Tea

Tiptoeing on eggshells, are you? In these dieting days of early January, total victory over vice still seems possible, but you're already wary of the R-word. (Hint: It rhymes with dissolution.) I won't eat this. ... I won't drink that. Fine. Flagellate away. But while you're at it, remember: You can resolve to eat differently, not only less. It's possible to add, not just subtract. With this in mind, here are a few tasty tips from chefs, culinary experts and other gourmands about foods that are brand-new, newly popular or that you'll be hearing more about in 2006.

THE LARGEST federal transportation funding program ever, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, is known by its acronym ISTEA. That's pronounced "iced tea," which in Washington gets served with great gobs of sweetener.Questions that may, unfortunately, delay this legislation deep into May don't center on where the money comes from or why, but rather on how much and who gets it.Thanks to some muscle applied by U.S. Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland would receive 1.58 percent of the outlay in the $214 billion Senate bill approved yesterday.

The Rosebud Tea was about to begin, and the crusts were still on the cucumber sandwiches. Rita Fayall wiped her brow - the school basement was warm - and raised an electric knife that buzzed like a chainsaw. The brown edges fell away. If a middle school boy were very, very lucky, he might get a few scraps of crust. The sandwiches themselves, though, were for the Rosebuds. So were the shrimp salad wraps and the trays of chocolate-dipped cookies. Earlier in the week, some boys, hearing rumors of exotic snacking to come, had inquired why they couldn't be Rosebuds, too. "Do you look like a Rosebud?"

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The invitation one afternoon this week was for a ladies' tea - a social event at the home of the U.S. ambassador's wife, Ann Jordan. Tea was served to the Americans and their Saudi guests. Polite introductions and pleasantries were shared. Children were inquired about. A platter of smoked salmon finger sandwiches got passed around. Then the gloves came off. Fawziya Abu Khaled, a poet and academic, put down her tea and looked at the Americans with defiance. It had been hard, she said, to accept an invitation to come to the U.S. ambassador's residence - the lair of the enemy, really.

The members of Epiphany Episcopal Church in Odenton are dusting off the antique chairs, pulling out the good linen and training the youth of their 81-year-old parish to serve an English country tea from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the church on Odenton Road.In addition to teas, they will serve finger sandwiches, scones and trifle. And this year, they have added a plant sale.Tickets are are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Information: Elva Cox at 410-674-4144.Spring dance showThe modern dance students at Anne Arundel Community College present their spring show "Spring Migration '98," at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts on the Arnold campus.

LONDON - The curtsy: A woman or girl lowers her body briefly, bending her knees and holding her skirt with both hands as the right foot is lifted and guided backward and to the left, ever so daintily. The head is bowed slightly in a sign of respect. Always, always she offers a smile. Sheila Bransfield, 58, from the Kent village of Acol, practiced the curtsy in her home this week, just as she was taught in school as a young girl - just in case, her teachers told her - and she ran into only one hitch.

It's that time again. The air turns crisp and suddenly every friend you have wants to get together to celebrate the holidays."It's such a beautiful time of year that you just want to share it with everyone," says Meadow Lark Washington, a Lutherville psychotherapist who entertains a dozen times during the holiday season.While Ms. Washington prefers intimate gatherings over big parties, an open house is the most popular way to entertain this time of year. But is it possible to prepare the food for such a large party and still manage to spend time with your guests?

The real scandal is why the IRS approved for tax-exempt status organizations that were plainly political and not "social welfare" organizations, as section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code requires ("Taxing the tea party," May 14). The GOP's phony outrage obscures the fact that not a single application from the tea party-affiliated organizations for tax exempt status was denied. They probably should have been. Mark Davis, Baltimore

Americans are very patriotic - except when it comes to paying taxes. As Mark Twain put it, "The difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector is that the taxidermist leaves the skin." Anger over taxes spawned our very republic. "Taxation without representation" was the cry at the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Patriots dumped 342 crates of British tea into Boston Harbor to protest a Tea Act that raised the price of all tea except that produced by one British supplier. Mobster Al Capone was infamous for his violent and illegal Prohibition liquor trade, but was ultimately found guilty of income tax evasion.

Good morning --Floyd Landis -- Your fans in Farmersville, Pa., are hoping the strongest thing you've taken is sweetened iced tea.