Yeast

THIS WEEK'S Sun article about twentysomethings who send out for dinner rather than doing any real cooking made me wince. I see the results of "the food delivered to the home" trend each Wednesday and Saturday morning when I take out the garbage for one of this age group's most ardent proponents. There's always a small dump of Styrofoam, pizza boxes and fried-rice containers. So how did I learn to cook? Simple. I like to eat well and when I was growing up, I just watched the masters in my family's Guilford Avenue kitchen.

Why do we have sex? It's a dumb question for most people, perhaps, but a frustratingly difficult one for evolutionary biologists. After all, sex is a time-consuming, exhausting, and genetically risky affair, and yet most animals and plants, from dogs to dogwoods, do it. Thanks to the sex lives of yeast cells - or lack thereof - scientists may have a better answer for why sexual reproduction arrived so early in our evolutionary past and pays off so...

When does a diet supplement become a medication? Sometimes, it's hard to tell. Consider red yeast rice, the supplement Celeste Wright uses to lower her cholesterol. "It works," says Wright, a 66-year-old mother of two from Dripping Springs, Texas, who has been taking it since 2001. Wright had high cholesterol levels five years ago, when she began taking Pravachol, a popular prescription drug known as a statin that reduces cholesterol levels. Prone to allergies, she suffered a reaction to the drug that made her throat swell, her eyes burn and her skin break out in rashes.

LIFE DOESN'T GIVE you many opportunities for redemption, but baking does. When baking, my mantra is if at first you don't succeed, get fresh yeast and give it another shot. That is what I did recently. Sure enough, the second time around, a batch of Sheboygan Hard Rolls emerged from the oven, crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, a perfect companion for bratwurst. The bratwurst made me do it: drove me to spend several hours mixing the dough, punching it down, forming it into rounds, and then baking the ovals in a steamy 450-degree oven and spritzing them with water as they cooled.

Go ahead, have a glass of merlot -- and maybe top it off with some peanut butter and mulberries while you're at it. Harvard Medical School scientists have identified a group of molecules that lengthen the lives of yeast cells by as much as 80 percent. The life-extending substances are found in red wine, peanuts, and certain plants, fruits and vegetables. The researchers described the results as a potential breakthrough, which could lead to the development of drugs that could drastically extend human life- span and treat aging-related disorders such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease.

For years I have been trying to find a recipe for Philadelphia butter cake (also known as German butter cake, or as just butter cake in the Northeast at any German bakery). It is not a layer cake, but I think a raised-dough type of crust with a gooey sweet buttery topping. I really hope you are familiar with what I'm talking about, because it is not the easiest item to describe. The yeast cake with a wonderful butter topping that you are talking about is indeed German, and its real name is butterkuchen ( "Philadelphia" is not part of the translation)

Dorothy G. Kinder of Glen Burnie wrote, "I am looking for a recipe for biscuits which calls for buttermilk, dry yeast and which are refrigerated overnight." Karen Hindman of Laurel responded with a recipe that she says is "for the biscuits Dorothy wanted. There are other variations of `angel biscuits,' but this is the best one using buttermilk! I am from North Carolina and love this book, Woman's Club of Hamlet, NC Cookbook. Hope you enjoy this recipe!" Recipe requests Laurel Stevens of Baltimore is seeking a recipe for chicken or shrimp curry.

Q. Whenever I turn on the television and see another report about West Nile virus, it scares me. I live in Florida and play golf at least three times a week and also work outside in the yard. The mosquitoes are voracious, so I apply lots of DEET insect repellent to my legs, ankles, arms, face, neck, socks and shirt. I try not to inhale the stuff, but I know I breathe in some of it. I worry about using so much DEET and would like some alternative approaches. A. According to public health authorities, DEET is the most effective repellent available.

Elizabeth M. Hayes of Greensburg, Pa., writes that she lost her recipe for a cheese batter bread made with yeast, and says it was delicious. She wants a recipe. Her response came from Audrey Jensen of Glen Burnie. She wrote: "This is in response to Elizabeth Hayes' request for cheese bread. I got this recipe out of the paper years ago, and it is the cheese bread that was served at Hutzler tearooms in the Hutzler department stores. I make it for my family often, and they seem to never get tired of it. I hope she enjoys it."

Some snapshots of American life have nothing to do with a camera. Take a closer look at our country's baking traditions. You'll find, with each bread and roll, a portrait of a particular region. After decades in which characterless, mass-produced breads -- with their universally soft textures and mild flavors -- reigned supreme at the store, artisan bread makers, cookbook authors, upscale markets and even some supermarkets are resurrecting some great American loaves. Regional baking still thrives, according to Beth Hensperger, author of several baking books, including Breads of the Southwest.