Dear Sun Spots: Will L.L. Bean have their clearance center in Lewiston again? – No Name, No Town.

Answer: The temporary clearance center closed in February of this year. Rich Donaldson of L.L.Bean’s Public Affairs office says it won’t reopen. “I hate to disappoint any folks in Lewiston who may have enjoyed having us there last year,” he said, but notes the liquidation need is not there to support a repeat of last year.

A new outlet store opened at the end of October in Bangor, you might consider checking that one out.

Dear Sun Spots: I would love to have the recipe to make the pastry featured in a photograph in the Sept. 22 Sun Journal. Thanks so very much. – Sun Spots Fan, No Town.

Answer: Sun Spots contacted the Rev. Ted Toppses who kindly supplied the following recipe. Toppses says his mother-in-law, Lillian Patellis, came all the way from California to make it for this year’s Greek festival. Six trays of it! So hopefully you and other readers will have a chance to enjoy Patellis’ creation for some of the upcoming holiday season.

Lillian Patellis’ Apricot Pita Squares (Pasta Flora) Pastry ingredients: ½ lb. sweet butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 Tbs. Crisco, 8 oz. sour cream, 4 egg yolks, 1 Tbs. vanilla, 5 cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp. salt, 4 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. baking soda.

Filling Ingredients: 1 16-oz. jar of apricot preserves. Three cups nuts, chopped.

Method: Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Cream butter, Crisco, sugar, sour cream, yolks, vanilla, together. Combine the flour mixture with the creamed mixture. Separate dough into three equal parts and roll into a ball. Chill at least three hours or overnight. Roll out each ball between two sheets of waxed paper, into a rectangle, to accommodate a 9-by-13 pan. Allow pastry to be ¼ inch thick. Place the first layer into the pan and pat flat. Combine nuts and ½ cup sugar, then sprinkle over base layer in the pan. Place the second layer of pastry over the nut mixture. Top with the jar of apricots. Take the third piece of rolled out dough, and cut into strips to create a lattice on top. Brush lattice strips with lightly beaten egg. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Allow to age one week before serving. Cut into desired squares.

Dear Sun Spots: I am hoping you or other column readers might be able to assist me here. We ended up with a very strange egg in our household. After cooking our egg, we discovered another egg in its shell inside our egg, two in one. We’re wondering if anyone has every seen anything like this. We’d love to know if anyone else has experienced this oddity? – No Name, No Town.

Answer: According to Black Mesa Ranch in Snowflake, Arizona’s Web site, (www.blackmesaranchonline.com), they too experienced something similar on their farm. They note that in 2005, a duck laid “an egg within an egg” – one fully formed egg, surrounded by egg white and encased inside another shell! Very bizarre, they said. It will be interesting to see if other readers have experienced this novelty.

Dear Sun Spots: For Marcie who was longing for maple frosting maple glaze: Blend 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tbls. softened margarine, 2 Tbls. milk and ¼ tsp. maple extract in a small bowl until completely smooth.

Maple Frosting Ingredients/ Method: 2 cups maple syrup, 2 egg whites, stiffly beaten. Boil syrup to 240 degrees without stirring. Pour slowly over egg whites and beat until stiff enough to spread. Makes enough for 24 cupcakes or an 8 inch layer cake. – Anne Ceplinkas, Auburn.

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be posted at www.sunjournal.com in the Advice section under Opinion on the left-hand corner of your computer screen. In addition, you can e-mail your inquiries to sunspots@sunjournal.com.