Grapes

Total time: 25 minutes, plus optional chilling time Servings: 4 Note: This gazpacho is best made with fresh almonds, shelled, blanched and skinned. To blanch and skin almonds: bring a saucepan of water to a full boil. Add the almonds and blanch them for 60 seconds. Drain. While they are still warm, slip the skins off. 6 slices day-old bread, crusts removed (6 ounces) 1 cup blanched and skinned almonds 3 cloves garlic 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 cup Sherry vinegar 2 teaspoons salt 2 cups water, plus extra for soaking the bread, divided 12 green grapes, seeds removed if there are any 1. Soak the bread in enough water to cover until it is softened.

Arsenic levels in some commercial fruit juices may be higher than expected, finds a study from Consumer Reports. The discovery comes just months after television host Dr. Mehmet Oz proclaimed results from his own investigation showed that arsenic levels in apple juice were unhealthful. The Food and Drug Administration claimed Oz's statistics were faulty and said juice was safe to drink. Apple juice contains a certain amount of organic arsenic, and what Oz found, they said, represented the total amount of arsenic and wasn't an accurate reading.

In a ruling that appeared to displease both consumer groups and growers, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday lifted a ban on the sale of table grapes with sulfite residues in excess of 10 parts per million or more but said the fruit must be identified with stem tags or posted warning signs at produce counters.

Writer-director Alexandre Rockwell, maker of humane comedies like Sundance prize-winner "In the Soup," was one of the early leading lights of the American independent filmmaking scene, but he has long struggled to maintain his footing as a filmmaker. With "Pete Smalls Is Dead," he is still stumbling. A former screenwriter (Peter Dinklage) has his dog taken by loan sharks, and he returns to Los Angeles for the promise of quick money to help an old friend (Mark Boone Jr.) bury someone they both once knew.

Two important points in "Table-Grape Dispute Could Sour Australia-Calif. Trade Relations" [March 3] need clarification. Australia is free of many of the most destructive pests and diseases affecting other agricultural economies. Our [Australian] agricultural exports are of paramount importance to our economy. Australian wine and table grapes are important exports. Grapes are grown in all states of Australia. Australia, in contrast to many of the countries that import Californian table grapes, does not have Pierce's disease nor its troublesome insect carrier, the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

Few may know it, but historians, viniculturists and connoisseurs say that this historic mission town was the center of winemaking in California long before Napa Valley. Father Junipero Serra, the spiritual leader of the Portola expedition that founded the missions, nurtured European grapes that made the state's first wine in the 1780s. The finished product was used for Communion and barter.

California grape growers are aiming to create a no-fly zone for the glassy-winged sharpshooter, overwhelmingly agreeing to extend a tax dedicated to fighting the pest that is threatening to severely damage the industry. "We feel pretty good about it," said Nick Frey, executive director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Assn. "I think people looked at it as an investment."

Much has been made of red wine's purported ability to reduce the risk of heart disease, but now a study has found that wine's milder cousin may benefit the heart as well. The first study in which Concord grape juice was put up against a placebo -- a drink that looked and tasted like grape juice -- showed that the real juice lowered blood pressure enough to reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. Eighty healthy men drank about 12 ounces a day of either grape juice or the placebo beverage.

Two men and a woman died on Friday after one of them fell into a vat of unfermented grape juice and the others slipped in while trying to rescue him, police reported. They said Giovanni Anastasi, 59, Antonio Surdi, 73, and his 34-year-old daughter, Nunzia, drowned after Anastasi fell into the tank.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader urged the nation's grocers to pull "contaminated" California grapes from their shelves to support efforts to ban five pesticides linked to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses. Nader and 15 national groups, ranging from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group to the American Public Health Assn., joined the United Farm Workers' grape boycott Tuesday.

One of the rarest but greatest pleasures of farmers markets is encountering passionate collectors who sell a wide range of rare fruit varieties normally grown only at specialty sites such as germplasm repositories and agricultural experiment stations. There's no better example than Patrice Dreckmann of Rainbow Heights Farm & Nursery, who grows 50 varieties of muscat grapes and 43 varieties of figs just south of Temecula. Unlike most modern varieties of grapes, which are generally sweet and crunchy but have a mild, "neutral" flavor, muscat varieties have a distinctive floral aroma, much beloved by aficionados.

Marinated chicken stuffed with brown rice and grapes Total time: About 3 hours Servings: 4 to 6 Marinated chicken 1/4 cup unsweetened pomegranate molasses 1/4 cup honey 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 4 cloves garlic, crushed Salt 1 (4- to 5-pound)...

Redwood fans Re " A tale of grape vs. redwood ," Aug. 25 If you ever wished for a sneak peek into a businessperson's understanding of environmental issues, look no further than these two quotes from the article. (Be warned, some viewers may find the content disturbing.): "This is not a plan to build a mall. They're talking about growing grapes. " And then the real humdinger: "These forests can be cleared and preserved at the same time. " A visit to a dictionary is in order; first up, "ecosystem," followed by "monoculture.

Two plants have long been iconic to Northern California: the soaring redwood tree and the lush wine grapevine. But should one be sacrificed for the other? That question is being raised in Sonoma County a few miles from the Pacific and above the fog line, where two large wineries are petitioning the state to allow them to clear 2,000 acres of redwoods and Douglas firs to make room for new Pinot Noir vineyards. Sonoma County planners say it would be the largest woodland-to-vineyard conversion in California's history and, not surprisingly, it's touched off a debate between fans of the majestic trees and aficionados of the grapes.

Richard Chavez, who helped his older brother, legendary labor organizer Cesar Chavez, build the United Farm Workers into a force in state politics and agriculture, died Wednesday. He was 81. Chavez died from complications following surgery in a Bakersfield hospital, the UFW announced. "He was one of those little-known giants within the movement. He was extremely effective," Arturo Rodriguez, the union's president, said Wednesday in an interview with The Times. Born on his family's farm near Yuma, Ariz., in November 1929, Chavez was a migrant worker as a child growing up in the Great Depression.

Like many boys, Adam Chester's most embarrassing moments occurred in middle school, courtesy of his dear mom. He was changing gym clothes alongside his buddies when he heard a familiar, shrill voice from beyond: "AAADAAM!" In through the locker room door barges his mother, with the coach and Adam's 13-year-old crush following. In his mother's hand she was waving a piece of clothing. "You forgot your sweater!" "We lived in Miami and it was going to rain that day and when it rains it pours," said Joan Chester in her defense.

Angered by the Vons supermarket chain's decision to resume advertising of California table grapes, about 60 protesters picketed a Santa Ana store Thursday afternoon to pitch their message about pesticide dangers faced by farm workers. In a demonstration organized by the United Farm Workers, the protesters stationed themselves at the store entrance and along the parking lot perimeter of the Vons at 230 N. Harbor Blvd.

Growers of grapes for elite California wines are hoping for clearing skies and dry winds after heavy rains threatened fragile crops on the vine with rot and mildew. A tropical storm from the South Pacific and a winter storm from the Gulf of Alaska met in California over the weekend, sparking thunderstorms and dousing some regions with more than four inches of rain.

It was a new, foodie-type twist to the old inner-city gun buyback program. Hunger Action L.A., an advocacy group that helps to feed the poor and promotes healthful eating, called on Koreatown residents to surrender their high-calorie soft drinks on Saturday and get a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables in return. The "soda exchange," which was held as part of an annual food fair at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, wasn't exactly a raging success, however. Only two residents from the area around Normandie Avenue and Olympic Boulevard took their sodas to the fair.

  Aunt Mary's yalanchi (stuffed grape leaves) Total time: 2 hours, plus cooling time Servings: About 5 dozen yalanchi Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try this or any other recipe from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, we would like to know about it so we can showcase it on our food blog and occasionally in print. Upload pictures of the finished dish here. 1 (16-ounce) jar of grape leaves (counts can vary by brand and season, but a jar should contain about 60 grape leaves)