Meal

Variety may be the spice of life, but the reverse can be just as true, at least when it comes to food. Spice brings variety to meal plans in which the basic ingredients don't change much from week to week and in which tastes can be delightfully altered with just a touch of extra tang. Spice enhances old favorites, wakes up the palate and, not incidentally, transforms humble economy fare into gourmet cuisine. We've taken liberal advantage of this fact in preparing this month's Affordable Feast for four people who, we hope, will like it hot. We've also made sure there is enough sweetness to balance the flavors in this budgeter's dream of a dinner.

Almost nobody wants to alter a long-standing tradition of the sort that involves feelings of family, history and even patriotism, like the annual giant Thanksgiving turkey dinner, which is nearly as American as the flag and nearly as good-tasting as the apple pie that often accompanies the feast. But truth to tell, almost nobody wants to have to eat the big bird's leftovers for the usual too many days after the holiday, when those pieces of meat would be so much better appreciated in the freezer until they can be welcomed again.

With the national economy dicey and the cost of living and eating always increasing, many people have a very strong desire to get maximum value for every precious dollar. The grocery money, for instance, should provide proper nutrition, mealtime variety and enough good taste to make expenditures and preparations seem worthwhile. This month's menu meets these qualifications handily, as it makes use of fish and fowl, fruits, vegetables, grain and milk to feed four people a meal they will enjoy and remember.

The 92-year-old man with the weak heart collapsed in his bedroom and dragged himself into the living room of his small Center City apartment, knocking over furniture and the telephone. About 45 minutes later that Wednesday afternoon, two girls from Cardinal O'Hara High School and their supervisor knocked on the door of James Lawford's second-floor apartment, calling, "Food for friends. " Alyson Walsh and Allison Kinnarney, both 17 and seniors at O'Hara in Marple Township, later said they had figured the man inside didn't want to open the door.

A vast repast will unfold on Independence Mall Oct. 5, a product of the Mural Arts Program's effort to rethink its mission, program director Jane Golden said Thursday. Part of a months-long effort called "What We Sow," the event - "70x7 The Meal, act XXXIV" - is a collaboration between Mural Arts and the Paris-based artists Lucy and Jorge Orta. It involves a free communal meal created by star chef Marc Vetri involving heirloom vegetables. Golden said nearly a thousand people will dine at a table decorated by the Ortas' tableware and runners.

There's an ancient Greek belief, according to Graduate Hospital physician George Ahtaridis, that the appetizing smells created by the grilling and cooking of food are pleasing not only to humans, but also to the gods. "We call it Knissa," said Ahtaridis, a gastroenterologist in Graduate's Digestive Health Institute, as he grilled steaks, vegetables and rack of lamb in the courtyard of his hospital yesterday afternoon. But what's good for the Greek gods may not be as good for the human gut. And as grillers everywhere fire up their barbies this Fourth of July weekend, Ahtaridis and other physicians are warning that fatty, spicy meat cooked on the barbecue can lead to sickness, heartburn and cancer.

Fresh local produce, the earth's best annual yield, forms the delicious basis for this month's four-person menu. It makes a great soup, adds savory nutrition to an excellent main dish salad and gives dessert its sweet reason for being. All the ingredients in our recipes can be found in local supermarkets - should no backyard garden or farm stand be available - and total cost of dinner comes in under $20. Here is our Affordable Feast for August: CREAMY CORN SOUP GARLIC CHICKEN SALAD CRUSTY BREAD WITH HOT CHEESE DIP FRESH PEACH COBBLER Creamy Corn Soup, a richly smooth meal starter, is made from the real thing, corn on the cob. Removing the kernels is easy and results in flavor that is not possible any other way. Garlic lovers will adore Garlic Chicken Salad, where the wonderful aroma is built into that dressing.

Beginning around the age of 9, your kids will enjoy taking a much more active role in dinner preparation. It could range from wanting to set the table in a particular fashion to surprising you with supper. These are genuine and generous contributions from the heart. Unfortunately, they are spontaneous and often don't give you time in advance to help them plan their menu. If these are continuing offers in your family, perhaps choosing a day a month when your kids can make dinner would give all of you time to plan.

The last days of the summer season can be bittersweet for many people, but there is an antidote for post-vacation blues, and that, of course, is a wonderful meal. Our four-person repast is a seasonal spectacular with local fresh produce. The meal is easy to prepare - helped out by some commercial short cuts. It's not terribly cheap, but, at just over $21, it is manageable. Here is this month's Affordable Feast. Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup Salmon-Spinach Salad Easy Cheese Bread Double Chocolate Raspberry Cake Since home- and farm-grown tomatoes are still coming in, they help create a deliciously rich, though not too heavy, cream soup that makes a perfect meal starter.

THE CASE against Bill O'Reilly is bogus. That's my conclusion after doing something I'm convinced his jubilant detractors have ignored: I read HER version of events! By her own account, she had a strange way of objecting to his alleged dirty talk - she came back for more! That's her Achilles heel. Sexual harassment isn't harassment unless the advances are unwelcome, and it appears that his "advances" were anything but - as long as another meal was forthcoming. (I'm sure someone will explain it away, maybe by calling it "Battered meal syndrome.