RECIPE SWAP: FROM BEER BATTER BREAD TO OATMEAL PIE

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day. Everyone seems to celebrate in their own special way, be it by a visit, having a family meal together, a bouquet of flowers, being showered with gifts or through a telephone call. Each and every thought is appreciated. With families scattered all over the country and many times over the world, it is hard for families to get together, but through computer e-mail and the telephone it seems to make the world small enough we can still communicate with family easily.

I am so blessed and so thankful for my mother and my mother-in-law. I have the perfect situation with my mother only a couple of miles from me and my mother-in-law only three houses from me. It is great, for both of these remarkably wonderful women are moments away from me and our children. Then we extend this to grandmothers. Here again, there are two within a few miles, so our children have their great-grandmothers to play with and learn from. God has blessed me with four fabulous women in my life, and I rejoice in that daily.

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Last week we were able to share the recipe for sawdust pie from the famous Patti's Restaurant in the Kentucky Lake area. It was not intentional, but the contributors of those recipes were left out of the article. The recipes were shared to us by Shirley Welter of Cape Girardeau and Pat Baldwin of McClure, Ill.

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We recently had a request from Gladys of Cape Girardeau for a beer batter bread recipe. Here again, Shirley Welter of Cape Girardeau shares her favorite recipe for you to try.

Beer Batter Bread

3 cups unsifted self-rising flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 (12 ounce) can beer

1/2 to 1 stick margarine or butter

Mix flour and sugar, pour in the can of beer and stir until well blended. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Take out of oven and pour melted butter over bread and bake for 30 minutes more.

If you don't have self-rising flour on hand, substitute with 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

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Annis Heuring of Scott City would like for you to enjoy her apple dumplings as much as she does. She tells me in the note you can adjust to make as many or as few as you desire. She uses medium Jonathan apples because they are the right size for the biscuits, are easy to make and so good.

Apple Dumplings

1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated biscuits

5 medium apples, peeled, cored and halved

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup margarine, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

cinnamon

Flatten biscuits with hand, wrap each biscuit around an apple. Place seam side down in a greased pan. Combine sugar, water, margarine and vanilla. Pour over apples. Sprinkle cinnamon over dumplings. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and apples are tender.

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Pat Baldwin of McClure, Ill., makes an oatmeal pie, similar to the sawdust pie recipe she shared last week. We make this at the Senior Center, and everyone really enjoys it. I hope you do, too.

Oatmeal Pie

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup coconut

2/3 cup oats, quick cook type

3 eggs, beaten

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat eggs, then add sugar and other ingredients. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

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A faithful Recipe Swap reader shares a few recipes she recently came across. She has added a few comments with each recipe that I will pass along to you as well.

Now that warm weather has arrived, thoughts turn to salads. Try this warm chicken liver salad recipe with garlic bread and a fresh fruit compote for a great summer meal.

Warm Chicken Liver Salad

1/2 pound chicken livers

1 1/4 cups white wine

10 peppercorns

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 bay leaf

mixed salad greens

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Marinate livers overnight in wine, peppers, garlic and bay leaf. When ready to prepare, divide greens onto 4 plates. Dry livers and cut into bite size pieces. Heat oil and fry livers about 3 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add vinegar to pan and boil, stirring, until vinegar is reduced by half. Cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Arrange livers over salad greens and pour sauce over.

Crispy Fried Carrots

3/4 cup cornmeal

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 egg white

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

4 large carrots, scraped and cut into thin strips

vegetable oil

Combine first 7 ingredients. Beat egg white until foamy. Stir in buttermilk and hot sauce. Dip carrots in buttermilk mixture and drain off excess mixture and dredge in cornmeal mixture. Fry carrots in hot oil about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

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When you can't decide between coleslaw and potato salad, try festive potato salad for a nice change.

Festive Potato Salad

3 cups diced potatoes

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage

1/2 cup sliced ripe olives

1/2 cup coarsely grated carrot

1/4 cup chopped dill pickle

2 tablespoons diced pimento

2 tablespoons chopped green pepper

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons grated onion

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Cook potatoes until tender. Drain. Combine with oil, vinegar and salt. Toss gently. Cover and refrigerate. Add cabbage and next 5 ingredients to potato mixture. Set aside. Combine mayonnaise and last 3 ingredients. Add to potato mixture. Toss gently.

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Our Cape Girardeau cook tells us in her note she loves hearts of palm and is always looking for new and different ways to use them. Here is a fresh idea for a salad.

Hearts of Palm Salad

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped dill weed

6 ripe olives, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/4 teaspoon capers

1 (16 ounce) can hearts of palm, drained and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 cups torn romaine lettuce

Combine first 9 ingredients. Chill 8 hours or more. To serve, arrange hearts of palm on bed of lettuce on individual serving plates. Top with dressing. Serves 6.

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Opal Rodgers of Cape Girardeau has a great cookie for you to try. The recipe has been around for a long time with a variety of different names. Hers comes to us with the name "cowboy cookies."

Cowboy Cookies

Sift together and set aside:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Blend:

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

Add:

2 eggs, beat until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture and mix well.

Add: 2 cups oats

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 (7 ounce) package chocolate chips or 1 cup coconut

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon hot water

Dough will be rather crumbly. Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

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That will close another week of good recipe swapping. Thanks for all who shared recipes. We have no requests from this week. Don't forget about those from last week though a cottage cheese topped coffee cake and apricot butter.

Have a great week, and happy cooking.