Every couple of weeks or so I get a recipe 911. These emergency e-mails, phone calls, letters and I kid you not, knocks on my front door consist of pleas to help recover a lost recipe, fix a broken one or coax a recipe out of a reluctant chef or restaurant.

While, for the most part, I’m successful at fixing broken recipes and finding lost ones (except for the restaurant ones – the chefs tend to be a tad stingy about sharing the secrets of their success), I usually have to resort to some good old detective research in old cookbooks, Internet sleuthing and a little begging and pleading from my foodie friends for their input.

The one recipe I’m most proud of finding is the Marshall Field’s Maple Hermit recipe. This was a personal quest. When I tell you I had searched for this recipe for more than 10 years, I am not exaggerating.

It was, and is, just about my favorite cookie of all time. My taste buds were bereft when the bakeries closed. The sense of sheer pleasure I had the first time I made this recipe (and ate the entire batch myself, thank you very much) is almost indescribable.

The following recipes are ones I’ve been asked to find or lost myself. Some weren’t really lost, merely hidden from view of the seeker and unearthed by me. If anyone is still searching for a recipe that re-creates their great-grandma Ethel’s pot roast or a Window’s on the World dessert, just send me an e-mail and I’ll see what I can do.

Marshall Field’s Hermit Cookie with Mocha Frosting

A signature cookie/mini cake from Marshall Field’s bakery. This hermit recipe was a favorite until the stores closed.

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons buttermilk

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup molasses

4 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup each currants and raisins

Mocha icing:

5 tablespoons butter

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons hot coffee

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Dissolve soda in buttermilk in a small bowl; set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla to sugar mixture; beat well. Add molasses and buttermilk mixture; beat well.

Sift together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and cloves. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Mix in nuts, currants and raisins. Drop dough by heaping tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes per batch. Cool on wire rack. Makes 2 to 3 dozen, depending on size.

For frosting: Cream butter, gradually adding confectioners’ sugar, cocoa and salt. Add hot coffee. Beat until creamy. Spread thin coating of mocha icing on hermits.

Old Fashioned Root Beer Float Cake

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand and Jacquelyn Smola. This was one of the cakes entered in the Whirlpool Unique Cake Contest. I had it several years ago and loved it; lost the recipe and just rediscovered it.

1 cup butter

2 cups granulated sugar

3 cups cake flour

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons water

4 eggs

1 tablespoon root beer extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Vanilla frosting:

7 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 1/2 cups butter

3 to 5 tablespoons heavy cream

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

12 elbow straws and colored streamers

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two (9-inch) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter; then add the sugar and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Meanwhile, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the water and eggs to the butter mixture until blended. Mix in the root beer extract and vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to form a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until just set, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, and then invert onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the confectioners’ sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended; then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the cream and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed to reach spreading consistency.

To decorate the cake: Place one cooled cake layer on a cake stand, frost the top surface, and chill for 15 minutes (or freeze 5 minutes). Place the second cake layer on top, inverting it to create a flat top, and push down on it slightly. Frost the sides and top with a thin layer of frosting to hold in any crumbs (called a crumb layer), and chill 30 minutes or freeze 15 minutes. Apply a second layer of frosting to finish off the cake, swirling the frosting a bit. Place 12 elbow straws in the cake around the top, and place colored streamers around the edge of the cake flowing down to the base.

Orange Julius

I grew up drinking this and made it for my kids as an after-school treat. Be warned it does contain raw egg whites.

1 cup orange juice

1 cup water

2 egg whites

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup powdered sugar

6 or 7 ice cubes

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender. Pulse for 20 to 30 seconds until everything is combined and frothy. Serves 2.