Mashed

I always thought "gravitas" was the stuff Julius Caesar put on his mashed potatoes. JIM HESS Pasadena

As the wise, dryly humorous psychiatrist caring for shellshocked surgeons and troops in the hit television series "MASH," actor Allan Arbus was so convincing that at least one colleague assumed he had expertise in the medical specialty. In 1973, the first season of the long-running CBS show about a mobile Army hospital during the Korean War, series star Alan Alda would often sit with Arbus between takes, questioning him about psychiatric theories. Alda, who played Capt. "Hawkeye" Pierce, said in an interview Tuesday, "He was so authentic in the role it was hard to believe that he wasn't that person.

I enjoyed the article on Melinda Lee and Jackie Olden ("Food Talk Radio," Sept. 1). George Nicholaw is correct. Olden should be replaced on weekends. There is no comparison in the food knowledge of the two ladies. Lee is far better in knowledge, voice and presentation. --VIRGINIA ANGSTADT Whittier Melinda Lee charms me, but what I want to say about Jackie Olden would be considered an argument ad hominem. However, I can criticize her make-ahead potato recipe. How can you beat hot simmered potatoes into a sour cream and cream cheese mixture without doing something to the potatoes?

Back when I was young and the world was new and only one kid we knew had a (very small, black-and-white) TV in his room, my cousins, my brother and I used to put on plays in the basement. We were big fans of "Night Stalker," so these were often quite violent plays, involving pentagrams, blood rituals and monsters constructed with whatever we had on hand - my mother's old hula skirt got a lot of use, as did her sheared raccoon coat, a ratty old "That Girl" wig and the fake blood we breathlessly purchased with Our Own Money from the back of comic books.

I greatly enjoyed reading about a rarely remembered Jewish soul food in "Risky Gribbeness" by Dan Berger (April 28). My mother would also save the fat from her chickens in the freezer and periodically work her magic with an iron frying pan and a huge pile of chopped onions. Our family called the cracklings grieven , which would sit in a colander on the counter for several days until nibbled away. However, our primary motivation in preparing grieven was to obtain a jar of fragrant yellow schmaltz to keep in the refrigerator for sauteing, for sandwiches and for the preparation of the most moist and delicious mashed potatoes imaginable.

Frank Riley's article, "Kansas City, Where Things Are Up to Date" (Nov. 6) brought back many sweet and delicious memories. On a recent visit to Kansas City everyone was friendly and pointed out the "must see" attractions. Recommended for dinner was Grannie's, 1803 Baltimore Ave., which turned out to be one of the best restaurants. I had pan-fried chicken piled high on my platter, bowls of mashed potatoes and thick, country gravy, hot biscuits and homemade cinnamon rolls. Napoleon's Bakery, 5495 West 95th St., had rich pastries in a European flavor to die for. LISA GILMAN Beverly Hills

As a patent attorney, I agree that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been awarding patents too frequently, and I applaud the efforts to tighten things up. This tightening should be based on a serious examination of what creativity really is and what its hallmarks are. "Note: This Headline Is Patented" (Feb. 7) strongly implies that identification of creative work is a matter of "common sense." It is not. For example, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich patent covers, at most, only PB&Js where the edges of the crust are mashed or crimped together in some fashion.

Judith Morgan in "Simple Dining in the Bistros, Brasseries of Paris" (June 19) says she doesn't go to three-star restaurants. What she doesn't say is that L'Ambassade d'Auvergne, her example of cheap eating, was for many years a one-star restaurant. I don't know its current status, but its aligot, that wonderful garlicky mashed potato dish, was famous and often written about, as was the restaurant. I assume it is still very well-known. Gustafson, the author she quotes, didn't have to do much detective work to find such an example of good Parisian food.

Apparently, I was eating at all the wrong diners back in the '50s (and even the '40s) in Ohio and New Jersey, because they were not much like the current replicas described in Calendar ("Diners: Blasting Back to the '50s," by Ruth Reichl, Aug. 17). I don't remember any cutesy signs--or cutesy waitresses either, for that matter. Most of the women were middle-aged, wore orthopedic shoes and didn't take the time to tell you their names were Karen or Kimberly or Melody because they were interested in getting the order to the customer fast and right.

This is Beverly Hills?, I wondered, oh so many years ago when a friend took me to lunch in a sweet little house with a fireplace on South Beverly Drive. Chez Mimi later moved to Santa Monica, and Urth Caffé now dispenses soy lattes and iced green tea from that rose-covered cottage. Back then (and now), South Beverly Drive didn't seem fancy at all, more like a small-town Main Street where you'd find shops selling nightgowns and one-piece swimming suits, baseball cards and birthday gifts.

Properly made, comfort food is an art. Mashed potatoes are no exception. And while personal preference may have a lot to do with what you might consider the "perfect" mash -- do you like your potatoes smooth or lumpy? Creamy or fluffy? -- there are nevertheless some tips you can follow to elevate your spuds above the rest of the pack: What potatoes do I use? For light or delicate mashed potatoes, use bakers, like russets. With their high starch content and low sugar, they'll whip up nice and fluffy, perfect for soaking in all the cream, butter and sour cream you can throw at 'em. If you prefer mashed potatoes that are denser, like those trendy "smashed potatoes," use boilers.

Monday morning's #Weekendeats chat on Twitter was a bit of a culinary mash-up. Our chat participants indulged this weekend in dishes such as chicken wings, uni and pizza. Here's a look at the highlights: Pictures of these two dishes almost made me cry with jealousy. Check out this recipe for fish sauce wings with a mound of garlic from the Ravenouse Couple blog. And if you're an uni lover, you'll want to get some tissues ready. Here's a photo from Danny, a.k.a. KungFooPanda, of homemade uni orecchiette with uni cream sauce and a ton of fresh uni on top. Just had to wipe my brow.

From Geoffrey of Monmouth to Dan Brown, when it comes to driving narrative, it's hard to beat a good heroic quest. Whether it's the Holy Grail, the one ring, the ark of the covenant or Moby-Dick, draw up a map, create a barely attainable, possibly mystical item to find and/or destroy and you've immediately got the attention of millions. Unfortunately, even for those of us who prefer our conspiracies biblical and our talismans magical, ABC's "Zero Hour," while initially tantalizing (priests, Nazis, Anthony Edwards, an unholy birth, a secret map - I'm in!

The best thing the Grammys telecast attempts to do is also its most tricky feat to accomplish: the artist pair-up. For every Elton John and Eminem, there's a Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers. For every Mumford & Sons and Bob Dylan, there's a record-scratcher like Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks.  Yet these collaborations are one of the main reasons we watch the Sunday telecast, which will be broadcast live except for the West Coast on CBS. Rare is it to see legends from one genre working with today's pop celebrities.

Zombies are people too. Or they were, before they became the flesh-craving, brain-eating undead. The new film "Warm Bodies," opening Friday, is an unlikely hybrid of horror film and young adult romantic comedy that transforms a zombie apocalypse into a last stand for feelings. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Isaac Marion, adapted for the screen and directed by Jonathan Levine. Set in a future where many people have inexplicably turned to zombies, the story opens with a zombie narrator (Nicholas Hoult)

Even with Hollywood's magic touch, zombies may never beat out those seductively stylish vampires for a Vanity Fair cover, but something about the unfashionable undead makes them ripe for irony in the right hands - so many possibilities lurk behind those blank stares. The right hands at the moment seem to belong to Jonathan Levine. The writer-director certainly has a good grip on what to do with those cold souls in "Warm Bodies," a surprisingly sentimental mash-up starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich.

As the wise, dryly humorous psychiatrist caring for shellshocked surgeons and troops in the hit television series "MASH," actor Allan Arbus was so convincing that at least one colleague assumed he had expertise in the medical specialty. In 1973, the first season of the long-running CBS show about a mobile Army hospital during the Korean War, series star Alan Alda would often sit with Arbus between takes, questioning him about psychiatric theories. Alda, who played Capt. "Hawkeye" Pierce, said in an interview Tuesday, "He was so authentic in the role it was hard to believe that he wasn't that person.

Emmy Award-winning actor Harry Morgan, who played the crusty yet sympathetic Col. Sherman T. Potter in the sitcom "MASH" and the hard-nosed LAPD Officer Bill Gannon in the television drama "Dragnet," died Wednesday. He was 96. Morgan died at his home in Brentwood after a bout with pneumonia, his daughter-in-law, Beth Morgan, told the Associated Press. Morgan's eight - year run on "MASH," the pinnacle of his seven-decade acting career, began when he was 60 and had already appeared on the Broadway stage, in dozens of television shows and more than 50 films.

The Leo Tolstoy classic "Anna Karenina" has seen its share of adaptations. In its latest turn, from director Joe Wright, the love story gets a bold, creative and visually beautiful reworking of the Russian tale with truly inventive costuming. Starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law, Focus Features' film is strikingly original in its setting - the drama is staged on a decaying theater set - which gave Wright's longtime costume designer Jacqueline Durran, [who has been nominated for an Oscar for two previous projects with Wright, "Pride & Prejudice" and "Atonement"]

Last month Brad Pitt appeared in a head-scratching commercial for the fragrance Chanel No. 5. This month he's starring in the small-time gangster flick "Killing Them Softly. " How are these things related? They're not. But on Thursday night's episode of "Conan," Conan O'Brien and his writers took the opportunity to slip Pitt's bizarre spoken-word non sequiturs from the Chanel No. 5 ad into a scene with Pitt opposite his old "True Romance" co-star, James Gandolfini. The results, surprisingly, aren't bad. And some might argue it improves the film, which has received mixed reviews.