ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI: PECAN BUTTER RICE KRISPIES SQUARES ARE EXTRA SPECIAL

College is in the air. I have always liked the feel of a college campus, where energy abounds as the hurry-scurry pace swirls around you. In 1969 on the campus of David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tenn., I met for the first time my college roommate, Carolyn Moore, from Bassett, Va.

On first glance the only thing that we had in common was that we were both 18 years old and college freshmen. I was a petite, dark-haired, daring, talkative only child. Carolyn was taller, an easygoing blonde and the eldest of five children. There we were in a 12-by-12 room that would never be the same again.

The bond that binds people can never be explained. Carolyn and I became instant friends. One night during our first week at Lipscomb, at 2 a.m., we were awakened by shouting men banging on our door. There had been a bomb threat for our dorm. Everyone snatched a blanket and ran. When I reached the front door, I realized that Carolyn was no where to be seen. I ran back up three flights of stairs to find Carolyn calmly taking the rollers out of her hair. I grabbed her, and we ran laughing all the way. There was no bomb, but our friendship had been cemented.

During an especially busy time when it was Carolyn's turn to do the laundry, she decided to make quick work of it by putting everything that we owned in one big washer load. This would have been a good plan, had it not been for the unnoticed, never-before-washed orange dress. The rest of the quarter, orange was our favorite color. Orange underwear, orange sheets, you get the picture. How we laughed amid all that orange.

Popcorn poppers were the only cooking appliance allowed in a dorm room. We prepared all kinds of good food in our popper, but my favorite was the Butter Rice Krispies Squares, and on special occasions pecans were added. During the winter the window ledge was the refrigerator for our butter.

Life's rough edges are no match for Carolyn's quick wit and gentle manner. Today Carolyn is a loving wife and mother who graced a classroom for more than 20. Thank you, my friend, for the sweet song of friendship.

Pecan Butter Rice Krispies Squares

5 tablespoons butter or margarine

10-ounce package regular marshmallows (about 40)

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1/2 cup pecan pieces

butter for Krispies pan and spatula

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add Rice Krispies cereal and pecan pieces. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture into a 13-x-9 buttered pan. Cut into squares when cool.

Yield: 24 two-inch squares.

Angie Holtzhouser is author of Drop Dumplin's and Pan-Fried Memories ... Along the Mississippi. Her cookbook is available at local bookstores. In addition, it can be purchased through the mail at: Drop Dumplin's, P.O. Box 10, Lilbourn, Mo. 63862. The price is $19.95, including tax and shipping.