Pillsbury Lovin' from the Oven

Consumers could obtain Lovin' from the Oven (1987, 49 pp.) from either the grocery store aisle when two packages of Pillsbury's BEST Flour were purchased or from an order form found in the rear of the booklet. I guess this form could be used for additional copies or passed on to friends since you had to get the booklet anyway before you could get the form. There was no limit to the number of cookbooks that could be ordered by mail; each copy required one UPC from the Pillbury flour package and 50 cents for postage and handling.

I like this recipe booklet. The size is convenient and the 38 recipes include many favorites that I use over and over. The recipes are divided into four sections: The Cookie Jar (favorite cookies and bars), The Dessert Table (cakes and other special favorites), The Bread Basket (quick breads, muffins and more) and The Holiday Home (delicious ideas for every special day of the year.

If you do a lot of basic, uncomplicated baking you will probably find this booklet convenient too. Recipes for Peanut Butter Cookies (and Peanut Blossoms), Chocolate Chip Cookies, Favorite Fudge Brownies (with frosting), Snickerdoodles, Sunburst Lemon Bars and Swedish Tea Cakes can all be found inside along with color photographs.

Some of the cake recipes are: Sour Cream Pound Cake, Chocolate Sour Cream Cake (and frosting), Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Shortcake, Streusel Pecan Pie Squares (a Bake-Off winner), and a simple Carrrot Cake with Creamy Supreme Frosting.

All the basic bread recipes are here too: Old-Fashioned Baking Powder Biscuits, Honey Granola Bread, Pineapple Zucchini Bread, Corn Muffins, Blueberry Muffins, Popovers, Pancakes and Waffles.

Some of the Holiday recipes are St. Lucia's Wreath, Braided Holiday Stollen, Ginger Cookie Cut-Outs, Miniature Custar Cream Puffs, Chocolate Truffle Cookies and Honey Bear Breads.

See what I mean? It's got a bit of everything that you can bake.

There are three pages of Baking Tips in the rear of the booklet. This includes a section on Pan Alternatives if a recipe calls for a size of baking pan that you don't have. They offer some substitutes you can use that generally work out well.

This little cookbook, being published in the 80s, includes Nutritional Information per Serving with each recipe.

Last Minute Gifts

It's getting down to the wire and time is running out. If you're in need of any last minute Christmas gifts and your holiday gift recipient is fond of cooking then I have two gift suggestions that you can get right now without even leaving leaving the chair you're sitting in this very minute.

These are great gifts for anyone--a spouse, son or daughter (young college students or newlyweds), aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters; a neighbor, or a friend or acquaintance whom you wish to remember. They make great stocking stuffers too! These gifts also ensure that your recipient will think of you several times during the upcoming year!

A subscription to Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks or the Betty Crocker Recipe Magazine is an inexpensive, useful gift and may just be something that your recipient wouldn't think of doing for themselves!

Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks have been published since the 1970s and have quite a faithful following judging by the amount of requests I get for both old and new out-of-print issues. They are handy, compact and will fit neatly into a space in the kitchen or a desk, making them an easy reference for recipes, recipe ideas and shopping lists.

The Betty Crocker Recipe Magazines have been around quite awhile too and are about the same compact size as the Pillsbury issues, illustrated with the same type of great color photographs of the completed dishes.

Both of these magazines use their respective brand name products in the recipes. Sometimes the issues will contain only recipes that focus on one particular product; at other times there are a mixture of recipes that revolve around a certain theme. Most are also filled with tips and suggestions to make cooking a meal or a snack even easier.

Yes, they're available at supermarket check-out stands, but many people won't indulge for themselves, or are erratic in their purchases, making it easy to miss an issue.

You can use your computer to print out a gift card showing the magazine subscription has been made in the recipients name and enclose it in a Christmas card or, if you want to have something to wrap up, you can easily find the latest issues of these publications at the supermarket, the drugstore or the Wal-Mart.