Chocolate Covered Strawberries with Champagne

Even the non-cook will love this recipe!

Purchase your favorite Champagne and chill. Buy fresh strawberries that have their stems intact. Wash, dry and refrigerate the strawberries. (Cold strawberries will cause the chocolate to harden and there will be less dripping.)

Chocolate dip

Buy a jar or Nutella, European chocolate hazelnut spread
(available in specialty and grocery stores in Atlanta as well as Harry's.)
Place 1 cup of Nutella in a double boiler or fondue pot. Add 1 to 2
Tablespoons of heavy cream. Heat over low heat! Add more heavy cream as needed until the consistency of heavy cream.

Serve your Valentine. Men, you
can do it!

Hearts-filled-with-Love Cookies
Fill these favorites with raspberry or strawberry jelly.

Sift together:
2 1/2 c flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together:
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar

Stir in:
1 well beaten egg
2 tablespoons Pet Milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Chill overnight before using. Roll-out dough and cut with a heart cookie
cutter. Each cookie needs a top and bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

When cool, assemble cookies. Place a teaspoon of jelly on the bottom of a cookie, then cover with another cookie. (The tops of the cookies should be facing outward on both top and bottom.) Sprinkle with 4X Confectioner's Sugar.

Chocolate Surprise
Blend together:
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1 1/2 stick margarine
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Press into 9" x 13" pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool

Cream together:
1 cup powdered sugar
1, 8 oz package of cream cheese

Fold in 9 oz. defrosted Cool Whip. Spread onto the cooled pastry layer.

Mix well:
1 large box of chocolate INSTANT pudding
Add 3 1/2 cups milk

Spread on top of the second layer.

Spread a 9 oz. container of defrosted Cool Whip on top of the third layer and
refrigerate.

Splendid Raspberry Spinach Salad

2 Tablespoons Raspberry Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Raspberry Jam
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
8 Cups Spinach, rinsed, stemmed and torn into pieces.
3/4 Cup coarsely chopped Macadamia nuts or toasted almond slices
1 Cup Fresh Raspberries
3 Kiwis, peeled and sliced

Dressing: Combine vinegar and jam in blender or small bowl. Add oil in thin
stream, blending well.

Toss spinach with 1/2 of the nuts, 1/2 of the raspberries, 1/2 of the kiwi's and the dressing. Top with the remaining ingredients (nuts, raspberries and kiwis.) Serve immediately.

Valentine's Day Cake
Cream together:
1/2 Cup of Crisco
1 1/2 Cups Sugar

Add 2 eggs - Beat Well

Sift 3 Times:
2 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon Cocoa
1 Teaspoon Salt

Fold In:
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda dissolved in
1 Tablespoon Vinegar - Quickly

Use 2, 9" Layer Pans that have been greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes

Filling and Icing
Cook on low flame to pudding stage:

1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Flour
Dash of salt

Cream:
1/2 Cup Crisco
1 Stick Margarine
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla

Add to pudding and beat well. Spead between layers and on top and sides. Sprinkle with coconut.

Victorian Gingerbread Valentines
In Victorian times lovers declared their affections via words, songs,
pictures and foods. One such food was gingerbread "life cakes" in the shape of hearts.

2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1 large egg

In large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.

Blend together margarine and brown sugar until smooth. Add corn syrup and egg; beat well. Add dry ingredients, about one-third at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Chill dough one hour.

Roll out half of dough on lightly floured surface to one-quarter-inch
thickness. (Reserve other half for decoratins or for a second batch of
cookies.) Using hear-shaped cookie cutter, press out cookie shapes or use knife to cut around a pattern. Place hearts on cookie sheet. Decorate as desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until golden. Remove and
place on wire racks to cool. Store in covered container.

Makes about eight 4 1/2 inch cookies.

Shrimp Creole
3 slices bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 teaspoon gumbo file powder
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 28-ounce can tomatoes in tomato puree
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 pounds shrimp, cleaned and deveined

Cook bacon in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat until bacon is
crisp. Remove and drain. Pour off excess fat, reserving 3 tablespoons
drippings. Add onion, garlic, green pepper and gumbo file to bacon drippings and cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and blend in flour; return to heat and cook over low heat 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and puree.

Add remaining ingredients except shrimp, and cook over moderate heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add shrimp and crumbled bacon; cook 5 to 10 minutes longer, until shrimp are tender. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Makes 4 servings.

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

1/2 pound andouille or kielbasa sausage, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 2 1/2-to 3-pound chicken, cut into pieces
1 1/2 quarts water
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions
Cooked rice

In 3-quart saucepan, over medium-high heat, brown sausage in 2 tablespoons oil, about 7 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Add chicken pieces and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
Add water, cover and cook until chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken, leaving liquid in pan, and when chicken is cool enough to handle, discard skin and bones and dice meat into 1/2-inch cubes.

In skillet, over medium heat, mix remaining 2 tablespoons oil and flour and cook, stirring constantly, until roux turns dark brown, about 30 minutes. Add onion, celery, green pepper, garlic and parsley and cook about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add vegetables to liquid in saucepan along with bay leaves, thyme, TABASCO® Sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce
heat and simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes. Add chicken and sausage and simmer another 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, add green onions and adjust seasoning. Let gumbo stand 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, mound about 1/3 cup rice in each soup bowl, then ladle about 1 cup gumbo around rice.

Makes 8 servings.