Cheddar

Some families possess great wealth or beauty, or give rise to heroes or scholars. Our family has good taste buds and an enchilada recipe handed down through eight generations. My family was convinced that we made the best enchiladas around. You might consider this attitude to be insufferable until you tasted them. My mother and grandmother, great cooks only a little prone to exaggeration, swore that the enchilada recipe had not been changed in 150 years.

Dinner time is usually a long time away for children who arrive home from school as early as 3 p.m. But a made-ahead treat that children heat in the microwave can ensure that they are eating right, even when you're away. Most of today's health-conscious parents will want to provide healthy snacks for their after-school munchers but may find that today's children look cautiously at concoctions of celery, peanut butter and the like.

After he was killed by a blow to the face about 9,000 years ago, the 23-year-old hunter was laid to rest in a limestone cave in what is now southwestern England. Now, say scientists astonishingly bridging 90 centuries and 300 generations, they have found a direct descendant of the Stone Age man. He lives half a mile from the burial site and teaches history.

I have a confession to make: I hate brunch buffets, those all you-can-eat affairs where, faced with a selection as long as a football field, you promptly lose your mind and pile your plate to the point you're confronting far more than you can realistically consume or appreciate. And some people don't stop there. I think the moment I swore off such extravagances was a Sunday morning at the Rainbow Room in New York. The buffet there is famous for the view, and for the fact that the buffet spread slowly revolves like a turntable.

Federal prosecutors in Central California have busted outlaws they describe as pale-skinned and somewhat smelly, with mug shots worthy of Bon Appetit: 97 wedges of raw-milk Gouda cheese. On Thursday, U.S. marshals and Food and Drug Administration agents arrived at Tulare County cheese maker Bravo Farms and seized the Gouda, along with piles of Edam and blocks of white cheddar. All told, investigators have locked up more than 80,000 pounds of cheese. Prosecutors say it is all headed for the garbage disposal.

Sometimes when I make a grilled cheese sandwich, I deliberately load the bread with far more cheese than it can handle, knowing full well that as the sandwich cooks, the cheddar or Emmentaler will inevitably spill over the sides and undergo its beautiful alchemy in the hot pan, transformed into a crisp, golden filigree. Sure, the sandwich is good, but it's pretty much an afterthought. You may not go to such extremes; you may get your melted cheese fix in another, less orchestrated way.

Dear SOS: Would you get me the recipe for mac 'n' cheese from Famous Dave's ? Thank you. Inez Moreno Bakersfield Dear Inez: Famous Dave's was happy to share its creative and creamy version of this classic comfort food. Enjoy. Famous Dave's mac 'n' cheese Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes Servings: 8 to 12 Note: Adapted from Famous Dave's. 2 tablespoons butter, plus ¼ cup (½ stick), divided 3 tablespoons flour 2 cups milk 3/4 cup half-and-half 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons barbecue sauce 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper 4 ounces aged white cheddar cheese, shredded 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 1/2 cups sweet corn niblets 2 jalapeños, finely chopped 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1 pound jumbo elbow macaroni, cooked and drained 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed 8 ounces Colby cheese, cubed 1/2 cup cracker crumbs 1/2 cup panko (Japanese-style)

As far as customer service stunts go, this one was pretty epic: A helicopter sent to a remote Alaska town bearing a Taco Bell truck, itself bearing ingredients for 10,000 Doritos Locos tacos. The 6,200 townspeople of Bethel in the distant western stretches of the state got the long-distance delivery after the Irvine-based fast-food company took pity on them. Last month, fliers trumpeting the chain's debut in Bethel got residents salivating. After all, cheap Mexican-style food in the land of sled dogs and sub-zero temperatures isn't exactly easy to come by. The nearest Taco Bell is some 400 miles away in Anchorage.

Prop. 37 may have failed, but litigation against genetically modified ingredients goes on. Here's a new one: Pepperidge Farm has been sued in Colorado for claiming that its Goldfish crackers are “natural” when they contain ingredients derived from genetically engineered  soybeans. The plaintiff, Sonya Bolerjack, wants upward of $5 million in damages. Read an account, plus some industry and lawyer opinions at the website FoodNavigator.com. Also at this food and beverage litigation update provided by the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

Slater's 50/50 , the Orange County and San Diego bacon burger joint, is coming to Old Town Pasadena. The restaurant will begin serving up its 50/50 burger made with a 50% beef/50% bacon patty on Friday. Slater's, which took over the short-lived Vive lounge space, is a veritable bacon paradise with brick walls and flat screen TVs. Everything from the burger patty to the desserts to the bacon salt on the table has bacon in it, but the burger that reigns bacon king? The B'B'B' Bacon Burger.