By Mary Jo Spiegel
Enquirer contributor

Growing up in the river town of Marietta, Ohio, we often had to make our own excitement. For example, one date took me noodling. Hey, it's not what you're thinking - this was a first date. "Noodling" is the official term for mucking about a river shore line and poking your arm in holes, hoping to yank out a snapping turtle by the tail.

Well, OK, I just sat in the canoe, and luckily we didn't come across any turtles. Because it seems snapping turtles don't know they are supposed to climb into holes head first. Sometimes they back in, which is very bad news for that noodling hand.

But it's not snapping turtle recipes we're after here. Chris Johnson in Mount Healthy wants mock turtle soup, which imitates the taste of endangered green sea turtles. (Isn't any turtle headed for the soup pot endangered?)

CAN YOU HELP?

• Joyce Brodbeck in Mason seeks a Cincinnati coffeecake recipe, like a sweet bread with crumb topping. • Marta Caceres in Lebanon likes the Breakfast Club's waffles and wants your best Belgian waffle recipe. • Shelly Vosshall in Seattle suffers from the pangs of pregnancy and seeks Cincinnati's "Cheap Vegetable Soup," using ground beef and a spice packet.

• Traditionally made from calf's brains, here's an easier version from Betty Miller in Milford, clipped from this paper in 1977. It may not be from the former Cricket restaurant, but Betty says this soup is "one of the best, if not the best."

Granddad Robert J. Niehoff's Mock Turtle Soup

20 gingersnaps, preferably Nabisco

2 cups water

2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 (14 ounce) bottle ketchup

1/2 cup Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 lemon, seeded and sliced thin

4 cups water, more or less

3 hard-cooked eggs, crumbled

Sherry

Soak gingersnaps in 2 cups water and set aside. Brown beef in large heavy pot. Drain fat. Mash beef with potato masher while cooking for a fine texture. Stir in onions. Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon. Add 4 cups water, more or less, for thick or thin soup.

Simmer mixture 1 hour. Add soaked gingersnaps, raising heat and stirring constantly 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in crumbled eggs. Serve hot with dash of sherry. Makes 6 servings.

• Lois Muncy in Lebanon found this cake recipe for Wilma Honeycutt in West Chester Township. There are two theories on the cake's name. One is because it can be made as fast as a whirlwind, the other is that it is so good it disappears like a tornado hit it.

Texas Tornado Cake

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 cups fruit cocktail, drained and reserve liquid

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

ICING

1 stick butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cream or evaporated milk

1 cup flaked coconut

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In large bowl of electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Mix in reserved fruit cocktail liquid and almond and vanilla extracts. Add flour and baking soda, and gently mix in. Fold in fruit cocktail by hand.

Pour batter into lightly greased and floured 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix brown sugar and nuts together and press into top of batter. Bake at 325 degrees 40 minutes or until done.

Make icing by boiling butter, sugar and milk together 3 minutes. Stir in coconut and almond and vanilla extracts. Spread icing over cake while cake is still hot. Let cake cool and cut into squares. Makes 12 to 18 servings.

Send food questions, tips, recipe requests and recipes to Saucy Cook, the Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202. E-mail: foodlady@zoomtown.com. Please include name, neighborhood, e-mail and phone number.