Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Well, I’ve been prowling in the stacks (of “from my kitchen columns”). I had not looked back at any or many of the ‘80s articles in a while. I picked out a thick notebook labeled 1983-85 to peruse. It is one of the neatest ones of all.

Part of that was the format the newspaper was using at that time for my column. They are all in block form and will fit on one page without having to have part of the column put in a separate place from the rest of the writing and pasted or stuck with transparent tape.

Of all the notebooks, this is by far the neatest one, which tells me that someone else did it. It is so plain and easy to read. There is only one problem — there are no dates on any column. I can figure out roughly when some are written by the reference to a holiday, to a child’s age (graduation or event) or another vague reference that would somehow date the column.

There are recipes that I remember making that were delicious. Some of them fell into the area of “we liked it so much I made it until we were tired of it.” Have you experienced this?

There are several that I remember making and serving to the family. During this time all four children were still at home, some of the time, and upon rare occasion I would hit upon a recipe that everyone ate and enjoyed or at least did not complain about so much.

One recipe is a version of Shepherd’s Pie. It is somewhat easy to make.

1 can (4 ounces) mushroom pieces, drained

1/3 cup chopped onion (remember, yellow onions are stronger than white

1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, cut in small cubes

Combine beef, mushrooms, egg, onion, cracker crumbs, and seasonings.

Press meat mixture into bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Drain excess fat from beef. Mash hot potatoes with milk. Stir in cheese, parsley and salt. Fill meat with potato mixture and return to oven. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Makes about 6 servings.

The next recipe takes less time and fewer ingredients than the first one. It is a slight version of the Texas Cobbler (cherries and pineapple with crunchy topping) that is a favorite with most people.

Layer in a 9-by-13-inch pan or dish, which has been sprayed or greased:

1 can sliced peaches (29 ounces) with juice

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown.

Now get ready for an unusual recipe. I remember that it was fun to make but difficult to keep the ice cream safe and not eaten before using it in the recipe. Your children or grandchildren can help make this.

1 pint (2 cups) vanilla ice cream

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or 1 can blueberries, drained

Mix ice cream with flour until flour is absorbed. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour batter into muffin tins, which have been greased or sprayed. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

— Barbara Richardson McClellan is a longtime food columnist. Write her at bayrm12@gmail.com or in care of the Longview News-Journal, P.O. Box 1792, Longview, TX 75606.