Culinary Arts

FOR TERRICK Dorsey, it's an escape from homelessness and life in a shelter. For Dajanee Colbert, it's probably the only way she'll ever see college. For Gloria Rentas, it means she'll be the first in her family to graduate high school. Cooking is a way out of poverty - and into a life they'd never dreamed possible - for many of the inner-city students who take culinary classes at their high schools in the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program. "I want someone who comes after me to look at my story and say, 'He was just like me, I know I can make it, too,' " said Dorsey, a soft-spoken teen who lives by himself in a Germantown shelter to avoid a life on the streets.

James P. Jackson Jr., 68, of West Philadelphia, whose 30-year career with the Army field artillery included two tours of combat duty during the Vietnam War, died last Saturday of cancer at St. Agnes Hospice Center. Sgt. Maj. Jackson wrote recently of his fond memories of hanging out on the corner of Third and South Streets with friends before graduating in 1962 from Benjamin Franklin High School. He immediately joined the Army and, after being promoted to drill sergeant, was sent to South Vietnam in 1968 and survived the Tet offensive.

Friday, 8:30 a.m. The smell of spices and teriyaki fills the air in the culinary arts room at Burlington County Institute of Technology in Westampton. The dicing, frying and steaming begins in preparation for the ultimate test for high school chefs: Can they stand the heat in the kitchen when it comes to serving customers? A long day is ahead for the chefs and servers of the Panther Palate, a student-run restaurant. Every Friday evening the culinary arts school opens its doors to the community to showcase its students' work, offering a gourmet five-course meal for $30. Although the restaurant does not begin serving until 4:30 p.m., with a second seating at 6:30 p.m., chef Tim Witcher, a culinary arts teacher, and his students prep all day for the hectic dinner.

Highlights of Philadelphia food-related programs are highlighted below. Suburban classes are listed online. Philadelphia Albertson's Cooking School, Box 27, Wynnewood. 610-649-9290 or cookline99@ aol.com ( www.albertson cookingschool.com). Behind the Scenes at Rittenhouse Hotel, lunch and tour of Le Bec-Fin's pastry kitchen, Jan. 12, 10 a.m., $75. American Swedish Historical Museum, 1900 Pattison Ave. 215-389-1776 ( www.american swedish.org). Swedish cooking class, Nov. 10. Chinatown Cooking and Tours , 215-500-9774 ( www.josephpoon .com)

Wearing red T-shirts and bearing signs, about 50 students from Youth United for Change came out yesterday in hopes that the Philadelphia School Reform Commission would hire a developer to build a new Kensington High School. They've been waiting for years. But the commission delayed action again at its meeting. Officials said they were still trying to negotiate a deal with a developer. "This is just another big disappointment," said Saeda Washington, 17, a senior who attends the Kensington School of Business, Finance and Entrepreneurship, one of three small Kensington high schools.

We accept that coffee perks us up, and that chocolate makes some of us euphoric. We know the effect alcohol can have, loosening the tongue and reducing inhibitions. And we accept that nutrients in foods have real health benefits. Now research is linking the foods we eat to our moods and actions as well as to our health. Feeling blue? Yogurt and green tea may be just the tonic. Stressed-out and anxious? A snack of carrots and apples may calm your psyche. At least those are some of the theories being advanced in several new and recent books exploring the ways foods affect us. Are you a morning person, early to bed, early to rise and raring to go?

Don Miller is working three jobs so that he and his fiancee, Danielle Romano, can save for their wedding and a house. From 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., he's an assistant instructor of culinary arts at the Pickering campus of the Chester County Intermediate Unit's Center for Arts and Technology near Phoenixville. Three evenings a week, he's a short-order cook at Pogey's Restaurant and Tavern in Malvern. Saturdays, he helps his sister conduct state inspections at a garage in North Philadelphia.

It was one thing when The Settlement Cook Book had the subtitle: The Way to a Man's Heart. The year was 1903. The authors were identified by the men they had married (Mrs. Simon Kander and Mrs. Henry Schoenfeld). Chapter XII, "Vegetables," offered 16 ways to serve potatoes, and one recipe each for string beans and asparagus. But the year is now 2006. So why are we seeing new cookbooks that, with minor adjustments (omit the chapter on How to Build a Fire), could just as well have been released in 1903?

Looking for a five-star restaurant without five-star prices? The Panther Palate may be ideal. And you just might be surprised by the location: A converted classroom in a high school. At the Burlington County Institute of Technology's Westampton campus, the horticulture students have created an ambience, and the culinary arts students have created menus that would have even some of the area's top chefs salivating. The students handle all tasks - creating the menus, preparing the food, taking orders, serving, and cleaning up. "It's the ultimate working experience," said Anna Cacciatore, lead teacher in the culinary arts program, which has 150 students.

The Expectations Restaurant at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology has long been a place where culinary students hone their skills, but Marjorie Workman thought something was lacking. "The very fact that it's in a school leaves a lot to be desired," Workman, the Sewell school's assistant superintendent, said of the restaurant, which has been open to the public for more than 10 years. "If we're training culinary students, we ought to be doing it in a more realistic setting.