Potatoes

At the request of her husband, Bill, Judy Heinekamp of Baltimore wrote in requesting the recipe for the classic Baltimore coddie, or codfish cake. Barbra Rosenberg, also of Baltimore, sent in her "tried and true" recipe. She says that it brings back childhood memories of trips to the neighborhood drugstore for "coddies and a chocolate Coke." Her recipe calls for salt cod, but she says that if that is not readily available, fresh or frozen (and defrosted) cod may be substituted. I tested the recipe as written, using the salt cod. It's a bit time-consuming, but I decided it was probably the best way to get an authentic coddie.

Jeanine Cummins wants more than anything in the world to give a voice to people who are unable to speak for themselves. In the past, she has spoken for family members. In her 2004 memoir, "A Rip in Heaven," Cummins spoke for her cousins, Julie and Robin Kerry, who were gang-raped and murdered in 1991. She spoke for her older brother, Tom, who also was hurt in that attack on a bridge outside St. Louis. "My cousin, Julie was a really gifted writer," says Cummins, 38, who grew up in Gaithersburg.

Even if you're not yet ready to retire, San Miguel de Allende is perfect for a vacation or long weekend getaway. Getting there United and American airlines offer connecting flights (via Texas) to San Miguel's two closest airports, Leon/Guanajuato (BJX), 90 minutes away, and Queretaro (QRO), one hour away. Round-trip airfares start around $600. Multiple airlines offer flights to Mexico City, which is three hours from San Miguel. When to go January may be the sole inclement month to travel, and even then it's nothing compared to a typical Baltimore winter.

A recipe for Irish boxty, courtesy of Slainte chef Chris Marquis: 1 1/2  cups grated raw potato 1 cup  flour 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes 1 egg 1 Tablespoon skim milk olive oil salt and pepper Toss the grated potatoes with flour in a large bowl. Stir in mashed potatoes until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and skim milk; mix into the potatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Almost anyone engaged in the battle of the bulging midsection knows that French fries are not their friends. But the real shocker in the study of long-term weight gain that came out of Harvard this week was that eating too many spuds of any kind — even plain old baked potatoes — could make you heavier. Every additional serving of potatoes that people added to a regular diet each day was connected to an average weight gain of about a one pound over four years. That is not a ton of weight gain, but as the study published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine points out, it adds up over time.

Edna Jonkoniec from Clinton, Maine, was looking for a recipe for making meatloaf that was rolled jelly-roll style. She said the roll also contained potatoes, cheese and other ingredients. She lost the recipe in a move some years ago and wanted to be able to make it again for her family. Carol Owen from Havre de Grace sent in a recipe she had that sounded very much like what Jonkoniec was in search of. It is fairly easy to make as long as you allow time for the loaf to chill before attempting to slice it. When I tested it, I used store-bought mashed potatoes, which was a big time-saver.

This is adapted from Karen Lee's "The Occasional Vegetarian."Lemony roasted potatoes6 servings18 small red potatoes2 tablespoons olive oil2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano1/2 teaspoon saltfresh ground black pepperScrub potatoes and cut into quarters. Spread in a single layer in a baking pan.Combine olive oil and lemon juice. Pour over potatoes, and add oregano, salt and several grindings of pepper. Toss gently.Roast in a 375-degree oven 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are soft and golden.

As the days get darker, I get hungrier for potatoes. I am not sure why. Perhaps it has something to do with my diurnal rhythm. When the night is cold and scary, I tend to stay indoors and seek warm and comforting potatoes. Moreover, to cook potatoes you need a strong fire. A hot oven is a welcome companion when the sky turns to pitch at 5 p.m. and the north winds rattle the windows. It could be that my increased appetite for potatoes is linked to some instinct to burrow, to avoid the bitter outdoors by retreating deep into the familiarity of the kitchen and eating things grown underground.

I have a simple question for you. I have heard that you should never refrigerate onions or potatoes. Is this true, and what is the best way to store them? First of all, never say never ... the answer is actually yes and no. You should not refrigerate onions or potatoes until you have prepped them for cooking - and even then not for very long. Until that time, they should be stored in a cool, dry place like a pantry. Here's the tricky part: they shouldn't be stored together. Onions give off a natural gas that quickens the decay of potatoes.

* Item: Knorr Skillet Potatoes * What you get: 4 one-half-cup servings * Cost: About $2.20 * Nutritional content: Scalloped - 110 calories, 2 grams fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 590 milligrams sodium; Hash Browns - 100 calories, 0.5 gram fat, 0.5 gram saturated fat, 620 milligrams sodium. * Preparation time: About 15 to 18 minutes on stove top * Review: Knorr has been king of the dehydrated vegetables for as far back as I can remember (who hasn't had that cocktail-party spinach dip based on the company's instant-soup mix?

If you received some money for a holiday gift (or even if you didn't), you might want to use it to make the (short) trip to the Medieval Times dinner and tournament at Arundel Mills Mall. This nine-year-old theatrical experience (29 years in Kissimmee, Florida) will whisk you back to the days of knights in shining armor defending their distressed damsels and generally settling their differences in good-natured competitions and even outright battles. All of this takes place in an arena setting with a thick, sandy floor.

This potato salad recipe bucks the usual drenched-in-mayo stereotype — and that's a good thing. It's vegan (and gluten-free), but don't let that steer you away. You can't beat the flavor, thanks to a dressing with a base of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, red onion, herbs and more. My husband's cousin Coco, who blogs at http://www.operagirlcooks.com , developed the recipe to be served warm, which is outstanding. But the few times we've had leftovers, we've enjoyed it chilled, too. The flavors intensify as it sits, so if you make it ahead for a tailgate party or other event and chill it overnight, it's just as good.

Warning: What you are about to read is a deeply cynical view of the 2012 election. If you're looking for puppies and rainbows, check back with me another time. Many conservatives feel like this is the most important election in our lifetimes because we desperately need to reverse the damage done by the Obama administration and get the economy moving again. Indeed, each of the remaining GOP hopefuls makes some version of this argument. They will fix what President Barack Obama (or Washington)

The many good reasons to check out Miller's Deli in the Greenspring Shopping Center are written on the restaurant's wall. The big menu lists items that can carry you from breakfast through dinner. And liver and onions ($9.99), well, Miller's has that, too. The deep, foamy plastic plate felt like it weighed five pounds. On it, buried under easily a heaping cup of translucent onion strips, were two fairly thin slabs of fried liver, about six inches long and 4 inches wide. But let's talk mashed potatoes, which came with the platter.

Russell Brown, executive chef at O'Learys Seafood Restaurant in Annapolis, was in Today's Kitchen on Nov. 18 with Al Roker and Natalie Morales. The funniest thing happened. See, Brown is demonstrating how to make swordfish steak au poivre, and Morales notices that among the ingredients on the counter was white wine. So, Morales asks Brown about it, and then Al Roker makes it seem like Morales was interested because she wanted to DRINK the wine!!!!! You can watch this classic TV moment here . The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog is running Thanksgiving Tips from the Stars -- here's a recipe for Brussels sprouts with pancetta from Chazz Palminteri, which you can try for yourself at Chazz: A Bronx Original in Baltmore's beautiful Harbor East.

Ellen Delson from West Palm Beach, Fla., was looking for a recipe she had many years ago but lost for making scalloped potatoes on the grill. She doesn't remember the exact ingredients or method, but she recalls that thinly sliced potatoes, onions and mayonnaise, in addition to some other ingredients, were combined, wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked on the grill. I did not receive any responses to her query, but I thought it sounded like a dish worth researching and testing.

I COME TO PRAISE the potato, not bury it. I have long been a fan of the cooked potato. I like it mashed and mixed with celery root. I liked it sliced and sizzled in hot peanut oil, a process that yields one of the world's greatest and messiest treats -- homemade potato chips. I crave baked potatoes on Sundays, fried potatoes on Fridays and crisp potato salad on summer afternoons. Every year around St. Patrick's Day, I try to talk myself into planting potatoes in my garden. Yet each year I say "No."

LIMA, Peru -- In one room, scientists grow potato plants wit sticky hairs to see how they repel bugs. In another, the plants are pumped with hormones to see how they adapt to sunlight.A scientist crushes moth larvae to remove a fungus that, when combined with talcum and water, creates a natural insecticide. Nearby, scientists mix and match genes to produce potatoes that are bigger, stronger and tastier -- not to mention better-looking.Here in the country where the potato originated, scientists at the International Potato Center take potatoes seriously.

Pat Colandro from Dundalk was looking for a recipe for a chicken dish with sweet potatoes and pineapple that she said was published some years ago in The Baltimore Sun. She said couldn't remember the exact ingredients, but the dish was a great way to get more fruits and vegetables into her family's diet. Maria Murphy from Santa Rosa, Calif., sent in a recipe from a cookbook called "Slow Cooker and More" that she thought sounded similar to what Colandro was looking for. What's particularly nice about this recipe is that the whole dish can be assembled in 15 minutes or less, and then the slow cooker does the rest of the work.

When spuds were all greasers, they deserved to get kicked out of school. Deep-fat french fries and oily tater tots got the heave-ho from most cafeterias, as schools in Maryland and across the country tried to improve child nutrition. Potatoes that wanted to stay on the menu had to go to reform school, returning as low-fat, oven-baked "fries," baked potatoes or mashies made with skim milk. Now even those goody-two-shoes spuds face near-expulsion. Proposed federal nutritional requirements for the National School Lunch Program would allow school cafeterias to offer students no more than one cup of starchy vegetables per week.