PASTA

LOW CALORIE

ALMOND DROPS

1/4 C butter or oleo
1/2 C. shortening
1 C. sugar
1/4 t. almond extract
1 egg
1 1/3 C. flour
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t each, mace, cinnamon, & salt
1/3 to 1/2 C. thinly sliced almonds

Brown butter in a 1/1/2 quart saucepan; remove from the heat and add shortening, stirring to melt.  Then blend in sugar and extract.   Beat in egg with spoon.  (Mixture will thicken and become smooth.)  Mix in dry ingredients and almonds.  Use teaspoon to take out pieces of dough; form small balls and drop into dish of sugar; roll to coat well.  Place sugared balls on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Flatten cookies slightly with bottom of glass.   Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

MIXED NUT BARS

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. margarine divided
1 can (11 1/2 oz) mixed nuts
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup light corn syrup

In bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut in 1/2 cup margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake 350 for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with nuts. Melt butterscotch chips. Add corn syrup and remaining margarine. Mix well. Pour over nuts. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

"MAKE AHEAD" CHOCOLATE DESSERT

Base
3 tbsp. melted butter
1 1/3 cups graham wafer crumbs

In a small microwave bowl, melt butter and add wafer crumbs and combine well. Reserve 1 1/2 tbsp. for top. Press remaining crumbs evenly and firmly into the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch cake pan.

Filling
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 large eggs
red food coloring (optional)

Cream together in beater bowl, the butter and icing sugar until well blended. Add eggs and beat until smooth and somewhat thickened. Tint a pale pink with food coloring if desired. Spread evenly over crumb base.

Topping
1/2 cups white sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 over ripe mashed banana
1/4 cup red or green maraschino cherries (chopped)

In a large bowl combine sugar & cocoa until blended. Stir in the whipping cream until well combined, then beat with electric beater until quite stiff (do not overbeat). Fold in nuts, bananas and cherries. Spread over filling. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours before serving or cover well and freeze up to a month. This can be cut in squares and served directly from freezer. In recent years I have substituted Nutri-Whip for whipping cream.

PEANUT BUTTER SLICE

3/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Mix all ingredients together and pat firmly into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Cool before icing with chocolate peanut butter icing.

1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

Melt chips and blend in peanut butter, spread on top of cooled cake.

LEMON SQUARES

To make the base, stir together flour, icing sugar and salt. Cream in butter until mixture blends into a pliable dough that looks like shortbread. Pat evenly by hand into the bottom of a buttered 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350F for 11 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare filling by beating together all filling ingredients until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl once or twice. Mix well. Pour over hot base. Return to oven immediately and bake at 350F about 25 minutes, until pale gold. During last five minutes put cookie sheet below baking pan to be sure bottom does not burn. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on cake rack. Store in tightly covered container.

PUMPKIN BARS

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt & spices. In a large bowl beat eggs. Add sugar, pumpkin oil, orange rind & vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture. Add raisins and 1/2 cup chocolate chips and stir until mixed. Spread batter evenly in greased 9" cake pan. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips on top. When chips soften, spread evenly to make smooth frosting. Cool.

PUMPKIN DESSERT

Mix Dream Whip as directed on package. Melt marshmallows in double boiler with 1/4 cup cereal cream and add to Dream Whip & pumpkin. Add spices. Spread on top of crust which has been placed in an 8" x 8" pan. Refrigerate. Garnish with Dream Whip.

BATTENBERG CAKES

Cream margarine and sugar, add egg, flour, powder and milk. In tart shell add your filling (1 tsp.). Add a spoonful of topping on top of filling. Bake 375 for 15 - 20 minutes. Add your icing and top with an almond.

ICE CREAM CRUNCH CAKE

This recipe is one of those concoctions that you can review at a glance and know that it is going to make a scrumptious dessert. We've prepared today's recipe with both chocolate and vanilla ice creams. Either and both combined as a marble ice cream cake are fantastic.

(Serves 12-16)

1 (12 oz.) package Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup smooth Peanut Butter
6 cups Crispy Rice Cereal
1 gallon Vanilla Ice Cream
Freshly Whipped Creme for garnish (optional)
Fresh Strawberries for garnish (optional)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter until creamy and smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, pour the melted mixture over the cereal and combine. Spread the chocolate cereal on a cookie sheet and cool. When firm, break up the cereal mixture into small pieces.
Soften the ice cream and fold in all but 1 cup of the cereal mixture. Spread the soft ice cream into a 10-inch springform pan.
Use remaining cereal mixture to make decorative topping, then freeze until hard. Garnish with whipped cream and strawberries, if desired. Release the side of the springform pan, slice, and serve.

AMARETTO-AMERETTI CHOCOLATE FUDGE PIE

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablspoons) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
30 amaretti (Italian almond macaroons, available at specialty food shops and some supermarkets), crushed
4 large eggs at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Amaretto
whipped cream as an accompaniment

In the top of a double boiler melt 1 ounce of the chocolate with 6 tablespoons of the butter and let the mixture cool. In a 9 x 3 inch springform pan combine 2 tablespoons of the sugar with the amaretti, stir in the chocolate mixture, and combine the mixture well. Press the crumb mixture onto the bottom and one-third of the way up the side of the pan and chill the crust.
In the top of a double boiler melt together the remaining 3 ounces chocolate and the remaining 8 tablespoons butter and let the mixture cool. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together the eggs and the salt, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture until it is thick and pale yellow. Beat in the corn syrup, the heavy cream, the vanilla, the amaretto, and the chocolate mixture. Pour the filling into the crust, bake the pie in the middle of a preheated 350 deg. oven for 50 minutes and let it cool on a rack. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, and serve the pie with the whipped cream.