By Deanna Darr

My childhood memories of Spam are anything but pleasant — a slab of the canned meat cooked in the middle of a perfectly good waffle, for example. But a trip to the Spam museum in Austin, Minn., nearly changed my mind about it.
We took the Austin exit on a whim on our way back from a soccer tournament in Minneapolis a few summers ago. Lured in by friendly Minnesotans with Spam snacks on a stick, we entered the colorful museum and proceeded to learn all about Spam’s role in history (it sure was important during the rationing days of World War II), played a Spam quiz game and packaged Spam on a pretend assembly line (it’s not as easy as it looks). I almost bought Spam slippers at the gift shop.
Even the warm Spam cubes skewered on pretzels were tasty. The museum made me feel that my childhood Spam sandwiches were part of the fabric of America.
Any memories of Spam out there?

This past weekend, walking through a local building

center, I picked up a $5 box of those plastic bags that

are supposed to keep your food fresh for way longer

than usual. For $5, the bags are supposed to be good

for 180 uses. I’ve also made a few other small changes

in how I store food, so that it keeps better. I’m

trying to keep nuts, sugars and flours in the

refrigerator or freezer. And I’ve picked up several

large glass jars with screw-on lids for keeping other

dry goods stored in one of my closets. If anyone out in

the local blogosphere knows of other simple ways to keep food fresher and waste less, I’d be happy to hear about

them.

Clear out your cupboards. The Girl Scout cookie sale is on through Feb. 22. If eating the cookies on their own isn’t enough, here are some recipes to try. Thin Mint Pizza Supreme, anyone?

Chocolate Thin Mint Pizza Supreme
1 package (18 ounces.) refrigerated chocolate chunk cookie dough
1/2 package (19 cookies) Girl Scout Thin Mints
1/2 cup white chocolate morsels
Vanilla ice cream, optional
Press cookie dough evenly in the bottom of an ungreased 12-inch pizza pan or a 13×9x2-inch baking pan. (Dough will barely cover the pan.) Break Thin Mints into halves or thirds; press cookie pieces into dough, covering evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Place white chocolate morsels into a small self-closing bag. Microwave the bag of morsels on medium high (70 percent power) for 40 to 50 seconds or until melted. Snip one corner (about 1/8 inch) off the bottom of the bag. Hold bag tightly at top and drizzle white chocolate stripes over top of pizza. When cool, cut pizza into 8 or 10 wedges. If desired, top each serving with a scoop of ice cream.
Makes: 8 to 10 servings
Submitted by: ABC Bakers

Lemon Crunch Cheesecakes with Caramel Apple Topping
8 Lemonades Girl Scout Cookies; 5 crushed, and 3 broken into small pieces
4 teaspoons melted butter
1package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1egg
1 cup finely chopped apple
1/3 cup caramel flavored topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 6 foil baking cups in muffin pan. Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press crumb mixture into bottom of each foil cup. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Add egg; beat on low speed just until blended. Stir in cookie pieces. Spoon batter evenly over lemon crunch crust. Bake 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Just before serving remove cheesecakes from foil cups. Top each cheesecake with chopped apple. Drizzle caramel topping over cheesecakes. Serve immediately.
Makes: 6 servings
Submitted by: ABC Bakers

For more recipes, go to
http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/cookies_recipes.asp?tab=byrecipe