Sugar

Old-fashioned Southerners know few things are slower than molasses in winter. They also know that no matter how long it takes, pouring that molasses is worth the wait.The dark, sugar-cane syrup imparts a deep, homey flavor -- as well as a shot of sweetness -- to baked goods, meats and other dishes.One whiff of an open jar of molasses might turn off the uninitiated -- the sweetener bears a strong, almost smoky odor. But molasses wins over even skeptics once they sample its flavor in gingerbread, pork loin, chicken, muffins or baked beans.

Misty Zimmerer of Baltimore was looking for a recipe for Amish Whoopie Pies, a chocolate-cake sandwich with a creamy white filling. There seem to be two basic versions of the traditional whoopie pie. One has a filling made with egg whites as the base, and the other uses marshmallow fluff as the base. I tested a recipe sent in by Alison Moore of Owings Mills that uses marshmallow fluff, Crisco and sugar for the filling. Moore grew up in Lancaster County, Pa., the heart of Amish country.

Are energy drinks bad for you? They're not going to kill you. But many of these increasingly popular drinks contain significant amounts of caffeine, which can make you jittery and cause insomnia. They also contain loads of sugar, which nobody needs. Worse, these drinks are often marketed to kids and teenagers, many of whom already struggle with weight and don't need to add caffeine addiction to their troubles. "Energy drinks are rip-offs," said Bruce Silverglade, legal director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer watchdog group.

Earth Alley 3602 Elm Ave., Hampden 410-366-2110 Hours: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; noon-7 p.m. Friday & Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday Just in time for an eco-friendly holiday, Earth Alley has opened in Hampden. The gift and home accessories shop with the grass-green facade is one with the planet, so to speak, and features sustainable design and fair-trade items. Owner Eva Khoury likes to think of many of the things in her store as "upcycling" - things like purses made of old records, tires and magazines; picture frames from parts of old boats; and tree-free greeting cards created with sugar cane fiber.

After looking through recipes for easy dishes to serve out-of-town company, I have planned an uncomplicated menu that will give me plenty of time for catching up. A white bean soup with kale and chorizo, an all-in-one main course that can be prepared a day ahead, will anchor the meal, and will be accompanied by an arugula salad and a basket of warm bread. For dessert I have decided to make an old favorite - a plum clafoutis. Clafoutis is one of the simplest yet most delicious French desserts a home cook can prepare.

It's raining 100-calorie snack packs. In 2004, Kraft launched the skinny-mini craze with teensy-tiny Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies. Since then nearly every snack company has downsized a line of goodies. Portion control is a good idea, but sometimes the final dimensions can seem rather absurd. For instance, last summer Pepperidge Farms shrunk its chocolate chunk cookies to the size of a nickel. The pouch contains 11 tiny morsels, which pieced together equal about one average-size cookie.

Short & Sweet By Melanie Barnard The Art of the Dessert By Ann Amernick Wiley / 2007 / $40 Accomplished cooks looking for a challenge will find rich territory to explore in this book from a former assistant White House pastry chef. The 96 recipes emphasize stellar presentation, and instructions for most desserts go on for several pages. The truffled brownie souffle I tried was chocolaty as promised, but the recipe seemed like a lot of trouble to go to for a dish that tasted basically like a brownie.

The Pastry Queen Christmas By Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman Christmas Sweets Georgeanne Brennan Chronicle Books / 2007 / $18.95 Talk about visions of sugarplums. This book will have you rolling dough and sharpening your X-Acto knife to create a gingerbread cookie box. Apricot-Pistachio Bars are gift-giving pretty. And the creative packaging ideas for your edible gifts spread the good cheer. joannah.hill@baltsun.com Apricot-Pistachio Bars -- Makes about sixty-five 1 1/2 -inch squares 1 teaspoon butter plus 1 cup (2 sticks)

A man was shot to death at the Sugar Hill Tavern, a tiny liquor store in the 2300 block of Druid Hill Ave., about 5 p.m. yesterday, police said. A police spokeswoman said last night that the victim, who appeared to be in his 30s, had not been identified. He was shot in the head and was not robbed, the spokeswoman said, leading police to suspect that the victim was targeted by the shooter. Nobody at the store was willing to comment last night, and an unruly customer prevented a reporter from talking to employees.

My husband and I are enthusiastic movie fans and see almost every first-run film that comes to town. We get to a fair number of the foreign ones as well. Many of our friends are also cinema buffs, so a group of us always organizes an Academy Awards party on Oscar night.Each year we enjoy a potluck dinner before the ceremony, and during the awards we pass bowls of popcorn and nibble on Junior Mints and M&Ms. Because we all fill out ballots before the program, there are shouts of victory from those who selected the winners as the Oscars are handed out. Sometimes, there are even decorations to set the mood for this fete.

Question: : Chocolate works for hiccups. My father was recovering in the hospital for several weeks last summer, and many, many times he had lengthy bouts of severe hiccups. As he was recovering from abdominal surgery, these were extremely painful. His doctors tried anti-spasmodic drugs to end them, and the drugs did not help. I read about this remedy in your book, bought him a bag of chocolate chips, and voila, it worked. He is in his 70s and a skeptic. When he mentions this cure to his doctors, they think he is making it up. Anyway, he was thrilled.

Joyce Sanders from Selman City, Texas, was looking for a recipe for a cookie that she loved when she was a teenager made with Grape-Nut flake cereal. She said the recipe came from the back of the cereal box. Now she wants to make them for her own family. Evelyn Osteraas from The Sea Ranch, Calif., sent in a recipe that was given to her by her sister in law that uses both Grape-Nuts and Grape-Nut flakes. She says everyone in her family enjoys these cookies and it's easy to understand why. The cookies are wholesome and very delicious.

Dr. Jack Sugar, a noted retired atomic physicist whose career with the National Institute of Standards and Technology spanned more than three decades, died Aug. 15 from complications of Parkinson's disease at the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington in Rockville. He was 79. Born in Baltimore, the son of a furrier and homemaker, he was raised on Linden Avenue, and graduated in 1948 from Polytechnic Institute. He earned a degree in physics from the Johns Hopkins University in 1951. He later earned both a master's and Ph.D.

Rosie Ahern of Willits, Calif., was looking for a recipe for pineapple squares that she remembers from her childhood. Her mother, who baked bread on a weekly basis, came across the recipe on a package of Fleischmann's yeast. Barbara Davis of Salisbury sent in the recipe she believes is likely the one Ahern was searching for. The photocopy she sent in appears to be from a magazine advertisement for Fleischmann's yeast. She says she has had it since it was published back in the 1950s and it is still a favorite with her family today.

Vanilla beans are so expensive. Is there a way to save money on them? Even if a recipe calls for a whole vanilla bean, you don't necessarily have to use the whole thing. The long pod often is folded in half in the container, so you can cut it into two lengths and just use one section. If you use a vanilla bean to infuse something like a syrup, you often can rinse the pod, let it air-dry and use it a second time. If the recipe calls for slitting open the pod to scrape out the tiny seeds, such as when you flavor a vanilla ice cream or custard base, you also shouldn't throw away the leathery pod. Bury it in sugar in a closed canister or jar and let it sit for a couple of weeks.

Louise Wolfe of Bend, Ore., wrote on behalf of her 75-year-old neighbor who is in search of a recipe for a sour cream chocolate cake. Her neighbor had a recipe that she enjoyed from many years ago that she lent to someone and never got back. Mary Alice Lawson of Jackson, Miss., sent in a recipe that was given to her in the 1950s when she was first married. She says she has made it countless times over the years and it remains a family favorite to this day. This cake is an old-fashioned, pure and simple, melt-in-your-mouth slice of chocolate heaven.

LOS ANGELES - -Lamar Odom just can't help himself when it comes to the sweet stuff. He loves candy. He even credits his consumption of sugary treats for fueling his double double performances in games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference finals that helped the Los Angeles Lakers close out the Denver Nuggets and reach the NBA Finals. "It's funny because the games I played well were the games where I ate candy for breakfast," he said, grinning. "It's the reason why I got double digits in points and rebounds.

Sugar is a near-great movie with qualities more unusual than some all-time classics. It resists cliche at every turn and puts something solid in its place: raw yet controlled observation that gives the film the form of a flexing muscle. The writing-directing team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck tell the fresh, enlivening story of a baseball player, Miguel "Sugar" Santos (Algenis Perez Soto), who progresses from a Dominican Republic training camp to spring training in Arizona and then to Single-A ball in Bridgetown, Iowa.

Karen Kaiser of Columbia was looking for a recipe for a lemon meringue pie similar to one she liked very much and lost. It came from a summertime issue of a popular women's magazine in the 1970s. The pie was made from scratch and was on the tart side. Gloria Trainor of Knoxville, Tenn., sent in a pie recipe from the September 1972 issue of Family Circle magazine. She thought it might be the one that Kaiser was looking for. The recipe suggests using a piecrust mix. If you are a purist, you can make the crust from scratch; but, to save time, I opted to use the Pillsbury refrigerator crust, which I prefer to crust made from a mix. This pie has a smooth, fresh-lemon flavor with a cloudlike meringue topping and just the right balance of tart to sweet.

Linda Watkins of Knoxville, Tenn., was looking for a recipe for a type of cookie that her grandmother used to make. She called them "old butter cookies." She would take dough cut into squares and put a pat of old butter and some sugar into the center, then fold the corners into the center and bake. Alice Nulle of Woodstock, Ill., sent in a recipe for what she calls Butter Squares. It sounds just like what Watkins' grandmother used to make except, thankfully, it does not call for old butter.