Supper

Grace Baptist Church, 17 Somerset Road in Pasadena, will hold a pancake supper and movie night Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. Free. Call 410-255-5616.

Starting this Wednesday, Charleston will offer a supper-for-two menu in the bar. Think of it as a way to soak up some of Charleston's atmosphere, and Cindy Wolf's cooking, without committing to the full tasting menu experience. The menu, which will change weekly, costs $100 for a couple. The main course for the debut supper, which is inspired by "Downton Abbey," is a lobster pie, butter poached lobster, Yukon gold potatoes and brandy cream in puff pastry. The appetizer is ham-stuffed mushrooms, and the supper includes a course of Stilton cheese and winds up with a course of mignardises -- think small cookies and petit fours -- served with a Claret ice, a sorbet made with red wine.

Until this week I had been losing a supper-table argument.I had been arguing against an extra course, a pill course, being added to the family meal. I was worried that in the name of good health, I would soon have to pop pills containing big doses of vitamins A and E, members of a class of chemicals known as antioxidants.I believe that all vitamins should appear the way God made them, namely, in the form of delicious food and drink. I was opposed to tossing down tablets.The key to good health, I argued, was at the dinner table, not at the medicine counter.

[Pre-recap recap: Last week, the chefs dug up their own oysters, Micah won the Quickfire, the Rat City Roller Girls had a "Top Chef"-catered skating party, Padma wowed us with her roller disco moves, Josie got on everyone's last nerve, team Brooke/John won and Bart was sent home. Got it? Good.]  It's dawn in Seattle: We wake up to witness Sheldon methodically sharpening his knives and Stefan methodically applying face cream. No surprise, then, that the challenge is about knife skills.

The 18th century isn't called the Age of Reason for nothing: It was a time people invented things because they reasoned a need for them, from the steam engine to the aerial balloon. It was conversation's heyday, when everybody had a lot to say about art, science, love, the natural order and the celestial spheres -- and they usually said it at the dinner table.Whether the table was shining mahogany in the Tidewater or scrubbed, hand-hewn pine in a little cabin on the Allegheny, the rule was the same: Good food to share with kin and stranger, and plenty of it; spices and herbs to brighten the taste.

Part of cooking is learning to recognize clues.You whip up some goat liver pate on toast points, for instance, and when the serving plate comes back from the table with nary a point out of place, you figure out this was not a goat-liver crowd.Or when your cake batter becomes so thick it stops the electric mixer in its tracks, you conclude that maybe you did -- mistakenly -- add too much flour.Then there is the slippery business of deciphering what is supposed to be cooked for supper. The other night, for example, I arrived home from work expecting to be greeted by the warm embrace of my family and the pleasing aromas of supper steaming on the stove.

Trinity Lutheran Church and Caring and Sharing Ministries of Taneytown will sponsor a supper and ecumenical musical praise service Sunday at the church to benefit the family of Tony Dougherty.Dougherty was partially paralyzed in an accident in October 1996. He has been using a wheelchair since then and is receiving physical therapy. He has recently been accepted into a new treatment program, but must travel for two-week periods to Idaho or Utah.The trips for Dougherty and his wife cost $4,000 for lodging and van rental.

It's just two words, but what a difference they can make in meal.Without them, it could be a long, cold, stare into the refrigerator, a hasty thaw, a heated jumble of pots and pans, accompanied by stress and the sense of fleeting time.With them, it can be a snap. One pot, one dish, one meal, cool and simple.Pasta salad. Those are the magic words for summer suppers. Easy to put together, infinitely variable, nutritious and filling. And they don't, for the most part, heat up the kitchen.What's more, they're ideal for entertaining -- elegant, inexpensive, expandable, perfect for those casual "bring-a-dish" parties that characterize the outdoor dining season.

Linda Shaw doesn't mind getting messy. And Saturday, the longtime school media specialist will have her gloved hands caked in egg and cracker meal as she helps prepare a Maryland delicacy -- hand-patted, deep-fried oysters. Shaw volunteers for the job at Linden-Linthicum United Methodist Church in Clarksville. She is one of many church members who have helped run the annual ham and oyster supper for years. The dinner will run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the church. Shaw's husband, Ronnie, also volunteers.

CUCUMBERS ARRIVE in late summer like visiting relatives at a small beach house, one after the other, after the other. First you try to figure out where to put them, then how to get rid of them. Initially, cucumbers are greeted as celebrities. They represent a victory over the pesky cucumber beetle. They are long, green proof that the vicissitudes of the growing season have been vanquished. When an early-arriving cucumber is in the house, there is a sense of triumph in the air. However, as the summer wears on, the novelty soon wears off and the cucumber's fall from glory is precipitous.

When we check back in with the Housewives, Kim's daughter Kimberly is getting ready to head to prom. Kim's storyline has been put on the backburner, so far, but this was pretty cute.  Kimberly's boyfriend picks her up and it's all adorable and perfectly awkward with Kim talking about chicken salad and trying to get them to have a cup of lemonade or some other such nonsense. We also get to spend a little more time with Kyle's teenage daughter, Alexa, who is in the process of learning how to drive.

Unless you have the family on a no-carb diet – and we know how that fad has died out – you probably spend some meal-planning energy on carb-y side dishes to go with protein sources and vegetables. Potatoes, pasta, rice, grains are among the choices. And among the grain-y options we tend to forget are grits. That's right. Grits. The South's answer to Italian polenta. Since we do, in essence, live in the South, you've probably tried had grits for breakfast, but few of us consider fixing them for supper.

Most every home cook has a particular approach to the weeknight meal. Some of us are really into doing ahead. Slow cookers are their thing. On the other hand, unless we're whipping up goodies for a dinner party, others of us can't bear the thoughts of starting supper in the wee hours of the workaday morning so it'll be ready at dinner time. (And we certainly don't want to deal with it the night before.) Indeed, the only challenge we're willing to take on in the morning is figuring out what to remove from the freezer to thaw for later.

Jerry Edwards' Lutherville-based catering company Chef's Expressions has announced its 2012 schedule of wine suppers and culinary classes, all of which are held at the company's Gramercy Mansion property in Stevenson. Chef's Expressions has scheduled eight Wine Suppers this year, starting on Jan. 13, with Ring in the New Year, a toast to 2012 with "bubbles and classic flavors of American cuisine. " Each suppers is $99.95.    The 2012 Culinary Classes begin on Wednesday, Feb. 8, with Chocolate Amour.

  Editor: On Oct. 25 the Aberdeen Lions Club held its annual spaghetti supper. Proceeds from this fund raiser benefits the Aberdeen Middle School. With budget cuts for field trips, as well as the need for additional technology, these proceeds will be put to good use by the school. I would like to thank the Aberdeen community for coming out to enjoy an evening of dining on spaghetti and visiting with friends within the local community. This year we served 600 dinners, of which dinners were delivered to Fairbrooke Senior Center, and Catholic Charities.   A big thank you to Sandy Keithley, Barbara Moxley and Pat Hale from AMS for assisting the Lions in the kitchen.

Tickets are on sale for the Harford County Public Library's seventh annual gala, the Sapphire Supper Club.. Enjoy an "Evening in the Stacks," which will be held Nov. 5 at the Abingdon Library from 7 to 11 p.m. The event, the county library system's largest fundraiser, is anticipated to attract more than 400 guests. Tickets are $90 each. The 1940s big band theme is in honor of Harford County Public Library's 65th "Sapphire" anniversary and will feature Shades of Blue Orchestra, vintage décor, scrumptious small plates by Pairings Bistro, a signature martini bar by Liberatore's Ristorante, and engaging live and silent auction items.

Concert Pianists Elaine Lebar and Cecelia Wyatt perform at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 2, at Galilee Lutheran Church, 4652 Mountain Road, Pasadena. Concert features the music of Mozart, Schubert and Brahms. Free admission but a free-will offering will be taken. Concert-goers can meet the performers after the concert. Information: 410-255-8236. Friendship Day St. Luke Episcopal Church, 1101 Bay Ridge Ave, Annapolis, will hold a "May Friendship Day" for women of all denominations on Friday, May 7, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Theme is "Living the Vision."

The latest addition to the Baltimore theater scene is an aptly named new company called More Theatre. Under the leadership of artistic director Aimee Blankenship and managing director Jennifer Roberts, More Theatre opens its debut production, "Leonardo's Last Supper," tonight at St. John's Church in Charles Village.Written by British playwright and screenwriter Peter Barnes ("The Ruling Class" and "Enchanted April"), "Leonardo's Last Supper" is a dark comedy about a corrupt 16th-century undertaker and his family, who have fallen on hard times due to the end of the plague.

Not being terribly "continental," we Americans tend to hit the supermarket once a week, rather than shopping for fresh stuff for dinner every day. Hence, the pantry. In your arsenal of fall-back foods to use for dinner when you can't get to the supermarket, there are undoubtedly a few cans of things designed to engender a quick family supper. Soups, undoubtedly. And tuna, most likely. Another goodie you might want to keep in stock is canned salmon. Canned pink or red salmon is even lower in calories than fresh salmon (less fat)

Food = Art, a monthly culinary event at the Creative Alliance presents the Sri Lankan Supper Club on Thursday, Oct. 13.  The evening's host is Charles Village resident S. H. “Skiz” Fernando Jr. Fernando writes Rice and Curry , a blog about Sri Lankan food and spicy cuisine -- here's his post about the supper club, including the menu. The event is a kickoff for Fernando's unique book tour -- it includes a pop-up restaurant -- in support of his new cookbook, Rice and Curry: the Sri Lankan Cookbook , which will be released later this month.