Sugar

Melissa Farkouh is a board member of the Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove, and director of institutional advancement at the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, home of the grove Sometimes, stories of heroism and hope begin with something as simple as a one-inch sugar packet. And memories of one such packet were stirred last weekend, with the death of Neil Armstrong, 82, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man to walk on the moon. As Armstrong's place in history was being discussed, so many stories began with people talking about where they were July 20, 1969, watching as Armstrong took that "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

I love cheesecake in any form, but this year I am most in love with a cheesecake with a surprise: Nectarine and Black Pepper Cheesecake. Ricotta brings a lightness that is unmatched to the classic New York cheesecake. I add mascarpone and American cream cheese to help balance the ricotta and achieve an ideal creamy texture. Near Modena, in Emilia-Romagna, nectarines are often served with black pepper and balsamic vinegar, a combination so deceptively perfect and balanced that it seemed a logical step to mix that combination with delicious ricotta and cream cheese.

WILMINGTON - He's an octogenarian trial lawyer with a fierce reputation, but on matters of finance, Richard A. Sprague calls himself "an ignoramus. " "I wouldn't know budgeted development costs from a hole in the wall," Sprague testified at a trial in Wilmington over the expansion of the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia. Sprague said he needed a financial partner when he was putting together a 2005 bid for one of Philadelphia's two casino licenses. He approached Las Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn, but those talks went nowhere.

WILMINGTON - He's an octogenarian trial lawyer with a fierce reputation, but on matters of finance, Richard A. Sprague calls himself "an ignoramus. " "I wouldn't know budgeted development costs from a hole in the wall," Sprague testified at a trial in Wilmington over the expansion of the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia. Sprague said he needed a financial partner when he was putting together a 2005 bid for one of Philadelphia's two casino licenses. He approached Las Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn, but those talks went nowhere.

WILMINGTON - A local investor in the SugarHouse Casino on Thursday criticized a proposed expansion of the site as "cheapening" the image of Philadelphia's first gaming hall. "We want a first-class casino, not something cheesy," said Robert Potamkin, a Philadelphia auto dealership magnate, during testimony in Chancery Court. "And we want some control over it. " In a 12th-floor courtroom, the very private investors behind the SugarHouse Casino are locked in a very public battle over the future of the riverfront casino on Delaware Avenue in Fishtown and Northern Liberties.

More than a year ago, the owners of the SugarHouse Casino unveiled plans to almost double the gaming space at the Fishtown casino on Delaware Avenue. By now, workers should have been tearing up blacktop to make way for a $142 million expansion with one level of new casino space and restaurants, plus six floors of parking. But the only work they are doing on the 22-acre property this summer is cutting down overgrown trees by the water's edge. The expansion is on hold until a Delaware chancery court rules on a year-old legal dispute among the SugarHouse owners.

THE TRANSCENDENT power of music yields an astounding and moving story of redemption in the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man. " Can one bootlegged album change the world? Yes. And here's your proof: An obscure singer-songwriter out of Detroit named Sixto Rodriguez cuts two lyrical life-on-the-street albums for a boutique Motown label in the early '70s. Critics loved them, nobody bought them, the radio didn't play them and Rodriguez, an eccentric fellow who often performed with his back to the audience in Detroit clubs with names like The Sewer, didn't make it as a touring act. He put down his guitar, picked up a shovel and worked as a day laborer in Detroit.

A heated, computer-controlled nozzle glided smoothly back and forth, then up and down, depositing a thin trail of sugar in the shape of a delicate, miniature cage. A scene from a high-tech pastry kitchen? A 21st-century reboot of Willy Wonka's candy factory? Far from it. The sugar cage was a first step toward manufacturing blood vessels for artificial organs, made with a custom-built 3-D "printer" in a bioengineering lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Once they harden, these crisscrossing lines of sugar can be surrounded with a gel that contains cells from the desired type of organ - say, a liver.

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1½ tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger 1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon brown sugar ½ cup pure olive oil   1. Whisk together all ingredients in small bowl or put ingredients in a covered jar and shake until the sugar dissolves.   From Solo Suppers by Joyce Goldstein (2003)   Note: Trader Joe's Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette may be used as a substitute. Per three-tablespoon serving:   247 calories, trace protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, 1 gram sugar, 27 grams fat, no cholesterol, 46 milligrams sodium, no dietary fiber.