ASHLAND — Another local cook has something to be proud of. Tonna Canfield’s recipe, Cranberry Glazed Meatballs, has received a blue ribbon at justapinch.com, a recipe and coupon social network.

“Tens of thousands of people send recipes. They send recipes all the time,” the Ashlander said. “You see all these people getting blue ribbons and you just don’t expect to get one. They put one of your recipes on the website and they send you a blue ribbon in the mail.”

Canfield, a legal assistant at Stapleton Law Offices in Huntington, said she loves cooking for her family.

“I cooked more elaborate meals when I was a stay-at-home mom, but now that I work full time I’m finding ways to make recipes better and quicker and easier. That’s fun, too.”

Like many cooks, she said she learned by watching her mother cook. She said as a child, she sat in the kitchen and read to her mother while she cooked.

“She’s a fabulous cook. I’d rather eat her cooking that anybody’s,” she said. “It’s amazing what you learn just watching somebody cook.”

Canfield said she got married at 19 and that’s when she discovered she loved cooking.

“Mom cooked very Southern, Appalachian. She made everything from scratch and when I got married, that’s what I did. I just thought that was what people did,” she said.

As a working woman, she said she has learned to create shortcuts without sacrificing quality.

“People are busy, and I find ways to make things quick and easy yet make it taste better,” she said.

She collects cookbooks and loves reading them and is compiling cookbooks of her own dishes for her daughters, Natalie and Erica.

“Both girls love to cook and they’re both good little cooks,” she said. “They wanted my recipes and they wanted them handwritten so they could have them to keep.”

Canfield is glad to oblige.

“The whole point is sharing. That’s what it’s about,” she said.

This is the recipe that earned Canfield a blue ribbon from justapinch.com.

CRANBERRY GLAZED MEATBALLS

By Tonna Canfield

Cook time: 4 hours; prep time: 10 minutes. Serves

a crowd)

2, 32-ounce packages frozen meatballs (homestyle — not Italian style)

2 cans cranberry sauce (jellied)

1⁄4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

In a saucepan, combine the cranberry sauce, brown sugar, mustard and apple cider vinegar. Cook and stir over medium heat until the cranberry sauce is melted.

Put the frozen meatballs in a six quart crockpot and pour the cranberry glaze over the meatballs. Cook on high 4 to 6 hours or until hot. Serve hot and enjoy!

t

Canfield said her favorite aspect of cooking is baking cakes. Here is her favorite.

TONNA’S FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Read all the directions before beginning.

Cake:

1 (18.25 ounce) package German Chocolate Cake mix

1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix (that’s the large one)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

11⁄4 cups brewed coffee — cooled

Mix everything with mixer just until well blended.  Spray three 9-inch round cake pans with Pam baking spray. Distribute the batter among the pans evenly. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center or a tester/toothpick comes out clean.  Cool cake on racks.

Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

16 ounces Cool Whip (that’s the extra large one)

Mix softened cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and cool whip with mixer just until blended well. Spread filling between cake layers.

Frosting:

1 cup milk

1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2⁄3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

extra milk or cream

In a saucepan, whisk together the 1 cup milk and flour and cook, stirring, until thickened; cool in the refrigerator. Stir granulated sugar, confectioner’s sugar and cocoa together. Beat softened butter with the sugar and cocoa mixture with mixer. Add vanilla. Add flour and milk mixture a little at a time (make ahead of cake so that it has plenty of time to cool). Beat well, adding milk or cream as needed to get to spreading consistency. Frost top and sides of cake or top only.

t

I’m not an expert at making cookies. I’m never sure how long to bake them or how to space them on the cookie sheet.

Now, there are no excuses.

Charleston resident Charles Black has developed a cookie sheet that solves the problem.

Black’s No Touch Baking Sheet has 12 dimples to show the baker where to place the dough so cookies don’t meld into one another.

The dimples also create an air pocket under the cookie during baking. 

“You know when you boil a pot of water with a lid on it and it starts to jiggle around?” Black said. “The dimple is the pot and the cookie is the lid.”

This construction keeps the cookie from sticking and protects it from burning. I bought some sheets from Black and gave it and try. Much to my surprise, the dimples protect the cookie from burning. You still need to use a spatula, but I did as Black said and did not grease or spray the sheet before use and the cookies were easily removed.

“The cookies will be the same color on the bottom as they are on top,” he assured me, and he was right.

On the back of the label on the sheet are two cookie recipes. They are very unusual, but right away, I could see they contained a special ingredient to boost the flavor — maple syrup. While Black offers these recipes, he makes it clear you can use any recipe, including store-bought dough. I made Black’s peanut butter cookie recipe and it’s the first time a cookie I made was the same color on bottom as on top.

Because cookies don’t stick, cleanup is easy. Wash the sheet with soap and warm water.

Black points out the sheets have short legs so they can be used as cooling racks.

For more information or to order No Touch Baking Sheets, visit notouchcookiesheet.com or call (304) 984-0548.

t

The International Biscuit Festival has begun accepting recipe submissions for the 2013 International Biscuit Festival Biscuit Bake Off on May 18 in Knoxville.  

Competition categories are Sweet Biscuits, Savory Biscuits, Special Biscuits and Student Biscuits. The special category is for those biscuits considered “incredibly imaginative.”

The student category is for those 18 and younger.  Each category will have three finalists chosen from all of the submitted recipes; those bakers will bake live in front of a panel of celebrity judges and an audience of biscuit lovers.

The grand prize winner will be chosen from the winners of the four categories.

Bake-off applications are available online at Biscuitfest.com. Submissions will be accepted until midnight April 22. Finalists will be notified and scheduled for the live competition.

For more information, go to biscuitfest.com or email Chris Kahn at chris@biscuitfest.com.

t

To cut down on paper clutter in the kitchen, try online bookmarking.

Clipix, a free online bookmarking tool that allows you to save content online that you want to return to, is available across iOS and Android devices. For more information, visit clipix.com.

t

The American Pie Council®(APC)/Crisco® National Pie Championships will be April 27 and 28 in Orlando. Entries are being accepted now for amateurs and professionals.

For more information or to obtain an entry form, visit piecouncil.org. Entries are due by March 30.

t

While I don’t claim to be an expert cook, I do like to cook and love to eat. Readers are encouraged to send questions about food and cooking; I’ll try to find the answers. Also, if you’re looking for a specific recipe, send your request, or if you can offer a recipe to someone looking for something specific, please send email to lward@dailyindependent.com.