Readers share their favorite recipes

With all the sweet potato recipes there are, Evelyn Domhoff of Lowellville says the following has become a favorite "even with people who say they don't eat sweet potatoes." She also shares her much-requested Butternut Squash Casserole recipe.
SWEET POTATOES WITH APRICOTS
1 pound sweet potatoes or yams
3/4 cup brown sugar
11/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons butter
1 can apricot halves, drain, reserve juice
Cook potatoes or yams on stove or in microwave. Peel and slice crosswise. Set aside.
In saucepan cook sugar, salt, juice and butter until thickened. Remove from heat. Layer sweet potatoes and apricot halves in casserole. Top with cooked syrup. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Can be topped with 1/2 cup chopped walnuts before baking if desired.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH CASSEROLE
2 pounds squash
2 medium onions, chopped
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook squash until tender, drain, scoop out pulp and mash. Saut & eacute; onions in butter. Add squash, sugar, eggs and seasonings. Put into a casserole and bake at 350 degree for a 1/2-hour or until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
Strong candidates
Judy Strong of Canfield submits a recipe for sausage stuffing that has been a family tradition for more than 40 years and also includes one of her favorites for Baked Pineapple.
AUNT LANA'S SAUSAGE STUFFING
1 pound pork sausage
1/2 pound butter or oleo
4 quarts torn bread
11/3 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
Brown sausage, do not drain. Add butter and mix until melted. In large bowl mix bread, onion, milk and seasoning (easier when done by hand). Pour sausage mixture over bread mixture and mix well. Use to stuff turkey or chicken and bake.
BAKED PINEAPPLE
3 (20-ounce) cans chunked pineapple
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 cup butter, melted
Drain pineapple (reserve juice) and pour into two-quart casserole. Mix sugar flour and juice together and pour over pineapple.
Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Combine crackers and melted butter and sprinkle on top.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Uncover and bake for 15 minutes until brown.
Shell game
Her dad was a wonderful cook, and cooking seems to run in the family of Mary Sigel of Youngstown, who submitted three recipes.
One is for Stuffed Shells with Cheese -- which she says is the best she ever ate -- from her nephew, Tom Evans, a chef in Michigan. Now 71 years of age, she cooks and cans produce grown in her own garden each year.
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
2 eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch slices, with skin on
Salt and pepper
2 eggs beaten
Bread crumbs
Cooked spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheeses
Wash and slice eggplants. Season with salt and pepper. Dip each slice into beaten eggs and then in bread crumbs.
Fry eggplant over high heat in large skillet with enough corn oil to cover each slice.
Place on napkins to drain off oil.
Put some sauce in roaster, then eggplant and top with cheeses. Continue to layer sauce, eggplant and cheeses. Put lid on roaster and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (Sometimes best to use two roasters.)
Can be cooled and frozen for future use.
ROMANIAN POTATO SALAD
8 large potatoes
8 small scallions, greens and all, chopped small
2 medium-size kosher dill pickles, chopped fine
3 small sweet pickles, chopped fine
1 large can sweet red peppers, rinsed off with vinegar
1 tablespoon Mazola oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil and cool potatoes. Cut into small pieces. Add other ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate for at least four hours. Serves 8 to 9.
STUFFED SHELLS WITH CHEESE
1 (1-pound) package large shells
1 large carton cottage cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Meat sauce
Boil large shells until partially cooked, about 30 minutes. Cool. Combine remaining ingredients. Stuff shells and place seam down in roaster. Layer shells with meat sauce. Bake for a 1/2-hour at 300 or 350 degrees.
By the dozen
A recipe that will produce from 3 to 31/2 dozen biscotti is submitted by Loretta Di Marzio of Youngstown.
RAISIN BISCOTTI
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon anise extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
3 eggs, separated
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup walnuts, chopped medium
1 cup raisins
Plump raisins in water. Heat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease and flour a cookie sheet.
Cream butter or margarine, sugar, two eggs and one egg yolk (reserve egg white), and vanilla and anise extracts in mixer until light and fluffy. With a spoon stir in lemon and orange rinds. Add sifted dry ingredients, and stir in walnuts and raisins. Mix well.
Divide dough in half and shape each half into a 14-inch roll. Place rolls on cookie sheet with space between for spreading. Flatten rolls slightly.
Slightly beat egg white and brush over rolls. Bake in upper third of oven for 30 minutes until lightly brown. Remove from oven and use a sharp knife to cut rolls diagonally into 1/2-inch slices.
Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes until almost dry. Cool on wire racks, and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.