Fare Exchange: Recipe wishes fulfilled, from meatloaf to pie

Good morning dear readers. As December gets busier, requests get labeled URGENT.

Here are today's challenges: gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that appeared in the paper about five years ago, Tupelo Honey Cafe's goat cheese grits and cheesy onion bisque, easy yeast bread and "everything" cookies as sold by the pound in the bakery at Whole Foods. These are repeats: Coca-Cola Cake, half-done pickles and potato salad as once served at Shapiro's deli.

Here's a last-minute request from Smyrna Anonymous. "I need a reliable recipe app so I can carry my favorite recipes, as I travel a lot. I know I could have a blog, but I don't want to share them with the world. I have tried several apps that didn't work for me, and I am hoping someone can recommend another one."

Linda Floyd tried a recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies about five years ago, from instructions she found in the food section. Describing them as "the best I've ever had," she is now seeking help in retrieving that recipe. The Tupelo Honey, Whole Foods and Shapiro's requests are from "Time Traveler," and the recipe app request came from Daisy Carson.

Alberta Anderson of Trenton, Ga., sent two recipes "for Marietta D. as per her request for a make-ahead breakfast casserole." Anderson included one recipe for a slow cooker; our food section has included both turkey breast and turkey-and-dressing recipes for a slow cooker, and I recently sampled a passel of mashed potatoes baked in a slow cooker with cream cheese and sour cream. Good and easy, all of the above.

Anderson has used both of the recipes she sent "and they are very good. I served cheesy grits with the crockpot breakfast and hash-brown casserole with the breakfast casserole."

Crockpot Breakfast

1 pound frozen tater tots

1/2 pound diced ham

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced green or red pepper

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

6 eggs

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon salt

Spray or grease crockpot. Layer half of the tater tots, ham, onion, pepper and cheese in slow cooker. Layer in the order given. Repeat layers. Beat eggs and milk together. Add salt and mix. Pour over layers. May add more salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.

Breakfast Casserole

1 (1-pound) package sausage, browned and drained

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

6 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 stick margarine, melted

Spray or grease a 9- by-13-inch casserole dish. Layer sausage in bottom of dish. Layer cheese on top of sausage. Mix all other ingredients and pour over sausage and cheese. Let stand all night in refrigerator. Bake 35 minutes in a 350-degree oven.

Daisy Carson makes a very easy casserole that her whole family loves. It is the recipe she usually takes to a family with a new baby, and she freezes leftovers in squares for individual servings later. "I decided to send it now because leftover turkey works well in this recipe."

King Ranch Chicken

1 dozen corn tortillas

3 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (or substitute turkey)

3 cups shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 ounces sour cream or 1/2 chicken broth, 1/2 sour cream (see note)

1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Garlic powder

Cumin

Pepper

Fresh green peppers, onions and garlic (optional)

• Note: Using sour cream makes this creamier and saucier. Chicken broth makes the dish thicker.

Mix the soups with sour cream and/or broth. Spread 1/4 cup of the mixture on bottom of a 13-by-9-inch Pyrex dish. Tear tortillas into pieces and line the bottom of the dish. Place 1/2 of the chicken on top. (Place optional items in now, if using.) Sprinkle garlic powder, cumin and pepper lightly on top. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese. Pour 1/2 of both cans of tomatoes next. Spread 1/2 of soup mixture on top. Repeat layers. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until bubbly.

Makes 8 servings.

An out-of-towner requested a repeat printing of Fehn's Macaroon Pie, so here it is for all of you.

Kim of East Brainerd originally wrote: "I found this recipe in a 1980s cookbook put out by the Sale Creek Independent Presbyterian Church in Sale Creek. It says it is a specialty of Fehn's Restaurant. I made this pie a few months ago, and it comes very close to the pie I have eaten at Fehn's."

Fehn's Macaroon Pie

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

18 dates, cut up (about 3/4 cup)

12 saltine crackers, finely crushed (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat egg whites, add sugar gradually, and beat until stiff. Fold in flavorings, dates, crackers and nuts. Spread mixture into a buttered 9-inch pie plate. Bake in a 325-degree oven for 40 minutes. Cool and serve topped with whipped cream.

Just a Dash

M.W. Halbrooks wrote to say: "I love really good meatloaf, but it is hard to find or make. My dear mother has been gone a lot of years, but she gave me a recipe for easy, quick and delicious meatloaf. (Thanks, Mom). So with apologies to Ree Drummond: 1 pound of very lean ground beef, 1 can of Spanish rice, 1 beaten egg and 10-12 soda crackers crushed in your hands. Mix and shape into a loaf on a baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Let it rest 10 minutes. Taste this before you ever add a single thing.

"Spanish rice in a can is often hard to find. By accident, I found their Clover Valley brand while browsing at Dollar General, and it is good in this recipe. However, I recently found the La Preferida brand at Publix with onions and peppers. Can't wait to try it in this meatloaf."

Clarification

The recipe for Shaker Corn Pudding published last week, Dec. 4, contains a total of two cups of corn. You may use fresh or frozen corn, but if you use frozen, chop a little before adding.

Kitchen care

I was in a home recently where there had been some trials, but of the private and painful kind. One night in the middle of this, a cooler appeared on the family's doorstep with "We love you" written on its side. Inside were two perfectly smoked pork tenderloins, a strawberry and pecan salad with homemade raspberry vinaigrette, roasted cauliflower, steamed green beans, perhaps more. This is a fine menu, and the portions were generous, a good reminder to all of us who carry meals to those in hard seasons of life.

I am glad that the cook and her family wrote "We love you" on the side of the cooler, even though it was apparent without a word.

So may generous love pour from our kitchens in this season.