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.

Afew months ago, while my husband and I were in Paris working for several weeks, I noticed an unusual soup listed on the chalkboard outside a cafe in our neighborhood. I wasn't planning to eat lunch there but was so intrigued by the sound of a carrot-and-coconut soup that I stopped in. The waitress asked if I wanted the potage cold or warm, and I opted for the latter. Several minutes later, she returned with a bowl of piping-hot soup that was thick, creamy and a lovely orange hue. One sip and I knew I wanted the recipe.

Help! I forgot to wear my glasses and came home with 5 pounds of self-rising flour instead of all-purpose flour. What can I do with it? And why do grocery stores in the South devote so much shelf space to self-rising flour? The reason you see so much self-rising flour in the South is tradition. Self-rising flour is convenient for making biscuits, saving you a step in adding baking powder. So that's one thing you can do with your self-rising flour - make biscuits with it. You also can use it in recipes that call for baking powder, such as quick breads and some cookies.

Baltimore has launched a citywide effort to educate the public on the dangers of high salt intake, which is associated with high blood pressure, particularly among African-Americans. In a city that is nearly 65 percent black, the risks of hypertension, which can lead to heart attack, kidney failure and stroke, are especially high. The city Health Department is bringing together researchers and public health advocates starting in September to try to untangle the reasons for high salt consumption and offer recommendations for how city officials and food suppliers can decrease it. The six-month-long effort was born out of a recent Health Department initiative to reduce health disparities caused by cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in Baltimore.

No review of Sanders' Corner can start with anything but its fine covered porch overlooking the woods and fields surrounding Loch Raven Reservoir. Not for nothing do the servers wear T-shirts saying, "Sanders' Corner: That Dam Place." Decked out with striped awnings, tile-topped tables, potted plants and ceiling fans, it's one of Baltimore County's best spaces for eating casually outdoors. A new owner, John Naudain, took over this spring, sprucing the place up and adding curbside pickup, valet parking, delivery and a lounge.