9 medium tomatoes

8 tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper, freshly ground

2 tbsp. dry breadcrumbs

1 lb. Spaghetti

3 garlic cloves, chopped

¼ c. parsley, finely chopped

10 tbsp Romano cheese, freshly grated

½ c. fresh basil, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400F. Wash, core and dice fresh tomatoes in 1-inch cubes. Pour 4 tbsp. olive oil into ceramic pie plate. Scatter diced tomatoes over the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine remaining oil, garlic and parsley. Spoon mixture over tomatoes. Bake for about 8 minutes, until tomatoes are soft. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 6 tbsp. of the cheese and breadcrumbs. Return to oven for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta and put in a large pasta bowl. Add tomato mixture and toss well. Sprinkle with chopped basil, parsley and remaining cheese. Serve immediately.

By Kay Lafranconi Oakland, CA

¾ lb. Soba noodles

1 lb. large shrimp- cleaned and deveined

½ lb. mushrooms (button)- thinly sliced

1 tbsp. Peanut oil

2 jalapenos- seeded and diced

4 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Dash hot sauce

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. lime juice

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

2 scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced

Hot pepper flakes

Make sauce: combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic hot sauce and lemon and lime juice.

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until tender (about 5 minutes). While noodles are cooking:Sauté mushrooms and jalapenos in 1 tbsp. peanut oil until soft and fragrant (about 5 minutes). Add shrimp and cook until pink (about 2 minutes).

Add enough sauce to drained soba noodles to coast the noodles thoroughly. Toss, add mushroom/ shrimp mixture and toss gently. Serve hot or at room temperature, topped with cilantro, chili flakes, scallions. Garnish with lemon and lime wedges. Serves 4

Sujata P. Halarnkar San Ramon, CA

3 cups finely shredded green cabbage

½ cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

3 tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 chopped green chili (optional)

½ tsp. mustard seeds

½ tsp. cumin seeds

2 tbsp. olive oil

½ cup chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

In a salad bowl, lightly mix shredded cabbage, chopped peanuts and green chili. Set it aside. When ready to serve, heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. When hot, put in mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, put in cumin seeds. Let them crackle for 3-4 seconds. Turn the heat off, and immediately add oil-mustard-cumin seasoning to salad mix. Add salt and lime juice. Mix it well and garnish it with chopped cilantro. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

1 cup Instant rice (or enough to equal 2 cups cooked)

Regular strength coffee

1-cup walnuts coarsely chopped

1 cup golden raisins

1/16 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 ½ tsp. Robertson’s Ginger preserves

1 cup heaving whipping cream

6 maraschino cherries (with stems)

6 Carr’s Petits Bijoux (apricot cookies)

Prepare the pre-cooked rice according to the package directions, but use regular strength coffee instead of water (Boil water for coffee in microwave and then stir in instant coffee). Spoon the two cups of cooked rice into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add walnuts, raisins, salt, nutmeg, vanilla and brown sugar. Mix. Add the ginger preserves and mix thoroughly. Whip the whipping cream. Reserve ½ cup whipping cream for garnish. Mix remaining whipping cream into rice mixture. Spoon into six sherbet glasses. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream topped with a maraschino cherry. Stand a cookie in rice mixture near side of glass.