Pro Drop Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 oz white chocolate, chopped (chips also work fine)
7 oz dried apricots (1 1/2 cups), preferably California, chopped

Hands-on Time: About 45 minutes
Cook Time: 14-16 minutes per batch

These cookies were originally called "Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Apricots and White Chocolate," but when I made some for a linguistics student fundraiser, I chose the syntactic pun "Pro Drop Cookies." If you don't get the joke, don't worry about it; the name is shorter, and it's the name by which all my friends ask for the recipe now, so just think of these as professional quality drop cookies. I haven't actually tasted them myself, because they sold out at our bake sale, but one customer bought three and then came back an hour later looking for more, so I take that as a good sign.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, oatmeal, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cream the butter and sugars with a mixer until they are light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the salt, vanilla, and eggs and beat until the mixture is well combined, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture gradually, beating until the ingredients are just combined. Stir in the chocolate and apricots. Cover the dough and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2" apart. Bake each batch until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but still soft in the centre, about 14 to 16 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. The cookies will keep, covered, for up to 1 week. The recipe makes about 36 cookies.

Baked Ravioli

1 large (16-18 oz.) package refrigerated/frozen cheese ravioli
1/4 cup pesto
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Hands-on Time: About 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

I normally prepare ravioli in olive oil with some sort of vegetables, so this is a slightly different variation. It's good when you want comfort food for an especially cold day.

Prepare the ravioli according to the package directions and drain them. In a 2-qt. baking dish, mix the pesto and heavy cream. (Make sure you check the pesto ingredients before buying to see that it is vegetarian; the first jar I picked up was made with rennet). Add the ravioli to the baking dish and stir the sauce over the ravioli until all of it is coated. Cover the ravioli evenly with the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Broccoli and Swiss Cheese Quiche

1 refrigerated pie crust
3 eggs
1 cup cooked broccoli
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
8 oz evaporated skim milk
1 onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tomato
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Hands-on Time: About 50 minutes
Cook Time: 35-45 minutes

This quiche has a lot more subtle flavour than the Cheddar-based varieties I am so familiar with, which really plays up the vegetable flavours.

Prepare the refrigerated pie crust according to package directions. My crust required 10-15 minutes of warming to room temperature, so be sure to take that into account if preparation time is an issue.

Whisk together the eggs. Add 1 cup of cooked broccoli (the frozen variety works fine for this); measuring really does count, because if you go overboard your quiche may not fit in the pie plate. Add the Swiss cheese, evaporated milk, onion, salt, and pepper and stir all the ingredients together. If you do not have evaporated skim milk on hand, you can also mix up an equivalent amount of nonfat dry milk with water (follow the package guidelines for exact amounts). It was also brought to my attention that you can buy chopped frozen onions, which I microwaved and used in this recipe in lieu of taking all the time to cut a fresh one. I couldn't tell any difference.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Wash and slice a tomato and layer the slices over the top of the quiche. Sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Gnocchi with Sage and Cauliflower

1 box gnocchi
1 bag frozen cauliflower
2-3 tbsp butter
Sage (fresh or dried)

Hands-on Time: About 30 minutes

Gnocchi are dumplings made out of potato flour, and they provide a nice change of pace from traditional pasta. You can find them boxed in your store's pasta aisle.

Cook the gnocchi according to package directions. At the same time, cook the cauliflower according to package directions. If you are using fresh sage, you can wash and chop some while these ingredients are cooking, though dried sage works just as well.

Drain the cooked gnocchi and add them to a large serving bowl. Melt the butter in a cup in the microwave and toss the gnocchi in the melted butter. If you want to be more health-conscious or turn this into a vegan recipe, substitute olive oil for the butter. Drain the cauliflower and toss them with the gnocchi. Add sage and toss again.

Pepper Stromzoni

3 medium red, yellow, and/or green peppers
6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp butter
1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup ricotta cheese or cream cheese
2 tbsp snipped fresh basil (optional)
1 10-oz package refrigerated pizza dough and 1 egg OR 2-3 packages Crescent rolls

Hands-on Time: About 1 hour
Cook Time: About 15 minutes

I first saw this recipe in a grocery store advertisement using pizza dough to make one long "stromzoni" shaped like a snake, with olives for the eyes and a red pepper tongue. However, I could never find refrigerated pizza dough at my store, so I adapted this into a less decorative recipe by using Crescent roll dough. I've also cooked it for some people who don't like ricotta cheese and have tried it with cream cheese instead, which works pretty well, so there are a lot of ways to adapt this recipe to whatever works best for you, and you can go so far as to try different ingredients in addition to or in place of the peppers (black olives are also great).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you are using the pizza dough, line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, grease the foil or paper, and set the sheet aside. If you are using the Crescent rolls, you can cook on a regular baking sheet as you would normal Crescent rolls.

Wash and dice the peppers and mince the garlic. Melt the butter in a large skillet and cook the peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. This will give the peppers a more smoky, roasted flavour; if you don't like that flavour or are pressed for time, I've also tried it without roasting the vegetables, in which case you can skip the butter and just mix all the ingredients together later on. If you are roasting, stir in the crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper with the vegetables and set them aside to cool.

In a medium bowl stir together the mozzarella, ricotta or cream cheese, and basil or mozzarella if you are using it. Stir the vegetables (and seasonings if you have not roasted) into the cheese mixture until well combined and set aside. The stirring may seem time consuming and necessitates getting one more bowl dirty, but it really is necessary; I've tried the recipe just laying the ingredients one by one over the crust, and it really doesn't turn out well, especially if you're using cream cheese.

If you are using the pizza dough, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 10" x 16" rectangle. Cut this into two 8" x 10" rectangles. Spoon half of the pepper mixture along half of each rectangle. Fold over and tuck the ends under. Place each stromzoni on the prepared baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut 4 diagonal slits in the top of each loaf. Beat the egg and brush it over the loaves. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. This will make 4 servings.

If you are using the Crescent rolls, unfold the dough from the package and take up a rectangular section of 2 triangles at a time, separating this from the rest of the dough but not separating the 2 triangles from each other. Each package contains 8 triangles or 4 rectangles, and you will use 2 rectangles to make each stromzoni. You can get by with only 2 packages, but this results in very fully stuffed pockets, so you might prefer using at least part of a 3rd package; you can always cook the leftover dough as regular Crescent rolls if you don't use it all for this recipe. Lay down a rectangle on the baking sheet and press the dough between the two triangles together. Layer some of the pepper mixture on top, leaving some room around the sides. Layer another dough rectangle over the top of this and lift up the dough from the bottom to pinch together with the top until you have a sealed pocket all the way around. Press the top triangles more closely together as well, although you do not have to completely close the seam. Each package of Crescent rolls usually contains 2 rectangular sections that are longer and 2 that are shorter, so be sure to match up long with long and short with short or you will have a hard time sealing the pockets. Bake according to the package directions for the Crescent rolls. 2 packages will make 4 servings.

Apple-Walnut Ravioli

1 9-oz package refrigerated/frozen cheese ravioli
2 tsp olive oil
1 apple (choose a sweet variety such as Fuji, Gala, or Honey Crisp)
Lemon juice
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Hands-on Time: About 30 minutes

This is a nice late autumn or early winter recipe that builds on the pairing of apple and cheese. Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil. While the water is heating, wash and core the apple and cut it into large segments. Sprinkle each segment with lemon juice so that it will not turn brown. Cut each segment into long, thin slices. If you wish to chop the walnuts into smaller pieces as well, you may.

Cook the ravioli according to the package directions. Drain the ravioli and toss it with olive oil. Add the apple slices, walnuts, and Parmesan and toss again.

Pecan Swirls

2 cups butter, softened
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans
1 1/3 cups sugar

Hands-on Time: About 4 hours
Refrigeration Time: 4 hours
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes per batch

This recipe is in memory of my Great Aunt Wanda, who actually got it published in a magazine. The credit for making the cookies in the picture goes once again to my mom. These cookies are definitely a bit of an ordeal to make, but they are quite good.

Start by chopping the pecans as finely as possible (this is what will take a big chunk of the hands-on time). In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour and salt, then gradually add this to the creamed mixture and mix well. Divide the dough into three portions. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or until the dough is easy to handle.

When the dough is ready, roll each portion into a 9" x 16" rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Combine the pecans and sugar and sprinkle them over the dough to within 1/2" of the edges. Roll up each rectangle tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Wrap the rolls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 more hours. (I don't know what the success rate would be for freezing a portion of the dough at this stage if you don't want to bake it all at once, but I imagine it would work okay).

After refrigerating the rolls, unwrap them and cut them into 3/8" slices. Place the slices 2" apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake each batch at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on wire racks. The recipe makes approximately seven dozen cookies.