Publisher description see:

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Discover the secrets of Pillsbury Bake-Off(R) winners The Pillsbury Bake-Off(R) is a great American institution-a 60-year-old contest for real home cooks across the nation-all vying for a $1 million grand prize. For the 43rd Bake-Off(R), 100 finalists gathered to work their magic in 100 mini-kitchens set up in a single ballroom. In the end, a grand prizewinner emerged, but all of the finalists presented dishes that were amazingly simple to make . . . and simply amazing. This exciting cookbook collects all 100 of these winning recipes and profiles the inventive cooks who created them. Spanning five contest categories-Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Old El Paso(R) Mexican Favorites, Pizza Creations, and Sweet Treats-the deliciously easy recipes you'll find inside are sure to be winners with your family and friends. "Pillsbury Bake-Off(R) Winners" gives you The $1 million grand prize recipe-Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies, and all of the category prizewinners99 other winning recipes, including Mascarpone-Filled Cranberry-Walnut Rolls, Salmon Pastries with Dill Pesto, Mexican Pesto-Pork Tacos, Apple-Jack Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Toffee-Banana Brownies, and Blue Cheese and Red Onion Jam Crescent ThumbprintsA photo and profile of each contest finalist, along with a full-color picture of every dishA timeline of memorable moments from the 43rd contest and Fun Fact sidebars with trivia about the contestants and the contest's historyNutrition information and instructions for high-altitude baking accompanies every recipe

A woman, a chicken dinner, a million dollars-and a romp through the heartland of America's competitive cooking culture. When Ellie Mathews entered her Salsa Couscous Chicken in the venerable Pillsbury Bake-Off, she never imagined she'd win the grand prize. Immediately after Alex Trebek announced that her dish had won a million dollars, she was thrown into the limelight. Booked with Oprah and Rosie-even photographed for the New York Times in a vest made of ostrich feathers-she instantly became the reigning queen of chickendom, the Pillsbury "It Girl" of the moment. With a dash of self-deprecating humor and a pinch of biting social commentary, Ellie takes readers on her roller coaster ride to the top of the food chain as the Pillsbury prizewinner. As a cooking contest insider, she goes behind the counter and beyond the aprons and oven mitts to reveal a fascinating slice of Americana.

For over 50 years, people have looked to one contest for the most delicious, the most exciting and the most uniquely American recipes this country's home cooks have to offer. The Pillsbury Bake-Off(R) Contest presents the very best of what people today are cooking for their families and friends. Now, nearly 400 prizewinning recipes from this famed event are gathered in one book, complete with gorgeous color photographs and personal profiles highlighting the people who created the recipes. The first Bake-Off(R) Contest, in 1949, celebrated the culinary trends of the times--recipes were made from scratch, the ingredient lists and steps were lengthy and breads and desserts comprised the bulk of the entries. Today's Bake-Off(R) entries mirror the changing trends in home cooking with recipes that are quicker and easier to prepare. The use of convenience products has increased and flavors from around the world are featured, as reflected in a brand-new chapter: Quick & Easy Main Meals. Chicken Florentine Panini, the 2002 Grand Prize winner, is an Italian sandwich that gets its fresh-baked goodness from refrigerated pizza-crust dough. Bow-Thai Chicken takes a frozen stir=fry meal starter and combines it with the wonderful flavors of a Thai peanut sauce. "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off(R) Cookbook illustrates how home cooks have captured their ethnic heritages in dishes adapted from their grandparents' countries to modern kitchens and busier times. The stories are as inspiring as the recipes themselves, from 1996's Grand Prize winner, Kurt Wait, a single parent who developed his $1,000,000-winning recipe, Macadamia Fudge Torte, with the help of his son, to a 2002 winner for her GnocchiAlfredo Casserole, Kelly Lynne Baxter, who remembers learning to cook alongside her mom and aunts. All the recipes are organized by easy-to-use chapters: Soups, Sandwiches and Snacks; Main Dishes; Side Dishes and Salads; Breads; Sweet Rolls and Coffee Cakes; Cookies and Bars; Cakes and Tortes; Pies and Tarts; and Other Desserts; as well as the new chapter, Quick & Easy Main Meals. Each chapter is filled with wonderful and often humorous behind-the-scenes stories from the Bake-Off(R) Contest events. The recipes are sensational; the storeis are uplifting. "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off(R) Cookbook invites you into the kitchens and lives of the many people who have made the Pillsbury Bake-Off(R) Contest the most loved and respected showplace for everyone to share their creative cooking talents.

COOKING/WINE

IN 1945, FORTUNE MAGAZINE named Betty Crocker the second most popular American woman, right behind Eleanor Roosevelt, and dubbed Betty America's First Lady of Food. Not bad for a gal who never actually existed. "Born" in 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to proud corporate parents, Betty Crocker has grown, over eight decades, into one of the most successful branding campaigns the world has ever known. Now, at long last, she has her own biography. Finding Betty Crocker draws on six years of research plus an unprecedented look into the General Mills archives to reveal how a fictitious spokesperson was enthusiastically welcomed into kitchens and shopping carts across the nation. The Washburn Crosby Company (one of the forerunners to General Mills) chose the cheery all-American "Betty" as a first name and paired it with Crocker, after William Crocker, a well-loved company director. Betty was to be the newest member of the Home Service Department, where she would be a "friend" to consumers in search of advice on baking -- and, in an unexpected twist, their personal lives. Soon Betty Crocker had her own national radio show, which, during the Great Depression and World War II, broadcast money-saving recipes, rationing tips, and messages of hope. Over 700,000 women joined Betty's wartime Home Legion program, while more than one million women -- and men -- registered for the Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air during its twenty-seven-year run. At the height of Betty Crocker's popularity in the 1940s, she received as many as four to five thousand letters daily, care of General Mills. When her first full-scale cookbook, Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, or "Big Red," as it is affectionately known, was released in 1950, first-year sales rivaled those of the Bible. Today, over two hundred products bear her name, along with thousands of recipe booklets and cookbooks, an interactive website, and a newspaper column. What is it about Betty? In answering the question of why everyone was buying what she was selling, author Susan Marks offers an entertaining, charming, and utterly unique look -- through words and images -- at an American icon situated between profound symbolism and classic kitchen kitsch.