Lucille's corn chowder

I recently ate at Lucille's in Rocklin and had the most delicious corn chowder. Does anyone have this recipe or one similar?

– Peggy Walsh, Antelope

UC Davis ketchup recipe

A few years ago, The Bee published a ketchup recipe created by Dr. George K. York, food technologist at UC Davis. I made the recipe last year; it was the greatest ketchup. I have since lost the recipe. Does anyone have it?

– Betty Virgen, Sacramento

Lemon loaf to remember

Starbucks has a delicious lemon loaf. The texture and flavor are outstanding. Does anyone have this recipe or one very similar?

– Carol Anderson, Modesto

Harvest table apple pie

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 55 minutes • Serves 8

Evelyn Sanderson of Sacramento was looking for a recipe for harvest day apple pie. It was in a Karo syrup pamphlet that she saved from her mother. She loaned out the pamphlet, and it was not returned.

When Carolyn McAllister of Lincoln saw the request, it reminded her of her sweet former mother-in-law. McAllister used to make this pie for her.

Note: The prep time does not include the time to make the pie crust.

INGREDIENTS

One two-crust, 9-inch pie crust, unbaked

Filling:

6 medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons melted margarine or butter

1/3 cup Karo Blue Label syrup (dark)

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Karo Blue Label syrup (dark)

2 tablespoons softened margarine or butter

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare pie crust dough, divide in half, roll out and place half in pie plate. Or use a refrigerated, premade crust or a frozen crust. Do not bake. Set top crust aside.

For the filling, place apples in bottom crust. Combine cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, sugar, melted margarine or butter and 1/3 cup syrup. Pour over apples. Cover with top crust, slit and bake in 425-degree oven for 45 minutes or until crust is browned and apples are tender. Remove pie from oven.

For the topping, mix the brown sugar, syrup, margarine or butter and chopped walnuts. Spread over top of baked pie. Place pie on a cookie sheet to catch drippings and return to oven for 10 minutes or until top is bubbly.

Per serving using margarine: 480 cal.; 4 g pro.; 63 g carb.; 25 g fat (6 sat., 12 monounsat., 7 polyunsat.); 0 mg chol.; 425 mg sod.; 3 g fiber; 33 g sugar; 46 percent calories from fat.

Apple pie with custard topping

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 55 minutes • Serves 8

Kandi Williams of Auburn saw Evelyn Sanderson's request for the apple pie recipe found in a Karo syrup pamphlet. Williams has a Karo pamphlet from the 1970s and found this recipe for Sanderson. It's different from Carolyn McAllister's recipe (above); it uses canned apple pie filling, which makes this recipe a little faster to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

One unbaked 9-inch pastry shell

One 22-ounce can apple pie filling

1/4 cup margarine, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup Karo dark corn syrup

3 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

Spoon apple pie filling into pastry shell. Bake in a 450- degree oven for 10 minutes. While it's baking, blend margarine and sugar. Mix in Karo syrup, eggs and vanilla extract, blending well. Pour over hot apple pie filling. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Return pie to oven and bake about 40 to 45 minutes more, or until topping is well-browned and set.

Per serving: 338 cal.; 4 g pro.; 47 g carb.; 15 g fat (4 sat., 7 monounsat., 4 polyunsat.); 80 mg chol.; 266 mg sod.; 1 g fiber; 26 g sugar; 40 percent calories from fat.

Peach chutney

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Makes about 3 cups

Brandon Duff of West Sacramento was interested in trying a recent Mailbox recipe for chicken curry salad, but it called for mango chutney and Duff is allergic to mango. He was hoping for an alternative.

Judi Barbour of Penn Valley has served this chutney many times with pork roast to rave reviews.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

6 peaches, peeled, pitted, chopped

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 bay leaf

1/8 teaspoon red pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

INSTRUCTIONS

In a heavy saucepan, sauté onions in oil until soft. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Boil, uncovered, until excess liquid is cooked off and chutney thickens. Store in glass jar in refrigerator for up to one month.

Per tablespoon: 22 cal.; 0 g pro.; 5 g carb.; trace g fat; 0 mg chol.; 0 mg sod.; 0 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 4 percent calories from fat.

HOW TO CONTACT THE MAILBOX

If you have recipes in reply to Mailbox reader requests, or questions or comments, write to: Mailbox, c/o Taste, The Sacramento Bee, P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852. You also can e-mail twatson@sacbee.com or fax (916-556-5625).

Searching for spicy sauce

Does anyone know how to make the spicy sauce served at the Japanese Kitchen Restaurant in Fresno? It is a colorful, bright, orange-red color and is a very thick sauce that they mix with teriyaki sauce. It makes a very tasty and appealing chicken or beef dish.

– Michelle Wilkinson, Modesto

Peanut butter popcorn

We are trying to revise our recipe for peanut butter popcorn (1 cup sugar, 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup Karo corn syrup) to make it low sugar. We think that if we had a recipe for sugar-free caramel candy, we could modify it with peanut butter to come close to the original taste. Can anyone help? Thank you very much.

– Don Weber, Citrus Heights

A well-dressed potato salad

I am looking for a recipe from the 1940s. It was in the Betty Crocker children's cookbook, and it was for a potato salad that included Italian vinegar and oil dressing as an ingredient. I have had no luck in finding it. Thank you.

– Marion Butts, Los Banos

Lemon buttermilk cake

I am looking for a cake recipe from a cooking magazine that I made in July 1996. I think it was called lemon buttermilk cake or lemon butter cream cake. It had three layers, and between the layers was a cream cheese with lemon juice frosting. Fresh berries circled the cake. It was delicious.

Does anyone have this recipe?

– R. Voss, Grass Valley

Italian lemon-drop cookies

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Makes 36 to 40 small cookies

Sheila Beswick of Lincoln enjoyed the lemon-drop cookies sold at The Joy of Cookies on the K Street Mall. They were moist on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside. Most of the recipes she found call for flattening the cookies and dipping them in sugar.

This is an adaptation of a recipe shared by Janice Thornton of Merced. These cookies are not too sweet and would be good with a cup of tea.

This recipe may fill the bill for Beswick.

Note: You may freeze these cookies, but freeze unfrosted. Frost after they are thawed.

INGREDIENTS

Cookies:

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

3 large eggs

1½ teaspoons lemon extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon peel

Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For cookies, cream together the sugar and butter. Add eggs and lemon extract, and beat well. Add flour, baking powder, salt and lemon peel. The dough should be soft and sticky.

With a small cookie scoop, drop dough onto a slightly greased cookie sheet or baking stone, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until firm and lightly browned. Remove cookies from cookie sheet. Cool completely on wire racks.

For frosting, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract, and mix until smooth. Frost the tops of each cookie. Once frosting has dried, they can be stacked. Store in an airtight container.

Per cookie based on 36 cookies: 70 cal.; 1 g pro.; 12 g carb.; 2 g fat (1 sat., 1 monounsat., 0 polyunsat.); 21 mg chol.; 23 mg sod.; 0 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 23 percent calories from fat.

Sand tarts

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Makes about 3 dozen

Linda Hennessy of Sacramento was looking for a cookie recipe that her mother used to make in the 1960s. They were balls, called sand tarts, that included walnuts and were rolled in powdered sugar after being baked.

Betsy Katz of Roseville shares her recipe, which her mother used to make and Katz now makes. Her family loves these cookies, so she doubles the recipe. She says they freeze well.

Note: Prep time does not include 4-hour chill time for the dough.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Cream butter and granulated sugar. Add water and vanilla, and mix well. Blend in flour and walnuts or pecans. Chill dough for 4 hours. Shape into balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from pan, cool slightly. Roll balls in powdered sugar.

Per cookie: 105 cal.; 2 g pro.; 9 g carb.; 7 g fat (3 sat., 2 monounsat., 2 polyunsat.); 14 mg chol.; 1 mg sod.; 0 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 60 percent calories from fat.