Vegetable Soup

For years the tiny dining room next to the Stone Mill Bakery in Green Spring Station was open as a restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights only, with a multi-course prix-fixe menu. Ecole, as it was called, was clearly a labor of love for owner and Baltimore native Billy Himmelrich.Although he's made his name here as a bread baker, Himmelrich is a chef by training. He attended La Varenne cooking school in Paris and worked in restaurants in France and Washington before moving back to Baltimore.

This nice little Charles Village eatery seems to change its image as often as Madonna.The last time I stepped inside its doors, it was a peach-colored bower with lattice-enclosed booths, twinkling white lights and swoony Sinatra ballads. But get a load of it now: those red booths, that black and white tile, the soda fountain, the bubbling Wurlitzer. And check out the menu, with its blue-plate specials and banana splits. Like so many other new restaurants around town, Tamber's ("Nifty Fifties Dining")

"Don't throw that out!"My friend leaped across the table and snatched the receipt from my hand.Six months of collecting receipts was drawing to an end and the competition for register tapes was getting fierce."My school is so far behind our goal. We need to at least another $100,000 worth to get a printer for the computer, six boxes of ditto paper and pay the art teacher's salary."She looked haggard."I've been loitering at the pharmacy counter, hoping someone will drop a receipt for a major antibiotic."

Because of incorrect information supplied by a photographer, the name of the dish featured in the Dining Out photo in today's Sun Magazine is incorrect. The dish is beef carpaccio.The Sun regrets the error.Peabody Grill, Latham Hotel, 612 Cathedral St., (410) 727-7101. Major credit cards. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. No-smoking area: yes. Wheelchair-accessible: yes. Prices: appetizers, $2.95-$8.25; entrees, $10.95-$21.95.Well, here I am again. Sitting down to a meal at Peabody's because its menu has changed drastically.

It's hard to miss them - bright flashing lights, one red, one white - next to the awning out front of Roma's Cafe. At first glance, it could be an ambulance parked there. But getting noticed is the name of the game for this restaurant in Cockeysville, which has been open since August. Roma's does not face York Road. Rather it is tucked inelegantly behind a tune-up shop and an oil-change facility. The flashing lights are designed simply to catch people's attention as they zoom up and down Cockeysville's main drag.

India GrillWhere: 1017 S. Charles St.AHours: Lunch buffet daily, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily.Credit Cards: AE, MC, V.Features: Indian dishes.ll: 962-1554.Non-smoking section: No, but staff will try to accommodate non-smokers' needs. Indian food fans might be tempted to sing "Send in the Clones." Not only does the India Grill's name sound suspiciously "inspired" by the Bombay Grill, but the menu prose is close enough to seem like a rip-off, not a mere spinoff.Well, it may be a copycat, but it's a copycat that knows its stuff.

Some of the richest-tasting, creamiest vegetable soups are made in only half an hour -- and entirely without milk or cream, or even flour or cornstarch for thickening.What makes such soup possible are plenty of ripe vegetables to provide superb color and pure, sweet flavor, and a food processor or blender (conventional or immersion) to spin everything into a velvety puree.Sweet peppers, carrots, spinach and other produce make exquisite pureed soups. For a dairy-free version, substitute olive oil for the butter in the red pepper soup recipe below.

Vegetable dip is a smooth, creamy mixture that's simple to prepare. The vegetable recipe soup mix, with its flavorful blend of vegetables and seasonings, provides the perfect base for a delicious dip. Use the suggested stir-in-ingredients to personalize either recipe.Recipes from Thomas J. Lipton Inc.1 envelope vegetable recipe soup1 pint sour creamMix together soup and sour cream in medium bowl. Chill at least two hours. Serve with chips or fresh vegetables or chips. Makes about two cups dip.Extra Special Spinach DipIn medium bowl, blend one envelope vegetable recipe soup mix with one pint sour cream, one-half cup mayonnaise and one-half teaspoon lemon juice.

Item: Hunt's Family Favorites What you get: 15 ounces of sauce Cost: About $1.25 Nutritional content: Lasagna flavor - 40 calories, 0.5 gram fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 430 milligrams sodium, 8 grams carbohydrate, 7 grams sugars; Soup & Stew flavor - 40 calories, 0.5 gram fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 300 milligrams sodium, 8 grams carbohydrate, 7 grams sugars Preparation time: Depends on recipe Review: Hunt's is offering a line of tomato sauces seasoned...

I walked into the Sutton Place Gourmet in Pikesville and my spirits soared with anticipation. Beautiful produce and a wonderful selection of cheeses beckoned. It looked like the perfect place to grab a gourmet dinner to go. Alas, looks can be deceiving. Sutton Place, part of a Maryland-D.C.-Virginia chain specializing in high-end foods and catering, sits in the Woodholme Shopping Center only a couple of blocks north of the Beltway on Reisterstown Road. You can order a sandwich from the deli or make your own salad.