Juice

Lately my briefcase has been smelling better. My gym bag, usually a source of suspect odors, has been putting out pleasing fragrances. Even the insect world has noticed the change in my aroma. Now virtually everywhere I sit, the fruit flies follow.These are all sure signs that toting season has begun. That is the time of year when the fruit is ripe, the tomatoes are ready, and when I tote these edibles to work with me in my briefcase or gym bag.During toting season, I am just a guy who can't say no. The peach that looked too inviting to leave at home on the kitchen counter is whisked away to work.

With warm weather here, don't you just crave freshly made juices and smoothies?(OK, maybe not beet-kale-parsley-garlic juice with bee pollen, but think of the health benefits.) You can enjoy them for their great taste and at the same time feel you've done your body some good. The problem is, it's not always easy to find a juice bar that produces these liquid treats. Juice bars disappear in the blink of an eye. So we've done the looking for you, enjoying a lot of carrot juice and smoothies (frozen juice-and-yogurt blends)

Although much of "Lucy Juice and Other Family Recipes" is about death, the opening image is of birth, and it's one of the most poignant in this latest movement theater work by Splitting Image Theatre Company.When we first see the show's two performers, Binnie Ritchie-Holum and Julie Herber-Dougherty, they lie curled together on the floor. Then they slowly separate, although Ritchie-Holum, as the mother, clings to her child as long aspossible.It is the type of evocative imagery that has become the trademark of this distinctive local troupe.

Ann Bailey of Pasadena asked for a "recipe for sweet potatoes in a syrup that makes them sticky." Her answer came from John J. Krawczyk of Las Cruces, N.M., who enjoys recipes and says he has hundreds of cookbooks.Krawczyk's Candied Sweet PotatoesMakes 8-10 servings6 medium sweet potatoes (about 4 1/2 pounds)1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar1/2 cup sugar2 tablespoons all-purpose flour1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg1/4 teaspoon ground allspice3/4 cup pineapple juice1/3 cup light corn syrup2 tablespoons orange juice1/4 cup butter or margarine1/2 cup chopped pecansCook sweet potatoes in boiling water for 20-25 minutes or until fork-tender.

Why would a movie studio want to sell one of its films in a negative way, practicing the most disgusting wish fulfillment imaginable?I ask because, with its handling of "Juice," Ernest R. Dickerson's powerful and affecting new gang movie, Paramount seems to be going out of its way to make the exact same mistakes Orion made with "Colors" in 1988 and Columbia made with last year's "Boyz N the Hood." In both cases, the studios announced they expected problems, and, sure enough, there were problems.

JUICEOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrack (Soul 10462)After the success of rap-powered albums from the films "New Jack City" and "Boyz N the Hood," it should hardly be surprising to find a host of hip-hop stars holding forth on the soundtrack from "Juice." What is unexpected, however, is the musical variety represented here. Sure, there's plenty of tough-talk along the lines of M. C. Pooh's "Sex, Money & Murder" and Cypress Hill's "Shoot 'Em Up," but there are also eloquent cautionary tales, like Eric B. & Rakim's muscular "Juice (Know the Ledge)

A little sunshine is always pleasant on a gray winter day, and the Florida Department of Citrus and the Better Homes and Gardens test kitchens want to make sure you get your share -- in the form of fruit, of course. Until the end of the month, you can buy a copy of "Fit, Fresh & Fast," a 96-page booklet that uses citrus to flavor and "lighten up" dishes from marinated flank steak to angel food cake. When you use the juice, you can reduce fat and sugar in all sorts of dishes.The booklet costs $2.99, and is available at Giant, Safeway and other food stores.

After years of debate and countless delays, the Food and Drug Administration has proposed labeling rules that would tell consumers a lot more than many beverage makers usually reveal about what is in their juice drinks, juice cocktails and even wine coolers.As framed, the new regulations would force beverage makers to list on the side of their containers not only the total amount of juice in their products but specific percentages of each juice used in a blended drink.The proposed rules would also crack down on existing labeling practices that allow juice makers to, say, advertise a raspberry juice drink as "100 percent juice" when it might consist of a small amount of raspberry juice and a large dose of less costly apple or grape juice that has been stripped of its taste and color.

Q. I am trying to get my cholesterol down and reduce my risk of heart attack. My cholesterol is 266, HDL 72 and LDL 177. I know the ratio is good but would like the numbers to be lower. I've heard that wine is beneficial, but I don't tolerate it well. Would grape juice do any good?A. Your lipid ratio is excellent (3.7). To calculate this ratio, divide total cholesterol by HDL. Any number lower than 4.5 is considered good.Grape juice probably won't lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol, which is a little high.

Violence broke out at theaters in at least eight states after Friday night's premiere of the urban film drama "Juice." One teen-ager was killed, and four other people were wounded.Although the fights involved theatergoers, police said much of it was random violence that could have occurred anywhere.Chicago police Detective Roland Paulnitsky said the death of a 16-year-old girl outside a theater showing "Juice" resulted from "a street altercation with a rival street gang.""This was not a result of that movie," he said.