NEW AND NOTEWORTHY.

COOKBOOK: When you have lots of leftover candy on hand (especially during holidays) turn it into a fabulous home-baked creation with the help of ``The Candy Bar Cookbook'' (Longstreet Press; $17.95). Husband-and-wife team Alison Inches and Ric McKown (she's a children's book author, he's a baker and graduate of the California Culinary Academy) offer an array of tempting recipes - from cookies to pies, tarts, cakes, coffee cakes, muffins and more - in their salute to American candy. Whip up yummy things like Dove Promises Dark Chocolate Belgian Waffles, Chocolate Easter Bunny Fondue, Candy Nachos, Raisinets Carrot Cake, Peanut Butterfinger Pie and Snickers Cheesecake. Candy bar history, trivia and anecdotes are tossed in throughout the 143 pages.

- Natalie Haughton

GUSSY UP THE EASTER TABLE: To brighten and decorate your holiday table, order a set of a dozen brilliantly colored porcelain eggs. An array of rich colors is included - among them purple, orange, rose, teal, light blue, lime green, yellow, magenta, green and coral. Use them year after year. You can also order an elegant clear glass basket (13 1/2 inches long, 10 1/2 inches wide and 11 1/2 inches tall) in which to display them.

The set of 12 eggs is $29.95; the glass basket is $49.95. Both are from Sur La Table and can be ordered by calling [phone]. Delivery costs extra.

- N.H.

EASTER TREATS: There are numerous Easter confection options at See's Candies - ranging from different size baskets and hand-decorated eggs to Easter tins, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow eggs and surprise eggs (a white chocolate chick nestled inside a hollow chocolate egg) that kids love. You can order by phone [phone] (around the clock), by fax [phone] or on the Internet at www.sees.com for delivery throughout the country. (Of course, you can always stop by local stores.) So if you know big kids or little kids who'd adore a basket or egg, hop to it. Easter Sunday is April 15.

- N.H.

SAUCY SETUP

A colorful chip-and-dip set from El Paso Chile Co. has everything but the chips. The box includes an attractive 12 1/2-by-6-inch ceramic bowl and matching 1-cup dip dish, along with two 16-ounce jars of thick, tasty salsa: Snakebite Salsa delivers medium heat from jalapenos and red chilies; Chipotle Cha Cha Cha blends lots of ingredients - corn, smoky chipotles and red peppers - for a milder but still complex salsa. The set costs $34.95 through the company's Web site, www.elpasochile.com, or call [phone].

- Chicago Tribune

Q & A:

Q: I often see a greenish layer of varying thickness around the yolk of hard-cooked eggs. Sometimes there is none, but I am tempted to discard the green parts. I wonder if this represents oxidized portions of yolk that have been exposed to air during cooking?

A: The green layer is the result of the iron in the yolk reacting with the sulfur from the white at the yolk's surface, according to the American Egg Board. This reaction causes the harmless but unsightly green ring. It usually happens when the eggs are overcooked or when the cooking water has a lot of iron.

To avoid the ring, follow these simple instructions:

Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Add water to come at least 1 inch above eggs. Cover; heat to boiling. Remove from heat. Let rest, covered, in hot water, about 15 minutes for large eggs. Rinse under cold water to stop cooking.

- Wire Services

AWARD WINNERS

A black-tie crowd at the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown cheered Monday night as awards for both Restaurateur of the Year and Service Person of the Year, given by the California Restaurant Writers Association (CRWA), went to prior-year nominees.

Veteran waiter Bernard Inchauspe of Taix restaurant, on Sunset Boulevard near downtown, won the Male Service Person of the Year award. Hugo Molina, chef-owner of Hugo Molina restaurant in Pasadena and a previous nominee in both the chef and restaurateur categories, picked up the Restaurateur of the Year award.

Other major winners were Chef of the Year - Jean Francois Meteigner of La Cachette in West L.A.; Maitre d' - Brian Ellis of Melvyn's Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs; Female Service Person - Diane Davis of Cafe La Boheme in West Hollywood; Sommelier - Bruce Barrett of Le Vallauris in Palm Springs; and Pastry Chef - Larry Hodgson of Beach City Grill in San Pedro. Hamasaku in West L.A. was named the year's Most Promising New Restaurant.

For an 84-page booklet listing all the awards ($8 plus $2 handling), call the CRWA office at [phone].

- Larry Lipson

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (The Candy Bar Cookbook)

(2) no caption (Crystal basket with filled Easter eggs)

(3) no caption (Easter eggs in plastic holder)

(4) no caption (See's Candies Easter tin)

(5) no caption (Chip and dip set from El Paso Chile Co.)