Iced Coffee

"Fed up with government gridlock, but put off by the flavor of the tea party, people in cities across the country are offering the alternative: the Coffee Party." The New York Times, March 2, 2010 ƒ} We the caffeinated, sick and jittery from bitter-tasting, overpriced beverages brewed in too-big-to-fail coffee chains, present our plan to wake up America! Quality Coffee for All: Thirty million sleep-deprived Americans lack access to coffee, or can only afford instant.

Indulging in a coffee fantasy sounds marvelous, but you might not be ready to invest in an espresso maker, steamer and coffee grinder.Instant and ready-made products simulate the new coffee drinks without the appliance headaches.New choices include General Foods' Cappio, a bottled iced cappuccino containing coffee, milk and sweetener. It comes in four-packs of individual servings or in 24-ounce bottles. Maxwell House offers Instant Cappuccino, a powdered coffee that produces a frothy top when hot water is added.

CHICAGO -- The state of the food industry can be summed up with F-words -- nine of them, in fact.At the recent Food Marketing Institute convention, Martin Friedman, editor of New Product News, reviewed product introductions and trends of the past year, in categories from Fitness to Fun. Here's his perspective on some of the 13,244 new products reported by the magazine in 1990. Note that some products might not be available locally.Fitness -- Consumers are snapping up anything that will make them healthier and help them live longer.

I'm in my seventh month of pregnancy and am very active. I'd like to start getting regular massages to ease my back pain and help me stay relaxed. Where can I find someone who specializes in pregnancy massage? Prenatal massage has become popular around town, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a good therapist. While they are not recommended for women in their first trimester, these treatments can do wonders to help relieve back and hip pain. You generally lie on your side, with big pillows supporting your neck, back and legs.

Love unusual cuisine, will travel. Which is why we ventured to Mandalay. Before the folks who monitor expense accounts at The Sun break into hives at the thought of the cost of airfare to Mandalay, let me add that the Mandalay I refer to is a small restaurant in College Park, not the city in Myanmar (the Asian country also known as Burma). It's one of two places in the area that specialize in Burmese food, which bears the culinary influences of Thailand, China and India. (The second place, called Burma, is in Washington.

The bagel isn't what it used to be. And we're not even talking about those rolls with a hole in the center you see for sale at the grocery store. Those aren't even bagels. But a bagel purist - and no one writes more crankily and persuasively about this subject than Mimi Sheraton -- will tell you that even the better bagels these days are soft and puffy imitations of their hard, chewy immigrant ancestors. It's the story of America. The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. has recently opened in Pikesville.

A few nights ago, we invited several people for a cold buffet supper before we all went to see a stand-up comic's act. Everyone arrived promptly at 6, and we gathered in the living room to have a few nibbles. Along with glasses of chilled wine, I served small cups of an icy-cold cucumber soup as an appetizer. Our guests loved this unexpected opener and quickly consumed their minuscule portions. Next, I led our friends to the dining room table, where plates laden with mixed greens and thinly sliced scallops napped with a light Sherry vinaigrette were ready for tasting.

A family's school year routines dissolve into chaos in the summer, to be replaced by a schedule as loose fitting as a beach coverall and just as informal. It is the same every summer, but mothers stubbornly attempt again each year to pull together something that resembles a daily routine, even if it is only a meal or a bath. (OK. Maybe not a bath.) I am watching this happen again this year, and I have to laugh. Such good intentions. Such determination. And it will all have fallen apart by the Fourth of July.

Along the strip of bars, liquor stores, a tattoo parlor and an adult video store on Route 175 just across from Fort Meade, Bangkok Kitchen is easily overlooked.But don't miss this gastronomically titillating, yet inexpensive restaurant.Bangkok Kitchen is one of the best Thai restaurants I've eaten at -- which says a lot because I'm Asian. Like, from Asia. Near Thailand, even.The restaurant has been around for only two years, but its chef has been serving up savory Thai dishes for almost 40 years -- 30 of them in the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok, according to one of the Bangkok Kitchen's owners.