Powder

With a welcome dose of common sense, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that federal sentencing guidelines are advisory, not mandatory, and that a judge is still free to exercise discretion, depending on the circumstances of the case. The court's reiteration of the principle that judges should use their judgment is particularly appropriate in drug cases, where mandatory minimum sentences are often unnecessarily harsh and disparate punishments involving crack and powder cocaine are especially glaring.

I've been searching for Dutch-process cocoa. In the supermarkets, I just see Nestle and Hershey's cocoa, neither of which says "Dutch" or "processed with alkali." Chocolate liquor has two principal components - cocoa solids and cocoa butter - and in 1828, a Dutchman named Coenraad Van Houten invented a method for separating the two. The newly independent cocoa solids also could be pulverized to make a fine powder with lots of chocolate flavor but little fat: cocoa powder. Van Houten also invented a process by which cocoa powder, which is naturally quite acidic, was treated with an alkaline to neutralize the flavor and deepen the color.

Add nutrition to any bread with the Cornell Enrichment Formula. Before measuring flour into measuring cup, add 1 tablespoon each of soy flour and nonfat milk powder, and 1 teaspoon wheat germ. Spoon in flour and level off. Repeat for each cup of flour used in the recipe.-- The Food Lover's TiptionaryPub Date: 01/24/99

Mission: The restoration, care and maintenance of the only surviving Civil War-era vessel and the last sailing warship ever built by the U.S. Navy. And the promotion of the vessel as a cultural and educational resource -- all under the stewardship of the Constellation Historical Preservation Corp. Inc. The vessel, built in 1854, was active for 100 years. The ship carried its fight against slavery into the Civil War; aided the 1880 famine relief in Ireland; and was the primary training ship of the U.S. Naval Academy for more than two decades.

Beer -- it isn't just for sipping, slurping, chugging and drinking.It's great for cooking, too.And not just for marinating ribs or adding to a barbecue sauce. There are many ways to cook with it and a variety of beers to experiment with.Many places in the United States are brewing up some pretty tasty and refreshing microbrews these days. But how do you know which beer to splash into your recipes?There really is only one true way to answer that, and that is by trial and error. For instance, when making a Blue Cheese and Beer Dressing, I poured a little of the dressing into a cup, added a tiny bit of beer and tasted it. That's how to do it -- just keep trying different combinations until you like what you have concocted.

One day last week, my culinary assistant, Charles Worthington, came to work excited about a recipe he had created for a dinner that he had catered the evening before. His golden rhubarb and apricot chutney served with roast duck had been a smashing success. Guests had returned for seconds and even thirds of this dish. Although the chutney had worked beautifully with the duck, the young chef suggested that it would be equally good with pork.I had planned a small party for a group of good friends the next weekend and decided to make the chutney and serve it with grilled pork tenderloins.

Clearly colorful plastic wrapWhy settle for boring clear plastic wrap, when you can jazz up treats, school lunches and gift baskets with colorful coverings in rose, yellow, blue, green and violet from Reynolds Crystal Color Plastic Wrap? For recipes and other ideas, order a free "Quick and Easy Treats for Kids" brochure by calling the Reynolds Kitchens at 800-745-4000.Food for ThoughtSeveral nationally recognized chefs and cookbook authors will demonstrate their culinary skills at the Baltimore Book Festival this weekend in Mount Vernon Place on Charles Street.

My father was not what you would call an educated man. I doubt he had read twenty books in his life. But he was a marvelous storyteller. He used to make up a bedtime story for me every single night, and the best ones were turned into serials and went on for many nights running.One of them, which must have gone on for at least fifty nights, was about an enormous fellow called "The Big Friendly Giant," or the "BFG" for short. The BFG was three times as tall as an ordinary man and his hands were as big as wheelbarrows.

ATLANTA -- Federal law enforcement officials say they have connected Eric Robert Rudolph to smokeless powder purchased Tennessee about four years ago and used in the 1996 bombing in Centennial Olympic Park that killed an Albany woman and injured 111 people.FBI and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents have said for months that they want to question Rudolph, a fugitive believed to be in the western North Carolina mountains, about three bombings in Atlanta, but the powder evidence appears to connect Rudolph directly to the Atlanta bombings.

A passenger bus careened across a highway median strip and into oncoming traffic on Baltimore-Washington Parkway ,X yesterday, leaving eight people seriously injured and snarling rush-hour traffic between the two cities, authorities said.Police said four vehicles were involved in the accident, which caused a four-mile backup and forced police to divert cars from the northbound and southbound lanes of Route 295.Three of the injured were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, U.S. Park Police said, adding that none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

JOHN TOLOS, 78 Professional Wrestler John Tolos, a professional wrestler whose dastardly antics in bouts with archrival Freddie Blassie attracted throngs to the Olympic Auditorium and one record-setting match at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1971, has died. He was 78. Nicknamed the Golden Greek, Tolos died of kidney failure Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles' Woodland Hills neighborhood, his son Chris said. Tolos, who spent more than 30 years in the ring, gained fame as Los Angeles' top villain in the early 1970s, according to Dave Meltzer, a pro wrestling historian and editor of the Wrestling Observer newsletter.

1 New color scheme: Red Sox made the Orioles blue, so they hope White Sox don't make them pale (7 p.m., MASN). 2 Such a deal: Now that Ryan Zimmerman has his new contract, everything will turn around for the Nationals (vs. Braves, 7 p.m., MASN2), right? 3 Abracadabra: Watch LeBron James (left) try to make the Pistons disappear in a puff of powder (10 p.m., ESPN). 4 Turn of phrase: May we call Game 4 of the Penguins-Flyers series (7 p.m., Versus) pivotal even though pivot is a basketball term?

Cavaliers@Celtics 8 p.m. [ESPN] You figure these two teams very well could end up butting heads to decide who gets to the NBA Finals from the Eastern Conference. And have you noticed how LeBron James (left) is being called LBJ these days? Next thing you know, instead of tossing powder into the air before a game, he'll be picking up a dog by his ears.

No. 3 Maryland (0-0) Coming up: Vs. Presbyterian, today, 2 p.m., Ponte Vedra High, Jacksonville, Fla.; vs. Air Force, tomorrow, noon, Jacksonville University. Comment: The Terps' season begins with an appearance at the Wounded Warrior Project's Face Off for a Cause. Presbyterian is playing its first all-Division I schedule, and Air Force went 3-9 last season. No. 6 UMBC (0-0) Coming up: At Delaware, tomorrow, 1 p.m. Comment: The Retrievers have dropped the past three meetings against the Blue Hens and nine of the past 12. A Ryan Smith and M Peet Poillon power a high-octane UMBC offense, but Delaware sophomore G Noah Fossner shined in a scrimmage against Maryland a few weeks ago. No. 10 Navy (1-0)

The FBI is investigating a suspicious envelope containing white powder sent to former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. The action is part of a broader probe into letters sent to more than 40 governors' offices and to 15 U.S. embassies in Europe. Mailroom workers in the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis, where State House mail is screened, discovered the envelope yesterday morning. Maryland State Police and the Annapolis Fire Department's hazmat unit responded, and the envelope was sent to a state laboratory for testing.

December is the month when many of us make and share food with others. Home bakers turn out all manner of sweet treats. Others serve warm mulled cider or wine at caroling parties and trim-the-tree gatherings. Everywhere there is a sense of celebration through food. I join right in, picking up on this holiday spirit. Recently, I came up with an idea for holiday spiced hot chocolate, which I expect to use often during the next few weeks. This special cocoa mix could easily be packaged as a gift.

On Sunday, November 2, 2008, LLOYD CARROLL HALL Lt. Colonel USA Ret.; beloved husband of Grace Anderson Hall; father of Joyce Carol Newman, and Janet Hall Kerchner; grandfather of Rebecca, Amy, Kristin, Loretta, Sarah, and Mark. Also survived by eight great-grandchildren. Relatives and friends may call at Borgwardt Funeral Home, 4400 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville, MD, Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral Service will be held at the Chapel at Riderwood Village, 3110 Gracefield Road, Silver Spring, MD, on Friday, November 7 at 1 P.M. Interment Arlington National Cemetery, on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 11 A.M. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Parkinsons Disease Association, 135 Parkinsons Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305.

On Sunday, November 2, 2008, LLOYD CARROLL HALL Lt. Commander USAR; beloved husband of Grace Anderson Hall; father of Joyce Carol Newman, and Janet Hall Kerchner; grandfather of Rebecca, Amy, Kristin, Loretta, Sarah, and Mark. Also survived by eight great-grandchildren. Relatives and friends may call at Borgwardt Funeral Home, 4400 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville, MD, Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral Service will be held at the Chapel at Riderwood Village, 3110 Gracefield Road, Silver Spring, MD, on Friday, November 7 at 1 P.M. Interment Arlington National Cemetery, on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 11 A.M. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Parkinsons Disease Association, 135 Parkinsons Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305.

WASHINGTON - Amid continuing questions from some lawmakers and others about the FBI's investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI is asking the National Academy of Sciences to review its probe, Director Robert S. Mueller III said yesterday. Among the issues that the independent organization likely would examine is how FBI analysts traced anthrax powder that was mailed to two U.S. senators and several news organizations to the Fort Detrick laboratory of Bruce E. Ivins, who killed himself in July.

Death toll rises to 26 in Calif. train crash LOS ANGELES: The coroner's office says the death toll in the Los Angeles commuter train crash has reached 26. Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter says the 26th death was reported to his office yesterday after a victim died Saturday at County-USC Medical Center. The commuter train carrying 220 people rolled past stop signals Friday and barreled head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in suburban Chatsworth. Tainted milk may sicken more babies, China says BEIJING: China's Health Ministry is warning that its investigation into contaminated milk powder may uncover additional cases of babies who have fallen ill from the tainted product.