Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 170

THIS WEEK'S RECIPES: Bertha's Dinner Mints PageT4 White Fruitcake PageT4 Zucchini Bread with Ginger and Hazelnuts PageT4 Fig-Date Bread PageT4 Cranberry-Nut PageT4 Truffles PageT4 I Zucchini Bread PageT5 Grasshopper Pie PageT5 Date-Stuffed Apples PageT6 Cranberry-Pineapple Baked Apples PageTS Almond Wreaths PageT9 Pantry Artichoke Pasta PagsTiO mi iAAvii Li THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 1999 STAR TRIBUNE PAGE T3 1 1UU Ik? ku ONTKE SHELF TIDBITS, Al Sicfierman Vr Si I COASTING These coasters made from recycled rubber make a good stocking stuffer or housewarm-inggiftfsefo4, Ampersand, 5034 France Av.S.; Edina, 612-920-2118). Holiday tea A free tea party a really big one will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Historic Grain Belt 1910 Warehouse, 7713thAv.NE., Minneapolis, The event includes more than 100 teas from Mrs. Kelly, a business runbyMindy O'Brien-Kelly.

SL Lucia dinner St Lucia's Day will be celebrated Sunday at Aquavit, 80S. 8th St, Minneapolis (IDS Center) from 5 to 10 p.m. Choral music will take place at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. An a la carte menu and an eight-course dinner ($65) will be available. Call 612-343-3333.

TheSven-skarna Dag Girls Choirwillsingin the IDS Crystal Court at noon on Monday, with free gingersnap cookies available at Aquavit DISPLAYING A Piled with nuts, candies or fruit, this nickel-plated brass compote shines bright for the season. It's available in 6-, 9- and 1 1-inch sizes (6-inch pictured, $24.95 and $29.95, Crate Barrel, 915 Nicollet Mall, 612-338-4000 and Southdale Center, 612-920-2300). i Selling like hotcakes? He's not sure why, but Mr. Tidbit is a sucker for anything heated in the toaster, so when he heard about new Eggo Toaster Muffins he rushed out to buy a box (in the freezer case strawberry, cinnamon or blueberry). He's no longer sure exactly what he was expecting, but he wasn't quite prepared for what they turned out to be.

Picture a freezer-to-toaster pancake, such as the ones made by Eggo, but shaped for no reason Mr. Tidbit can imagine like an undersized slice of bread. There you go! Why a Toaster Muffin should be shaped like a slice of bread is a mystery, but perhaps it is to distract attention from the fact that it is nothing like a muffin. It's tasty, it's pleasant, but it's soft and very pancakelike. "Eggo Toaster Bread-Shaped Pancakes" must not have tested well in focus groups.

Kitchen secrets of the stars The time is almost up, but the folks at TV Guide must have figured they could still enter the sweepstakes for the most unlikely new publication of the yeardecadecenturyrnillen-nium. It's TV Guide Celebrity Dish, a monthly little item (smaller and thinner than the Pillsbury and Betty Crocker recipe magazines) consisting of "easy, quick recipes and simple tips from celebrities who love to cook and entertain." Similar material has appeared several times a year as a special section in TV Guide, but now it's its own little $2.49 publication. By the time you read this, the second issue should be in stores, but the first issue included 31 recipes (a photo with most of them), such as Roma Downey's Trifle, Tim Allen's Pot Roast and nobody in particular's Turkey Alfredo Bake, and at least as much celebrity food chat as celebrity recipes. Buy it where you find TV Guide. (Or don't.) -f'A BURNING BRIGHT These peppermint-scented floating candles will add whimsy to a punch bowl or table centerpiece.

Each candle is 2 inches wide (set of 3, Ampersand, 5034 France Av. Edina, 612-920-2118) swizzung For holiday eggnog, these glass swizzle sticks look almost good enough to eat. (set of four, Pier many locations). The National Baking Center has two holiday workshops: Holiday breads and pastries will be the focus of a class on Saturday; cost is $88. A participation class on Buchede Noel (or yule log cake) will be held Dec.

18; cost is $160. Both classes are from 9 a.mto4p.m.at the Baking Center, 818Dunwoody Minneapolis. Call Is it e-mail yet? I TOASTING A Toast the new year with glasses etched with the appropriate century year. From Luminarc's Millennium collection. Made in France ($5 each, Alouette, 5009 France Av.S., Minneapolis, 612-836-1683).

1 Star Tribune photos by Tom Wallace and David Brewster WHAT'S COOKING Santa is the star of breakfast and photographs from 8 a.m. to noon on Dec. 18 at Harmony's Restaurant Hilton Min-neapolis, 1001 Marquette Av. Cost is $6.75 for children, $12 for adults. Call 612-376-1085.

Seafood cooking Coastal Seafoods will hold a class on entertaining from 6 to 8:30 p.m. today at its kitchen at 2330 Minnehaha Av.S., Minneapolis. Cost is $30; call 612-724-5911. Melissa Boyd Help for tbe spill-prone Next time somebody says to you "Name one useful thing the Internet has done for you," you can say "I get a recipe from Campbell's Soup by e-mail every weekday before 4 o'clock, so I can make it for dinner." You might also say "I made a million dollars selling my old 'Nancy Drew books on eBay," "It's never done a dam thing for me," or "What's the Internet?" but those answers are unfortunate distractions. Mr.

Tidbit was trying to make the point that folks who go nuts every day trying to think of what to make for dinner can go to the Campbell's Web site, http:www.campbeUsoup.com, click the little mailbox labeled "meal-mail," and choose from several categories of recipes they'd like to receive, either every weekday or just once a week. And if you give them five friends' e-mail addresses, they'll send you a free cookbook. Is it necessary for Mr. Tidbit to point out that all (or almost all) of the recipes, both by e-mail and in the booklet, will involve products made by Campbell's? He hopes you already guessed that How heavy are Leopards' spots? Unlike the Twinkies in the special millennium box discussed here recently, Hostess Leopards are different from regular Twinkies. They have little spots of chocolate dotted around the yellow cake.

Each Leopard also weighs almost 25 percent more than a regular Twinkie, contains 40 percent more calories (210, compared with 150), has lots more fat (not quite 8 grams, compared with 5 grams), and more sugar, too (22 grams, compared with 14 grams). All of that can't be stricdy because of the little spots of chocolate, but Mr. Tidbit has no idea where it comes from, because Leopards are actually a little smaller than Twinkies. sudsy water and rinse in clear, hot water. Remove sterling silver from a dishwasher before the drying cycle and hand-dry it with a soft cloth.

Excessive heat can loosen hollow handles and damage decorative oxidized patterns. Avoid lemon-scented detergents and those with chlorides, which contain acids harmful to silver. Always wash sterling separate from stainless steel. Store silverware in an airtight silver chest or protective bags made of tarnish-proof cloth. To prevent scratching, never store silverware loose in drawers.

Compiled by Patty Pryor-Nolan means many households will be hauling out the good silver and setting festive tables. With that in mind, Reed Barton Silversmiths, one of the country's oldest silver companies, offers the following tips: Polish silverware with a soft cotton or flannel cloth and brand-name cleaner or silver polish paste to remove tarnish. Silverware should be rinsed immediately after use, especially after contact with acidic foods or foods that can cause corrosion, such as salt, mayonnaise or eggs. Don't soak silverware overnight it can damage the metal. Always wash flatware pieces separately to avoid scratching.

Wash in hot, In anticipation of those inevitable holiday spills, a company in Walla Walla, has introduced Wine Away, which removes red-wine stains from carpet and fabrics. The product is derived from fruit and vegetable extracts and contains no bleach, so it's safe to use around kids and pets. It also works on grape juice, red punch, tomato sauce and coffee stains. It comes in 2- and 12-ounce bottles and is available at Homeplace stores. A real shiner It's the holiday season, and that 3 -J FOOD NEWS IN REVIEW endeavors.

McDonald's will obtain 751 Boston Market restaurants and the franchise rights for an additional 108. Some probably will be closed or turned into McDonald's or, perhaps more likely, one of the company's other new restaurants Chipotle Mexican Grill or Donates Pizza. Compiled by Patty Pryor-Nolan For full text of these stories online, as well as other food stories from the past week, see http:www.startribune.comtaste. These summaries are from news reports that appeared in the Star Tribune. WTO tails benefit Minnesota farmers Talks at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle produced favorable results for Minnesota farmers in commitments for lower agricultural subsidies and a promised visit from a Chinese trade delegation, according to Sen.

Rod Grams, R-Minn. The European Union agreed to curb subsidies to their farmers, which will help "level the playing field for U.S. farmers by medical-grade thermoplastic polymer, is more standardized and just as affordable as cork and is guaranteed free of the chemical TCA, a cork contaminant that turns an estimated one in 12 bottles of wine into musty, undrinkable rot Still, the cork industry and Portugal's government are fighting the threat on several levels. McDsncld's bp Boston Market chain McDonald's Corp. will buy Boston Market restaurants for $173.5 million in cash, promising to revitalize the struggling chain even as it expands its own food-related reducing the subsidies charged by foreign competitors," said Grams.

He also announced mat China had granted his request to send a trade delegation to Minnesota in the next year. Cork vs. plastic: The battle's en Cork farmers in Portugal and the whole Portuguese economy face a severe challenge: plastics. The plastic stopper, widely endorsed by vintners and wine buffs, is the hottest idea in bottling since the 17th century, when the cork was introduced. The synthetic stopper is made from sn I -A 7.