Pockets

Even those of us who don't cook regularly tend to dust off those old favorite recipes for the holidays. Others look for something new and different to wow family and friends. Not to panic. Our exercise du jour is to simplify the wow factor. Our recipe suggestions allow you to use everyday ingredients that are easy to come by, reasonably priced and, of course, delicious. In this case, we add a little fillip, keeping in mind one of Madison Avenue's time-honored maxims: "It's all about the packaging.

What I struggle to understand about state Sen. Ulysses S. Currie is how someone who is described by his confederates as being "not the brightest" and "disorganized" could have chaired the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. This fact seems to be overlooked in all the hubbub. How many other powerful government positions are filled with people who could be described the same way? Mr. Currie was at the very least lining his own pockets through the auspices of his elected position.

It can be one of the nasty surprises for breast cancer patients. After the lump, the biopsy, the surgery, the radiation and the chemo, the wig and the mastectomy bathing suit — as if these things were not enough — suddenly one arm, or both, swells monstrously, painfully. It is lymphedema. And nobody warned you about it. "I never expected it. I never even heard of it," said Tia Neale, a breast cancer patient who lives in Owings Mills. She is resting on an examining table at Mercy Medical Center's Weinberg Center while therapist Maureen McBeth gently massages her chest, stomach, arm and hand, doing manually what Neale's lymphatic system isn't doing on its own anymore — urging the fluid the body makes ceaselessly into the circulatory system and out of the body.

Former Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor, drafted by Baltimore in the sixth round this year, has a few things in common with Ravens fans right now. He doesn't know when training camp is going to begin, but he is anxious for it to get here. "I'm ready to play some football," said Taylor, who threw out a ceremonial first pitch for the Bowie Baysox last Thursday, then signed autographs for fans for nearly an hour in the 100-degree heat. "I've been working real hard. I know whenever it's time to go to camp, I'll be prepared.

Each week The Sun's John McIntyre presents a moderately obscure but evocative word with which you may not be familiar — another brick to add to the wall of your working vocabulary. This week's word: EVAGINATE When the clothes dryer turns the pockets of your pajamas inside out, there is a word for the phenomenon. They have been evaginated . Evaginate (pronounced uh-VAJ-uh-nate) is a word more commonly used in biology or physiology, meaning to turn a tubular or pouch-shaped organ or structure inside out, The New Oxford American Dictionary advises.

Pimlico Race Course Surprising Pocket Patch pockets a win at Clark Stakes Charles McGill 's Pocket Patch was the surprise winner of Saturday's feature at Pimlico Race Course , the $75,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes. Returning to the races after a six-month absence, the Flint Stites trainee broke alertly in the one-mile test, which was contested over the firm turf. With Jonathan Joyce at the controls, the Partner's Hero offspring tracked pace-setter Crimson Comic down the backstretch, forged to the lead heading into the turn and galloped home safely from there.

The Sun's recent article on the dollar coin ("Dollar for dollar, a big savings," March 8), documents a prime example of where our government has taken a wrong turn. As pointed out in the article, the savings accrued from eliminating the paper dollar bill and replacing it with a more durable dollar coin is significant. Budget-conscious representatives of the people should consider this a "no-brainer. " What could be stopping them? Lobbyists from the paper and ink providers have consistently influenced representatives to drop the subject.

Liz Kay's article, "Answering the call," which appeared February 13 in The Baltimore Sun, has prompted me to respond. Since 1992 I have been trying to prevail on BGE to hire more restoration power crews to enable them to provide a more efficient and rapid service for restoring power to its customers during power outages. Until this crucial step is taken, customers will continue to be the victims of unacceptable delays in bringing back power. Unfortunately, my efforts to date to get BGE to arrive at a reasonable ratio of power crews to customers can be viewed as a struggle for several reasons.

"I've always wanted to hug Santa," the 50-year-old woman said as she hugged a man dressed in a Santa costume on Dec. 19 in Fells Point. She held herself close, rubbed against him - and picked his pocket. As we continue to lament the retirement of Sun reporter Dick Irwin and the demise of the police blotter, we are also thankful that the Baltimore Guide continues to sift through those logs of lesser crimes. The above incident is from their blotter, which doesn't go into details about the crimes, sometimes with comic effect.

The gubernatorial election between Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. will likely be decided in a series of battleground territories — both geographic and demographic — around Maryland. If, as expected, they win their respective primaries Sept. 14, each will focus his time and money on the state's political battlegrounds — chiefly, the populous Baltimore suburbs and vote-rich Montgomery County, which, while left-leaning, are also home to Maryland's largest group of unaffiliated voters and a seldom-remarked trove of Republicans.