A handy treat for Red Sox fans

April 4, 2007

Whether you're congratulating or consoling your favorite Red Sox fan, you can never go wrong with a package of "Swing Away" or "Play Ball!" which are frosted, hand-decorated sugar cookies (three for $2.99) from Starlight Creatives in Lynn. Wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbon, each assortment includes a miniature mitt, a baseball, and a pink or blue cap. "We draw a B on each cap -- of course," says owner Sandra Rhoads, who delivered cookies to Fenway Park after the 2004 World Series victory. For party favors, you can order customized cookies, and no matter how the season shapes up, the Red Sox assortment leaves a sweet taste. Available at Wilson Farms, 10 Pleasant St. , Lexington, 781-862-3900; Lincoln St. Coffee , 15 Lincoln St., Newton Highlands, 617-244-1600 ; Market Basket stores , Starlight Creatives, 82 Sanderson Ave., Lynn, 781-596-9695, or go to starlightcreatives.com. -- CLARA SILVERSTEIN

In 1996 Jim Ehlen left a bond-trading job in Atlanta and moved to Woodstock, Vt. , to make potato chips. He hand cut New England potatoes and fried them in a cooker borrowed from a friend's restaurant. He played around with different oils and seasonings, and a year later founded Madhouse Munchies ($2.49 for a 5-ounce bag). The chips are fried in super premium canola oil, which, says Ehlen, has no flavor of its own, so the chips really taste like potatoes. The company is now based in Colchester, Vt., but the chips are fried in Ohio and Connecticut. Plain salted chips are very crunchy with just a touch of sea salt. Sea salt and vinegar are tart and tangy. Mesquite BBQ, sweet and spicy, are also flavored with hickory and paprika. Creamy French onion are smooth and rich. Their latest release are blue and white tortilla chips. "Awesome for nachos," says Ehlen. Available at Shaw's, Stop & Shop, and Whole Foods Markets. -- JONATHAN LEVITT

The Boston Cheese Cellar, hidden at the back of Roslindale Square, is a badly needed addition to the area. A variety of gourmet products, including Greek-pressed Ariston olive oil you bottle yourself, are available. In addition to the chocolates, and pasta that Kathy Lacher and her husband, John Pierce, have brought in, there's the cheese. Lacher, who fell in love with cheese while cooking in Switzerland, says her goal is "to create the most pleasant shopping experience possible." Samples and tasting are part of that. Stop by and try the earthy French Le Lingot du Quercy goat cheese from southwest France, aged Gouda from Holland, or a nutty English cheddar. In fact, buy enough for a cheese plate and let your guests sample them, too. Boston Cheese Cellar, 18 Birch St., Roslindale, 617-325-2500. -- TARA LIGHTBODY

good to go

The dearth of ramen spots here means that many of us learned what we know about this important Japanese fast food by eating the Nissin Foods instant version and watching the movie " Tampopo. " In both cases, the major players were dedicated to their trade -- as is Ken Kojima of Ken's Noodle House. The fluorescent -lit place is shoved off to the side of the Super 88 food court in Allston, but ambience doesn't matter. At Ken's, customers enter, order, slurp, and leave. Bowls of shoyu ramen ($6.80), filled with bouncy noodles and savory broth move through the room faster than you can heat a cup-o-soup. OK , maybe not that fast, but they taste much better. Ken's Noodle House, Super 88 Food Court, 1 Brighton Ave., Allston, 617-254-5524. -- LEIGH BELANGER