Thursday, March 15, 2012

Eats for Easter: Festive finds for Sunday's feast

With Easter only days away, it's time to make decisions onSunday's menu. m mOrange Dream Cake -- a favorite of Pamela Thomas ofChicago and many other readers who shared their versions of thespringtime delight -- would make the perfect finale.

Orange zest gives the cake tiny bursts of flavor, and Miracle Whipadds to its amazing moistness. It's not too heavy or too sweet aftera holiday meal.

Here's the best part: Orange Dream Cake is almost more flavorfulthe second day so it can be baked on Saturday. If you're trying totrim fat and calories, Mary Andrews of Chicago recommendssubstituting fat-free mayonnaise for the Miracle Whip.

- - -

There's help …

Hire the Right Consultant

Follow these suggestions for identifying and validating a consultant, as well as for making the most effective use of the consultant's expertise.

YOU OR YOUR COMPANY HAS A PROBLEM: perhaps a technical problem, a business problem, a personnel problem. Maybe the problem has not yielded to your repeated attempts to fix it, or maybe you just do not have the resources or the time to tackle it. Chances are that you will look for help from a consultant. But, how do you find one?

Fear not. Consultants are all around us. Some have been in business for a long time, while others have just recently embarked on a consulting career after spending many years in industry. The question, …

Stores see surge in applicants for holiday help

The odds of landing a part-time job at department store operator Bealls Outlet Stores Inc. this holiday season are slimmer than getting into Harvard: It's one out of every 45.

Don't think the chances are any better at 7-Eleven. One California store received more than 100 applicants in a week and a half for jobs that pay $8.50 per hour _ and the retailer doesn't even usually hire holiday workers.

From department stores and convenience chains to call centers, managers who only a year ago had to scramble to fill holiday jobs are seeing a surge in the number of seasoned applicants _ many of them laid off in other sectors and desperate for a way to pay the …

Missing the boat on my trike // Lemond's grand tour a rich hit

PARIS I really liked my first bike.

It was a black-and-white three-wheeler with a rubber bulb for ahorn. Soft seat. Fuzzy handle grips. The sweetest littlevelocipede you ever did see.

I was every bit as cute on it as the kid in the movie "TheOmen," going too fast, bumping into lamps and terrorizing loved oneson stepladders. Mike the Tyke's trike, my uncle called it. Me, hecalled a Tasmanian devil on wheels.

My next bike was a red Schwinn with a mesh basket and aheadlight. I delivered newspapers on it and was very quick,particularly because of a drooling, long-fanged German Shepherd thatkept chasing me like he had just spotted the world's biggest …

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Bush Denies Congress Access to Aides

WASHINGTON - President Bush directed former aides to defy congressional subpoenas on Monday, claiming executive privilege and prodding lawmakers closer to their first contempt citations against administration officials since Ronald Reagan was president.

It was the second time in as many weeks that Bush had cited executive privilege in resisting Congress' investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys.

White House Counsel Fred Fielding insisted that Bush was acting in good faith in withholding documents and directing the two aides - Fielding's predecessor, Harriet Miers, and Bush's former political director, Sara Taylor - to defy subpoenas ordering them to explain their …

Malaysia to deport Singaporean terrorist suspect

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia will deport a Singaporean terrorist suspect on Friday who spent nearly 18 months in detention after authorities tracked him down following his escape from a high-security prison in the city-state.

Mas Selamat Kastari, who is of Indonesian origin and in his late 40s, was the suspected commander of the Singapore arm of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant group. He is accused of plotting to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's international airport. Jemaah Islamiyah is accused of carrying out the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people.

After a year on the run, he was captured in Malaysia in April 2009 and …

Obama rallies for a loyalist as final dash begins

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Fighting to the end, President Barack Obama on Friday devoted shrinking campaign time for one endangered Virginia Democrat, calling his bid a national test case of whether a person of integrity can win.

The president, bracing for an election beatdown in a prime electoral atmosphere for Republicans, plunged into a final weekend of campaigning, undeterred by the somber news of a new terrorist threat. He implored a young, raucous crowd in this college town to rally behind first-term Rep. Tom Perriello, who has loyally backed key parts of the president's agenda.

"The reason I am here is because in this day and age, let's face it, political courage is …