RECIPE SWAP: MORE READER RECIPES TURN UP WITH SPRING CLEANING

Over the past few weeks there have been more recipes to share than I have had space to put them. You have been so good about sharing your culinary findings with all of us, so now I need to clean off my desk and get caught up on back pieces of mail. So, like everyone else, I will be doing some spring cleaning. But the nice part about that is, we will have a nice variety of recipes for you.

My cousin, Cindy Dude, sent me an appetizer recipe that is a nice treat to serve at a wedding or baby shower or any party where friends gather.

Apple Pecan Caramel Brie

1 Granny Smith apple, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons butter

2 tablespoons sugar

cinnamon to taste

Saut the apple in butter. Add cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

3/4 cup broken pecans

1 teaspoon butter

3 tablespoons sugar

pinch cinnamon

pinch cardamom

Caramelize pecans in butter, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Set aside.

For the caramel sauce:

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons cream

Combine together and heat until smooth.

To prepare the appetizer, split a small brie cheese loaf in half crosswise. Press half of the pecans and apples into one half of the cheese. Replace the top of the brie. Heat in oven or microwave until soft. Top with the caramel sauce. Serve warm with assorted crackers.

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A Cape Girardeau cook requested a recipe for Italian wedding soup. The recipe we have to share can either be made with chicken or beef broth.

Italian Wedding Soup

6 cups chicken broth

1/2 package (about 5 ounces) frozen chopped spinach

2 tablespoons tiny pasta, such as acini de pepe

Meat dumplings:

1/2 pound lean ground beef

2 tablespoons chicken broth

1 egg

2 tablespoons flour

salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken broth to simmer. Add spinach and pasta. Return to simmer. Mix ingredients for meat dumplings. Beat well. Add by teaspoons to soup. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

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We recently had a request for raisin pie, and Glenda Buchanan of Perryville shares her favorite recipe. To the recipe, below, she adds some vanilla and 1 tablespoon butter.

Raisin Pie

2 cups raisins

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch

3 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

Cook the raisins in water about 5 minutes. Stir flour and sugar together and add to raisins, over low heat. Boil 1 minute.

Add vinegar, vanilla and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Pour into pie shell. Cover with top crust. Bake 425 degrees until nicely brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.

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Mrs. Martha Maxton of Jackson shares a ham loaf recipe that is much like meatloaf with a whole different twist.

Pineapple Topped Ham Loaf

1 (8 1/4 ounce) can crushed pineapple

3 tablespoons margarine, melted

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 pound ground ham

1 cup quick-cook oats

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Drain pineapple. Pour margarine into a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over bottom. Spoon pineapple evenly over brown sugar. Combine rest of ingredients; mix well. Lightly pack mixture into loaf pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

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Judith Reed of Jackson has two old-time pie recipes she enjoys. The butter pie recipe is from 1890 and she comments that it is "really good." For the milk ingredient, she uses a small can of evaporated milk and uses regular milk to make up the difference.

Butter Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup flour plus 2 level tablespoons

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups milk

Mix sugar, flour, milk and nutmeg well. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter over top of pie. Bake 450 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until filling is set.

Old Time Soda Cracker Pie

3 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 soda crackers, rolled fine

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup pecans, broken fine

Beat egg whites until stiff, gradually beating in 1 cup sugar. Add the 12 soda crackers rolled fine, and the other ingredients. Mix well. Fill a buttered pie plate with the mixture and bake 30 minutes in a 325 degree oven, cool. Top with a thinly sliced layer of peaches (fresh or well drained canned). Whip cream or use a frozen whipped topping on top. Store in refrigerator.

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Our Altenburg cooks have been at it again. They share about six recipes with us this week. We will do have of them today and the other half next week.

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup hot milk

2 tablespoons butter

Beat eggs, gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy and light colored. Add flour with baking powder and salt, sifted. Beat well. Add vanilla. Heat milk with butter almost to boiling. Stir quickly into batter, beat slightly. Pour at once into ungreased 9- or 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

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This next recipe is for a great coffee cake to make the night before and bake it fresh in the morning. A good recipe for when you have overnight company.

Overnight Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup margarine

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, set aside. Cream margarine, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and beat well, add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk. Spread into well-greased 9x13-inch pan. Mix topping ingredients together and spread on top of batter. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate for 8 hours. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

One Dish Chicken and Rice Bake

1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

3/4 cup uncooked white rice

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

parsley flakes

onion, optional

4 chicken breasts

Place chicken breasts in bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan. Combine all remaining ingredients and layer over chicken. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour in 350 degree oven.

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Well, I did not get my spring cleaning finished, but I'll have seed to start next week with.

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We do have a couple of requests to ask of you. Dorothy Conner of Jackson wants to know what a smoothie is. She need a nutritional boost, and someone told her to drink a smoothie every day. She also needs recipes to make them.

Rita Burk of Cape Girardeau is requesting a recipe for a lemon cake that uses part of the batter in the icing. It is an older recipe and is seeking out the recipe for her niece who lives in Texas.

A third request from a Grace United Methodist church member. Last Sunday when our family sat down I heard from behind me, "ask her to find me a sugar-free biscuit recipe." So the message was relayed up to me and now to you. Some of you have some really nice diabetic recipes that you might be able to share with her.

That will do it for this week. Have a great week, and happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Senior Center. Her cookbook collection tops 2,000 books. Recipes published are not kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.