Mint

If the Black Eyed Susan were a race horse, it would be a sprinter. It makes one strong move, then fades quickly. The strong move occurs this weekend when the cocktail will be in demand at Pamlico Race Track, during both the running of the Black Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Over these two days, about 25,000 servings of the libation, poured into commemorative glasses, will be sold at $8 apiece, track officials say. But as soon as Preakness weekend ends, so does the does the local thirst for the Susan.

I have spring fever. It's mid April, the weather is beautiful, and I have zero vacation time until July. Productivity at work is at an all-time low as I stare out the window and daydream about tanning in exotic lands, sampling exotic cuisine and fully immersing myself in another culture (read: escaping from this one). Without a real cure, I've been in search of "daycation" cocktail destinations that set the mood, making me feel as though I've been transported. Of course, the alcohol helps stimulate my motivation.

Mint is one tough herb. Late in April I start checking the ground to see if mint had made it through another winter. It rarely disappoints me. No matter how fierce Maryland winters are -- and this past one has been a doozy -- mint bounces back.I hunt for mint around this time of year for a very important reason: the mint julep, the official elixir of the Kentucky Derby. Yesterday was the first Saturday in May -- Kentucky Derby day. As the horses went to the starting gate in Louisville's Churchill Downs racetrack, I was sipping a mint julep in Maryland.

In a profession like politics and in a town like the nation's capital, the phenomenon of a U.S. senator voluntarily surrendering his seat for a think-tank job would have been unthinkable some years ago. The decision of Republican Jim DeMint of South Carolina, founder of the Senate Tea Party Caucus and darling of true-believing ultraconservatives, to chuck his Senate seat during his second six-year term is a measure of the growing influence of...

The U.S. Mint has issued the country's first coin with readable Braille text, to honor Louis Braille. Part of the proceeds from sales of the commemorative bicentennial silver dollar, which will not be in general circulation, will support literacy efforts of the National Federation of the Blind, based in Baltimore, where the coin was unveiled Thursday. The coin features a portrait of Louis Braille on the heads side. On the tails side, a child is shown reading, with the abbreviation for Braille, "BRL," in Braille text above his head.

Just what this country needs to bring it together: a bipartisan music system that will not turn its back on a single iPod yet still address the nation's need to stream audio wirelessly from a computer. The Mint 220 Wireless Digital Music Station begins with an everyman iPod dock fronting two speakers. The Mint marks a new generation of speaker docks by adding a USB transmitter that mates with a PC or Mac for streaming audio up to 45 feet. This means you can connect the little USB transmitter to a computer in your den and stream music from your iTunes library to the Mint on a kitchen counter.

Alan Rosen, the well-heeled dealer known as "Mr. Mint," has written a book on baseball cards.But be forewarned about "Mr. Mint's Insider's Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles" (with Doug Garr, Warner Books, 183 pages, $9.95). It's not quite what the title suggests.First, intermediate and advanced collectors should not be put off by the title. He does not treat non-investing collectors patronizingly. And there is sound advice for collectors, even if they shudder at the idea of collections being considered investments.

A renaissance is not a renaissance without a band of artists producing artistic splendor under someone's patronage. The director of the U.S. Mint, Henrietta Holsman Fore, knows that. That's why she plans to invite artists this fall to join in the "renaissance of coin design and collecting" she says U.S. coins are currently enjoying. At the World's Fair of Money at the Baltimore Convention Center yesterday, Fore and the Mint shared details of plans for the first formal program for artists not employed by the Mint to design U.S. coins and medals.

When the U.S. Mint launched its 50 States Quarters series in 1999, it seemed to have something irresistible: Give each state its own quarter, and have a local artist come up with a design for the "tails" side reflecting that state's history. Three years into the program, Mint spokesman Michael White declares it a success, noting that an estimated 139 million Americans collect the commemorative quarters. "This is teaching history through coinage," White said. "A lot of kids, for instance, can learn about the heritage of their state."

THE LETTUCE is stubby, the rabbits have already wiped out the beans, but the mint is thriving and the ponies are prancing in Louisville. Hot damn, honeylamb - it's Derby Day! Today is a day to forget, or ignore, the slings and arrows of life. Those would include the slow-moving drain, the new howl coming from the car engine, the battle that is gardening. Push such persistent sources of sorrow aside, pick a winner, pick some mint, make a julep. Around here, the first of May is not merely the start of a new month, it's the beginning of a whole new attitude.

Home Slyce isn't a cocktail bar by any stretch of the imagination. It focuses mostly on inexpensive and tasty food, decent beer and a relaxing atmosphere for local residents and visitors alike. (And presumably will do the same at its second location, opening at 336 N. Charles St. in the next few weeks.) But sometimes a bartender, whether through boredom or inspiration, comes up with something interesting to add to the mix in the absence of a cocktail list. Cue Ricardo Vargas and his Slyce Julep, a drop-dead simple idea combining two remarkably similar drinks - the mint julep and the mojito - to create something new. The julep's Maker's Mark bourbon substituting for the mojito's white rum adds the ABV, while the remaining ingredients from both drinks - mint, lime, simple syrup and soda - come together to create a strong, sweet and tasteful beverage.

Fresh peas are very hard to find at a supermarket, but you can find them at area farmers' markets from mid-May until the end of June. Be forewarned: At the Sunday farmers' market under the Jones Falls Expressway, you have to arrive early and stand in a line as many as 50 people deep to get the peas from Woodside Greenhouse. But the line moves quickly, and your patience will be rewarded with one of the most verdant tastes of a new summer. Fresh raw peas have a sweetness that is tempered by a grassy bite, and they taste great by themselves with a glug of extra-virgin olive oil, chopped mint leaves and a pinch of sea salt.

With the Kentucky Derby coming up this weekend, you will want to make sure that you have laid in supplies for mint juleps. And to make your enterprise a success, I have retrieved material from the achives on the manufacture of a proper julep.   The julep with a little sweetness and just enough melting ice to take the edge off the bourbon, combined with the refreshing scent of mint, is an ideal drink to have in your hand on a spring afternoon as the sun is going down.  But first, a caution.

If Mexico had a St. Patrick's Day, it would be Cinco de Mayo. There's just a slight tweak to the festivities. One can always count on tequila, sombreros and Margaritas - the overly salty, overly soured kind. I have a hard time believing Cinco de Mayo is really all that Mexican anymore. Heck, even area Irish bars offer gimmicky deals in the spirit of boozing. So this year, why not shake up your usual 5th of May and expand your Latin American horizons? Skip the salt on the rim and try one of my favorite Baltimore specialties, a Mojito from Little Havana in Federal Hill.

Barb and Greg Damon traveled to Maryland from Oregon to run a marathon and left with an unusual souvenir. The Damons were among the first people who went to Fort McHenry Monday to purchase commemorative coins created by the United States Mint to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Barb Damon said she and her husband ran in the B&A Trail Marathon over the weekend as part of a quest to complete a marathon in every state. She said they also collect coins and couldn't pass up the chance to purchase a coin on the first day it was issued.

The U.S. Mint unveiled the designs Wednesday for two limited-issue coins that will be available in March to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. The $5 gold piece and the silver dollar pay homage to the national anthem, Fort McHenry and the Battle of Baltimore. The Mint issues only two commemorative coins annually, and many organizations vie for the recognition and funding from the sales. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, who sponsored the legislation for the bicentennial coins in the U.S. House, said he had to gather more than 250 signatures from colleagues.

PHILADELPHIA - Americans worried about their jobs and economic prospects are raiding their piggybanks and spare-change drawers - to the tune of billions of coins. The U.S. Mint, which produces all the coins in circulation, says that with the economic downturn the nation will consume vastly fewer new coins. It has begun laying off 357 workers in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver and other places to curtail coin production and protect its profits for the U.S. Treasury. The Mint believed as recently as this summer that the nation would need 23 billion new pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters in 2002.

Heads or ... domes?George Washington's solemn profile, traditionally paired with a spread-winged eagle on the flip side of the U.S. quarter-dollar coin, will soon have a new partner -- at least temporarily.Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced yesterday that the back of a new Maryland-themed commemorative quarter, due out next spring, will feature the state's Capitol dome, a design by a 32-year-old White House graphic artist from Crofton.The sketch by William Krawczewicz triumphed over about 280 other entrants, including drawings of crabs and schoolchildren's crayoned depictions of the Bay Bridge.

After reading the story about the Federal Reserve banks' vaults overflowing with useless dollar coins minted because of a congressional mandate ("Dollar coins piling up at Baltimore reserve bank," Sept. 6) I cannot believe we are going to turn over control of our health care system to these idiot Washington bureaucrats. Mike Jacober, Relay

Every summer, I am reminded of the gigantic crush I have on the Crush. You know, the fruit-juice-and-vodka-cocktail that's known as a Baltimore specialty. You can find them all over city, usually in the Orange Crush variety. But Orange can be a little, well, boring. And so, like a lusty teenage girl might, I drop it quickly when a new, more interesting flavor comes along. This year, my fling is with the Blueberry Acai Mojito Crush at Ryleigh's Oyster in Federal Hill. Ryleigh's has become the gold standard of Crushes, though several city spots claim theirs to be its birthplace.