__marilyn Belschner Recipes

__MARILYN BELSCHNER

Steps:

• Many Bake-Off® Contest finalists agree that the feelings that come out of preparing and sharing a meal are as significant as the ingredients that go into it: "I feel meal time is a very important together time for the family," Marilyn Belschner says. "A time when family members can communicate with each other under pleasant circumstances, while enjoying food that will nourish their bodies. Of all the ills that threaten mankind today, few can penetrate a happy family at a well-appointed table."From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

__LEONA SCHNUELLE

Steps:

• When Leona Schnuelle captured the Grand Prize in the twelfth Bake-Off® Contest, she suddenly found herself a celebrity in her small town of Crab Orchard, Nebraska. "Everyone seems happier when I arrive, even at the square dances. They say 'Hi, Mrs. Pillsbury!' Even though I miss a do-si-do now and then-they think I can bake a dilly of a bread! And all the fan mail I receive! It's exciting to hear from all the different people with all their different ways of life, yet they all seem so interested in a bread recipe." Especially with a loaf like Dilly Casserole Bread to pique their interest.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

__ELLA RITA HELFRICH

Steps:

• Did someone invent birthday candles? Christmas trees? Jack-o'-lanterns? If someone did, that someone deserves applause for introducing a whole lot of happiness into a whole bunch of lives.And who came up with taffy apples? Chocolate truffles? Pecan pralines? No one knows, but we know for sure that someone did invent the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, and that someone was Ella Rita Helfrich. She spent days of "trial-and-error baking" to come up with the distinctive treat, and her cake has become an American classic, one which hundreds of thousands of people make for their special celebrations.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

__BEATRICE HARLIB

Steps:

• Beatrice Harlib's twin sons, Sam and Joel, helped her come up with her Snappy Turtle Cookies--the famous combination of chocolate, caramel and pecans. "I have always had a very loving family, always," Beatrice says. After winning the Grand Prize in the fourth Bake-Off® Contest, and after being welcomed back to Chicago by the mayor and a police escort, and being congratulated in public ceremonies with thousands of spectators, Beatrice found "I had been called upon to make so many appearances... that I have become quite at ease before groups and enjoy speaking, whereas previously I was very shy and timid and dreaded talking before crowd. "Beatrice went on to become president of the Children's Asthma Research Institute and later became a key executive in an early feminist group, Women's Share in Public Service, which helped to promote women in public office and worked to advance women's political and economic status. Beatrice reports that her Bake-Off® experience gave her just enough celebrity to be noticed and the confidence to move into these highly visible offices.It's incredible how much happiness can be achieved through the simple addition of caramel to chocolate, of cookies to a lunchbox or of public confidence to an already special woman.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

__TED VIVEIROS

Steps:

• "Then young Ted Viveiros's father passed away, his mother went to work and he had to learn to cook. "I made an apple pie--apples, sugar, crust--and it was awful. The apples were undercooked and the crust was really tough." But Ted toughed it out himself, and grew to be an innovative, no-nonsense cook. Doughnut cravings lead most people to a store, but not Ted. He was in the mood for doughnuts one night, so he just made his own. "By the way," he says, "I now make dam good apple pies, and know enough to add cinnamon and butter." Sometimes our early mistakes provide thought to fuel a lifetime of productive, and sometimes tasty, work.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.