Hometown Get-Togethers - Candace Floyd [58]
3. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the filling and top with the tomato slices. Sprinkle the French fried onions evenly over the tomatoes.
4. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Tomato Pie
Carole VanCleave, Concord, North Carolina
Serves 4 to 6
“This is especially good in the summer with fresh garden tomatoes.”
One 9-inch unbaked piecrust
1½ cups shredded mozzarella
3 to 4 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/3 cup thinly sliced Vidalia onion
½ cup Caesar salad dressing
½ teaspoon dried basil, or to taste
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the piecrust for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella on the bottom of the cooled piecrust. Top with the tomato slices and arrange the onion slices evenly over the tomatoes.
3. Combine the salad dressing, remaining mozzarella, the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl; mix well. Spoon over the tomatoes and onions.
4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.
Desserts
“What’s for dessert?” It’s not only children, but adults, too, who want to know which treat awaits them at the end of a scrumptious meal. Often a prized recipe for cookies, cakes, or pies satisfies that persistent sweet tooth.
Rich chocolate and orange—Michelle Gauer’s Fudge Cappuccino Orange Torte has it all. Gauer, of Spicer, Minnesota, enjoys the pairing of flavors so much that she makes it on her birthday and gives everyone else a treat. The decadent torte took the Grand Prize in American Profile magazine’s Hometown Get-Togethers Recipe Contest.
Millie DuBovy of Lady Lake, Florida, has many years’ experience baking her Midnight Biscotti—fifty to be exact! She estimates she has served her tasty treat to at least a thousand people at family get-togethers, but she’ll also make the biscotti “just for me,” she admits. DuBovy is eighty-seven.
Another family legacy is carried on whenever a batch of Grandma’s Buttermilk Brownie Cake comes out of Connie Mrachek’s oven in Charles City, Iowa. There’s no doubt the recipe is a winner—it’s been a family favorite for five generations, Mrachek says.
Diane’s Absolutely Awesome Chocolate Cake is fancy enough to serve at a birthday party, but easy—and foolproof—for a novice baker, says Diane McCrory of Trinity, Texas. McCrory says her yummy cake is a hit with both adults and kids—including her eight grandchildren.
Barbara Chapman of Casper, Wyoming, has solved the problem of satisfying both cake and pie lovers when it’s time to prepare a dessert. Her solution is Reunion Cake and Pie, which made its debut at her family’s reunions at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Family members come from forty states for the event, and she must travel as well to get there. Reunion Cake and Pie can be made ahead, travels well, and freezes well, Chapman says, making it a winner all around.
Walnut Roca Bars
Stephanie Burkett, Chico, California
Makes 2 dozen bars
“Whether I have prepared these bars for family, church, or community activities, I am often told that ‘these cookies are to die for.’”
CRUST
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
MIDDLE LAYER
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
TOPPING
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup Heath chips
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 13 × 9-inch baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang. Coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
2. To prepare the crust, combine the butter, flour, and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. Press into the prepared pan.
3. To prepare the middle layer, combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour over the crust and bake for 15 to 18