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Frenzied bakers call for answers NOW I can always tell when the holiday baking season starts by the frantic messages readers leave on my Mail Tribune answering machine. Most months, they're calm, collected requests that include the words "please," "thank you" and "at your convenience." But not in December. By mid-month I can expect a daily deluge of increasingly desperate requests. Manners become optional. "Look, I just need to know how much vanilla to put in the Snickerdoodles," one caller will plead. "What the heck is lemon zest?" another will demand. "I've tried the maple nut fudge three times now hoping to get it to set up," still another reader wails. "What should I do?" I'm a sympathetic chef; I've been stuck with a saucepan of maple nut fudge soup a time or two myself. So I do my best to call back promptly and offer whatever solution I can, even if it's only to suggest throwing the whole mess out and starting over. Following are a few reader requests from this month's dial-a-cook: Help! I've lost my favorite recipe for candied walnuts and my mother-in-law is coming for Christmas. They're her favorite holiday snack and I have to make them for the sake of family harmony. -- Gina P., Medford. You're not the only reader desperate to make candied walnuts, Gina. Another woman called wanting the recipe, but I only found it in my files after I'd hung up without taking her name and number. To candy walnuts, melt a tablespoon of butter in a heavy saucepan and add 1/4 cup superfine sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Add 1 cup of walnut halves and stir to coat for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and let cool until a candied crust forms around the nuts. I hope your mother-in-law enjoys these treats. Do you have a recipe for the salt dough used for making ornaments that can be painted? -- Kathleen A., Medford. Technically, this isn't a cooking question, but enough people have called requesting a basic salt dough recipe to warrant bending the rules. To create cookie-like ornaments that can be painted or left plain, combine 4 cups of flour, and 1 cup of salt in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of water; mix thoroughly, then slowly add another 1/2 cup of water. Knead mixture on a floured surface at least 10 minutes. Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap; store in the refrigerator for up to a week. To make ornaments, roll dough 1/4-inch thick on a well-floured surface and cut with floured cookie cutters. Poke a hole in each ornament with a skewer or toothpick, then bake on an ungreased sheet at 250 to 300 degrees F until ornaments are very hard. If the piece yields to pressure, bake longer. Time will vary according to the size of the piece. If desired, paint with acrylic paints or coat unpainted pieces with a preservative. I love the flavor of cranberries and oranges, but I want to make a cake instead of the traditional bread. Do you have a good recipe? -- Donna E., Central Point I'm a cranberry fan, too, Donna, and I just came across a wonderful recipe that pairs cranberries, oranges, dates and walnuts in a beautiful bundt cake. The recipe, which appears below, was in the Mail Tribune files, but a note attached says it's originally from Sunset magazine. NOTE: Thanks to the many, many readers who wrote, called or faxed recipes for homemade biscuit mix. Some called for more or less shortening or sugar, but most followed the same simple format. Sandy A. in Gold Hill will be able to mix up batches of the stuff simply by following the recipe from reader Frances Kelly of Medford below. Cranberry Orange Cake 2 1/4 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon EACH baking soda and baking powder 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup diced pitted dates* 1 cup whole, fresh cranberries Grated zest of two oranges 2 eggs, well beaten 1 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup salad oil 1 cup EACH sugar and orange juice Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift flour and measure into a bowl with 1 cup sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in nuts, dates, cranberries and grated orange zest. Combine eggs, buttermilk and oil in medium bowl; stir into flour mixture until well-blended. Pour mixture into a well-greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes; remove from pan and place on wire rack over a pan. Heat 1 cup sugar and orange juice until sugar dissolves. Spoon syrup mixture over cake until it all is used. Cover cake and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Homemade Biscuit Mix 5 pounds all-purpose flour 3 1/3 cups nonfat dry milk 1 2/3 cups sugar 3/4 cup plus 4 tablespoons baking powder 7 teaspoons salt 2 1/2 cups shortening Mix dry ingredients well in a large dishpan or large bread bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture is fine. Store mixture covered in refrigerator. To make basic biscuits, combine 2 cups of biscuit mix and 1/2 cup water. Mix well. Knead three or four times, then pat out to desired thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Bake in a 425 degree F oven until golden brown. Recipe from Frances Kelly, Medford. Send questions to A la carte, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501. Reach JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465 or by e-mail at [email protected] Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA