Butter

ONCE UPON a time - not so long ago really, in fact mere months ago - a quirky cookery tome was squeezed onto bookshelves hither and yon. In hushed, conspiratorial tones and a few emphatic passages, it set out to stir a few pots, but it might well cleave the cooking world into those who simmer along and those who stomp right out of the kitchen. It is not for the faint of spoon, this persimmon-covered reader titled "The Lost Art of Real Cooking" (Perigee, $18.95). Check out what it says on the title page: "An Introduction to the Antiquated Kitchen, Or Cookery Made Difficult and Inconvenient Being Foremost a Pleasant Discourse on the Nature and Execution of Arcane and Dangerous Culinary Practices . . . " You get the point.

PUMPKIN-BUTTERMIK PANCAKES 3 cups flour 3 tablespoons sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 3 cups buttermilk 1/2 cup milk 3 eggs 3 ounces butter, melted 2 cups Homemade Pumpkin Puree (see below) Butter Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar together in a bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, milk and butter; stir just until ingredients incorporated. Fold in pumpkin. Melt butter in medium-hot skillet and pour some batter in. Cook on one side till batter firms up and bottom browns; flip to brown other side.

IVOTED FOR Mayor Nutter. I even met him when he launched his campaign at 52nd and Parkside Avenue, where he gave me a pack of Nutter Butter cookies. He seemed sincere in his pledge to rein in city government and to cut waste to make this a better place to live. He also seemed sincere in his pledge to end the "pay to play" mentality that crippled this city for as long as I can remember. And he seemed sincere when he promised all of us who were there that Saturday that he was determined to end corruption.

Family legend has it that my brother-in-law lived and grew strong on peanut butter sandwiches - only - for the first four years of elementary school. Many modern mothers can relate. Peanut butter is an iconic American product and, in many ways, a superhero. Granted, those who are intensely allergic to the legume and products made with it regard them as villains. But for the rest of the populace, peanut butter sandwiched with jelly between sliced bread has been the staff of life for decades of children.

Lest you think the twin-bill exhibit by clay artists Kathy Butterly and Jill Bonovitz at Locks is only an attempt at provocation, be reassured - it's really more of a revelation, an illumination. Tucked up on the gallery's third floor are two small solos by these distinguished artists celebrating the recent national ceramic conference held in Philadelphia. Butterly comes across here as an adventurer, not merely a strategist or someone catering to the public appetite for stimulation.

Though they are members of the onion family and look like overgrown green onions, leeks bring a mellower flavor to Sunday supper. If you've had vichyssoise, the cold potato-and-leek soup, you know just what I mean. In today's recipe, leeks and shallots cooked in white wine and a bit of butter form a bed for seared scallops. Add rice, a green salad, and crusty bread, and your supper is complete.   Scallops and Leeks With White Wine   1. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over low heat.

Asked to create recipes to tempt young palates, Rachael Ray came up with a lasagna bake she described as "a dream, rich, simple and delish. " It's easy to make and is loaded with 3 pounds of spinach and chard. 4 tablespoons ( 1/2stick) butter 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 cups milk Salt and ground black pepper, totaste Ground nutmeg, to taste 1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano- Reggiano, divided 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, cracked 1 bunch green chard, stems removed and leaves roughlychopped 2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed and leaves roughlychopped 12-ounce box no-boil lasagna noodles Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Even though I feared making crepes, this recipe looked like a good choice for a family dinner. I'm happy to report that these were easy and delicious, stuffed with a savory blend of goat cheese, herbs, and shallots.   Savory Goat-Cheese Crepes Makes 4 servings   1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whisking in the center of the mixture, slowly draw the flour in until it is fully mixed.

Could a concept as enlightened as seasonal, healthful cooking possibly exist at the Cherry Hill Mall? Yes, I know we're talking about the hallowed ground where the first climate-controlled indoor mall east of the Mississippi was born nearly half a century ago. I know we're talking about a town so thoroughly infested with big-box commercialism that any hopeful sprout of independently owned-restaurant spirit is often squashed by the cheesecake weight...

This one-pound, traditional assortment (hazelnut-chocolate squares, pecan patties, covered caramels, peanut butter smoothies, nut clusters) is small-batch crafted at Souderton-based Asher's Chocolates' smaller Lewistown, Pa., facility, and packaged in a wooden box decorated with a spray of fragrant dried lavender from Carousel Farms, near Carversville, Bucks County.   Sweet by the pound These fresh-baked, wooden-boxed pound cakes from Sweet! come in banana chocolate-chip, anise and dried cherry, and other flavors, including the delicate lemon-blackberry pictured here.