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Pickled rind extends watermelon season

Cal Buck wanted a recipe for sweet pickled watermelon rind. The recipes Lois Johnson and Martha Schofield share are similar: only the amounts and cooking times vary.

Dianna Suratt was looking for a variety of recipes. She fondly remembered a bread served with meals at the Kapok Tree Restaurant. Gayle Hackbarth sends a recipe for the Kapok Tree Corn Fritters that she found in her 1961 edition of the Gasparilla Cookbook. Gayle also has warm memories of the Kapok Tree.

Dianna also wanted recipes made with Splenda. Pam Pasqualichio shares a recipe for margarita cheesecake. Kris Gray enjoys making Orange Pecan Sticky Buns because they are quick and use the microwave. Madeleine O'Brien says her chocolate chip cookies are very tasty, and she adds that www.splenda.com lists a variety of recipes.

For: Cal Buck of Spring Hill

From: Lois Johnson of Largo and Martha Schofield of Largo

Recipe: Pickled Watermelon Rind

1/2 cup salt

3 quarts cold water

11/2 quarts boiling water

3 cups white vinegar

6 cups sugar

3 tablespoons whole allspice

3 tablespoons whole cloves

5 3-inch cinnamon sticks

1 lemon peel

16 cups watermelon rind

Remove all pink meat and green skin from firm melon, preferable underripe. Cut into 1-inch squares. Prepare a brine of the salt and cold water, pour over melon, cover, and let stand overnight. Drain and rinse with fresh water. Cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

Drain. Combine boiling water, vinegar, sugar, spices and lemon peel. Bring to a boil. Add melon, boil gently until the rind is clear and transparent, about 45 minutes.

Pour immediately into hot sterilized jars and seal at once.

Makes 4 to 5 pints.

For: Dianna Suratt of Palm Harbor

From: Gayle Hackbarth of Summerfield

Recipe: Kapok Tree Corn Fritters

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 scant tablespoon salt

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup whole kernel corn

Fat for deep frying

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Resift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Add egg, milk and corn. Stir until blended. Drop batter into fat a teaspoonful at a time. Maintain fat at 350 degrees and fry fritters until golden brown, turning once with a spoon to cook evenly. Remove fritters from fat and drain on paper towel. Serve piping hot on warm platter. Sprinkle fritters with confectioner's sugar before serving.

For: Dianna Suratt of Palm Harbor

From: Pam Pasqualichio of Dunedin

Recipe: Margarita Cheesecake

Crust:

11/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Nonstick vegetable oil

Filling:

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese

11/4 cup light sour cream

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Splenda

21/2 tablespoons triple sec or other orange liqueur

21/2 tablespoons tequila

21/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

4 eggs

Topping:

3/4 cup light sour cream

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon Splenda

Thin lime slices, cut in half

Thin lime peel strips

For crust: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray 9-inch springform pan with vegetable spray. Mix graham cracker crumbs and butter in medium bowl until blended. Press crumbs over bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan. Refrigerate crust.

For filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sour cream, then Splenda, triple sec, tequila and lime juice. Beat in eggs. Pour filling into crust. Bake until outside 2 inches are set and center moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and turn off oven.

For topping: Whisk sour cream, lime juice and Splenda in a small bowl to blend. Spread evenly over cheesecake. Return cheesecake to hot oven. Let stand 45 minutes or less. (Cheesecake will look very soft, but will set up when chilled.) Refrigerate cheesecake until well-chilled, up to 1 day. Run knife around pan sides. Remove pan sides. Place cake on platter. Arrange lime half slices and peel around top edge of cheesecake.

For: Dianna Suratt of Palm Harbor

From: Kris Gray of Dunedin

Recipe: Orange Pecan Sticky Buns

3 tablespoons Splenda granular

1/3 cup orange marmalade spreadable fruit

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 7.5-ounce can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Butter-flavored cooking spray

Spray a 9-inch glass pie plate with butter-flavored cooking spray. Separate biscuits and evenly arrange in prepared pie plate. In a small bowl, combine Splenda, marmalade and pecans. Evenly drizzle mixture over biscuits. Microwave on medium (50 percent power) for 3 minutes. Turn pie plate and microwave on high for 1 minute. Place pie plate on counter and let set for 5 minutes. Divide into 5 servings.

For: Dianna Suratt of Palm Harbor

From: Madeleine O'Brien of Dunnellon

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies

21/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1/2 cup Splenda Sugar Blend

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter, Splenda, brown sugar and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate morsels.

Spoon rounded tablespoons of cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake cookies 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Donna Ohlerking has lost a salad recipe she got in 1999. It used five kinds of Bush beans, and she really misses it. L.B. of St. Petersburg is looking for a lost recipe for caponata eggplant relish that she used to make frequently. If you have cookbook author Leslie Land's recipe, please send it along.

You Asked for It is a reader mail column. Send recipe requests to You Asked for It, the Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731 or e-mail them to youaskedforit@knology.net Please put "Recipe request" in the subject line. Recipes will be received by mail only. Be sure to include your full name, city and phone number. Letters without this information will be discarded. Requests cannot be answered by phone or mail.