Raisins

My mother read somewhere that vodka-soaked white raisins might be good for arthritis. She is now eating nine a day. Mom has taken quite a bit of ribbing from the family. What is the benefit from this formula? Can you provide any written details about how to prepare them and how often she should eat them, how they should be stored, etc.? We first heard about a gin-raisin remedy in 1994. Some folks tell us it is worthless, while others sing its praises. Here is just one example: "This remedy has worked for me for over two years.

Kwame Kwei-Armah is turning up the floodlights on Center Stage . It's been not quite two years since the British-born playwright became artistic director of Maryland's largest regional theater. With his production of two button-pushing dramas nicknamed "The Raisin Cycle," the beams emanating from 700 N. Calvert St. are strong enough to be spotted in distant places, from the Big Apple to the Badger State. Articles about the cycle, in which both plays run in repertoire and have the same casts, have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

When spring rolls around each year, I know it is my turn to invite the nine other women in my book club to my house for dinner and a literary discussion.Southwestern-style dishes struck my fancy this time, so chilied almonds will begin the evening, followed by a robust tomato-vegetable soup seasoned with cumin, hot peppers and cilantro and garnished with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Homemade bread and a green salad tossed in a honey-lime vinaigrette will complete the main course. To end the night there will be orange and raisin brownies.

There are a few immutable laws of nature: gravity; E = MC2; and "if something can go wrong, it will. " I'd like to propose another: "If you forget to buy Halloween candy, or don't buy enough, a thousand extra trick-or-treaters - in addition to the ghosts, witches, princesses, Batmans and Kardashians already in your neighborhood - will be bussed in from all over; and every single one of them will stop at your front door with their plastic pumpkin-buckets outstretched....

Lemon, raisins and sugar. This tasty combination in a cookie was the request of Lucy W. Merrill of Baltimore. She wrote: "I am looking for Lemon-Raisin Sugar Cookies. The cookie I remember was a pale drop cookie flattened with a glass dipped in sugar. The dough contained lemon juice or extract, enough to make it very lemony, and, of course, raisins. I have improvised with disappointing results."Her response came from Anne Heinrichs of Relay, who wrote: "This sounds like the recipe Lucy Merrill is looking for. My mom used to make these around Christmas and there were never enough left for company when we kids found where she hid them."

Over the years we have shared dozens of home remedies from our readers, ranging from ways to cut the pain from bee stings to moisturizers from the kitchen cabinet. But none have been more often requested than the Raisin Remedy for arthritis pain.We recently heard from Mary Jane, who said we would want to take her to Show and Tell: "A friend told me about the raisin remedy, when I told her that I would try swimming in oyster stew if it would help. I have tried every anti-inflammatory medication on the market and seen more specialists than I can mention.

"Thanks a bunch if you can come up with this one," wrote Yvonne Jaso of Walla Walla, Wash. "I have been looking for years to find a cookie recipe once featured on the back of a Sun-Maid raisin box. I think they called them raisin griddle cookies. It could have been in the mid-'70s sometime. It's a flat-pressed cookie that looks like a graham cracker with pureed raisins as a filling."Mary Linn of St. Augustine, Fla., responded: "I copied this recipe from the back of the Sun-Maid raisin box in 1974 and I hope it's the one you're looking for. Thanks for a very enjoyable column!"

I am curious to know if anyone has tried the gin-soaked raisins for arthritic dogs. I have an 80-pound dog with arthritic hips, although she is only 6 years old. Daily aspirin and glucosamine are helping somewhat but not enough. How many raisins (if any) should I give her? Gin-soaked raisins might seem like a tasty arthritis remedy for people, but we advise you not to give them to your dog. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has received a number of reports connecting kidney failure in dogs with grapes or raisins (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, May 15, 2001)

There's nothing new under the sun, somebody once said.Maybe not. But changes make life interesting, and new twists on old recipes add to the fun of cooking and eating.Make a few of these concoctions, and you'll start some new "old-fashioned" dessert traditions in your household.Oatmeal-raisin cookiesMakes about 24 cookies1 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat flour1 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter1/2 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar3/4 cup All-Bran cereal2 large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 1/2 cups raisins (15-ounce box)

My daughter had several warts on her hands and was able to kill them quickly with lemon juice. She dabbed the warts with a sliver of lemon three or four times a day, and all of the warts fell off within four days. Four years ago, we heard from another mother whose daughter also had warts: "Years ago, my daughter had eight plantar warts on the bottoms of her feet. She could hardly walk, and I tried everything to no avail. "A friend of mine suggested squeezing fresh lemon juice on them three or four times a day. We had nothing to lose so we tried it. Those warts turned black and fell off so fast she was completely healed within four weeks.

The fall theater season is just beginning, but the Everyman Theatre production of "A Raisin in the Sun" surely will qualify as one of its highlights. African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 classic is a period piece with timeless appeal. It is really brought alive by an excellent cast that makes you feel as if you are witnessing social conditions in segregation-era Chicago in the 1950s. You feel grounded even before the first word of dialogue. Set designer James Fouchard is quite a carpenter, because his construction of a faded but well-maintained apartment is so persuasive that it's not surprising when one of the characters actually makes scrambled eggs on the kitchen stove.

An area theater that does consistently fine work is beginning its last season in its current home. Everyman Theatre's upcoming season is slated to be its final one on N. Charles Street, in the Station North arts and entertainment district. Work is well under way on its new home downtown in the renovated Town Theater, just around the corner from the Hippodrome Theatre. So this will be a season to remember in the long local history of Everyman. It kicks off Sept. 7 with Lorraine Hansberry's classic drama, “A Raisin in the Sun.” This timeless story about the aspirations of a black family in Chicago in the 1950s still resonates in any discussion of the American dream.

Alice Cottle from Fort Bragg, Calif., was looking for a recipe for persimmon bread. Lorraine Hatter from Tremont, Pa., sent in a recipe she found in September/October issue of Good Old Days magazine for the bread. Persimmons are a fall or winter fruit that are very good eaten raw or cooked to make lovely bread when gently spiced with cinnamon and augmented with raisins and chopped walnuts as in this recipe. This bread is moist and delicious, and keeps well for several days so it makes an ideal gift.

Virginia Howard from Santa Rosa , Calif., was looking for a recipe for Bishops bread or cake. Several readers sent in their recipes for Bishops bread. There seemed to be two basic but different versions, one a rather simple and plain tea bread with a crumb topping, the other more involved and chock-full of fruit and nuts, almost like a fruit cake. I decided to test a recipe sent in by Holly Welch of Rohnert Park, Calif. I thought it was interesting because it used biscuit mix as the base and had lots of yummy-sounding ingredients.

Question: : I have type 2 diabetes, and I have recently started taking cinnamon capsules to help control my blood sugar. I have been extremely pleased with the results so far. The metformin I was taking was never as consistent at controlling my blood sugar as the cinnamon has been. Are there any negatives to taking cinnamon? Answer: : Although cinnamon may work more consistently for you, there is much more research supporting the beneficial effect of metformin on blood sugar. You should make sure your doctor is aware of your regimen, so you can work together to control your type 2 diabetes.

Question: :: I read about the gin-raisin method for dealing with arthritis and decided to give it a try. None of the many medicines I had tried worked even the slightest bit. Every morning I awoke with severe swelling in my hands and arms, with the joints so stiff I couldn't touch my thumbs to my palms. The pain was excruciating. The day after eating my first daily dose of nine gin-soaked raisins, the morning swelling in my arms and hands was gone. It was probably coincidence, but I thought it was amazing that I had no pain for the first time in months.

In the Fast & Fresh column in Wednesday's A La Carte section, it was unclear which dish the carrots, raisins, mayonnaise and lemon juice were for. They are the ingredients ** for a carrot-raisin salad to accompany the tuna casserole.The Sun regrets the error.

Question: : I have type 2 diabetes, and I have recently started taking cinnamon capsules to help control my blood sugar. I have been extremely pleased with the results so far. The metformin I was taking was never as consistent at controlling my blood sugar as the cinnamon has been. Are there any negatives to taking cinnamon? Answer: : Although cinnamon may work more consistently for you, there is much more research supporting the beneficial effect of metformin on blood sugar. You should make sure your doctor is aware of your regimen, so you can work together to control your type 2 diabetes.

My daughter had several warts on her hands and was able to kill them quickly with lemon juice. She dabbed the warts with a sliver of lemon three or four times a day, and all of the warts fell off within four days. Four years ago, we heard from another mother whose daughter also had warts: "Years ago, my daughter had eight plantar warts on the bottoms of her feet. She could hardly walk, and I tried everything to no avail. "A friend of mine suggested squeezing fresh lemon juice on them three or four times a day. We had nothing to lose so we tried it. Those warts turned black and fell off so fast she was completely healed within four weeks.

I have an elderly dog suffering from painful arthritis in the knee and hip. Can I use the gin-soaked golden raisins with her safely? How many? She's been X-rayed, so I know it's arthritis. She hobbles around painfully. I'm already giving her a nutraceutical that has liquid glucosamine and chondroitin. Any advice on how to help her is greatly appreciated. Do NOT give your dog raisins, gin-soaked or otherwise! Although humans may benefit from this remedy, veterinarians have found that raisins and grapes are dangerous for dogs and may cause kidney problems.