FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Long-lost recipes resurface

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

First to chime in was Suzanne Case, with a recipe for Palama by the Sea Foam cookies, closely followed by Sharon Yamanaka, with a different version. Case got the recipe from Pauline Horiuchi of Hilo, who was her husband, Jim's, first secretary. Horiuchi made the cookies each Christmas, and Case does, too. Palama by the Sea Foam: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy. Add and blend in 2 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup flaked coconut, 1/2 cup nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still hot. Makes 36 to 48 cookies.

Case adds: "Now that all the packaged coconut is sweetened, I usually rinse it in a sieve under running water to take out some of the sweetening. Shake dry. Pecans are the best nuts for this recipe; macadamia-nut bits are second best (I'm sorry to say!)." Note: Unsweetened coconut is available in health-food stores.

Here's Yamanaka's nutless version: Cream 2 cups butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in 4 cups flour and 1 cup shredded coconut. Form dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly browned. You may roll these in confectioners' sugar. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Margaret Tyler and Daphne Shimoda both sent in the recipe for the Pottery Steak House's Hen Sauce from Sam Uyehara. The sauce, used to baste Cornish game hens, is made not with cranberries as the original reader thought but white grapes. Hen Sauce: Bring 2 cups red wine to a boil to burn off alcohol. Turn heat to medium and add 1/2 cup currant jelly, 1 No. 2 can (20.5 ounces) white grapes, 1 tablespoon chicken base or 1 can chicken stock, simmer briefly, then add a little cornstarch-water mixture to thicken. Roast 2 game hens 30 minutes at 400 degrees, basting hens with sauce throughout cooking time. A reader called to say the game hens came pre-stuffed and frozen from wholesaler Great West of Hawaii (593-9981; $59.95 a case of 24). They were served in an unglazed pot that the diner got to keep.

These requests came in, too: Khoi Fong needs the sweet-and-sour pork recipe from Kaimuki High School in the 1980s. "Millie" wants the Lemon Crunch Cake from the Alexander Young Hotel bakery. Lee Mason says we can save her marriage of more than 42 years if we come up with the recipe for steamed spare ribs in broth served at dim-sum restaurants.

Next week: Oatmeal cherry bar recipe and more.