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Raspberries... "The juice of the raspberry is exceedingly luscious, and posses a peculiarly rich aroma, for which it is much used by cooks, confectioners, and the manufacturers of liqueurs." The encyclopedia of Practical Cookery, 1890's. Y'know what? I'd rather eat the whole berry and skip monkeying around making juice. Oops, I bet there are some of you who make raspberry jelly. If you do, a jar of the clear, beautiful red jelly may be dropped off at the "Press" office with my name on it. I am indeed an optimist! There are pros and cons about this marble size, red berry. The good things: Great taste, a good source of vitamin C, and only 30 calories in a 1/2 cup of berries. The bad: Seeds get between your teeth, berries are soft and spoil easily. So, carry floss with you when you eat raspberries and wash and eat them shortly after picking or buying them. Oh, they are so good topping a big scoop of ice cream or as some of our grandchildren do...toss them in the air, put their head back and bingo! They never seem to miss!

On to raspberry recipes.

RASPBERRY STREUSEL BARS

1-1/4 c. quick oats

1-1/4 c. flour

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1-3/4 stick margarine, melted

1 c. raspberry jam or preserves

3/4 c. white chocolate chips, divided

1/4 c. toasted chopped almonds

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Stir in margarine until mixture is crumbly. Save out 1 c. crumb mixture; set aside. Press rest of crumbs onto bottom of an 8-inch square pan. Bake 10 minutes. Spread raspberry jam evenly over baked crust to within 1/4-inch of edge of pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 c. white chips. Combine the rest of crumb mixture with rest of chips and almonds. Sprinkle over jam, pressing lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into squares.

Makes 16 bars.

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FROZEN RASPBERRY SQUARES

2 c. crushed vanilla wafers

1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted

1 qt. vanilla ice cream (reduced-fat ice cream suggested), softened

1 c. sour cream (reduced-fat suggested)

1 T. grated lemon peel

2 c. fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries, blackberries or blueberries

In a small bowl, combine wafer crumbs and margarine or butter. Press half of mixture onto bottom of 8-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl stir together ice cream, sour cream and lemon peel. Gently fold in berries. Carefully spoon over wafer mixture in pan, smoothing top. Sprinkle with rest of wafer mixture. Cover and freeze at least 4 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before cutting. Cut into squares.

Makes 9 servings.

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RASPBERRY CREAM MUFFINS

1 c. fresh raspberries

3/3 c. plus 2 T. sugar, divided

1/4 c. butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 t. almond flavoring

1/2 t. vanilla flavoring

2-1/4 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. 1/2 and 1/2 cream*

1 c. finely chopped while chocolate chips

2 T. brown sugar

In a small bowl, toss the berries with 1/4 c. of the sugar; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and 1/2 c. sugar. Beat in egg and flavorings. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with cream. Stir in chips and raspberries. Fill greased muffin cups (or use paper liners) three-fourths full. Combine brown sugar and rest of sugar; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or till toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in muffin tin 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warn

Makes 12 muffins.

* If you don't have half and half, use 3/4 milk and add about 1 T. dry milk powder to make 1 c.

TFD: All of us are always going to do better tomorrow, and we would, too, if only we started today. We have this thing that goes on when I have a lot of things to get done. Bud says, "It will wait till tomorrow." I say, "Tomorrow there will be twice as much to get done." End of conversation!

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