My children, Randi and Danny love this recipe for corn.  It is super easy to make, and you will be surprised how delicious it is!

Serves about 4 people:

• 6 ears of fresh corn (I prefer supersweet white)
• about 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• kosher salt to taste- about 1 teaspoon

Take husks and silk off cobs.  Then hold cob perpendicular to cutting board, and slice kernals off.  Melt butter in large saute pan over low flame.  Place corn in pan, sprinkle with salt,  and saute over medium flame for about 6-8 minutes until corn is tender.  Serve.  (You can reheat any leftovers in microwave.)

To make this chicken, all I did was simply adapt one of my regular chicken recipes for Passover.  These are delicious, which I know for sure, since all my children loved them.  In fact, my daughter Randi claims that she likes this chicken more than my not for Passover oven fried chicken cutlets.  These are delicious hot, but also cold.  What I like to do is prepare the chicken before I leave for work in the morning without baking it, stick it in the fridge, and then when I get home, I can just throw it in the oven and dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

•  1 pound or so of thin sliced chicken cutlets
• matza meal
• kosher salt
• pepper
• olive oil or any other oil of your choice (I use a combination of extra virgin and light olive oil, but that is not necessary)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1.  Line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil, then pour a few tablespoons of oil on it, and shmear it all over the pan.  Pour some oil in a shallow bowl, enough to coat all your cutlets.

2.  Place the cutlets in oil and with make sure the cutlets are all totally coated in the oil.

3.  Pour a good amount of matza meal on a large plate, and add salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Dredge each oil coated cutlet in the matza meal, using your hands to really coat the cutlet well on both sides.  I usually turn the cutlet over a few times, pressing the matza meal into the cutlet.  Then transfer each cutlet to the sheet pan.  Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper over each cutlet and drizzle the top of the chicken very lightly with.

5.  Place in center of oven for about 15 minutes.  Change the setting of the oven to broil- low.  Then cook for another 10 or so minutes just until the top of the chicken is nicely browned.  During this time, watch carefully.  If chicken is starting to burn, then change the setting back to bake at 400 degrees.

Note:  The chicken cutlets I use are very thin.  If your cutlets are thicker, bake them for more time up front, and broil them for a few minutes at the end.  Matza meal takes longer to brown than bread crumbs or corn flakes crumbs.  That’s why I have found it is necessary to broil the cutlets to brown them.  The thin cutlets only need 20-25 min. to cook, and the matza meal will not brown in that time period only on a bake setting.

My mother, Shirley Fried, was a wonderful baker when I was growing up.  One of my favorite cakes of hers was a chocolate chip cake that she made.  This chocolate chip cake reminds me of the one she made.  I make it in a tube pan, but it can also be made in a large loaf pan.  If you don’t have miniature chocolate chips, you can chop regular chips and use them instead.

• 1 12 oz. bag mini sem-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter - room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt (if using salted butter, use 1/2 tsp. salt)
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 3 extra large eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a tube pan, bundt, or loaf pan well- sides and bottom, and tube if you are usiing a tube pan.   Cream butter, then add sugar, and cream till fluffy.  Add eggs and cream till fluffy.  Combine the dry ingredients and blend in alternately with the milk and vanilla.  Mix in dry ingredients each time only till blended. Then add chips and fold in with rubber spatula.  Bake in greased pan for about 1 hour till toothpick comes out clean.  If you are baking in a loaf pan, then it may take a bit longer.  Just make sure the toothpick comes out clean.

Note: I usually bake this in a tube pan, then I cut cake into thirds, I keep one third of the cake out, and I freeze each of the other thirds by wrapping them in plastic wrap first and then in a ziploc bag.

Note:  I have sometimes used 6 or 7 oz. of chocolate chips and then 6 oz. of bittersweet chocolate chopped too, but the easiest thing to do is just use one 12 oz. bag of miniature semisweet chocolate chips. 

I have been making homemade chocolate chip cookies forever.  I have definitely made more batches of these cookies than any other of my recipes.  The reason I made and still make them so often is because I love seeing the reaction of my kids when they realize this treat is coming.  As soon as the cookies are out of the oven and on the cooling rack, I call my kids into the kitchen with “The chocolate chip cookies are ready!”  Then they come bounding out of their rooms (yes, still at 24 years old for Danny and 21 years old for Benji), they grab plates, and then they very carefully select somewhere between 4 and 6 of what they consider the perfect ones.  Sometimes they fight over which cookies they want.  Then they sit down in front of the TV to eat their cookies.  The expressions on their faces are worth a million dollars to me.  Benji makes sounds and his eyes just say it all.  Danny just eats more quietly, but loves them just as much.  As Randi is in her own house, she gets them the next day, but loves them just as much.  In fact, Randi usually begs me NOT to make them in the interest of her health and figure. I love it all!  When my children were growing up, these cookies were a staple in our house.  I often would make up the batter, and bake one or two batches of cookies, and then refrigerate the remaining batter in a tupperware container. Then I could make a fresh batch of cookies every night until the batter ran out, and my children just loved eating them right out of the oven.  There really is nothing like a warm homemade chocolate chip cookie. Here are the recipes I have made over the years:

Standard Toll House Variety:

• 2 sticks butter or margarine (I like to use one stick of unsalted butter and 1 stick of unsalted Fleischmann’s margarine)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon  salt (if your butter or margarine are salted, decrease to 1/2 teaspoon salt)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (I sometimes throw a pinch of baking powder in too)
• 1 12 oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips

OR

Same as above except increase light brown sugar to 1 cup and decrease granulated sugar to 1/2 cup

OR

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine or a mixture of both
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 extra large or jumbo egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (add a little more salt if using unsalted butter or margarine)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 12 oz. bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream room temperature butter or margarine in mixer with paddle attachment, food processor with metal blade, or by hand.  Then add sugars and cream till fluffy.  Add egg or eggs, and vanilla, and mix till fluffy.  Add flour, baking soda (and powder), salt  on very low speed or by pulsing in processor, just till blended.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined or greased cookie sheets about 7-9 minutes until just browned around the edges and till the tops of cookies appear dry.  Let cool for a minute, and transfer to cooling racks.  Store in ziploc bags at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer.

Note:  You can use as much batter as you like, and just refrigerate the rest for up to a week and a half.

Another note:  I saw a video of Martha Stewart Chocolate Chip Cookies 101, and she uses my first variation under the recipe on top, the one changing the light brown sugar to 1 cup and the granulated sugar to 1/2 cup, but she uses all butter which I often do,  she uses 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, with everything else remaining the same, so I may try that next time and see how they come out.

I have been making my homemade meat sauce with meatballs  for the last 3o years, and it remains a family favorite.  But recently, my children have been requesting that I make marinara sauce with meatballs as a lighter and healthier alternative.  So my challenge was to make sure my meatballs would be just as delicious even though they wouldn’t be cooking in my meat sauce.  Well, I did it!  My inspiration to develop the recipe came from my daughter Randi, who thought her baby, Noah, would love the meatballs.  Randi and her husband Dan have been vegetarians for the last 10 years, but have started eating meat again, but they still don’t want a meat overload.  So the perfect compromise is a great marinara sauce with my incredible meatballs.  As a bonus to health, I found fabulous organic ground beef at Costco.  It comes in vacuum sealed 1 pound packages which can be easily frozen, and easily defrosted.  The meat was absolutely beautiful, and had the freshest smell when  I opened it.  What a find!  This is a delicious and economical recipe that you are sure to enjoy.

for the meatballs:

3 pounds organic chopped meat (or ground turkey)

3  extra large eggs

about 3/4 cup ketchup

about 3/4 cup plain  bread crumbs ( I once substituted about 1/4 cup of organic oats and 2 tablespoons wheat germ for some of the bread crumbs, and the meatballs were just as good as when I use all breadcrumbs.)

kosher salt, garlic powder, and ground pepper to taste

Mix with clean hands gently; do not overmix.

Form into meatballs with a diameter of about 1 1/2 inches.

In a very large nonstick frying pan, put a drop of canola or olive oil.  Heat, then put meatballs in over low-medium flame, and brown for just a few minutes over a medium heat.  Turn meatballs and then COVER pan.  You do not want to really brown them all over, because they can become tough.  It is almost as if you are steaming them.  Take cover off a few times and turn meatballs.  This should be a gentle process.  Discard fat as you cook meatballs.  When meatballs seem pretty cooked, transfer them with slotted spoon into your pot of marinara sauce being careful to drain as much fat as possible before putting meatballs in sauce.  The meatballs don’t have to be fully cooked when they go in the sauce, because they will finish cooking in the sauce.  Simmer the meatballs in the marinara sauce over a low heat for at least another hour with cover on over a very low flame.  Recipe for marinara sauce is below.

for the marinara sauce:

about 1/3 cup olive oil

4 or 5 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes (best brand is Sclafani- found at Pathmark on Route 1 in Edison and Top Tomato)

1 small can tomato paste

6-8  garlic cloves, crushed or minced

2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped very fine (I use the metal blade of the food processor and I pulse the onion until it is the consistency of chunky apple sauce)

kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 tablespoon fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or dried herbes de provence

1 teaspoon of sugar, if you like

Pour about 1/3 cup of olive oil in a very large saucepan.  Add crushed red pepper flakes to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon.  Then saute the onion till translucent, add the chopped or crushed garlic cloves, and saute with the onion till soft.  Add all  the tomato product, about 8 - 12 oz. of water if you think the sauce is too thick, about 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and some freshly cracked pepper to taste.  Cover and simmer over low flame mixing every 10 or 15 minutes.

After the marinara has been cooking for about 45 minutes, add the meatballs which you have prepared and par-cooked as instructed above.  Then simmer meatballs in sauce over lowest flame for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours with cover on.

Add more seasonings as needed.  Serve over pasta of your choice.  Or you can let the sauce cool and freeze it in quart containers with the meatballs.

My very nice co-teacher in school, Doris Fisher, bakes these muffins on a regular basis for her friends and family.  Luckily for me, she brought some in to school for me to sample.  They were delicious!  These muffins are a breeze to make and they freeze beautifully, too.  Enjoy!

for the muffins:

• 3 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 16 oz. can pure pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 2 if you like a more cinnamony flavor)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray mini muffin pans (recipe makes 48 mini muffins)

In large mixing bowl, blend eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla.  Whisk till nicely blended.  Then  and add everything else but the chips, mixing in just until blended with a rubber spatula.  Then add chips and fold in.  Scoop out batter into prepared pans, and bake 23-35 min till muffins are lightly browned around edges and toothpick comes out clean.

I combined a few of my kids’ favorite ingredients and came up with a yummy recipe for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.  I used pecans in this recipe, but walnuts could be substitued.  I also used some white whole wheat flour, which you could either increase or decrease.  I am trying to “healthify” some of my recipes, and I really don’t know if it makes a difference with all of these very fattening ingredients!  These cookies are delicious at room temperature, but they taste really good when you eat them frozen, too.

• 2 sticks unsalted or salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2  teaspoons kosher salt (If I am using salted butter,  I reduce this to 1  teaspoon)
• 1 cup unbleached flour (I use King Arthur unbleached organic flour)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur Organic White Whole-Wheat Flour)
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 heavy cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Beat butter with sugars in electric mixer till fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla and mix.  Stop mixer.  Dump in flours, then pour your baking soda and salt right on top of your flours. Then on lowest speed, mix JUST until blended.  By hand,  fold in oats, coconut, nuts, and chocolate chips. 

Drop dough onto prepared cookie sheet using a small spoon so that your cookies aren’t too big.  You can fit about 16 cookies on your sheet.  Refrigerate remaining dough in between batches. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 7-10 minutes until cookies are lightly browned.  Take out of oven; let set for a minute, transfer to wire rack to cool.  Repeat with remaining dough.  You can bake one or two dozen, and save remaining dough in fridge in a good tuperware container for about a week if you wish, or you can bake all of the cookies, and freeze a bunch of them.  This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies.

*Here’s a great trick!  To avoid a step, I measure my flour, then pour it right into my kitchen aid bowl,  then I measure my baking soda and salt and drop it right on top of the flour in the bowl.  Then I turn the mixer on to low, and start mixing the dry ingredients.  This way, I don’t have to first measure my dry ingredients into a separate bowl. 

**  You can exchange more white flour for the whole wheat, or you can try exchanging more whole wheat flour for the white flour.     

I was really in the mood to make some delicious pizza last weekend.  I remembered that my son Danny had eaten pizza in New York City a few months ago that he had gone nuts for.  I wanted to recreate that pizza for Danny.  I had so much fun experimenting with making the pizzas, and the results were amazing!  First, I used half the recipe for my homemade pizza dough to make one large pie.  The pie was half plain, and half mushroom.  The second pie I made was specifically for my son Danny, to recreate the pie he had in NY.   For that pie, I topped it with some caramalized onions, and then with some shredded romano cheese.  Then I made some homemade spinach pesto, which Danny drizzed over some of his pizza.  I can’t tell how delicious those pies were!  Few pizzarias make pizza that taste this good!

Pizza Dough  (This dough recipe makes 2 large pizzas, but the following instructions are meant to be enough for only 1 pizza.)  For the dough recipe, type in calzone above in the search, and the recipe for the pizza dough will come up.

for the mushroom pizza:  Heat saute pan.  Put a little olive oil in a saute pan to coat. Put sliced mushrooms (about 8-10 oz.)  in hot oil.  Sprinkle with kosher salt, a few cracks of black pepper, and a light sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Let sit undisturbed till mushrooms brown on bottom.  Turn and cook until nicely browned.  If you have fresh garlic on hand, mince or chop one or two cloves and throw into pan at this point.  Keep moving garlic around so it doesn’t burn.  Garlic just needs to saute for a minute to become translucent and be flavorful.  Although, I didn’t do this, you might want to add a sprinkling of either fresh thyme leaves (leaves from one sprig), or a sprinkling of dry oregano.  Saute another minute or so. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Place sheet of parchment paper on large, heavy duty cookie sheet or half sheet pan. Sprinkle parchment paper with yellow cornmeal (I use Quaker).  Then, roll dough out on a lightly floured clean counter, or lightly floured piece of waxed paper or parchment paper to 1/4 inch thickness into either a large circle or rectangle.  Once dough is rolled out, lift the dough with your hands and transfer it to parchment on cookie sheet.  Then spoon about 1 cup of marinara sauce over dough.  Sprinkle a very light sprinkling of red pepper flakes over sauce (if you like the heat).  Then sprinkle about 8 oz. of coursely grated or thinly sliced whole milk (not fresh) mozzarella cheese evenly over pizza.  Place mushrooms evenly over pizza.  Sprinkle very lightly with dried oregano.  Bake on middle rack in oven for about 15-18 minutes until the underside of the dough is lightly browned.  Then change the setting on the oven to broil, and cook for about 3 more minutes until the cheese becomes bubbly, brown, and beautiful!

for the caramelized onion and romano pizza:

Thinly slice about 4 medium-large onions.  Pour about 1/4 cup olive oil into a large saute pan.  Get it hot over a medium flame.  Add the sliced onions.  Sprinkle them with kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Saute for about 30-40 minutes over a medium flame, turning every so often.  The idea is not to burn the onions, but to brown them.  This takes a little while, so be patient. Set pan aside.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Place a sheet of parchment paper over a large heavy duty cookie sheet or sheet pan.  Then sprinkle some yellow cornmeal (I use Quaker) on the parchment paper.   Roll dough out on lightly floured clean counter or sheet of waxed or parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thickness, either into a large circle or a large rectangle.  Spoon about 1 cup marinara sauce over the dough.  Distribute onions evenly over top of sauce.  Sprinkle about 4 garlic cloves, minced on top.  Then sprinkle about 4 oz. of shredded, not grated, romano cheese (which I use because romano cheese has no lactose in it), or shredded parmesan cheese over top of pizza.  Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt,  red pepper flakes if you like a little heat, a little coarse black pepper,  and sprinkle very lightly with dried oregano.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Bake in the oven on middle rack for about 15 minutes until the bottom of the dough is lightly browned.  If pizza is browning too quickly, lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees.  Serve with pesto on the side, and spoon a little on if your wish.

Slice, serve, and enjoy!

I had so much fun this weekend cooking pizza and calzones. I made pizza dough from scratch, which is so easy. I divided the dough in half. I used half to make one huge calzone, and I used the other half to make a large beautiful pizza. Both were outstanding!!!! I had so much fun making it and  seeing the reaction I got  that I made another batch of the dough, froze half of the dough to make 2 smaller calzones, and this time I made an incredible pizza for my son Danny. We are brainwashed, I think to believe that we can only get great pizza (or calzones) from pizzerias, and it just isn’t true.

for the dough: (This makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas. or for one large pizza and one large calzone, or for one large pizza and 2 medium calzones, or for 2 large calzones. or for 4 medium calzones) Are you sufficiently confused? You can freeze the pizza dough by forming it into disks, wrapping it in plastic wrap, and then putting it in freezer ziploc bags.

• 3 1/2 cups bread flour (I use King Arthur)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (I used light)
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (around 110 - 115 degrees)

I made the dough the first time in my food processor, and the second time in my standing mixer using the dough hook. Both worked great! I’ve made pizza dough by hand, and that works perfectly too!

Measure the hot water into a pyrex measuring cup. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Put a thermometer in if you have one and when the water temp is between 110 and 115 degrees (or lukewarm), pour in the yeast and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula.

When yeast mixer has some pools of tan bubbles which have risen to the top-(this will take about 5 minutes), add the 2 tablespoons of oil and  pour the yeast-water-oil mixture into either the large bowl of your mixer, the food processor bowl, or a large mixing bowl (if you are making dough by hand).  Then measure your dry ingredients (flour and salt) and dump into the yeast- water mixture. Use the dough hook with your mixer or the metal blade with your food processor.  On low speed with the mixer, mix for about 5-10 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl once or twice. Dough is done when it feels quite smooth. In the food processor, pulse until forms a ball, let it process for a few minutes.  Dump dough once it is smooth, onto a clean floured board or clean table or counter. Form into a ball. If you are doing by hand, pour water-yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl, dump dry ingredients into bowl.  Use a fork to bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid in the large bowl.  Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in. Dump mixture onto a large floured clean work surface, and knead the dough with clean, flour-dusted hands.  Knead the dough until you have a smooth, springy dough, about 5-7 minutes.

Form your smooth dough into one ball.  Grease a largish bowl very lightly with oil (you just want a slight film of oil in the bowl) and put the dough in. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in warm spot for one to two hours until the dough has doubled in size. Or place in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours. If dough has not doubled by that time, take it out of fridge and place in warm spot for a little while till it has doubled. Then uncover the bowl, and dump dough out onto floured board, counter, or table. Turn it a few times. Then deflate the dough, get the air out of it by patting it down with your hand. Form it into a large disk about 12 inches in diameter. With a sharp knife, cut dough into as many pieces as you want. The larger the piece of dough, the larger the pizza or calzone will be. Form each piece you break off into a round disk about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Wrap with plastic wrap. Then refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to use. If you don’t plan on using the dough that day, then freeze it in a ziploc bag. Of course, you don’t have to refrigerate the dough disks if you are planning to make your pizza  right away.

for the calzone filling: ( I made one large calzone using half of the recipe of the pizza dough, but next time, I will make 2 smaller ones)

Double the following ingredients this if you are using ALL the dough for calzones: 

• olive oil
• 8 oz. mushrooms (I used white button)
• 5-7 oz. prewashed baby spinach
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup either marinara sauce, or tomato sauce
• a sprinkling of dried oregano or thyme or fresh 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves- about 4 sprigs)- optional
• 1/2 pound of grated or sliced thin mozzarella cheese, either whole milk or part skim (I prefer to use a block of whole milk - not fresh - mozzarella cheese and either slice it or grate it myself)

Into a hot large saute pan, pour about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add the mushrooms, and toss in the hot oil.  Sprinkle with kosher salt, some cracks of black pepper, and a light sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Let sit untouched until the mushrooms are browned.  Then turn them with a spatula.  Let them sit again until they are brown and smell fantastic.  Lower the flame and add the garlic, and let the garlic get translucent, but do not burn.  Add the thyme or organo, if you are using it.   Drop in the butter and toss the mushrooms in it to make them tasty and shiny.

Add the tomato sauce or the marinara sauce.  Heat for a few minutes.  Turn heat either down or off completely, add the fresh spinach (in batches if you need to).  Toss.  The spinach will wilt from the heat of the hot ingredients in the pan.  The spinach doesn’t need to cook!  You should have a thick, tasty mixture that’s not too moist. (If your mixture is too liquidy, it will burst through the dough when you’re cooking the calzone).

Divide the spinach and mushroom mixture into either 1 or two portions depending on whether you are making one large or two smaller calzones.  (You can make this filling in advance and refrigerate until you are ready to use.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Place parchment paper on heavy duty baking sheet.  Then roll dough out on another sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper which has been floured.  Roll into a circle about 1/4 inch thick.  Place on prepared parchment lined baking sheet.  Place the filling on one half of the circle, then put the cheese on top of the filling, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dried oregano (optional).  Lift the other side of the dough up, and fold over the other side.  You will have a half circle or half moon shape.  Crimp the edges really well so none of the filling can spill out.  Cook for about 12-18 minutes until the dough is puffed up and golden  on top,  golden on the underside, and the filling is hot.  Let cool for a few minutes.  Cut the large calzone into at least 2 pieces. 2 smaller calzones are probably perfect for large single size portions.

Note:  If you have made the spinach-mushroom mixture in advance, bring to room temperature before you fill the calzones and bake them.

Note:  For recipe for incredible homemade pizzas using this dough, type the word pizza into the search engine at the top of the cite.

Whenever I want to make a cake on the spur of the moment, I make this cake.  I often have the ingredients in my house, and it takes about 10 minutes to get this cake in the oven.  If I’m bringing it over to someone’s house, I usually slice about half of the cake and put it on a platter, and then I keep the rest at home.  If I’m just making it for my kids, then I usually cut the cake into thirds. Then I slice up one third to serve for dessert that night, and I freeze each of the other two thirds unsliced, first wrapping in heavy duty foil, and then putting in ziploc bags. My kids love this cake!

• 1 box Duncan Hines Deep or Dark Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (low-fat is fine)
• 3 extra large eggs
• 1/2 cup corn or vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch processed)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease sides, bottom, and tube of tube (angel food cake pan) or bundt pan.  In electric mixer, pour cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and cocoa.  Mix on medium speed until fully incorporated and pretty lump free. Pour chocolate chips in, and mix by hand until incorporated.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 45-55 minutes until cake has separated from sides, is springy to the touch, and a toothpick comes out clean.  (Your toothpick may run into some of the melted chocolate from the chips, so you may not be able to rely on the toothpick test to test for doneness.)  Cool on a cake rack.  When cake is fully cooled, run a knife around the outer edge and around the tube to separate.  Then lift the cake up.  Either cut it in halves or thirds right on the bottom of the pan.  Lift sections off the bottom.  Either slice or freeze.

***Cupcake Variation:  Omit chocolate chips, put paper cups in 2 standard 12 muffin pans, bake 20 - 25 min. till toothpick  comes out clean.