Sugar

CLASSIC CAESAR SALAD 4 anchovies 2 cloves garlic 1 egg yolk Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 3 drops Tabasco sauce 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon Pecorino romano cheese 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese Fresh ground black pepper Romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces 1 cup seasoned croutons In a large wooden salad bowl, mash anchovies and...

Announcements of new medical findings or miracle drugs often leave us fighting bouts of skepticism. Seems something deemed healthy for us one day becomes the bane of our existence the next. Which brings us to caffeine and diabetes. Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center this week said having caffeine with meals has a negative effect on the blood sugar and insulin levels of Type 2 diabetics. In a country with an estimated 17 million Type 2 diabetics you might think this is big news.

Call it the disorder of the decade. You've certainly read about it. You've probably discussed it with friends. And chances are, amid the hoopla, you have wondered if you, too, have hypoglycemia. Why the hype about hypoglycemia? Because it has become a catch-all diagnosis for myriad problems related to low blood sugar. For the last decade, the public has been deluged with reports listing the symptoms associated with the condition. Before you could say, "Get me to a doctor, quick," plenty of people who occasionally felt even the slightest sign of dizziness, nausea or fatigue were convinced that they were victims of hypoglycemia.

Dear Polly: My husband, a baker and pastry chef for over 60 years, has a good way to make colored sugar. He suggests putting the sugar and a few drops of food coloring into a plastic sandwich bag, then closing with a twist-tie. Shake the bag back and forth to quickly coat the sugar with color without making a mess. You can do five or six colors in less than 10 minutes this way. By mixing the sugar in a bowl, as you suggested, one almost always manages to spill the sugar out of the bowl while mixing.

Come the holidays, Walter Deuschle would carve an ice sculpture or make a gingerbread house. For special occasions, he might create an elaborate centerpiece or table decoration. But for most of his career as a chef, food-service supervisor, and later general manager at such local country clubs as Ashbourne, Whitemarsh, and Huntingdon Valley, Mr. D, as he was known, let his creative and artistic abilities lie fallow, devoting himself instead to pleasing the palates of diners and serving the needs of club members.

What: Splenda No Calorie Sweetener Maker: McNeil Specialty Products Co. Where: Supermarkets nationwide and at www.splenda.com Size: 1.9 ounces (55 grams), equivalent to 1 pound of sugar Price: $2.59-$2.99 Splenda is branded sucralose, a modified form of sucrose or table sugar. In use in Europe and Canada since 1991, it received FDA approval as a food ingredient here in 1998. The molecular structure is changed to keep the body from absorbing it as a carbohydrate, creating a product that can be labeled no-calorie and no-carbohydrate.

Dear Polly: Please let me know what the ingredient is that's added to sugar to make powdered sugar? - Alice You can easily make your own powdered sugar at home by whirling regular white sugar in a blender or food processor (the food processor works best) until it is fine and powdery. It becomes even more like the commercial powdered sugar when you add 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch to each cup of granulated sugar before processing it. Store the homemade powdered sugar in an airtight covered container.

There's no more apt ingredient for December than confectioners' sugar, the sweetener that, like snow, transforms whatever it touches - be that lightly or in heaps. Its wintry aesthetics and seemingly magical properties make it symbolic of the small joys of Christmas and all manner of year-end celebrations. It is impossibly white, more so than freshly fallen snow or an angel's wing. It is so silky and light that if a baker isn't careful shoveling it into a mixing bowl, tiny blizzards cloud the kitchen.

What's a mother (or father) to do? A report published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine - the people who brought us the ThighMaster scare - concluded that sugar doesn't make kids bounce off the walls. Many kids, we're told, are just naturally bouncy. Sugar may even have a slightly calming effect on some. So what now? Are we supposed to run out now and stock up on Snickers? Has Halloween come early for millions of children? Don't count on it. Whether you're a wheat-germ-and-brown-rice fanatic or you believe a Twinkie a day keeps the blues away, one study isn't likely to change your mind about sugar.

They perfected the art of making cake without the "c. " But can the pastry wizards at Tasty Baking Co. preserve the love in their confections with fewer carbs and no sugar? After a sneak preview tasting of the new line of Sensables treats, I'd say that depends on how desperately you need that Tastykake fix. There is no way a devotee of the company's standard iced fudge bar will consider the Sensables chocolate-chip cookie bar an equal substitute. The rich shmear of icing on the original is replaced by a brittle snap of tiny sugar-free chocolate pebbles.

For the cake: 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 12 large egg whites, at room temperature 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract, or a combination 1 1/2  teaspoons cream of tartar For the filling and icing: 3 pints fresh strawberries (2 pints sliced thin, 1 pint halved) 4 tablespoons sugar 3 cups whipping cream 1/3 cup superfine sugar   1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2 tablespoons brown sugar (and a few more pinches for step 2) 2 tablespoons butter, softened 1 egg, well-beaten 1/2 cup flour, sifted 1 pinch salt 1 pinch cinnamon 2 pinches nutmeg 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)   1. Cream the brown sugar and butter. Add the egg, sifted flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; beat well. If you like old-fashioned flavor, add 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds to the batter at this point. 2. Drop by small flattened spoonfuls, well apart, on a greased cookie sheet.

For the muffins: 10 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 eggs 1/4 cup milk 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft 3/4 cup superfine sugar 1/2 cup sliced roasted almonds For...

IN AN ATTEMPT to serve our readers, the staff at High & Inside is passing on the recipe for a mint julep, the traditional drink of the Kentucky Derby. You're on your own for the flamboyant hat. Here's what you'll need: 2 cups sugar 2 cups water Sprigs of fresh mint Crushed ice Bourbon (Jim Beam is fine; Maker's Mark for those who can afford it) 1. AllRecipes.com says to mix the sugar, water and mint in a small saucepan and boil over high heat until the sugar is dissolved.

For banana and dried cherry syrup: 2 cups granulated sugar 2 cups water 8 ounces dried cherries 12 ounces bananas, sliced 2 cups maple syrup For waffles: 3 eggs, separated 3 tablespoons granulated sugar ? cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 cup milk 2 tablespoons oil   1. To make the sauce, bring water and sugar to a simmer until it just begins to turn a light amber color.

BOXING'S ALREADY exclusive club of unforgettable characters became a bit more so on Sunday with the death of Bert Randolph Sugar, 75, the raconteur/historian known as much for his one-liners and ever-present fedora and cigar as for the 80 books he authored. Coming a little more than 7 weeks after another true original, Angelo Dundee, passed away at 90, the loss of "The Hat" is enough to sadden anyone who has been around long enough to understand that outsized personalities such as theirs are as close to irreplaceable as it ever gets in the fight game.

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Bert Sugar, an iconic boxing writer and sports historian who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar, died Sunday of cardiac arrest. He was 75. Jennifer Frawley, Sugar's daughter, said his wife, Suzanne, was by his side when he died at Northern Westchester Hospital. Sugar also had been battling lung cancer. "Just his intelligence and his wit and his sense of humor," Frawley said when asked what she will remember about her father.

Iconic boxing writer and sports historian Bert Sugar , who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar, died Sunday of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. He was 75. Sugar worked in advertising in New York before he got into writing in the 1970s, becoming editor and publisher of Boxing Illustrated and Ring magazine and authoring more than 80 books. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. According to the hall's website, he wrote more than 80 books, including The 100 Greatest Boxers Of All Time . After knocking out Vernon Paris the ninth round on Saturday night in an IBF junior welterweight elimination fight in new York, Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KOs)

An African American employee who claims that his race and pro-union leanings cost him his job at the SugarHouse Casino has hand-delivered a petition to get it back. Cory Ballard, 25, who made $13 an hour plus tips as a player services agent the last nine months, was accompanied by about a dozen SugarHouse employees and Bishop Dwayne Royster of the Living Water United Church of Christ in Kensington as he delivered the petition. It was signed by two-thirds of his old department and given to casino representatives Tuesday at management's office at 1080 N. Delaware Ave., directly across from the casino.