are coated with a light and crispy batter. You can bake, broil or fry them. I didn't bother to deep-fry, but I did toss a handful in a frying pan with some fish, and the fries cooked up relatively grease-free.

EVERY COOK has a favorite pan, an old reliable, a cooking vessel he feels comfortable working with.Mine is an old skillet, handed down to us from my wife's mother. It doesn't have sloping sides, a nonstick bottom, or a wooden handle, features that are often touted in the kitchen equipment reviews of modern magazines. It simply cooks things well.It is a metal frying pan, cast iron I think. It has steep, straight sides, which make it hard to clean. Its metal handle can burn the careless cook who tries to pick up the hot pan without wearing an insulated glove.

The problem: It's dinner time. Maybe not right this minute, but soon. It happens every night. But so do a lot of other things, all of which conspire to keep cooks out of kitchens. The simplicity of the skillet can pull them back in.A skillet, frying pan, saute pan, whatever the trusty vessel happens to be called, can be a cook's secret weapon for getting dinner on the table in a hurry. No other piece of equipment, not even the microwave oven, offers so many self-contained mealtime solutions.

Frying Pan vs. Drunk DriversPublished in the March 8 edition of The Sun were two articles detailing three different murders, one committed with a frying pan, the other two with a car and alcohol.The judge presiding over the first murder trial sentenced the convicted murderer to life imprisonment. . . .The judge who presided over the trial of the convicted murderer of two victims sentenced the man to 14 months on work release, stating he was running half an hour late for another case.Obviously, the socially unaccepted murder weapon is the frying pan. The socially accepted weapons are the car and alcohol, probably because the savoir-faire excuse of our society is "everyone does it," that is, drink and drive.

Rude SenatorsI recently attended a hearing in Annapolis before the Senate Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee, and I must say that I was appalled by the rude behavior of some of the senators sitting on the committee.In particular, Sen. Michael Collins, D-Baltimore County, continually talked the entire time while testimony was being presented.It may be a political strategy (albeit a discourteous one) to talk while your legislative adversaries are testifying. To carry on conversation while a constituent is testifying, however, is inexcusable.

A gray-haired great-grandmother was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for using a frying pan, two lamps and a can of beans to beat an elderly North Baltimore man to death."

An 18-year-old man, who police said slashed at a Taneytown officer with a butcher knife and swung at him with a frying pan, is being held in the Carroll County Detention Center in lieu of $10,000 bond.The suspect, William F. Burke of the 400 block of Red Tulip Court, Taneytown, also cut his wrist before surrendering to Officer Edward Engel about 4:40 a.m. Wednesday, Taneytown police said yesterday.He was charged by state police in Westminster with assault with intent to murder, assault, battery, malicious destruction of property and related counts.