WE'RE GETTING BACK TO RECIPES

Over the past couple of weeks I have done my own thing and put some mail aside to be able to promote Girl Scout cookies and other food topics. But as I promised last week, I'm back to your recipe swapping and there are several to share with you today.

Last week I promised you the Yucatan roast pork recipe that was in a recent request. This recipe was originally prepared by the Mayans in ovens dug into the earth and lined with stones. The meat was wrapped in seaweed or banana leaves and left to roast slowly in its own juices. Our method of baking is much simpler.

Yucatan Roast Pork

1 (6 pound) pork butt

1 block achiote, about 3.5 ounces

5 large cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

4 cups orange juice

34 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon thyme

Blend all the marinade ingredients in a blender. The achiote is hard to soften. You may wish to heat the mixture before trying to blend. Make several deep cuts in the pork. Rub roast with marinade working it into the meat. Pour the remaining marinade over meat and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. Place roast and marinade in covered pan. Bake at 325 for 3 to 4 hours, or until very tender and fat is cooked out of pork. Baste roast with the marinade every hour or so as it cooks. Allow roast to rest for 30 minutes. Remove all remaining fat and bones. Shred pork while hot. Chill broth that meat was cooked in. Skim off all fat from broth.

Heat again and pour over pork when ready to serve.

This pork can be wrapped in banana leaves and baked to give it a true flavor. The banana leaves and the Achiote can be found in Mexican food stores or in that section of larger stores.

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Brenda Webb of McClure, Ill., shares three recipes that were requested by readers several weeks ago. Brenda is a great cook and I'm sure these recipes are top-notch.

Russian Tea Cakes

1 cup soft butter

12 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

214 cups sifted flour

14 teaspoons salt

34 cup finely chopped pecans

Thoroughly mix the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Sift together the flour an salt. Stir into butter mixture. Mix in the nuts. Chill dough. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 400 degrees until set, but not brown. While still warm roll in powdered sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.

Brenda adds some tips to her cookie technique. She does not sift the flour and sugar, but it comes out fine. She also uses parchment paper to line her cookie sheets. For rolling the cookies in powdered sugar, she uses a plastic zip-top bag and adds a few cookies at a time. It is much quicker and far less messy.

Her next recipes are in response to a request for cherry recipes. Brenda uses this pie, and everyone always thinks she used garden-fresh cherries.

Cherry Pie

1 can sour pie cherries, drained, or 112 cups fresh or frozen pie cherries

1 can cherry pie filling

13 cup sugar

14 teaspoon almond extract

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in an 8- or 9-inch pie shell, with lattice crust top. Bake about 40 minutes at 400 degrees.

Fresh Sour-Cherry Pie

113 cups sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

18 teaspoon salt

112 pounds, about 4 cups, pitted fresh red sour cherries

14 teaspoon almond extract

Pastry for 2 crust, 9-inch pie, unbaked

112 tablespoons butter

Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix with cherries, adding extract. Roll out pastry. Use half to line a deep 9-inch pie pan; trim. Pour in cherry mixture and dot with butter. Arrange pastry strips, lattice fashion, over all. Seal edges with water. Bake in preheated hot oven, 425 degrees, for 10 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking about 30 minutes longer, or until crust is well done.

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The friends from Altenburg are in the sharing mood again and have two today for you to enjoy.

Crock Pot Corn

2 (16-ounce) packages frozen corn

1 stick margarine

13 cup sugar

14 cup milk

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in crock pot, cubing margarine and cream cheese. Cook on low 2 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally, until hot through and thickened.

Chicken and Rice Bake

1 can mushroom soup

1 cup water

34 cup uncooked regular rice

14 teaspoon paprika

14 teaspoon pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Mix soup, water, rice, paprika and pepper. Place chicken breasts on top of this mixture. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

We have only one request this week. JHMW of Cape Girardeau would like a recipe for fried lobster tails. She has been looking for this recipe for a long time. Maybe someone has a recipe to share.

This will close another week of recipe swapping and trading. I hope you enjoyed the Girl Scout Cookie recipes last week and will support the cookie sale when asked to do so.

Have a great week, and happy cooking.