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If you are looking for a recipe but can’t find it, send
your recipe request to Lou Ann Good, Cook’s Question
Corner, in care of Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box 609,
Ephrata, PA 17522. There’s no need to send a self-ad
dressed stamped envelope. If we receive an answer to
your question, we will publish it as soon as possible.
Check your recipe to make sure you copy the right
amounts and complete instructions for making the reci
pe. Sometimes we receive numerous answers to the
same request, but cannot print each one.
Answers to recipe requests should be sent to the
same address. You may also e-mail questions and an
swers to lgood.eph@lnpnews.com
Notice: Several readers write that they have
problems accessing this address. The common
mistake is that readers are substituting an “i”
for the lowercase “I (L)” needed in two places.
If you are having problems reaching this ad
dress, please check to make sure you are typ
ing an “I (L)” in both places and not an “i.”
QUESTION Helen Kofron, Claymont, Del.,
wants a recipe for ground beef barbecue that
tastes like that served at Shady Maple patio.
QUESTION - Pat Elligson, Millers, Md.,
wants a recipe for Sweet and Sour Cucumber
Salad that tastes like that served at the Colum
bia Family Restaurant, Columbia. The salad has
a clear, slightly syrupy dressing and is deli
cious.
QUESTION - Pat Elligson, Millers, Md.,
wants a recipe for Devil’s Food Tunnel Cake
with a creamy white filling baked in the center.
It is baked in a tube or a bundt pan. Pat recalls
that there used to be a cake mix for this but
she hasn’t seen it for a long time. She prefers
to make it from scratch.
QUESTION L. Groff, Denver, wants a reci
pe for pie made with ground cherries, which
she is now harvesting.
QUESTION Donna Balascad writes that
she tasted a wonderful mint tea at the Hay
Creek Fall Festival. The tea was yellow and
looked like lemonade. Donna has a garden
filled with mint and doesn’t know what to do
with it. Anyone able to help her?
QUESTION Harry is looking for an apple
dumpling recipe in which the apples are not
baked but boiled or steamed.
QUESTION A reader requested an old rec
ipe for clear bean soup made with fresh pork.
QUESTION - Cecile Bartle, Oxford, N.Y.,
wants recipes using canned baby food.
QUESTION - Gloria Bollinger, Keyman, Md.,
wants recipes to make watermelon pickles,
one using sugar and one sugar-free.
QUESTION - W. Elicker, Dillsburg, wants an
old-time recipe for sour pickles.
QUESTION - Elaine Fyock, Windber, is
looking for a cookie recipe called Cow Patties.
She also wants other dessert and snack reci
pes with a cute farm title.
QUESTION Betsy Rust, Hamburg, N.J.,
wants a recipe for plum pieorogies. it’s a
dough that is filled with small Italian plums.
QUESTION Mary Gothel, Millerstown,
wants a listing of cholesterol counts in all
meats, especially venison.
QUESTION Elam Lapp, Myerstown, wants
a recipe for making homemade hard cheese
similar to farmers’ cheese by using Jersey cow
milk.
QUESTION Durwood Tuttle, Knoxville,
makes sweet pickles in a crock that he stores
in a cellar. About three weeks ago, a gray fuzzy
mold formed all over the crock. He washed the
crock thoroughly with bleach water but it
doesn’t keep the mold from forming again. Any
help would be appreciated.
QUESTION A reader wants to know why
there are strings and other sediments that at
tach to mixer beaters while mashing potatoes.
Is it the potato variety used, the speed used to
mash the potatoes or some other reason?
QUESTION Rachel Musser is searching for
a spaghetti sauce recipe that tastes similar to
Prego pasta sauce (traditional).
QUESTION Charles Cramer, New Market,
Md., would like a copy of the “Lancaster Level
Flo Cookbook (Recipes From the Land of the
Pennsylvania Dutch).” His family enjoyed a rec
ipe that they believe was originally published in
this 1970’s cookbook. The potato salad recipe
had a delicious salad dressing.
QUESTION Several months ago Michael
Brennan, Wilkes Barre, was at ,an auction in
Sullivan County where he ate chicken noodle
soup. He writes that it was delicious and look
ed to be only noodles and chicken. He believes
the people at the food stand were from Berks
County and were also selling beef vegetable
soup. Brennan would like both recipes.
QUESTION A Newburg reader would like
recipes for jams and jellies or fruit spreads
without sugar or artificial sweetener. She’d like
recipes that taste similar to brands such as Po
laner’s All Fruit, Spreadable Fruit, or Smucker’s
Simply 100% Fruit.
QUESTION Like many of our readers,
Bonnie Koons, Harrisburg, writes that she
loves B section and all the recipes she tries
from it are great. She wants a recipe for
cheesecake cookies, which have a snickerdoo
dle recipe base, cheesy center, and a cherry on
top.
QUESTION Shirley Schwoerer, Wysox, re
quests a recipe for canned pickled sausages or
ring bologna. If we do not receive an answer to
this request within two weeks, we assume our
readers do not know the answer and will drop
the request.
ANSWER Elaine Pyock, Windber, wanted
a cookie recipe called Cow Patties and other
dessert and snack recipes with a cute farm
title. Thanks to Anne Wiegle, Pottstown, for
sending a recipe.
Cow Chip Cookies
6 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 Vz pounds peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon corn syrup
4 tablespoons baking soda
22-ounce box quick-cooking oatmeal
Vz pound chocolate chips
Vz pound M&M chocolate candies
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup raisins
In large bowl, mix together eggs, sugars,
melted butter, peanut butter, vanilla, corn
syrup, and baking soda; mix well.
Add oatmeal, candies, chopped nuts, and
raisins; mix well.
Spray pan with cooking spray. Using ice
cream scoop, drop dough on cookie sheet.
Flatten for cow chip cookies. Bake in preheat
ed 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Dough
may be frozen to use later.
ANSWER Kenneth Hixon, Warfordsburg,
wanted a recipe for making gherkin pickles.
Thanks to Ruth Aument, Peach Bottom, for
sending this recipe.
Sweet Gherkin Pickles
6V4 pounds immature cucumbers
(IVz-S-inches long)
6 cups cider vinegar
on
% teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons whole pickling spices
8 sticks cinnamon, 1-inch long
Vi teaspoon fennel seeds
2 cups honey
Wash cucumbers, place in large container,
cover with cold water and ice cubes. Refriger
ate 5 hours. Drain. Place cucumbers in large
enamel or stainless steel pot. Add vinegar, tur
meric, and cheesecloth bag containing spices.
Bring to a boil. Add honey. Bring to boil again.
Remove cheesecloth bag. Pack cucumbers into
hot, scalded pint jars. Cover with boiling liquid,
leaving y4-inch headspace. Seal and process 10
minutes in boiling water bath. Makes about 10
pints.
ANSWER Sylvia Allgyer, Christiana, want
ed a recipe for sourdough seven grain bread.
Thanks to Ruth Aument, Peach Bottom, for
sending a recipe.
Seven Grain Bread
6 cups whole wheat flour
V* cup cornmeal
% cup rye flour
% cup buckwheat flour
Vi cup soy flour
Vi cup oat flbur
% cup barley flour
1 tablespoon dry yeast
2 cups warm water
Vs cup molasses
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Vi teaspoon salt
Combine the seven flours in a large bowl and
set aside, in another large bowl combine yeast
in water. Add remaining ingredients. Add
enough seven grain flour mixture to make a
stiff dough. Turn out onto a floured board and
knead.
If dough is too sticky, add wheat flour while
kneading. Form into ball, place in oiled bowl,
turn once to oil top and cover with cloth. Let
rise until double in bulk, about one hour.
Punch down, divide into two loaves, and
place in greased loaf pans. Cover
and allow to rise only until dough reaches the
top of the pans. Do not allow to rise more than
one hour in a warm place or the bread will fall.
Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 40
minutes.
ANSWER Thanks to Marla Martin, Way
nesboro, for sending in her recipe for chicken
cacciatore, which had been requested by a
Blain reader.
Chicken Cacclatore
8-12 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Lay breasts in a large flat baking dish. Com
bine the following and simmer 20 minutes:
16-ounces stewed tomatoes
8-ounces tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
V 2 teaspoon dried rosemary
After the sauce is cooked, remove bay
leaves and garlic. Pour sauce over chicken.
Sprinkle the following on top:
%-% cup minced onion
% cup chopped bell pepper (green and red)
2V2-ounces sliced mushrooms
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, cov
ered. Sprinkle with 1 Vs> cups mozzarella cheese
and V 2 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake 15 more
minutes, uncovered.
Cook 8-ounces spaghetti noodles according
to package instructions. Drain, rinse with hot
water, and serve chicken over noodles.
ANSWER For the Leesport subscriber who
had problems with sponge and chiffon cakes,
here are some additional hints for improving
the cakes.
Ruth Aument writes that it is important to in
vert pan immediately after taking from oven.
This allows air to cool the pan more evenly.
Most recipes tell you to invert pan on a soda
bottle, which works well so long as the cake
doesn’t fall out of the pan. Instead, use a can
dlestick holder that is lower to the table. It’s
best to use a 10-inch tube pan (not greased)
and to bake one hour at 325 degrees.
Over or underbeating of eggs can also cause
a problem. Be sure the egg yolk part of mixture
is thick, satiny, and lemon-colored before add
ing to egg whites, which must be beaten to
very stiff peaks. Gently fold in egg whites, do
not over mix.
ANSWER A reader wanted a recipe for
elderberry wine. Thanks to Tom Stutzman, He
gins, who recommends a recipe that appears in
the book, “Winemaking as a Hobby,” published
by Penn State University and available through
Presque Isle in Erie, Pa. For more information,
call (814) 725-1314.