__marilyn Belschner Recipes

__BIRDIE CASEMENT

Steps:

• If anyone ever asks you what it was like to live richly through the twentieth century, direct them to the story of Birdie Casement. "I married Russ," Birdie says, "then World War II changed our lives. We found ourselves wrestling with gas rationing, sugar stamps, tire shortages, among other shortages, and two wee tots....The following years were a merry-go-round of PTA, fund-raising, cake bakes, Brownies, Cub Scouts, car pooling, measles, trips to the zoo, picnics and all the fun, tears, brawls and challenges that go hand in hand with parenthood. Time flies, and soon no one was hurrying home for that noontime sandwich." Birdie became a kindergarten teacher and was nominated for Colorado teacher of the year. At the Bake-Off® Contest, she wowed everybody with her ebullience, her wisdom and, of course, her salad.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

__LILY WUEBEL

Steps:

• Part of Pillsbury's reason for starting the Bake-Off® Contest was to celebrate the many unsung heroes of America's kitchens, who hadn't received public credit for the trays of cookies, the platters of cakes and the baskets of bread that issued from their kitchens.Of course, for every Bake-Off® winner, there is still an unpublicized kitchen hero for whom the appreciation of her family is reward enough. Lily Wuebel was lucky enough to have both. When asked what he thought of his wife's $25,000 cake, Peter Wuebel said he'd always loved the cake, and "it's worth a million to me."From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

__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.