1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 (3.5-ounce) package sliced pepperoni, chopped 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, heated
Preheat oven to 400°F. Unroll pizza crust on a cutting board; roll crust into a 9" x 12" rectangle. Sprinkle with cheeses and pepperoni.
Roll up, starting at long side; moisten edge with water, and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 1"-wide slices. Place slices 1" apart, cut side down, on a lightly greased 10" x 15" jellyroll pan; flatten slices slightly.
Bake at 400°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately with warm spaghetti sauce.
1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup ketchup 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup teriyaki marinade 1/4 cup honey 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 pounds pork loin riblets
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine orange juice, ketchup, brown sugar, teriyaki marinade, honey and garlic in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil.
Arrange riblets in a single layer in a jelly-roll pan.
Pour sauce evenly over riblets. Bake, turning riblets twice during baking, until sauce is bubbly and thickened and riblets are golden, 55-65 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes about 10 servings
Helpful Tips
Riblets are pork loin back ribs that are cut in half horizontally; they are perfect for appetizers. Ask the butcher to cut riblets for you if you cannot find them prepackaged.
Mix 'n' Match
For a different fruit flavor, substitute pineapple or cranberry juice for the orange juice.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is crisp-tender and garlic is fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
Stir in flour; cook and stir an additional minute. Add half-and-half and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens, about 2 minutes.
Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in chopped spinach, water chestnuts, Cheddar and vegetable soup mix. Spoon dip into a 1-quart casserole or gratin dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake dip until it is bubbly and cheese is melted, 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes 8 servings
Helpful Tips
It is not necessary to grease the casserole dish because of the high fat content of the Cheddar.
1/2 package (15 ounces) frozen puff pastry dough 1 egg white 1 Tablespoon water 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Allow frozen puff pastry dough to thaw 15-20 minutes. Unroll puff pastry sheet onto lightly floured work surface.
Divide pastry sheet into 3 strips along the fold lines. Beat egg white and water in a shallow dish. Sprinkle Parmesan on another work surface.
Dip each pastry strip in the egg white mixture to coat both sides of each strip, them press both sides of each strip firmly onto the Parmesan to coat as thickly as possible.
Cut each strip crosswise with a straight-edged knife into 1/4-inch strips and place 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake until gold and crisp, 8-10 minutes. Slide the parchment paper with baked straws onto countertop to cool.
Makes 4 dozen straws
Helpful Tips
To make ahead, bake the cheese straws, then package and freeze. Before serving, spread straws on baking sheet and reheat in a 400°F oven for 2-3 minutes.
Mix 'n' Match
For cinnamon straws, omit the cheese. Coat egg white-dipped pastry heavily with cinnamon sugar; cut into 1/4-inch strips, transfer to parchment-covered baking sheets and bake as directed.
2 1/4 cups sugar 1 cup canned pumpkin 2/3 cup Wesson Canola oil 2 egss, lightly beaten 1 Tablespoon vanilla 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie-spice 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
Glaze
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 2 to 3 Tablespoons warmed milk 2/3 cup coarsely chopped cranberries
Place rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 X 2-inch loaf pans or one Bundt pan with Wesson Cooking Spray.
Bread
In Medium bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, Wesson Oil, eggs and vanilla; mix well. In large mixing bowl, combine remaining bread ingredients except cranberries. Make a well in center of flour mixture; pour pumpkin mixture into center. Using wooden spoon, slowly blend flour mixture with pumpkin mixture. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold cranberries into batter; spoon into pans.
Bake 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Let bread cool 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan. Cool completely.
Glaze
In small bowl, combine sugar and milk; mix until smooth. Fold 1/3 cup cranberries into glaze. Place bread on wire rack with wax paper under rack. Spoon glaze over bread to completely cover tops. Sprinkle remaining cranberries on top of glaze. Let glaze dry at least 20 minutes before serving.
Helpful Tips
Fresh cranberries, available in the fall, can be stored in the refrigerator up to four weeks in an unopened package. Drop a few on the kitchen counter and you'll see why they're sometimes called "bounce" berries.
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups milk 3 to 4 teaspoons dry ranch-style salad dressing mix 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 1 cup chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms 1 1/4 pounds fresh green beans, cooked until crisp-tender 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, toasted
To make white sauce, melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour; cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Using wire whisk, stir in milk; bring to a boil. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in dressing mix and white pepper; set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray medium skillet with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Remove half of onion mixture; set aside.
Add mushrooms to onion mixture remaining in skillet and cook about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Combine mushroom mixture, green beans and white sauce in 1 1/2-quart casserole. Combine bread crumbs with reserved onion mixture; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Helpful Tips
For easy homemade bread crumbs, use day-old bread. Remove crusts from day-old bread slices and tear slices into pieces. Put pieces in a food processor or blender and process them using an on/off pulsing action until you have fine crumbs.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt Decorating Glaze (recipe follows) Assorted food colorings 1/2 cup "M&M's"® ; Chocolate Mini Baking Bits
In large bowl cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt; blend into creamed mixture. Wrap and refrigerate dough 2 to 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Working with half of dough at a time on lightly floured surface, roll to 1/8-inch thickness.
Cut into pairs of desired shapes using 3-inch cookie cutters. Reroll trimmings and cut out more pairs. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 5 to 7 minutes.
Immediately cut 1 cookie of each pair in half vertically. Cool on cookie sheets 1 minute; cool completely on wire racks.
Prepare Decorating Glaze. Tint glaze with food colorings as desired. Spread line of glaze down cut edge of half cookie. Press half cookie to middle of whole cookie; let set. Repeat with remaining half cookie, attaching half cookie to middle back of whole cookie. Spread glaze over entire 3-D cookies; let set. Using glaze to attach, decorate cookies with "M&M's"® ; Chocolate Mini Baking Bits. Store in tightly covered container.
Decorating Glaze: In large bowl combine 4 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup water until smooth. If necessary, add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make a medium-thick pourable glaze.
Helpful Tips
Store 3-D cookies upright in a tall plastic container. Crumble pieces of waxed paper and arrange between cookies as cushions to keep them from breaking.
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 medium cloves)
4 ounces pepper Jack cheese, cut into 12 cubes
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine sausage, Parmesan, baking mix, parsley and garlice in a large bowl; mix well. Shape mixture into twelve 2-inch balls; pat each into a flat patty.
Place, 1 cheese cube on each patty. Fold up edges of patties around cubes; seal well. Roll each into a ball, pressing gently. Place sausage balls on prepared baking sheet.
Bake sausage balls until they are golden and juices run clear when pierced with a knife, 20-25 minutes.
Helpful Tips
Be sure to firmly press and seal together the seams of the sausage mixture that enclose the cube of cheese. You don't want the cheese to run out during baking.
1 Package (8 ounces) Philadelphia Cream Cheese softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 stickes) butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspooon baking soda
Sifted powdered sugar
Miniature peanut butter cups (optional)
Mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well.
Shape dough into equal number of 1/2 -inch and 1-inch diameter balls. Using 1 small and 1 large ball for each snowman, place balls, slightly overlapping, on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass dipped in additional flour. Repeat with remaining balls.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 19 to 21 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Sprinkle each snowman with sifted powdered sugar. Decorate with icing as desired. Cut peanut butter cups in half for hats.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
Helpful Tips
Add a professional finish to baked goods by sifting with powdered sugar. Place powdered sugar in a sieve. Tap the edge of the sieve with an open palm as you move it back and forth over the cooled cookies, cake or quick bread.
Red food coloring and Maraschino cherry halves, well drained
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan.
Prepare, bake and cool cake following package directions for basic recipes. Remove from pan. Freeze cake for ease in handling.
For Decorator Frosting, combine confectioners' sugar, shortening, water, non-dairy powdered creamer, vanilla extract and salt in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 3 minutes. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes. Add more contectioners' sugar to thicken or water to thin frosting as needed. Reserve 2 cups frosting. Tint remaining frosting with red food coloring.
Cut frozen cake and arrange as shown.
Spread white frosting on cake. Mark candy cane stripes in frosting with tip of knife. Place star tip in decorating bag and fill with red frosting. To make stripes, arrange maraschino cherry halves and pipe red frosting lines.
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa or HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Premier White Chips
Colored Decorator Frostings
1. Heat oven to 300°F. Beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add cocoa; blend well. Gradually add flour, stirring until smooth.
2. Roll or pat dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured surface or between 2 pieces of wax paper; with cookie cutters, cut in holiday shapes. Reroll dough scraps, cutting cookies until dough is used. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or just until firm. Immediately place white chips, flat side down, in decorative design on warm cookies. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Use colored decorator frostings to add extra designs. Store in airtight container.
Makes About 4-1/2 dozen (2-inch diameter) cookies.
Helpful Tips
To quickly soften cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch slices; place on a microwavable plate. Microwave at MEDIUM-LOW (30% power) for about 15 seconds. Or thinly slice the ubtter with a vegetable peeler; let stand at room temperature.
