Grub

I WOULD LIKE to report that I spent my recent vacation from work sitting in the living room, reading great literary works, thinking deep thoughts. But the truth is that mostly I spent it in the kitchen cooking grub, serving it to my kids and their friends, then restocking the larder. When your kids are out of the house, your kitchen is like a sports car - it works in short bursts. But when your kids are home for the Christmas break, your kitchen works like an 18-wheeler, grinding meals out over the long haul.

I would like to ask Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to please don't insult our intelligence by telling citizens that the purpose of speed cameras is school safety ("Goal is 'zero' speed errors: Mayor's vow comes as camera criticism rises," Nov. 20). Baltimore's very loose interpretation of the state regulation regarding what is considered a "school area" has led to the placement of cameras all around the city in locations that have no bearing on ensuring that students arrive at school safely.

By the time you read this, the new bar at 1200 N. Charles St., Harry's, should be serving food -- what owner Harry Dahl calls "upscale pub grub": soups, salads, sandwiches and appetizers. Harry's also features four micro-brews on tap and more than 50 "in the cooler."* You'd expect a restaurant called Fisherman's Island to have seafood, but Persian cuisine? In a Towson Ramada Inn dining room? Owner Arman Shahbazi has hired two Persian chefs to prepare authentic dishes; he also promises the only Persian nightclub in Baltimore.

When do I put down grub killer in the spring? Spring grubs are big, but they are barely eating now and not damaging your lawn. Don't waste your money on these grubs. Also, applying grub killer in spring sickens wasps that are predators of grubs. You've probably seen these beneficial wasps hovering over your lawn, looking for grubs to attack. Natural controls usually keep grub populations under control. A few grubs are normal and keep the predators around. Rarely is lawn damage caused by grubs.

Welcome home, Roy.Things haven't been the same along the old Ritchie Trail since your chuck wagons were sold to Hardee's.They took down your friendly signs with the sun peeking over the mountains. Broke up the Fixins Bars. Replaced your grub with some corporate guy's idea of fine dining.When they got done, the only thing left was the chicken. Fine way to treat a western legend.But you can't keep a good man down, right Roy? Instead of riding into the sunset, you started making records again.

Commercial real estate new leasing activity in Maryland of at least 3,000 square feet: Tenant Landlord Location Square footage Agent(s) BHS Corrugated North America Inc. James F. Knott Realty Group 9103 Yellow Brick Road, Rossville 24,708 L. Sweeney, JFK, for both parties. Worldwide Corp. MIE Properties 797 Cromwell Drive, Glen Burnie 9,000 S. Manhoff, GE, for the tenant; R. Williamson, MIE, for the landlord. K. Hovnanian Homes MIE Properties 4961 Telsa Drive, Bowie 7,800 J. Palermo, M, for the tenant; R. Williamson, MIE, for the landlord.

They are seated in a 50-year-old farmhouse waiting for a sumptuous meal of turkey, string beans, sweet potatoes and cinnamon. Their mouths water until host Rudy Edalati joins them. The diners are Edalati's seven lucky dogs -- lucky to have been rescued by her, and lucky to eat her home-cooked meals, based on her grandmother's recipes. Edalati, 32, cooks for her dogs and eight pet cats, as well as for two horses and the feral cats, geese, chickens and ducks on her 52-acre farm in Dickerson, Montgomery County.

Pub food typically is hearty, basic fare that contributes to rather than dominates the place where it's served. In other words, a good pub is about a lot more than grub. And Porter's is no exception to the rule. The Federal Hill pub opened at the turn of the millennium (the real one that is, 2001) in the building that used to house Ransome's on Riverside Avenue. In the weeks since, Porter's has built up an impressive following, judging by the crowd of men, women and children that filled all 68 seats in the bar and dining room on a recent Saturday.

June 30: 1999 Preservation Awards & Annual Meeting. Benefits Baltimore Heritage Inc.'s efforts to preserve the city's historic buildings. Cocktails, dinner, business meeting and awards ceremony. Masonic Temple, 225 N. Charles St. Tickets $50 members; $57 nonmembers. Call 410-625-2585.Around TownGetting a good meal isn't a problem these days for Don Shula. The former coach of the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins has a chain of steakhouses across the country, including two here in Baltimore.

SENATE REPUBLICANS were on the verge of making themselves rather than Clinton-Gore fund-raising the issue before coming to their senses and agreeing to a wide-scale probe of campaign financing improprieties. Both parties are now vulnerable to embarrassment and worse, which is as it should be.The GOP turnabout may put some zip behind a reform effort that seemed all but dead despite daily headlines about White House sleepovers, foreign contributions to the Democratic National Committee and, the latest outrage: unconscionable bilking by the DNC of a land-starved Indian tribe that paid $107,000 for a Clinton coffee-klatch.

What is digging holes in my lawn? The holes aren't deep but it's making a muddy mess. Skunks and raccoons will dig for grubs this time of year. Usually holes are so widely scattered and shallow that they aren't noticed. Occasionally, it looks like a roto tiller went through. Overall, the numbers of Japanese beetles are down this year, but irrigated lawns do attract them when they need to lay their eggs and this can result in high grub populations. You can try laying chicken-wire or bird or deer netting over the most damaged areas.

"Are you here to sell me something? Or do you wanna drink?" Thus did a dodgy looking 20-something greet us upon our entering Dick's Last Resort at the Inner Harbor's Power Plant complex. My first thought was: "Does this guy really think I look like a Bev Nap salesman?" 12:50 We stand momentarily stunned in Dick's lobby. It looks like a Gap t-shirt display, only more crass. That, by the way, is a compliment to both places. The rest of the joint looks like its interior decorator blew his entire $138 budget at a surf-shop fire sale.

Question: Last year a wild flower appeared in my yard with little white flowers and was about 2 feet tall. Well, this year it’s coming up all over the place! What is it and do I need to be worried? Answer: Yes, stop this plant right now. Garlic mustard is invasive and takes over our parks and woods. A biennial, during its first year it grows under the radar, producing only a small cluster of scalloped leaves. The second year it shoots up multiple flower stalks 1-2 feet tall.

The handsomely renovated Don't Know Tavern bills itself as a "sports bar and grill." The surprising thing about it is how good the grill part is. The menu is really smart and exceptionally well balanced between pub grub and more upscale fare. So, appetizers comprise not only nachos, wings and steamed shrimp, but blackened scallops, chipotle hummus and ratatouille, too. There are strip steak and braised ribs among the entrees, but also a sea bass cioppino, an enterprising duck-and-goose creation and an herb-roasted rack of lamb in a three-mustard cream.

The world has been pretty chaotic lately. The financial markets are in turmoil, 401(k)'s have evaporated, the Obamas and the Clintons are suddenly best of friends, teenage vampire literature is all the rage, the auto industry is on the verge of implosion, Guns N' Roses released an album after 15 years and Somali pirates are wreaking havoc on the high seas. But sports, throughout history, have often been used as a panacea in uncertain times. During the Great Depression, a nation on the verge of economic collapse found itself captivated by a knobby-kneed racehorse named Seabiscuit.

This Top 10 Tuesday, dive bars with good pub grub, is a joint effort of readers of Dining@Large, Sun reviewers and me. Note that these aren't dive bars in the negative sense, but they are all a little funkier than neighborhood taverns. The list is in alphabetical order. 1 Bertha's in Fells Point: In spite of the afternoon tea, the live music and the famous mussels, it still has some of the good dive-bar elements. 2 Daniel's on Route 1 in Elkridge: Bikers' dive extraordinaire; all the food is good.

For some reason, I had never ventured into the Harry Little Carry Out Shop just south of Towson on York Road, despite driving by the place who knows how many times. Well, the unassuming little Little's recently got a new sign with a cute, mustachioed chef, and that was good enough for me to finally try a place that has been operating since 1956. Inside there's an open kitchen, a counter and not much else. I was touched to see two carefully taped-up death notices for two of the eatery's former employees, as well as the initials H-L, for Harry Little, inscribed on the enormous vent hood.

Last August, Missouri angler Dion Hibdon won the closest Bassmasters Classic in history, topping a field of 40 expert fishermen by one ounce in total weight after three days of fishing -- and he did it despite breaking off five fish on the final day.Hibdon is a light-line, finesse fisherman, and line breaks and lost fish are not unusual. Simply, they are the price he is willing to pay to fish the way he wants."Fishing has really gone to strength -- you know, line that will pull a train; big, stiff, strong rods and all," Hibdon said Thursday while in town for the Bass Expo at the State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

I found some fat grubs in my flower bed. Is it too late to put grub control on my lawn? Oddly enough, it's good to have a few grubs. They keep around the diseases and predators that kill grubs. Fat spring grubs don't eat roots. Unless you saw 12 or so grubs per square foot in your lawn last August or September, you don't need grub-control products now. Grub-control products are somewhat toxic to other soil organisms and should not be applied unless you had a true grub problem the year before.

City Councilman Robert Curran released a flock of white doves in the opening ceremony - one of the few new things at Baltimore's 90th Flower Mart yesterday. The spring fair is known for old-fashioned touches. Straw hats, maypole dances, horse-drawn carriages and lemon sticks all hark back to 1911, when it was founded by the avant-garde Women's Civic League. Now, close to a century later, it has evolved into a kaleidoscope of ages and races, a potent mix for drawing children out of schools and adults out of workplaces.