Instructions: * Eat if plain from the carton.

* mix it with a mashed banana (add sweetener, lemon juice, or skim milk to taste; I prefer just the banana and quark.

* make a fruit salad: in a big bowl, mix together quark and skim milk until roughly the consistency of pancake batter (more or less thick to taste). Add all your favorite fruits (I love it with chopped apples, grapes, blueberries, and slices of banana). Add lemon juice and/or sweetener to taste.

* chop up some chives, and mince a small onion, and mix them with some quark. Add salt and pepper to taste (and a dash of skim milk if its too thick). Use as a dip for fresh raw veggies or as a spread for crackers or bread.

* spread a little on a cracker, and top with jam or slices of banana.

* although Ive never tried it (because I cant buy the mix here) I bet it would be great if you mixed it with the ranch dressing powder mix (isnt there a low fat version of that?) and add skim milk to the desired consistency for salad dressing or dip.

Youre really lucky to have found a place to buy it in the US!! Just a hint, though: be careful and read the label - the fat content ranges from

skim to full cream versions.

NOTES : Quark is one of my favorite foods!! Here are some of the ways I use it:
For those who dont know, quark is a cultured milk product, similar to pureed cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, but smoother.

Or its like very thick yogurt. Its common in Europe, and comes in all ranges of fatness. In Germany, some people eat it as a bread spread, like cream cheese. You can add herbs and seasonings to it. Thinned with a little milk, it can be used like sour cream.

Sweetened, and with fruit added, it makes a good dessert

(especially with strawberries or raspberries). It can be used to make cheesecake. [Jenny Herl (jlherl@uiuc.edu)]

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