RECIPE SWAP: THE MAIL WAS FULL OF GREAT RECIPIES

It was such a nice surprise when my 3-year-old, Lexie, greeted me at daycare with some fresh honey balls. Ms. Donna is her teacher, and during their activities through the day, she and the children made the honey balls. It's a delightful blend of honey, peanut butter and powdered milk rolled into balls, then coated in crushed corn flakes. They sure smelled good. I say smelled, because between Lexie and Ross they were devoured and I never had a taste.

I am so pleased that our child care workers are getting the children involved in the kitchen and teaching them basics. I work with my own children and I hope others do, too.

This is a great week for Recipe Swap with a nice variety of mail. Good job, readers.

Janie Huckstep of Cape Girardeau shares our first recipe this week. She received this recipe in a newsletter and thinks it is very good. I

don't know where it got its name, but the pie is certainly good.

Opossum Pie

3 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 9-inch graham cracker crumb pie shell

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 (3 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups cold milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

12 to 16 pecan halves

In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Spread onto bottom of crust. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. In another bowl, combine pudding mix, milk and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Spoon over the pecans. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top with whipped cream and pecan halves. Yield 8 servings.

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Alberta Sawyer of Cape Girardeau shares three recipes with us. The diabetic muffin recipe calls for oatmeal flour, which can be made by pulverizing regular oatmeal in a blender. Make plenty, store in the refrigerator and have on hand for the next time.

Diabetic Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend together:

1 cup oatmeal flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 heaping tablespoons Sugar Twin or an equivalent

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine and set aside.

Beat together until creamy and fluffy

1 egg

1/2 cup mashed bananas

Add and blend well:

4 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1.4 cup milk

Add dry ingredients and mix.

Stir in:

1/2 cup raisins or more, if desired

Bake in waxed paper cups, set in muffin tins.

Raisin Nut Bread

1 (1 pound) package raisins

2 cups boiling water

2 heaping tablespoons solid shortening

2 level teaspoon baking soda

Mix and let stand overnight or heat raisins in hot water for 15 minutes.

Then add and stir well:

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

4 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 rounded teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup nuts

Half-fill six #2 plain tins, greased and lightly floured. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Alberta said in her note she always mixes the sugar with the flour to mix smoother with no lumps. She also tried heating the raisins and was not as pleased with the result as letting the raisins sit to plump.

Irish Apple Cake

3/4 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

3/4 to 1 cup milk

3 cups finely chopped apples

Mix all above ingredients together adding the apples last. Bake in a prepared Bundt pan at 350 degrees at least 1 hour and up to 15 minutes longer.

Alberta adds some comment with this recipe also. She prefers ripe Jonathan or Stamen Winesap apples.

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Mary Vaughan of Sikeston, Mo., answered a recent request for pepper poppers. I was hoping someone would reply so I could make the recipe for our friends from Los Alamos, N.M.

Pepper Poppers

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

6 bacon strips cooked and crumbled

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic

1 pound fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs

Sour cream onion dip or ranch dressing

In mixing bowl combine the cheese, bacon and seasonings. Mix well, spoon about 2 tablespoons in each pepper half. Roll in breadcrumbs. Place in a greased 15x10x1-inch-baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes for spicy flavor, 30 minutes for medium flavor, or 40 minutes for mild flavor. Serve with sour cream dip or ranch-style dip.

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We are about out of room for this week. There will be many great recipes next week.

I would like to get in a couple of requests we have.

Mary Jo Horn of Cape Girardeau had a recipe she wanted to try from a magazine and has misplaced it. It would help if we had the name of the magazine, because some of us may have it, or I could write for it. Mary Jo, If you know what magazine it was, please let me know. The recipe was for a spiced cake using a mix and had a can of pumpkin in it. There were other ingredients, but she isn't sure what they were.

A Scott City reader is looking for a recipe for Haystacks. It is a vegetarian dish and was layers of eggplant, tomato, onion and cheese, to the best of her memory. She ate it years ago at a caf in the south.

Again we come to the close of another great week of Recipe Swap. 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.