__teresa Hannan Smith Recipes

Steps:

• If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again . . .Christie Henson volunteered an early disaster story: "One time I made cream pie and added the eggs too late. I ended up with scrambled eggs in my chocolate pie." Christie never gave up, thanks to the unwavering support of her family. "My poor father ate whatever I made, no matter how it turned out." Christie ultimately mastered the tricky arts of eclair making and converting European classics for busy American cooks--and then she captured a cash prize at BakeOff® Contest 35 for her efforts.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• Part of Margaret Hatheway's prize in the eighth Bake-Off® was a Cook's Tour of Europe, with stops in Rome, Paris and London. She learned how to make steak and kidney pie in England, crepes in France and pasta in Italy. In return Margaret taught all the chefs she met how to make her prize-winning California Casserole. They inquired about the casseroles of the remaining forty-seven states, but Margaret replied that that was the work of future generations.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• Necessity is often the mother of invention. "After my husband received his doctorate in 1960," says Reta Smith, "we moved to a very small community in northwest Missouri and lived on a farm. He began a very busy large-animal veterinary practice. We raised three children and also had a cow and calf operation. Our home was run like a restaurant and small hotel, since our area was very remote. I went to a grocery warehouse every three months to do our shopping. . . . With this in mind, my cooking was very creative, and as the time grew closer to my next three-month trip, became even more so." But with results like White Chili with Salsa Verde, no one would complain!From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• Cooks tend to be a generous lot, and Teresa Hannan Smith makes a point of sharing the bounty of her life not just with guests at her table but with four-legged folk wherever she is. "I carry three kinds of dog and cat food in my car and feed strays everywhere I go." While she never gets the raves from her animal guests that she got from the Bake-Off® Contest judges, Teresa considers cats and dogs among the most gratifying of her diners.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• * One Hawaiian contestant danced the hula for photographers as her cake baked.* A mother brought her newborn infant to the Bake-Off® Contest and set the baby basket right next to her range while she cooked.* A finalist from Washington State was extremely suspicious about the quality of eggs in New York City--so she brought her own, on the train, across the entire country.* One year a woman sat beside her stove, quietly reading, as flashbulbs popped, TV crews roamed, reporters questioned, and all the hubbub of the Bake-Off® Contest roiled around her. Asked how she could be so tranquil in all the tumult, she smiled and replied that this was nothing compared to cooking with her five small children around her ankles.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.