Barbara McClellan

It’s mail call time. Most likely, if you have been in the military, away at school or camp or on a work assignment away from home, these words will mean much to you.

Now understand — I am talking about the bygone days before email, texting, faxing or any other form of electronic communication.

That to which I am referring involved a pen or pencil, card or paper and a stamp.

Well, I was delighted to get a handful of letters from you this week when I dropped by the Longview News-Journal office. You may or may not know that I am not an employee of the newspaper but am known as a freelance writer.

I don’t go by the newspaper office often, so many times times I don’t get my “snail mail” until it is several weeks or months old.

My email address and the newspaper address appear at the bottom of my column each week. I try to answer emails or texts immediately (especially those that say you are in the middle of a recipe and you don’t understand something or need to know if you can make a substitution.)

If you are not a computer-user, maybe you can find a child (almost all of whom become electronic wizards by age 6) to send an email to me for you.

I am going to respond today as much as possible to four letters.

Because I do not have your permission, I am only going to use first names. I want you to know that I truly appreciate you taking time to write. I honestly feel as though we are friends.

If possible, when you are asking about a recipe you saved or meant to save but lost, the more specifics you can give me, the easier it is for me to find and send you the recipe. Because this question was asked many years ago, and I never was able to answer it, I am going to share it:

Question: “You had a recipe in the paper a few years ago that had a cup of sugar, some butter and I think an egg or two, and my husband loved it. Can you send it to me?” Well, that involves about 1/3 of the recipes I have given you, and 54 years of columns. Needless to say, I did not know where to begin.

All right, to these dear people, some answers, maybe.

Iva, I will look up the addition to box mixes and send it to you as soon as I have time. I think it was about three years ago. I honestly must tell you that I used that addition a few times, but usually am making a recipe with a cake that has other additions, or it is used dry as a topping for various recipes.

To Bonnie, your lovely card and most meaningful letter about using my cookbooks means more than you can know. This kind of thoughtfulness is what has kept this column going for all these years. A very late, but most sincere thank you.

To Irene, your letter made my day! To think I might bring a little joy in someone’s day brings much joy to me.

Cecile (Mama Cile), you have touched a string in my heart by remembering the two-a-day newspapers.

As a young child, my parents read the papers to me, so, literally, I grew up with them. I am flattered that you wrote. I think we share a love not just for newspapers, but for food and cooking also.