Favoritism

Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65-million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. He secured a $1.32-million mortgage from Northern Trust in Illinois. The freshman Democratic senator received a discount. He locked in an interest rate of 5.625% on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at a time when such loans in Chicago averaged as much as 6%.

Even though so many of our traditional farmers market signals of spring have been converted to year-round production, there's one that has resisted all attempts -- the pea. Called English peas to differentiate them from snow peas or sugar snap peas, they are around only in the cool part of the spring. When the weather turns warm, they wilt away to nothing. Here's my favorite way to eat them, learned from my old friend, cookbook writer Sylvia Thompson: Simmer the peas in their pods in a skillet with about 1 inch of water and a nice chunk of butter.

The route from USC's fraternity row to the 901 Club on Figueroa Street is marked by broad painted stripes running three blocks, a symbol of the bar's importance to the social life of the campus' affluent "Greeks." The "9-Oh," as the raucous college bar is affectionately known, is where inhibitions, like IDs, are checked at the door. For one fraternity--the prestigious and well-connected Alpha Tau Omega house--it is a path well traveled.

LAS VEGAS - A boxer needs an edge, contentment is the enemy. Consider the case of Floyd Mayweather Jr. The unbeaten world welterweight champion used to argue with any doubters that he was superior to Manny Pacquiao in the debate over who was the best pound-for-pound fighter. That's no longer an issue after Pacquiao was knocked out by a man Mayweather previously dominated, Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather has also longed to boast about his riches. Then, earlier this year, he signed a 30-month, multi-fight deal with Showtime/CBS that is valued at potentially $200 million, considered the most lucrative deal for any athlete in any sport.

As the wife of one of pianist John Perry's students, I must express my anger and disgust at Michael Fleming's outrageous slur on Perry's character ("Playing It Safe at the Cliburn Competition," June 16). To accuse Perry or the Fort Worth jury of "favoritism" shows a blatant lack of knowledge for the methods and difficulties in chosing a field of competitors and is a smear on the good name of Van Cliburn and the Van Cliburn Competition. Perry was not the only jurist selecting the pianists for the competition.

Public officials keep pointing at what they say is a fine line that separates awarding contracts and taking campaign contributions given by winners from the realm of wrongdoing or favoritism. The line is so fine hardly anyone else can see it. The fine line was in the news again last week in Orange County with Supervisor Bruce Nestande denying that the more than $13,000 contributed to his election campaign for secretary of state by the brokerage firm of Smith Barney Harris Upham & Co. Inc.

A Lockheed Corp. financial officer has complained to Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates that he was assaulted by the vice president of the police pension commission, who he says struck him in the head and knocked him off his feet during an altercation after a traffic accident in Chinatown. But police investigators, who twice reviewed the case, have determined the incident was a "mutual combat," despite the fact that Commissioner Leland Wong and Ronald H.

The sheriff who sprang Paris Hilton is no stranger to Hollywood. He has attended the Academy Awards and Golden Globes shows. He's golfed with actor Michael Douglas, given a concealed weapons permit to Ben Affleck, hired Lou Ferrigno as a reserve deputy, taken campaign contributions from Sylvester Stallone. Serving as sheriff in Hollywood's home county makes the spotlight difficult to avoid.

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Samuel R. Pierce Jr. on Thursday defended his performance at HUD, denying allegations of political favoritism and contending that his actions during eight years in the Ronald Reagan Cabinet have been misinterpreted.

Calvin P. Schmidt, Orange County's longest-sitting judge, was publicly scolded by state judicial authorities Thursday for giving preferential treatment to a wealthy friend's stepdaughter and making improper campaign contributions. But he was cleared of doing legal favors for a prostitute.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky Derby favorite Orb comes from one of the country's oldest racing families, with ties to the greatest horses of the era. The second choice, Verrazano, is a product of Todd Pletcher's new-school empire; he's one of five the trainer is sending to the post. The third favorite, Goldencents, comes from the trainer who, a year ago, lost the chance to run for a Triple Crown when his horse withdrew with an injury a day before the Belmont Stakes. All three drew favorable starting spots Wednesday in the post-position draw for Saturday's 139th Run for the Roses, and they were established as the horses to beat by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.

Wasn't it just yesterday that the Kings were hoisting the Stanley Cup? Time flies when you follow a tedious, spirit-sapping lockout with a 48-game season that was crammed into 100 calendar days. The Kings will try to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998, but, unlike last season, they won't take anyone by surprise. The Chicago Blackhawks, who had to break up their 2010 Cup team almost immediately because of salary-cap concerns, have rebuilt their reserves of talent and character and are the favorites.

Oh me, oh my. Finally, the payoff. And I'm not even talking about Chris Paul's exhilarating, awesome, magical, 93-91 game-winner. I begin with Lamar Odom, who is my favorite athlete, and apparently Blake Griffin's as well. Griffin has come running off the bench to throw a bear hug around Odom, and there's still much of the fourth quarter to play. OK, so Paul is a close second as my favorite athlete. Very close. And my favorite closer. But I've been waiting and waiting for Odom, the Clippers doing the same in getting someone 30 pounds overweight to start the season, and the payoff is a difference-maker.

As the sixth-ranked active player in playoff experience with 140 postseason games, Chauncey Billups is finally in position to increase his total. Billups has faced roadblocks the last two years of his playoff career, but he's healthy again and playing for the Clippers against the Memphis Grizzlies in a first-round Western Conference series that began Saturday night at Staples Center. He missed the playoffs last season with the Clippers because he was recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles' tendon.

There was a period in my life when I had lunch every Saturday at Kokomo, a lunch counter in that odd part of Farmers Market between DuPar's and the place where they grind the horseradish. Kokomo had a rack of movie magazines to read while you waited for your malted, and it was famous for its overloaded hamburgers and its New Orleans-style egg dishes. But the dish I ordered every time was the grilled cheese sandwich - the torta de queso al carbon - which was a crunchy, toasty thing stuffed with smoky gobs of chipotles pureed with sun-dried tomatoes, a few leaves of cilantro, and melted cheddar and provolone cheese that oozed from the crisped, sourdough toast with every bite.

Spam , beloved among Hawaiians, will be celebrated April 27 during Waikiki Spam Jam , one of Honolulu's biggest annual street festivals. Spam merchandise (such as T-shirts) will be sold, but the biggest draw is Spam itself. A dozen Honolulu restaurants that cook with the canned pork and ham product will dish up a variety of Spam-centric creations, including a Spam-on-a-stick frozen treat. A new offering for 2013 is Spam cheesecake. The festival stretches for several blocks along Waikiki's Kalakaua Avenue from Lewers Street to the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach hotel.

Addressing allegations of judicial misconduct for the first time, a retired Orange County judge on Monday admitted acting inappropriately at times but denied giving favorable treatment to defendants represented by a longtime friend. The defense by Judge Luis A.

House investigators Thursday summoned U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills to testify next week at hearings on political favoritism at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hills, a secretary of housing in the mid-1970s, will be asked about her intervention in 1985 with top officials of the agency on behalf of DRG Funding Corp., a troubled mortgage lender that was suspended by HUD recently after defaulting on mortgage loans.

So what makes the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich? Is it the type of cheese? Bread? And, well, is bread even necessary? We checked with the experts at the Los Angeles Times Food section, asking each to describe what constitutes the ultimate grilled cheese. Descriptions are below; photos are above. Have some napkins handy and enjoy. PHOTOS: Celebrate grilled cheese with 12 recipes from the Test Kitchen! A child's party hat made of cheese -- Jonathan Gold, L.A. Times restaurant critic I may bang on about this a bit too much, but I am a fan of the chicharrones de queso at Loteria Grill -- not a grilled sandwich, per se, but actual grilled cheese -- grated onto a griddle, cooked until it flattens into a cheesy dosa, then folded while still hot and pliable into the shape of a child's party hat. A child's party hat made of cheese.

Here are samples from three of my favorite books. From "Mediterranean Food" by Elizabeth David Ratatouille aux Oeufs 1 lb. potatoes, 3/4 lb. onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 small marrows (zucchini), 3 tomatoes, 3 green pimentos (sweet peppers), eggs, olive oil, lard. Clean all the vegetables and then cut them into rounds. Into a heavy frying pan put half a glass of oil and 2 tablespoons of lard; put in the vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 45 minutes, and then another 30 minutes without the lid. Turn into a serving dish and place on top a fried egg for each person.