Microwave Oven

Have you visited the microwave-popcorn aisle lately? Whew. Each brand offers myriad flavors and sizes amid gaudy and often confusing packaging. It took a while to winnow down our tasting options between the "Extra Butter!" flavor, the "Extra Extra Butter!" flavor and the "So Much Extra Butter You Can't Taste the Popcorn!" flavor. Popped plain, popcorn is a terrific snack. It's a whole grain loaded with nutritious fiber. So we chose popcorn that went easy on the butter and fat, and was missing something: trans fat. Trans fat, created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil in a process called hydrogenation, is linked to raising levels of LDL, or bad, cholesterol that increases risk for chronic heart disease while lowering levels of HDL, or good, cholesterol.

IN ITS PRIMAL state, popcorn looks like a small, hard ear of sweet corn, not a package on a grocery-store shelf. Most of the popcorn crop is harvested in the fall, so now you can find the occasional ear, au naturel, being sold at roadside stands or in community markets.The other day I bought three ears of popcorn from Pam Pahl at the stand she and her husband, Les, operate at the Farmers' Market on Sunday mornings in downtown Baltimore. I had plans to get my hands dirty. I thought I was going to hold one of those cobs over a big bowl and rub the cob back and forth in the palms of my hands.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Northern DistrictBurglary: Two portable air conditioners, tools, a diamond ring, VCR tapes, crystal lamp, exercise equipment, fans, glassware, a drill and other items, all valued at more than $2,500, were stolen Sunday from a house in the 300 block of Whitridge Ave. in Waverly.Burglary: Computer equipment valued at $4,000 was stolen Sunday from a house in the 200 block of E. University Parkway.Burglary/arrest: An occupant of a house in the 5100 block of Craig Ave. was home Sunday when a man broke in through a window.

Powered by Solarex.That's what the Frederick-based maker of solar-based, power-generating cells can say about its role in the record-breaking, round-the-world flight by the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon. The two-man balloon settled onto Egypt's Western Desert on Sunday, finishing a journey of more than 29,000 miles.To help generate electrical juice for each piece of their on-board electrical equipment -- from the global-positioning systems to the all-important microwave oven -- the balloonists relied upon "photovoltaic cells" made by Solarex workers at the company's Frederick factory.

THE FOOD TRENDS for 1991 have been charted: safer fish, '60s-style hippie foods, two-dishwasher kitchens. But food trends are for trendwatchers and a small group of people clustered at the top of the foodie pyramid. It's another story for the rest of the world."In my next kitchen, I'd love to have a vending machine and a microwave oven -- forget about the stove," says Joan Coleman, half seriously.Coleman, who lives in Dixon, Ill., is the mother of two boys, ages 6 and 9. Like an ever-increasing number of women, she has a full-time job outside the home.

TELL ME THE TRUTH," Slats Grobnik said. "Am I a real stupid person?"Of course not. I mean, not all the time. We all have our moments."Then how come I can't cook a frozen pizza?"

The winner of last week's $111.2 million Powerball lottery has yet to come forward as I write this, and I think I know why:He is ashamed of himself.He has become wealthy in a country that despises wealth.On TV and in movies the wealthy are portrayed as greedy, grasping, and awful.They are never portrayed as they actually are: Which is very, very happy.I have never understood why we think wealth should bring misery, but we do.The day after the Powerball drawing, USA Today ran a story with the headline:"Winners, watch out. Jackpot can be millions of headaches."

WASHINGTON - Those above-ground blue pools in the backyards of those three-bedroom ranchers in Dearborn, Mich., and Akron, Ohio, symbolized success and stability for working American families in the 1950s. This was Blue Pool America. Men held jobs in the automobile plants, women were full-time homemakers. There were Sunday family barbecues, and job security was assured for virtually all employees who showed loyalty to their companies. Kids did their homework upstairs, and no part of their anatomy - ear, nose, or otherwise - was pierced.

For the hundreds of Baltimore-area residents called to jury duty each day, waiting for a trial can be a pleasant interlude spent watching "Mrs. Doubtfire." Or, literally, a pain in the butt.In Baltimore County, jurors are treated to comfortable waiting rooms that include videos, microwave oven and room to use a laptop computer. But in Anne Arundel County, jurors must endure stares from the public while sitting on hard benches -- or the floor -- in the courthouse lobby.About 850 people report or are on stand-by for jury duty every day in the Baltimore area, waiting to see whether a judge will need them for a criminal or civil case.