PIZZA CRUST

from Shannon Farr

dissolve 1 TBSP yeast in 1 cup warm water

ADD:
1 tsp sugar

2 TBSP oil

1 tsp salt

2.5 cups flour

stir past 20 strokes.

Let dough rise 20 minutes

divide in two ( use the whole thing for a big pizza pan)

place on greased pans

put sauce and toppings over dough, top with cheese

bake 400 for 30 minutes

Because the dough gets soggy sometimes in the middle of the pizza, I sometimes cook the dough alone first for 15 or 20 minutes, and then put the sauce and toppings on and cook until cheese is melted.

Mandarin Orange and Lettuce Salad

from Lorna Turley

Prep: 5 minutes

Yield : 4 servings

Combine first 4 ingredients in a salad bowl. 

One package mixed lettuce

1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained

1/3 cup golden raisins

1 (2 oz ) pack cashew nuts (toasted 1/3 cup)

Pour salad dressing over salad and toss.  Serve immediately. 

1/2 cup commercial Italian salad dressing or sweet-and -sour salad dressing

Italian Cheese Ball

Makes 2 balls

Mix these well and refrigerate overnight in a covered container.

1 - 8 oz. bag of grated Italian Cheese Blend (This is a mixture of Provolone, Asiago, Mozzarella and Parmesan, Romano and Fontana cheeses and is a generic kind from Walmart for about $2.)

8 oz. Fat Free Cream Cheese

1 small can of chopped olives

1 pkg. of Ranch Dip Powder

Spoon mixture onto waxed paper to shape into 2 balls, then roll the balls in sliced, roasted almonds.  Set the balls in the center of 2 glass bowls, and surround them with large round, appetizer crackers.  It takes about 10 minutes and makes a good presentation when put into a ceramic cereal bowl.  They cost about $3.50 per gift if your Walmart and Dollar Store prices are like ours.  J Enjoy!

Fresh Berry Dessert Bites

from Shannon Farr

Crust  **

2 and 1/4 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel  *

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces

Topping

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 container (6 oz) lemon yogurt  *

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel  *

40 fresh raspberries (6.5 oz)  *

40 fresh blackberries  (8 oz)  *

40 fresh blueberries  (3 oz)  *

Heat oven to 350.  Grease a 15x10x1 inch pan  (I used a glass cake pan)  In large bowl, mix all crust ingredients except butter.  Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture looks like fine crumbs; press evenly in pan.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until edges are light golden.  Cool completely, about 40 minutes.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar with electric mixer on low speed until blended.  Add yogurt and 1 teaspoon lemon peel; beat until blended.  Spread mixture over crust.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour but no longer than 24 hours.

Cut into 10 rows by 4 rows.   Arrange 1 kind of each berry on each bar.  Store in refrigerator.

* Since I can't have lemon and some berries, I omitted the lemon peel and used strawberry yogurt and fresh strawberries instead.  I sliced the strawberries into bite size pieces and dropped on top of cream cheese mixture.

** I've made this twice; Once using the crust recipe, which tastes like a very good English shortbread.  Blane loved it!  The other time I was out of time, so I used sugar cookie dough.  It was also very good, but sweeter than the "shortbread".

Petite Caramel Pecan Bars

from Shannon Farr

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 can (8 oz) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls *

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Heat over to 375.  In small bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and corn syrup.  Spread in bottom of ungreased 8 or 9 inch round cake pan

* Separate dough into 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal.  In small bowl, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over rectangles.  Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of the pecans over each rectangle. Starting at shorter side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal.  Cut each roll into 4 slices.  Place cut side down over brown sugar mixture in pan.

Bake 20 to 27 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool in pan 1 minute; invert onto serving platter or foil.  Serve warm or cool.

* Instead of crescent rolls, I used regular dinner rolls and didn't have to roll the dough and cut.  I just dropped them into the pan.  This didn’t allow me to sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture or nuts over the dough and there were 8 instead of 16, but they were very good, faster and easier.