Pantry

Now you can bake like Duff Goldman and the gang at Charm City Cakes. A new line of cake decorating products has just been released by Gartner Studios, a Minneapolis-based stationery company. Duff Essentials include cake mixes, decorating kits, pans and tools. Decorate With Duff includes sprinkles, decorating tools and cake "tattoos" and "graffiti. " And Duff Fondant includes everything you need to make your own extravaganzas. You can see the new Duff products here and here on the Charm City Cakes website.

Passover is seen traditionally as a holiday of the spring, not usually marked by snow. But Howard Kaplan and his wife, Roberta, of Baltimore, wouldn't let Monday's inclement conditions deter them from coming to the Pimlico Race Course to dispose of their leavened food. "Snow won't hold anybody up," she said. Baltimore-area families burned their chametz Monday morning in observation of Passover. The holiday commemorates God's freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. Because the Jewish people had to leave Egypt quickly, they had to eat their bread before it had risen.

A man in his 40s was standing in the basement of an Essex house, his thin body in constant, involuntary motion because of a nervous system affliction, St. Vitus' dance.He took $26 worth of groceries from Mable Runge, thanked her and started to leave the Eastern Interfaith Outreach food pantry."Here, I'll throw in a Mother's Day cake," she said, reaching into a refrigerator and handing over the cake, temptingly bright with red and yellow icing.Mrs. Runge, at 82, is finding purpose in her life as volunteer director of the Outreach pantry, which is supported by 24 Essex-area churches and several community organizations.

Ebenezer United Methodist Church hosts the "Rock of Help" food pantry for anyone in the community in need of food from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the church, 4901 Woodbine Road, Sykesville. Nonperishable foods, frozen meats and some frozen prepared meals, plus a non-food item, are available. Those coming to the food pantry are asked to fill out a short information sheet, then the church gives them a list of available foods to check off what they need.

For a moment Saturday morning, the biggest issue at the Donald Bentley Food Pantry was cereal: Would there be enough?In an hour, the pantry's customers would be outside waiting for cartons of free food. And now Bessie Oster, 16, a St. Paul's School sophomore, was worried that they had run out of corn flakes.But James Flanagan, the food pantry's president, had the answer. "Give 'em grits," he said, pointing to the stack of boxes left over from last week. "That can be breakfast."In the back room of the storefront at 2405 Loch Raven Road in north Baltimore, eight high-school students, with the help of Mr. Flanagan, his 11-year-old son, Jamie, and a few neighborhood volunteers, were filling cartons with enough food to keep 40 families going for a few days.

The anonymous good Samaritans keep calling, bringing cash and carloads of food to help the Rev. Dennis Hancock keep open the pantry he runs in a building next to his Brooklyn church.A week ago, the Brooklyn Church of the Nazarene's pantry faced having to scale back its operations, and possibly closing its doors.Except for a few cans of green beans, corn and sauerkraut, the shelves were bare. There was no meat, no turkeys for Thanksgiving baskets. A $2,000 bill for utilities and food bought on credit waited to be paid.

A church-run pantry in the Severna Park area has nearly run out of food to help the needy.Food donations to the Severna Park Assistance Network, or SPAN, a pantry run by 10 of the areas churches, have steadily dwindled over the last eight weeks, said the director, Barbara Birkenheuer.SPAN is "very, very low" on foods such as canned potatoes, canned fruits, peanut butter and jelly and canned meats such as beef stew, Ms. Birkenheuer said.While some decrease in food donations to the pantry is normal during summer months when church members are on vacation, the recent drop is extreme, she said.

Moths are flying in my house, and I'm worried about my woolens and rugs. How do I get rid of them? They're probably not clothes moths, which are tiny and rarely glimpsed. Indian meal moths, however, are common year-round. This pantry pest has a faint dark band across its dusty wings. It originates in pasta, spices, cereals and -- take note this time of year -- bird seed, among other sources. Call us or read our online publication, Pantry Pests, for simple measures you can follow to eradicate the moths.

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN cooking too much, eating too much and watching too much football, we'll all give thanks for our myriad blessings. We'll remember family, friends, health and plenty in our grateful recital. But let us not forget to be thankful for the generosity of our neighbors. Savage and Laurel are indeed blessed with gracious, giving folk. Consider these examples.The members of Girl Scout Troop 538, now fourth-graders at Bollman Bridge Elementary School, have been together since kindergarten.

MOUNT AIRY NET has provided emergency relief to people in need throughout the Mount Airy community.It needs help from residents to restock its Food Pantry at Calvary United Methodist Church, 403 S. Main St.The Food Pantry provides food to families.The following items are needed to ensure that needy families will have nutritious meals: canned vegetables and fruits, canned fish and meat, packaged dinners (macaroni and cheese, etc.), soups, pasta, dry goods (flour, sugar, crackers, pancake mix, etc.)

SYKESVILLE — Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 4901 Woodbine Road, Sykesville, recently began a "Rock of Help" food pantry for the needy in the community. The pantry is open to anyone in need of food from 9 to 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the church. Upcoming dates are June 16, July 21 and Aug. 18. "We have mainly canned goods that we give out, but each month we also will have a non-food item," said Sue Bergmann, church secretary. Those coming to the food pantry "just fill out a short information sheet and we give them a list of the food items we have and they check off what they want.

Now you can bake like Duff Goldman and the gang at Charm City Cakes. A new line of cake decorating products has just been released by Gartner Studios, a Minneapolis-based stationery company. Duff Essentials include cake mixes, decorating kits, pans and tools. Decorate With Duff includes sprinkles, decorating tools and cake "tattoos" and "graffiti. " And Duff Fondant includes everything you need to make your own extravaganzas. You can see the new Duff products here and here on the Charm City Cakes website.

The Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, 62, died Saturday night at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center of injuries sustained Thursday in a double shooting at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, police said Sunday. Kohn was co-rector of the Howard County church. The second woman, church employee Brenda Brewington, 59, died Thursday. Kohn had been on life support at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center since Thursday. Police said they had taken Kohn's body to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

The man who police say shot and critically wounded a co-rector and killed another worker at an Ellicott City church last week was angry about being told to limit his visits to the food pantry, church leaders said in a statement on Saturday. The shootings of the two women have plunged the congregation of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, founded in Howard County in 1842, into mourning. The church has announced a private service for Sunday at 10 a.m. The statement from the church says a custodian found the victims in an office.

A woman who grew up rescuing lost critters has launched an effort to help pets and their owners survive financial crises together. Lynn Molnar is operating Thankful Paws, a food bank for pets, out of her White Marsh home. "The idea is to keep people and their pets together even in the most trying situations," she said. "Often in hard times, the pet is the cut that people have to make. " The seeds for the nonprofit organization sprung from the parade of stray cats, dogs and other assorted critters that found shelter in Molnar's childhood home, and from her mother, who nurtured a "spirit for animals" in her daughter.

Two Laurel dentists are offering a significant discount on dental services in tandem with helping their community food pantry. Dr. Maurice Miles and Dr. Daniel Melnick are assisting people in the community who have lost their dental coverage due to job loss by offering dental services at a fraction of their normal rate. For $75 patients receive oral examinations, x-rays and dental cleanings, with all proceeds going to Elizabeth House. The discount remains in effect until Nov. 30. http://www.dentistlaurelmd.com/index.php/ctegory/community .

THE MOUNT AIRY Food Pantry has been serving the needs of community members for years. Now the pantry needs help from the community to continue its worthwhile efforts. The food pantry is a program of Mount Airy NET, an organization dedicated to providing emergency supplies and relief to community members, and offering an opportunity for people to volunteer their time and efforts to help their neighbors. Over the years the pantry has teamed with area schools, churches, businesses and service groups to collect canned, boxed and dried food.

When County Executive Robert R. Neall got there, the cupboard was far from bare. In fact, it was stocked full of cereal, rice, soup and canned vegetables. But the piggy bank was empty.Jacki Coyle didn'tbeat around the bush in telling Neall the news. When asked what the Glen Burnie food pantry needed most, Coyle answered frankly: "Money.""Our budget is whatever donations come in, so sometimes we run out," she said. "Today, we don't have any money."After touring the pantry, run by the North County Emergency Outreach Network, a non-profit coalition of 30 churches, Neall told the leaders he could take a hint.

Harford Community Action Agency honored volunteers, supporting organizations and individuals and employees at it annual awards dinner at the Bayou Restaurant in Havre de Grace Oct. 13. AMES United Methodist Church in Bel Air was honored with a Partnership Award for its support of the Community Action Agency food bank and food pantries through the annual Race for the Hungry. Donna Lewis, one of the organizers of the AMES effort, said the event at Edgeley Grove Park in Fallston raised more than $11,000 for the food pantry.

Loch Raven Technical Academy, in partnership with the Maryland Food Bank, will be distributing food at the LRTA Food Pantry inside the school, 8101 LaSalle Road, on Saturday, Nov. 19, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The program is a new outreach effort at the school. Families in need in the community are invited to come and receive food items. The food bank provides the food for the pantry only on designated dates. The next date after Nov. 19 will be in December. Loch Raven program designed to map a path for students Students in gifted and talented courses in Grades seven, eight and nine and their parents are invited to Loch Raven High School, 1212 Cowpens Avenue in Towson, on Nov. 2, at 6:45 p.m., for a presentation on the choices and challenges as they prepare for their high school and postsecondary education.