VARIETY IS THE BEST SPICE

I started looking through this week's mail trying to decide what the main theme would be for this week. But there was no pattern to the recipes submitted, and I thought it would be great sharing a variety of recipes. I hope you enjoy them and that they inspire you to send in your favorites.

A response to a request for red devil's-food cake comes to us from Mary Vaughan of Sikeston, Mo. She usually bakes this cake in two round cake pans, but you can choose the pan right for you.

Red Devil's-Food Cake

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups flour

3/4 cup fat, half being butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk with 1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

Sift flour, then measure with cocoa. Cream fat until very creamy. Add sugar and cream thoroughly. Add well-beaten eggs and beat hard for one minute. Add flour cocoa mixture alternately with buttermilk beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add vanilla, beat one minute. Add boiling water and stir until batter is mixed. Bake in greased pans at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.

The "soup queen" of Cape Girardeau shares a couple of recipes with us again this week. She made this pear crisp and brought it to the Senior Center for the employees to enjoy. When I made it into the kitchen, the pan was washed and waiting for her to take it home. It sure sounds good.

Pear Gingersnap Crisp

2 (15 ounce) cans pears

2 teaspoons lime juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup, about 20 ounces, gingersnaps, finely crushed

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

Mix first 3 ingredients. Pour into baking dish. In a food processor, whirl snaps. Add remaining ingredients. Whirl till blended. Crumble over pears in baking pan; bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

Caramelized Onions

6 large onions, about 6 cups of 1/4-inch slices

2 tablespoons olive oil

Place onions in slow cooker. Drizzle oil over them. Cook on high 8 to 10 hours or until onions turn a deep brown color.

Leftovers may be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to a month. These can be used for a variety of uses. One of the uses for them could be French onion soup. It would be very easy to make this soup by having these onions already done.

French Onion Soup

5 cups rich beef broth

1 clove garlic, minced

2 to 3 cups easy caramelized onions

1/4 cup dry sherry, optional

Bring broth and garlic to a boil. Reduce heat and add onions and wine. Simmer a few minutes. Serve as you would for French onion soups by covering the top with Swiss cheese and toasted bread.

You might remember a few weeks a go someone wrote in and was wanting a use for Mysthra cheese. She had bought some and lost the recipe she was going to make with it. Well, she found the recipe and shares it with us today.

Pasta and Mysthra Cheese

16 ounces pasta

4 teaspoons crushed garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup, or more to taste, Mysthra cheese, grated

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh parsley

Cook pasta and drain. Saut garlic in olive oil. Stir together all ingredients. Top with additional cheese, if desired. Serves about 4.

What do you do with a small amount of an ingredient left over after preparing a recipe? Recently a Cape Girardeau cook had a small portion of pineapple left over and created a delicious dessert.

Leftover Pineapple Tidbit Dessert

Put a couple of scoops of lemon sherbet in a large wine goblet. Top with pineapple tidbits. Drizzle generously with caramel sauce. So easy and so good.

Mrs. Melvin Fielder of Altenburg has sent in some 50 different recipes. Thank you, Mrs. Fielder, for being so generous. I will spend some time going through them and will pick out some to share with other readers in the weeks ahead. There is always an interest in diabetic recipes, so this week diet oatmeal cookies will debut all of her recipes.

Diet Oatmeal Cookies

2/3 cup softened margarine

4 teaspoons liquid sweetener

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup cold water

1 cup quick cook oats

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine margarine, liquid sweetener, vanilla and egg. Beat well until blended. Add flour, cinnamon, salt, soda and water. Mix well. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 42 cookies.

There are no requests for this week, so I will leave you hoping you have a great week. And of course, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan, an administrator at Cape Senior Center, can be reached at Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699. Recipes published are not kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.