Puffy Apple Pancake

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup thinly sliced, peeled apples (1 to 2 apples)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt butter in a 9-inch pie pan. Brush butter around sides of pie pan. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over butter or margarine. Arrange apple slices over sugar.

Beat eggs slightly in a medium bowl with a whisk. Stir in flour, milk, and salt until just mixed (do not overbeat). Pour over apples. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately loosen edges of pancake and turn upside down onto a serving plate.

Serves 2 to 4.

(Source: Janet Peterson, "Remedies for the 'I Don't Cook' Syndrome," pg. 256)

Orange Sticks

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 Tbsp. Knox gelatin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 small pkg. orange Kool-Aid powder

2 cups sugar

1/8 teaspoon citric acid

Butter a shallow pan. Pour water in a separate saucepan and add gelatin. Let soak for 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, Kool-Aid, and citric acid. Bring to a boil and wash sugar crystals down from sides of pan. Boil for about 20 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Pour into prepared pan about 1/4-inch deep. If your pan is too big, fold foil to make a mock side. Let stand overnight at room temperature. Using a knife or scissors dipped in warm water, cut into 1/4-inch widths and 2-3-inch lengths, or simply cut to size desired. Refrigerate before dipping in chocolate so they are easier to handle.

(Source: Kelley Van Orden Dalley, "Home Cookin'," p. 233.)

Laurie's Chicken Casserole

Spread 1 cup uncooked rice in 9"x13" pan. Place raw chicken pieces on top of rice. Mix 1 can cream of chicken soup with 1 package Lipton Onion soup and 3 cups water. Pour over and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Flakey Pie Crust

This recipe is by Tselani Richmond, who works as a personal chef, cooking instructor and food writer.  This recipe makes two crusts.  Use one for a sweet treat and one for a savory dish, or freeze one for later.

For fruit pies, add a small pinch of salt and a generous pinch of sugar. For savory dishes like quiche, just add a generous pinch of salt.

2 cups unbleached flour
Generous pinch of salt (for savory and sweet dough)
Generous pinch of sugar (only for sweet dough)
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
Water

Make a mound out of flour on a clean work surface. Sprinkle salt or sugar over flour. Break up butter with fingertips into small pieces over flour. Using fingertips or a pastry cutter, mix butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Make a well in center and add egg. Work egg into dough using fingertips. Sprinkle a little water over if crust looks too dry. Work dough into a ball, and then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it at least one hour.

Tip: This recipe uses a French technique called fraisage, which makes the crust tender and flakey. Once the butter has been worked into the flour, gather the dough into a shaggy ball. Pull off a small piece of dough and, using the palm of your hand, smear the dough against the counter top. Place the smeared dough in a pile and repeat the technique with small pieces of dough until the first ball of dough is gone. Gather the smeared dough into a ball and repeat the process. By smearing the dough against the countertop, you're creating long, thin sheets of butter through the crust that make the end result nice and flakey.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, making quarter turns after each pass of the rolling pin. Use in sweet or savory dishes.

Makes 2 crusts

Nutritional information per crust if divided into 6 portions
Calories: 158; total fat: 9g; cholesterol: 40mg; sodium: 7mg; carbohydrate: 16g; total dietary fiber: 1g; protein: 3g