By Jane Henegar

* Good morning, thankful readers. We have two requests: lemon pound cake and strawberry gazpacho. Karen Clay wants the pound cake; an out-of-towner who has family in Chattanooga sampled some strawberry gazpacho, which was great, but she couldn’t figure out how to make it.

Thanks to “Barbara,” for the following comforting winter dish.

Polish Kraut and Apples

1 (14-ounce) can sauerkraut, drained

1 pound kielbasa, cut into 2-inch pieces

3 medium apples, peeled and sliced

1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar

3⁄4 cup apple juice

Layer ingredients in a slow cooker. Pour apple juice over top. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours; dish will have baked into a delicious buffet.

Georgia Nelson recommended these blueberry muffins.

Blueberry Almond Muffins

1 (7-ounce) package almond paste, grated

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

2 cups flour

1⁄2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fresh-grated lemon zest

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

3⁄4 cup milk

2 large eggs

1 cup blueberries, rinsed, and stems removed

Heat oven 300 F to 325 F. Grease a 12-count muffin tin. Add grated almond paste, butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt to a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until butter and almond paste are finely cut into the flour.

In a medium bowl, beat the milk with the eggs. Add the flour mixture and blueberries. Stir gently until ingredients are just incorporated (overbeating will make a tough muffin.)

Scoop batter into muffin tins, and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until tops are rounded and muffins are golden. Cool in pans a few minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 12 muffins.

Cook’s tip: Ice cream scoops are wonderful for scooping muffin batter quickly and uniformly.

Until next week ...