For the
pleasure
of your
company
What makes parties “best of all’? The hap
piness of sharing your home and welcoming friends
to vour hospitality. Parties are a wonderful excuse
to bring out the prettiest tablecloth and dishes — a
pleasant time for guests to visit in the relaxed at
mosphere you can create.
If everything down to the tiniest detail is organ
ized before the day of the party, you’ll enjoy your
guests more than ever — because you’ll be with
them, not in the kitchen. And best of all, they’ll en
joy being guests because things will go smoothly.
What to serve? If you can’t remember their likes
and dislikes, stick to popular foods. Then add a
fresh touch. Chicken Parmesan, for instance, is
doubly good because the flavoring is new, the food
oven-fried. No pan-watching. Who is fussy about
vegetables? Lots of people. So heat and serve a
goodly variety and please them all. Then top off
the dinner with a dessert like Flaky Apple Wreath.
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FLAKY APPLE WREATH
1 cup butter
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 unbeaten egg
Milk
Vs cup sugar
Vi teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups (1 one-pound can) thick sweetened apple
sauce (plain or raspberry applesauce)
Whipped cream
Cut butter into flour until particles are fine. Com
bine egg and enough milk to measure X cup; blend
well. Sprinkle this over flour mixture, stirring with
fork until dough holds together. If necessary, add
a few drops more milk.
Divide dough into four equal parts. Form it
into balls; refrigerate 3 parts. Roll out remaining
part on floured surface to a 9-inch circle (cut around
an inverted 9-inch cake pan or dinner plate). Cut
a 3-inch round hole in the center. Transfer to an
ungreased cookie sheet. Reserve center for later.
Combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle about 1
tablespoon over pastry ring. Bake at 450° for 8 to
10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough, making
four rings in all. Cut out tiny stars and other shapes
from the reserved centers; bake with fourth ring.
Fill an hour or less before serving.
To serve, transfer a pastry ring carefully to serv
ing plate. Spread with one-third of the applesauce;
top with another pastry ring. Continue to spread
sauce and stack layers. Leave top ring plain.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped
cream. Serves 8.
PARMESAN FRIED CHICKEN
Follow recipe for Butter-Crisp Fried Chicken,
substituting 2 cups crushed saltine crackers and 1
cup grated Parmesan cheese for the cornflakes, flour
ana salt. To make gravy add IX to 2 cups evaporated
milk to the butter drippings remaining in baking
pan. Then cook over medium heat, stirring con
stantly, until thick.
v-m
_ :-V.: . ■
A Swedish dessert from PilLsbury’s Eurojtean recipe service, Flaky Apple Wreath, is un
believably tender. Pastry rings baked ahead to be filled at the last minute with sjiicy applesauce
Cheese Surprise Puffs boast a touch of onion and celery seed in the easy, batter-way dotigh
For a crisp crust, let rolls cool uncovered; for extra (food flavor, brush with soft butter while hot.
AFTERNOON GET-TOGETHER?
Card parties, bridge luncheons or a PTA com
mittee meeting may not call for an all-out plan on
your part — but deciding what to serve can be a
problem. In this era of dieting, the sweet dessert
is not always welcome . . . yet you would like to
serve something “special.” To set a “just right” tone
between not-too-sweet and not-too-plain, here’s a
suggestion: combine a help-yourself tray of relishes
or fresh vegetables with a fresh batch of Cheese
Surprise Puffs. The Puffs are actually little batter
breads — very fast rising and quick to the oven!
CHEESE SURPRISE PUFFS
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Vs teaspoon celery seed
2 teaspoons instant onion
(or 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh onion)
2 tablespoons soft butter
IVt cups water
(warm for dry, lukewarm for compressed yeast)
1 package dry yeast
(or I cake compressed yeast)
1 egg, room temperature
bi pound (1 cup) shredded or grated cheese,
Cheddar or American
Black pitted or stuffed green olives, if desired
Blend the first six ingredients in a bowl. Pour
the water into another bowl or use your mixer bowl.
Sprinkle the yeast on top. Let stand a few minutes,
then stir. Blend in egg. Add about two-thirds of
the flour mixture and the cheese to the yeast mix
ture. Start the mixer on medium speed, or beat by
hand two minutes, or until smooth. Stop mixer.
(Beating in this recipe takes the place of kneading).
Pour in the rest of the flour mixture. Beat again
with a spoon until smooth, 1 to IK more minutes.
Scrape clown batter from sides of bowl.
Cover bowl and let batter rise in warm place
until doubled — about 30 minutes. Meanwhile
butter muffin cups well.
Beat batter hard — 50 strokes. This is a thin,
somewhat sticlcv batter. Spoon into muffin cups, fill
ing no more than half full. Press one olive into
the center of each cup. Tap pans on table to settle
the batter. Let rise in warm place until batter
reaches the tops of the cups, 15 to 20 minutes. Pre
heat oven to 425°.
Bake puffs 10 to 15 minutes, depending on size,
or until well browned on sides and tops. Remove
from pans to cool. Makes 24 to 32 small puffs, about
IK dozen medium-sized rolls.
BUTTER-CRISP FRIED CHICKEN
2 3-pound broiler-fryers, cut up
2 cups finely crushed com flakes
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
Dash pepper
114 cup evaporated milk
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 shallow baking pans, 9x13 inches
Preheat oven to 350°
Wash chicken; pat dry. Mix cornflakes, salt, pap
rika and pepper in paper bag. Dip chicken pieces
in evaporated milk; shake with cornflake mixture
until coated thoroughly. In baking pan melt butter
place chicken skin side down in butter. Bake 30
minutes; turn chicken and bake 30 to 40 minutes
more. Serves 8-10.
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