Peas

I pulled the farmer's banged-up pickup truck into the heavy stream of tourist traffic, cutting off station wagons and Range Rovers. I was headed to a dock at the harbor to pick up a shipment of Florida corn, bananas, peaches and tomatoes - crops that the farmer I was working for either didn't grow or that simply weren't ready in early July on this island, but that he nonetheless wanted to have available at his farm produce stand. I was here with my fiancee for a few days on what was kind of an indentured servant's holiday.

The strawberry patch at the S-Berry Farm in Frederick, Montgomery County, last weekend was not exactly a scene of bucolic calm. There was a traffic jam in front of the wooden stand where cashiers stood at the ready. Amateur pickers out for a day of agricultural sport ravaged the patch with the single-mindedness of bargain-hunters at a going-out-of-business sale. Crushed berries - likely the rejects of these picky pickers - littered the well-trodden rows between plants. "I've hit the jackpot!"

You will hear, on occasion, expats from Trinidad pine for a lost land - for beaches that are gone, and trails paved over, for the slower boat to Tobago (now it's a two-hour trip, not an overnight), and island architecture washed away by a wave of Americanized design. Last week one of them named Clarence Drakes, an architect himself, happened by Calypso, the homey Trinidadian stand in the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market, and he soon fell into a deep, misty-eyed reverie. Ah, but the food, reminded his friend Ayanna Osbourne, who has family ties on the island, that's another matter: No one has torn that page from Trinidad's story.

After a heavy workout with the weights, Hal Kaplan reaches for a couple of cold ones from the fridge. No, not beer. Not soda or even Gatorade. Peas. It used to be corn, but corn is too lumpy. He tried plain ice, but that was too messy. Peas are just right. So after each workout, the 62-year-old weightlifter grabs a couple of 16- ounce bags of frozen peas from the freezer and puts them on his aching shoulders. Kaplan's shoulders have been slowly degenerating since an overactive thyroid turned the 6-footer into 140 pounds of skin and bones a dozen years ago. Since then, Kaplan has upped his weight to 205 pounds, expanded his chest from 38 inches to 49 1/2 . . . and has shouldered more bags of frozen peas than the Jolly Green Giant.

Beans and rice are especially loved in the American South and in Caribbean countries. Red beans and rice are popular in Louisiana; black beans and rice appear often on the tables of Cuba and Puerto Rico; and pink beans with rice are a classic match in other Caribbean islands. These pairings not only taste great, but they make perfect nutritional sense, as the protein of the rice completes that of the beans. A dish of beans and rice can be a satisfying, healthful entree, as both ingredients contain virtually no fat and are cholesterol-free.

Start planting warm-season plants outdoors . Without fear of frost, you can now plant your squash, beans, and tomatoes - as well as annual flowers - directly in the garden. If you've been growing seedlings indoors, be sure to harden them off before planting outdoors. For two or three days, put them outside during the day in a partially shaded place and bring them indoors overnight. Give peas a chance. Peas will be more productive if they can grow up with some kind of support. Use metal or wooden stakes, or any stems, twigs or branches durable enough to stand up to the weather.

Dear Polly: One day, I ran out of plastic containers to freeze some leftovers. I looked into the freezer to see what I could take out and use. Then it occurred to me to take the size container I needed, remove the contents (frozen), and rewrap in foil to return to the freezer. I then had a container to use for my new food to be frozen. Now my containers are unlimited. - Carole Dear Polly: A recent suggestion about slightly warming leftover cat food was a good one. However, it won't go far enough to please that finicky cat. Cat food should be removed from the can before storing in the fridge; I use recycled cream-cheese containers.

Regular daily meals for the needy at Camden's Neighborhood Center, in the city's southwestern section at 278 Kaighn Ave., were brightened with special holiday touches yesterday as families enjoyed turkey, ham, meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, peas, tuna salad and dessert. The food was provided by volunteer staff members of the Camden County Board of Social Services, in cooperation with the Camden County Community Agencies. Three hundred families were expected to participate.

This salad is an easy meal to make and serve in 30 minutes or less. It also is perfect picnic fare, conveniently made ahead, marinated for up to 24 hours, and served chilled. Shrimp Salad With Sugar Snap Peas Makes 4 to 6 servings 1. For the vinaigrette, in blender, puree the cilantro, scallions, vinegar, honey, cumin, lime (reserve the squeezed halves) and garlic. With blender on, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.

Pasta primavera, so popular in the '80s, seems to have been relegated to the back burner along with blackened redfish. That's a shame, because this dish of pasta with peas, asparagus and cheese is well-suited to today's high-carbohydrate eating. To revive the basic idea, here is a risotto primavera. The mixture of vegetables, cheese and starch is the same. However, the creamy texture of arborio rice makes the dish seem even richer. One of the advantages of the original primavera was speed.