Salt

Colleges and state legislatures across the country have been grappling with a problem that's not going away: the soaring price of textbooks. Last year, 21 states, including Maryland, considered legislation or policies to rein in book costs, according to the National Association of College Stores. And at least in Maryland, the issue will be coming up again this year. Two years ago, the Maryland legislature asked the university system to come up with a consortium through which public institutions, on a voluntary basis, could use their buying power to get lower prices on books.

The kitchen at Mount Clare, the Colonial mansion of Charles Carroll the Barrister in Southwest Baltimore, was, on the one hand, a modern foodie's dream - airy, spacious and chock-full of locally grown, organic, hormone-free meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. But there were some down sides. Those vegetables, this time of year, would be limited to carrots, onions and other roots waiting to be exhumed from the dirt floor of the cellar. And the meat, larded for as long as three years in casks of salt, would look about as succulent as a piece of petrified wood.

Those chicken breasts and thighs for sale in the grocery meat case might not be all bird, and consumer advocates say few shoppers know it. Processors have been injecting some fresh poultry with up to 15 percent water, salt and elements of seaweed in recent years because, they say, it makes the meat taste better and government regulators allow it. But critics say almost a third of the chicken Americans now buy has the additives, so it costs consumers more...

My blood pressure is slightly elevated. I take a water pill to control it, and my doctor suggested that I restrict salt. I went on an extremely salt-restricted diet for a month and had no change in my blood pressure. My doctor now says I can eat normally. I learned recently that only half the adult population is sensitive to salt so that it makes their blood pressure rise. Please tell people that they should run this experiment themselves before spending the rest of their lives hunting for low-salt foods.

AS I TYPE these words, I am surrounded by heaping supplies of milk, bread and toilet paper, enough to make the place look like Ted Kaczynski's winter home.If I could take a moment to address my TV news brethren, particularly those involved in the recent snow coverage, let me begin by saying: You people have to stop this.Because you're scaring the hell out of me.I grew up in southern New York, where the winters can be severe, and I thought I was ready for any kind of weather imaginable.But I still freak out every time I turn on the TV and hear: "IT'S COMING!

The two-day ice storm that began Jan. 14 cost Howard County $89,500 to clean up, according to county highway chief Andrew Daneker, who said that is about a third more than a snowstorm without ice would have cost.The rain-ice combination required at least four saltings of roads, requiring 2,000 tons of salt and 880 tons of cinders on more than 900 miles of local roads. Salt costs $30 a ton.County highway crews have completed collection of broken tree limbs and debris in western Howard, and continue working in the Columbia and Ellicott City areas, Daneker said.

As peaches come into season, thoughts turn to cakes made with the ripe, juicy fruit. Janelee Sunderland of Baltimore wanted an "old-fashioned Baltimore peach cake with a shortcake or hardtack dough like the one a local bakery once sold."Audrey Lasseth of Baltimore came up with a recipe that suits the request.Baltimore Peach CakeServes 4-62 cups flour1/2 teaspoon salt2 teaspoons baking powder3 tablespoons butter1 egg, lightly beaten1 cup milk4 peachessugar, to tasteSift flour, salt and baking powder.

In Baltimore CitySix MTA drivers charged in theft, resale of bus passesSix Mass Transit Administration bus drivers in Baltimore have been charged with one count each of felony theft for allegedly stealing and reselling large quantities of $3 daily bus passes.Computerized fare boxes in buses allegedly were used to print, without authorization, passes that were transferred to black-market ticket dealers, according to Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.The amount of passes sold ranged from $468 to about $15,600 over six months, authorities said.

Fishermen angling for tarpon or pompano usually have to go to Florida, or the Carolinas, or at least to the lower Chesapeake Bay. But not this year.Wildlife authorities have verified catches of both species this month in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake.They're among a growing list of creatures said to be venturing up the bay as the deepening drought pushes water temperatures and salinity levels higher."We've had a hot summer and very salty conditions in the Chesapeake Bay, and it makes good conditions for these semitropical fish," said Phil Jones, resource management director for the state Department of Natural Resources.

Potatoes are rarely more irresistible than at breakfast. To do justice to these simple dishes, don't pick just any old potato from the bin. For hash browns or cottage fries, choose a red or yellow thin-skinned, waxy variety that holds its shape when boiled or steamed. For potato skins, pick rough-skinned baking potatoes such as russet or Idaho.Hash BrownsServes 65 or 6 medium waxy potatoes (about 2 pounds), unpeeled1/4 cup finely chopped onion1/2 teaspoon saltpinch pepper2 tablespoons each: butter and olive oilCook potatoes, in their jackets, in boiling salted water until about half-cooked (15 to 20 minutes)

Atlantic City's attractions are being rediscovered like delicate seashells emerging from the surf because tides are changing in the seaside resort. Thirty-one years after Atlantic City was reborn as the East Coast's answer to Las Vegas, visitors no longer have to head for the Jersey shore town to gamble. They can do it closer to home, now that Pennsylvania and other nearby states also have legalized casino gambling. Operators of family-style attractions say they sense a growing spirit of cooperation from the big guys lining the Boardwalk's Casino Row and at the Marina.

With a big grilling holiday nearly upon us, home chefs who long ago traded ordinary barbecue sauce for exotic "finishing" salts face an issue that burns brighter than a 60,000-BTU Weber. Can they still afford that $63-a-pound, hand-harvested sea salt from Cyprus? It was just the thing for a hunk of grilled protein - last barbecue season, before home values and 401(k)s melted like Morton's in the rain. Is it back to KC Masterpiece? Luckily, recession gourmets can have their fancy salts and still have money left over for food.

Island, 24 Salt Pont Road, #C4, Wakefield, RI, 02879.

After decades of warnings about salt, the white, grainy mineral seems poised to become the grocery's next boogeyman, following trans fats, carbs and calories. Health and consumer advocates who see a rising epidemic of high blood pressure and related disease are making the latest push, and that has food makers inching toward change. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently quantified the problem with a report saying most Americans consume more than double the daily recommended level of sodium, a major component of salt.

State road crews prepared for a late-season storm that began with wet flakes about 7:30 p.m. yesterday. Forecasters were predicting the storm could hit Maryland with anything from a few inches to a foot of snow. Predictions of heavier accumulations east of Baltimore led Anne Arundel County officials to announce last night that public schools would be closed today. More than 2,700 personnel and 324,000 tons of salt are "on the ready" for the storm, Gov. Martin O'Malley said, as are more than 2,400 pieces of equipment from the State Highway Administration and Maryland Transportation Authority.

Ice storms across a broad swath of the eastern U.S. and diminished supplies of rock salt are causing shortages of some ice-melting products in Baltimore-area stores - even as another storm brews. "My wife and I have been to, like, 10 stores, and nada," said Michael Schwartzburg of Pikesville, who searched stores in northern Baltimore County with his wife. "No one has any salt left." That's not true everywhere. But managers at several Baltimore-area stores said they were seeing heavy demand for salt and other snow- and ice-melting chemicals.

We all know that salt is an essential ingredient of life. It helps maintain the electrolyte balance of our cells. It helps transmit nerve impulses. It aides muscle contraction and relaxation. Our blood is 0.9 percent salt. But as with most anything, says Dr. Mahmoud Alikhan, cardiologist with the St. Joseph Medical Center, moderation is the key - and too much salt can be unhealthy. How much salt does a typical healthy adult need? The average American eats about 5 to 10 grams of sodium chloride in his daily diet, and that is too much.

Anita Wheeler of Bremerton, Wash., was looking for a recipe for making mincemeat bars. Toni Palumbo of Mercerville, N.J., sent in one she found in her local paper not long ago for Holiday Mince Squares. These traditional bar cookies are wonderful to make this time of year because you can find the jars of mincemeat in grocery stores. I used my food processor to cut in the butter, which made the recipe quite fast and easy. I'm not sure why mincemeat seems to be available only around the holidays but I'm going to buy an extra jar or two now so that I can make these delicious, old-fashioned treats any time of the year.

This version of classic linguine and clams comes together quickly if you keep canned clams in your pantry. For a simple end-of-summer side dish, toss cubed cucumbers and cubed tomatoes with salt and pepper. Saving tip: : Compare the unit prices on cans of chopped clams. You might be able to save by buying bigger clams and chopping them yourself. shopping list Linguine: $1 Garlic: 30 cents Onion: 40 cents Clams: $3.89 Parsley: 74 cents Lemon: 50 cents Wine: $1.25 Chicken broth: 35 cents Tomatoes: $2 Cucumber: $1.50 From the pantry: salt, pepper TOTAL: $11.93* Note: Prices are based on the amount of each ingredient used in the recipe.

Dennis Ferguson writes from Easton to ask: "Do hurricanes pull their moisture from the Atlantic? ... If so, where does the salt in the water end up? Does the rain's composition become saltier during hurricane season?" Nope. Hurricanes do draw their energy from evaporation of ocean water. But evaporation leaves the salt behind. Hurricane rain is fresh water, but these storms can blow salt spray far inland, turning leaves brown.