Recipe Swap: Readers from near and far submit recipes

It has been a great week for reader mail.

Today there is mail from around the world as well as from right here at home. I hope you enjoy all the recipes today. If you see something that spurs your memory of a recipe you have in your files, send it in so we can include it here for others to read and enjoy.

Aunt Brenda Doza's Famous Coleslaw

My friend Kim Werner Halter is originally from Cape Girardeau and now lives in Australia. She always includes her Christmas dinner menu and recipes in her annual Christmas package. It's summer there, so they enjoyed giant fresh banana shrimp along with a rolled turkey roast, baked butternut squash, a fresh lettuce and tomato salad right from the garden, and a fruit salad made from her fresh cherries, peaches, lychees, plums, apricots, mangoes, pawpaws, bananas, watermelon and other fresh summer melons. Sounds great, doesn't it? She also served her Aunt Brenda's coleslaw recipe that has dried cranberries and bacon, and she said it went great with the turkey roast.

1 package dry coleslaw mix, about 1 pound

1/2 cup toasted almonds

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup real bacon bits or chopped bacon cooked crisp and drained

1 cup dried cranberries

Dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon sweet relish

Kim cannot get sweet relish in Australia, so she improvised with this dressing:

1/2 cup Weight Watcher's mayonnaise

1/2 cup Splenda

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Mix together dressing ingredients and pour over dry slaw ingredients. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. It is better served the next day.

Southwestern Soup

My vegetarian friend, Cheryl Mothes, sent me this recipe It is tasty and easy to prepare and goes great with a cornbread muffin or a nice Mexican salad on the side.

2 (16-ounce) cans tomato sauce

2 (16-ounce) cans red kidney beans

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups salsa

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 cups water

2 vegetable bouillon cubes

Grated Cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients except cheese in a large pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle individual servings with grated cheese. Serve hot with cornbread muffins.

Grandma Joan's Fruit Salad

Joan Haring of Cape Girardeau has been a lifelong friend. She and her husband love to entertain, and few do it as well as they do. During the winter, when fruit is more expensive, they rely on this recipe to help with their fruit intake, and her grandchildren love it. It can be made with sugar-free pudding and gelatins and natural juice on the canned fruit. It does make a large batch and keeps well for a week, so add the bananas to each serving as you go, not to the entire batch if you're going to store it for several days.

2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple chunks

1 large can peach slices

3 cans mandarin oranges

16 ounces frozen strawberries

1 (6-ounce) strawberry gelatin

3 tablespoons minute tapioca

2 (3-ounce) packages regular vanilla pudding, not instant

Bananas

Drain the canned fruit. Add enough water to the fruit juice to make 4 cups. Add the tapioca, gelatin and pudding to this and cook in a saucepan until thick. Cool and pour over all of the fruit except the bananas. Refrigerate until ready to serve. When ready to serve, add one or two sliced bananas to the amount being served. Refrigerate any leftovers of the original salad.

Lemon Cookies

Linda Francis of Arnold, Mo., told me about this great little lemon cookie she makes, and of course I had to have the recipe. Adding a little fresh lemon zest to the dough before baking would really brighten up the lemon flavor. The recipe does not say to do it, but I might dust the cookies with a little powdered sugar when they come out of the oven. I'll give them a test run and let you know.

1 box lemon cake mix with the pudding in the mix

1 cup crispy rice cereal

1 stick butter, melted

1 slightly beaten egg

Mix all ingredients together. Shape dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 9 to 12 minutes.

Japanese Fruit Pie

Jo Leadbetter, who I work with at the Senior Center, gave me this recipe to pass along to you.

1 stick margarine

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together. Fill an unbaked pie shell and bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

Five-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Rita Burk of Cape Girardeau shares a recipe for a cake baked in a mug. I have seen this several times recently on the Food Network and is a real craze right now. Her version is chocolate.

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) flour

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips, optional

Small splash vanilla

1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips, if using, and vanilla extract. Mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate if desired. Eat and enjoy. This cake can serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous.

Rita adds, why is this cake the most dangerous cake in the world? Because now you can have hot, fresh chocolate cake in five minutes anytime of the day or night. Too cute!

Thanks for all of the great mail this week; please keep it coming.

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

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@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.