A few recipes shared the old-fashioned way

By now you know how much I enjoy getting mail from you, the readers of this column. During the past several months, I have been asking for you to send in mail and share recipes with other readers. While the whole time, there were four pieces of mail sitting in my small mailbox at the Southeast Missourian.

With technology the way we use it now, I very seldom ever go into the building, and therefore I had mail waiting for me all along. I am so embarrassed this mail was there for so long and I did not check my box. To these readers, I am so sorry. I have learned to check my mailbox more frequently.

Carolyn Ryan, of Cape Girardeau, shares a wonderful recipe for a chocolate chip cheese ball she made for a birthday party, and I am ashamed to tell you how long ago that was. But it was a huge hit at the party and Carolyn knows you will want to try it, as well.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick butter (not margarine), softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 (12 ounce) bag mini chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans

vanilla wafers or graham crackers

In a mixing bowl, use mixer to cream together cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla and butter until whipped. Stir in powdered sugar and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before forming into a ball shape. Coat ball with chopped pecans and refrigerate for 1 additional hour. Serve with vanilla wafers or graham crackers.

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Glenda Buchanan of Perryville, Mo., also had a letter to me and her recipes sound very tasty too.

Vegetable Salad

4 cans blackeyed peas, drained

4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced very small

1 cup or 8 ounces pimiento peppers

1 medium yellow pepper, diced

1 cup green onions, chopped

Add all together in a large bowl and stir to combine, then add the wet ingredients.

1 cup canola oil

1 cup red wine vinegar

Pinch salt

Pinch black pepper

Pinch of onion powder

1 tablespoon hot sauce

whisk together all wet ingredients and pour over vegetables. Serve cold.

As a side note, use gloves when seeding the jalapeno or be sure not to touch your face after working with the pepper. If you would like to use dry blackeyed peas, measure out 4 cups of dry beans, let them soak overnight, drain, add water back into pan and cook until tender.

Pineapple Angel Food Sheet Cake

Pour a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple with juice in mixing bowl. Add a box of one step angel food cake mix. Mix together and add 1 teaspoon vanilla, and stir to combine. Bake in a 9-by-13-inch pan or a sheet cake pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool upside down using cans or glasses at the corners of the pan to hold up off the counter. Cool completely before serving.

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Doris Dace of Pocahontas sent me a wonderful family heirloom cookbook. It is a delightful cookbook put together as a recipe and history book all wrapped in one. The recipes were found stored in a tin, many in German, and were the collection of Doris' grandmother, Magdalena Stauffer Derendinger. The handwritten recipes are wonderful as a family keepsake to pass down from generation to generation. I especially loved the letter from Normandy, April 1946, as a very special family heirloom. The book includes all sorts of recipes from 13 day pickles, to how to cure a ham.

This has given me some great ideas for my mother's recipes.

I will pull a few recipes from her book to share with you.

Butter Balls

1 cup butter

4 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups sifted flour

1 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter; add sugar and continue to beat until light. Add vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Fold in chopped nuts. Shape into small balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a moderate oven 15 to 18 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while hot. Makes 3 dozen cookies. (January 10, 1947)

Snickerdoodles

Mix together thoroughly:

1 cup soft shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

Sift together and stir in:

2 3/4 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all together and chill dough.

Roll into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll in mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned but still soft. These cookies puff up at first then flatten out with crinkle tops. Bake at 375 degrees about 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 60 cookies. (December 2, 1952)

Griddle Cakes

1 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sweet milk

1 egg, well beaten

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift flour once measure, add baking powder and salt and sift again. Combine milk and egg and add flour. Stir only until smooth, add shortening. Bake on a hot well greased griddle. It makes 12 cakes.

Corn Salad

12 ears corn

2 heads cabbage

10 cents mustards, ground

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 quart vinegar

Sugar, salt and pepper, to taste

Cook 30 minutes. (Mrs. Derendinger)

Have a wonderful week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.