Elizabeth Sypolt of Florence sent a recipe you might like to try for your holiday celebration. Hummingbird Cake is a wonderful three-layer confection made moist with mashed bananas, crushed pineapple and a cup of vegetable oil. It's drenched in a rich cream cheese frosting and covered with chopped nuts. Each serving contains 34 grams of fat.

        For this recipe, we:

        • Reduced the amount of vegetable oil from 1 cup to 1/4 cup. To compensate, we added 1/2 cup of strained baby food pears.

        • Used all three whole eggs, but we beat the whites and folded them in at the end.

        • Reduced the amount of nuts by half.

        • Used margarine instead of butter in the frosting and reduced the amount from 1/2 cup to 1 tablespoon.

        • Replaced the cream cheese with a light variety (5 to 6 grams fat per ounce), and reduced the amount from 8 ounces to 6.

        Results were better than we expected. The flavor and texture of our rehabbed cake mirrored the original. The adapted frosting lacked the volume and richness of the original, but it still tasted of cream cheese.

        Tip of the week: When adding baby food to recipes, always pour it into a measuring cup to get an accurate amount. A 4-ounce jar is not 1/2 cup. The 4 ounces is by weight — not volume. Actually, 1/2 cup equals about 1 1/4 jars.

       Karen Weber, Pat Streicher and Ellen Illig are registered dietitians at Jewish Hospital's Cholesterol Center. The Recipe Rehab Cookbook, containing 250 recipes published in the Enquirer over the last eight years, is available by sending check or money order for $40 to: RR Cookbook, P.O. Box 58100, Cincinnati 45258.

Hummingbird Cake

        3 eggs, separated
       3 cups flour
       2 cups sugar
       1 teaspoon baking soda
       1 teaspoon salt
       1 teaspoon cinnamon
        1/4 cup vegetable oil
        1/2 cup baby food pears
       1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
       1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained
       2 cups mashed bananas (4-5 large)
        1/2 cup chopped pecans
       6 ounces light cream cheese
       1 tablespoon regular margarine
       4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
       1 teaspoon vanilla extract
        1/4 cup chopped pecans

        Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 3 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray. In large bowl, beat egg whites until peaks form; set aside.

        In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add yolks, oil, and baby food pears; stir just until mixed. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and 1/2 cup nuts. Fold in beaten egg whites (batter will be stiff). Pour into prepared cake pans.

        Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove and cool completely on racks.

        In medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and margarine. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until well-mixed. Spread frosting between layers, on top, and sides of cake. Sprinkle top with 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Makes 16 servings.

Before and after

        Values based on 1 serving (1/16 of recipe)

       Hummingbird Cake....Adapted
       Calories...657......459
       Fat........34 g ....11 g
       Carbohydrate...86 g ...86 g
       Sodium......337 mg...295 mg
       Cholesterol...55 mg ...45 mg
       Fiber.......3 g .....3 g
       Calories
       from fat.....45%....22%

        Nutritionists recommend those on a daily 2,000 calorie diet limit their fat consumption to 65 g or less, cholesterol to 300 mg or less and sodium to 2,400 mg or less per day.

Required Reading

        Emeril's There's a Chef in My Soup! (Harper Collins; $22.99) is Emeril Lagasse's cookbook for kids. Good idea: Emeril seems to have a cross-generational appeal and his energetic TV style — Bam! — particularly appeals to kids. The cookbook is essentially an introduction to cooking. There are recipes for French toast, pasta salad, rotini bake, pita pizzas, chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies. Some of them are jazzed up with his “baby bam” spice mix, or in other ways.

        The Notches Unknown PBJ includes marshmallow cream and is grilled. The French toast has orange juice and zest, and the tuna casserole is “Emerilized” with potato chips, cheddar cheese and peas. Every page has a photo of Emeril's head with his body and everything else drawn in. It's a lot of Emeril. This would be best for a kid who's a fan, has a lot of interest in cooking already, and has a willing adult helper. Adult fans could use it, too.

Baby Bam

        3 tablespoons paprika
       2 tablespoons salt
       2 tablespoons dried parsley
       2 teaspoons onion powder
       2 teaspoons garlic powder
       1 teaspoon ground black pepper
       1 teaspoon dried oregano
       1 teaspoon dried basil
       1 teaspoon dried thyme
        1/2 teaspoon celery salt

        Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir well to combine, using a wooden spoon. Store in an airtight container for up to three months. You can kick it up a notch by adding cayenne. (I'd start with about 1/4 teaspoon, and then take it up from there.) Makes about 3/4 cup.

        — From Emeril's There's a Chef in my Soup!

We Tried It

        Since Burger King introduced its BK Veggie last week, we thought we should drive through and pick one up.

        The Veggie looks a lot like a regular hamburger: soft white bun, patty, lettuce, tomato and (too much) mayonnaise. It eats sort of like a burger — the patty is flame-broiled so you get the grilled smoky flavor. The texture's not bad, a little spongy maybe, but the patty holds together well. The flavor is distinctive but hard to name. It's a little Asian, maybe from the water chestnuts. There are also shreds of carrot. It won't fool you into thinking you're eating a beef burger; nor will it make Burger King a destination for vegetarians. But for someone who doesn't eat red meat who has to make a fast-food stop, it's an acceptable choice. (It's not vegan, because there's egg in the mayonnaise.) The Veggie has 370 calories and 10 grams of fat, vs. the Burger King Whopper's 680 calories and 39 grams of fat.

Cool Tool

        Oxo Good Grips has introduced an excellent measuring tool for liquids. The calibrations are on a slant so that you can look down into the cup to see how much liquid you have. It works remarkably well. You can see the lines much better, and There's less distortion from the natural curve on the surface of the liquid. Plus, the cup is so well-designed that the handle acts as an anchor: put the cup on the counter, pour in the liquid and there's no way it can tip over.

        (For dry ingredients, it's still best to use the exact measuring cup size ( 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, etc.) so you can dip and level off the top.)

        The Oxo liquids cup is available in kitchen stores. At Cook's Wares at Harper's Point, Symmes Township, it's $7 for the two-cup size and $5 for the one-cup.

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