FROM the FARM: Readers enjoy kitchen memories at Teibel's Event

My thanks to all of the readers who attended Sunday's sold-out Valentine's Day luncheon at Teibel's restaurant saluting legendary advice columnist Ann Landers.

With your reader generosity, more than $1,000 was raised to help The Caring Place Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence from our enjoyable afternoon of great food, prizes and fun memories from yesteryear. Additionally, $491 was raised during dessert with a lemon sale which included copies of Ann Landers's recipe for her famous Never Fail Lemon Meringue Pie.

One lucky guest also went home with a prepared recipe for the lemon pie, created especially by Mary Beth Schultz, who is not only the executive director for The Caring Place, but was also a finalist at the 42nd annual Pillsbury Bake-Off in 2006.

Thank you to Don Weiss and the kindness of WiseWay Foods for donating the lemons for Sunday's pie activity, in addition to a big thanks to Teibel's for helping host the event and to Debbie Albanese and Albanese Candy for providing delicious foil-wrapped peanut butter-filled chocolates for each guest.

I had another reader contact me last week to help with the vintage recipe request from earlier this month from reader Cathy Olson of Valparaiso, looking for the recipe for traditional Scotch shortbread cookies featured years ago at Emerson High School in Gary.

Portage reader Linda Uporsky, whose maiden name is Rzepczynski, contacted me and is certain she has this very recipe.

"I walk about three miles every morning with a friend of mine, and last week, when I got back from my walk, my husband read your column and told me about the recipe you're looking for," Linda said.

"Even though my husband Bill only went to Emerson in elemenary school, he also remembered the recipe."

Linda, who graduated from Emerson High School in 1965, said she has the exact recipe, thanks to her husband's late Aunt Bobbie, who also attended Emerson and saved the recipe. Linda said Aunt Bobbie also dated actor Karl Malden while the two were in school together.

"These Scotch Shortbread Cookies were always so good and when the students would be baking them, the entire building smelled like yummy shortbread," Linda recalled.

"I used to walk home from school each day to each lunch, and my mom would always give me money to take back with me to buy some of the cookies, which were always cut in little rectangles."

Aunt Bobbie's "Rescued" Recipe from Emerson High School's Scotch Shortbread Cookies

1 pound butter

1/2 pound (1 cup) white granulated sugar

4 3/4 cup flour

DIRECTIONS: Mix all ingredients together and turn out dough and knead for 20 minutes. Roll out dough on a cookie sheet (with a lip/edges) and poke with a fork to make holes in dough. Bake at 250 degrees for one hour or slightly more. Don't worry about over-baking. Shortbread should be light golden, but not brown. Cut into triangles while still hot and store in an airtight container. Makes 3 dozen.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or (219) 852-4327.