RECIPE SWAP: SWAP SPRING CLEANING CONTINUES

Spring cleaning continues this week on my Recipe Swap desk. I have let many recipes pile up lately, but I would like to share them with you. I started my spring cleaning last week and hope to finish it up this week. Enjoy the variety and don't forget to answer the recipe requests we have this week. I just wish spring cleaning at my home was this easy.

We have a couple of recipes from our friends from Altenburg to pass along to you. These ladies are so good to write down good recipes and share them with us. The Altenburg ladies should issue a challenge to other communities to do the same. That would be fun.

Rice Pudding

1 cup cooked rice

2 1/2 cups scalded milk

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

Place in casserole dish and set that dish in a larger dish with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour till knife comes out clean.

Squash Dressing

2 cups cooked mashed squash

1 cup cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons margarine

Cook squash till tender. If squash is tender, it need not be peeled. Cook till tender, drain well. Saut onion in margarine. Combine squash, cracker crumbs, cheese, onion, parsley, salt, pepper and beaten eggs. Dot with extra margarine and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Swiss Vegetable Medley

1 (16 ounce) bag frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower blend vegetables, thawed and drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 ounces chopped pimento, drained, optional

1 can French fried onion rings, divided

Combine vegetables, soup, 1/2 cup Swiss cheese, sour cream, pepper, pimento and 1/2 can onions. Pour into a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with the combined remaining cheese and onions and bake 6 minutes longer. Serves 6.

Judith Reed of Jackson shares a couple of chess pie recipes from a request we had a few weeks ago. Her first recipe is an old-fashioned southern style chess pie much like the recipes I'm used to.

Old Fashioned Southern Chess Pie

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon buttermilk or cream

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn meal

Mix the above ingredients together then melt 1/2 stick of butter and add to the mixture. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Chess Pie

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

butter, softened, the size of an egg

2 egg yolks, saving whites for top

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the above ingredients and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 10 minutes in 400 degree oven, then turn to 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Beat egg whites, add 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff but not dry. Cover hot pie sealing edges well. Return to oven to brown.

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A Cape Girardeau cook shares a raisin pie recipe with a tasty combination of raisins and cranberries which she says "is a winner."

Raisin Cranberry Pie

2 cups raisins

2 cups cranberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

grated peel of 1 orange

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup toasted almonds

1 egg, lightly beaten

crust for a 2 crust pie

Mix raisins, cranberries, sugar, salt and flour. Mix in 2/3 cup water and cook till berries pop, about 5 to 8 minutes. Let cool. Mix in remaining ingredients and pour into pie shell. Top with remaining crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue to bake 15 to 20 minutes longer.

We have one more raisin pie recipe to share from Mary Kay Cerza of Cape Girardeau. Her raisin pie does not call for vinegar, but the lemon juice serves the same purpose. Also, notice the recipe calls for the pie shell to be baked.

Raisin Pie

1 cup seedless raisins

1 cup water

1/2 cup white or brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 9-inch baked pie shell

Heat raisins and water to the boiling point. Add the sugar. Cool 1/2 cup of this mixture. Stir into it gently the butter and flour. Return it to the saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture has thickened. Remove pan from heat. Beat in egg yolks, lemon rind and lemon juice. Cool the filling. Fill the pie shell. Cover with meringue. Preheat oven to 325 to 350 degrees. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meringue.

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Opal Rodgers of Cape Girardeau reminds us that spring is here and she wants to celebrate by sharing her recipe for sunshine salad.

Sunshine Salad

2 (3 ounce) packages lemon gelatin

2 cups boiling water

2 cups or 16 ounces lemon-lime carbonated soda

1 (No. 2) can crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups miniature marshmallows

3 bananas, sliced

Mix gelatin with boiling water. Add soda. Let cool. Then add marshmallows and fruit. Place in 9x13-inch pan or dish and refrigerate until set. See topping recipe below.

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup pineapple juice

1 tablespoon margarine

1/2 pint whipping cream or 2 envelopes Dream Whip

Cook together sugar, flour and pineapple juice. Cool, then add margarine. Whip cream or Dream Whip (according to package directions) and fold together with cooked mixture. Spread on top of set gelatin and sprinkle with chopped nuts or grated cheese.

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Another Cape Girardeau recipe collector shares the recipe for Rich and Charlie's Salad. She adds that for the dressing, she purchases locally the bottled Rich and Charlie's dressing. It is very good and convenient.

Rich and Charlie's Salad

1 head cleaned Romaine lettuce

1 head cleaned Iceberg lettuce

1 (10 ounce) can artichoke hearts, halved and drained

1 (10 ounce) can heart of palm, drained

1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimento, drained

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

fresh ground pepper to taste

salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and toss with dressing. Serve very well chilled.

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Our last recipe today is also from Opal Rodgers. This is a very quick dessert to make. The fruit may be changed to suit your personal taste.

Cherry Dump Cake

1 (No. 303) can crushed pineapple

1 box white or yellow cake mix

1 stick margarine, melted

1 can cherry pie filling

1/2 cup coconut, optional

1/2 cup nuts, optional

In a cake pan, layer the crushed pineapple, the cherry pie filling, then the coconut and nuts. Cover with cake mix. Drizzle the melted margarine over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

To close Recipe Swap this week we have two requests for you to explore. The first is for a Napoleon Dessert. The person requesting the recipe said she had it at a birthday celebration. The dessert had a thin flaky pastry with a cream filling.

The second request is for a pineapple right side up cake. It has the traditional taste of pineapple upside down cake, but only with the goodies on the top.