A HARTE APPETITE:SECRETARIAL RECIPES MARK SPECIAL WEEK

Next week the country observes Secretaries Day, a day set aside each year to honor the person who, in many organizations, is arguably the most indispensable. I know that in our office it works that way. If I am gone for, say, a week to attend a conference, it may not be until Wednesday before everybody notices. But if our secretary is gone for an hour, we may be rendered nearly helpless.

If you look up the word secretary in the dictionary you will find that it literally means "one entrusted with secrets." Thank goodness our secretaries don't tell everything they know, but we entrust them with so much more than just confidential information.

In our office, for example, it's the secretary who can usually be relied upon to tell us which official form to use to expedite a request through the bureaucracy, remind us of the deadline for its submission, and double check to see that we have filled it out properly. She knows how to fix the copier when it acts up, where we probably misplaced that important file folder we'll need for a noon meeting, and unfailingly answers the phone with a smile in her voice. Like secretaries all across the United States, she is the glue that holds the office together.

So in tribute to secretaries everywhere, today's column features some "secretarial" recipes you may want to give a try next week. The first two are from Ms. Kay McBride, longtime secretary at the University who occasionally favors the Department of Speech, where she now works, with her justly famous Mexican cornbread and her sought after pineapple cake. The other is from Missouri's top ranking secretary (not to mention foremost Cook), Cape Girardeau's own Rebecca McDowell Cook, the Secretary of State.

Kay's Mexican Cornbread

This cornbread has a definite "kick." If you prefer a milder version, simply use fewer peppers.

Ingredients:

1 cup corn meal

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 jar (20 oz.) pickled jalapeno peppers, chopped and drained of all but 3 tablespoons of liquid

6 ounces cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 small can of cream style corn

Directions:

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pour batter into greased 8" square pan and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted into center should come out clean).

Kay's Pineapple Cake

When you taste this cake you won't believe that it's actually fat-free, but it is. What a perfect excuse to use real cream cheese frosting!

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Pour batter into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until cake springs back when touched. Dust with powdered sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.

Bekki Cook's Fettucine Alfredo

This rich dish is probably not one any cardiologist would recommend on a regular basis, but a small portion every once in a while is worth the splurge.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

1/4 cup whipping cream

12 oz. package fettucine

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 pinches nutmeg

salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine 1 stick butter with 1/4 cup whipping cream in ovenproof bowl. Place in 200 degree oven while boiling fettucine. Drain pasta and toss with warmed butter and cream. Add 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 pinches of nutmeg, salt, and plenty of pepper. Toss some more. Serves 4.

Got a recipe you'd like to share with our readers? For our next column we're looking for recipes like your mother used to make (or maybe still does). Send your favorite "Recipe from Mom" to The Harte Appetite, c/o Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699.

~Tom Harte is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and writes a food column every other week for the Southeast Missourian.