Blushing Fruit Tarts with Amaretto Truffle Sauce
School is not only a great place to learn your ABCs, but to learn about delectable recipes. Teachers, administrators, support staff, coaches and parents cook up an abundance of goodies during the school year for class parties, bake sales, potlucks, special events and teachers’ lounge snacks. That’s why this book is devoted to recipes shared in school hallways and classrooms across the nation.
We received more than 14,000 recipes from schools around the country—from Kirkland, Washington, to Apopka, Florida. After sorting, testing and tasting contest recipes, the judges declared the following the top three winners.
The Grand-Prize Winner is Chocolate Ganache Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Ronda Schabes won over our judges with her rich chocolate cupcakes with a surprise peanut butter center. She covers the cupcakes with a silky chocolate ganache, then tops that with a smooth peanut butter frosting that melts in your mouth. The seasoned baker said, “As soon as I took my first bite, I knew I had created something divine!” Our taste panel certainly agreed with her.
Chicken Marsala Lasagna took second place. Bring your appetite when you sample Debbie Shannon’s delectable, hearty entree. She layers lasagna noodles with a fantastic portobello mushroom-wine sauce that has bits of ham and chicken and a three-cheese spinach mixture—absolutely delizioso. Debbie’s love of this classic dish inspired her to create her own version and make it sizeable enough to feed a crowd. At 12 servings, her lasagna is a big success!
Third place went to Quinoa and Black Bean Salad, a healthy recipe developed by Yvonne Compton. She crowns quick-cooking quinoa with a festive mixture of orange peppers, red onion, black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes and avocado. A lime vinaigrette gives the colorful dish wonderful flavor. Yvonne likes to serve it as a side dish, but by increasing the serving size, it works just as well as an entree. Either way, our judges think you’ll agree this salad is fabulous.
As you page through the book, you’ll find recipes for appetizers, bake sales, potlucks, lunchtime, weeknight dinners, special occasions and much more. You can be assured these dishes will work in your kitchen, since the cooking professionals at Taste of Home tested them all. Each and every recipe has a beautiful full-color photo so you know what you’re making. And the ingredients are available in most supermarkets.