share! Everyone has a story, and we hope you will help us tell the tales of a variety of Des Moines cooks. Please send us your ideas. Tell us the names, contact information, and a little about your cooking friends. Send to Recipes@DesMoinesCooks.com. Anita's Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe:      Anita’s cookie recipe for the Pillsbury Bake-Off duplicates her taste for Almond Joy candy bars. Coconut-Filled Chocolate Delights ¾ cup Fisher Roasted and Salted Almonds 1½ cups shredded sweetened coconut ½ cup Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (from 14-ounce can) 1 package (16 ounces) Pillsbury Ready to Bake! refrigerated sugar cookies (24 cookies) ⅓ cup Hershey’s baking cocoa ⅓ cup Hershey’s milk chocolate baking chips Reserve 20 almonds; set aside. Chop remaining almonds. In a medium bowl stir chopped almonds, coconut, and milk until well blended. Refrigerate mixture 25 minutes for easier handling. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl knead cookie dough and cocoa with hands until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap; set aside.      For each cookie, press 1 rounded tablespoon dough into a 3-inch round. Place 1 tablespoon coconut mixture on center of each round. Wrap dough around filling, pressing edges to seal; shape into a ball. Place balls 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press each ball with fingers into 2½-inch round. Press 1 whole almond on each cookie.      Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until puffed and edges are set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.      In a small microwavable bowl microwave chocolate chips, uncovered, on High 10 to 20 seconds, stirring every 10 seconds, until smooth. Place in a resealable plastic bag; cut small tip from corner of bag. Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Before storing, let cookies stand at room temperature until chocolate is set. Store in an airtight container. Makes 20 cookies.      Sticky Caramel Pecan Rolls This was a winning recipe for Anita from the Iowa State Fair in the Tone’s Spices Cinnamon Roll competition. Dough: 1 cup milk, heated to lukewarm (80ºF to 90°F) 2 packages yeast ½ cup granulated sugar 5½ to 6 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour 3 large eggs 1 cup mashed potatoes ⅔ cup buttermilk 1 stick butter, at room temperature 1 teaspoon Tone’s vanilla 1 teaspoon salt Topping (this will be on the bottom of the pan): 1 stick butter 1¼ cups light brown sugar 3 tablespoons white corn syrup 1 teaspoon Tone’s vanilla ⅓ cup cream 1½ cups coarsely chopped pecans Filling: ¾ stick butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon Tone’s ground cinnamon 1 cup chopped pecans Combine milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to dissolve. Add granulated sugar and stir together until sugar is dissolved. Add 2 cups of the flour; mix. When the mixture is smooth, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to stand for 1 hour. Add eggs to the sponge, one at a time, and beat until incorporated, scraping down the sides after each addition.      Add potatoes, buttermilk, 1 stick room-temperature butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add salt and remaining flour, just enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times by hand. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Place, rounded side down, into a greased bowl, then turn rounded side up. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour or until doubled.      In a heavy saucepan melt 1 stick butter; stir in the light brown sugar, syrup, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in cream. Bring to a boil and remove from stove.      Use a 13x9-inch pan, two round pans, or two 8x8-inch pans. Pour butter mixture into bottom of pan(s). Sprinkle with the coarsely chopped pecans.      To shape the rolls, lightly flour a work surface. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a rectangle measuring about 9x24 inches. Brush evenly with the softened butter. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar-cinnamon mixture on the buttered dough. .      Sprinkle the 1 cup chopped pecans evenly over the surface and roll up the dough, starting at a long edge, like a jelly roll. With a sharp serrated knife, cut the log crosswise into 1½-inch-thick slices.      Arrange sliced rolls on top of the mixture in the pan(s). Brush the rolls with additional cream. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at warm room temperature to rise for about 30 minutes.      Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Uncover rolls and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove pan(s) from the oven and invert immediately onto parchment or cookie rack. Makes 16 to 18 large rolls or 24 small rolls.  French Silk Pie This French Silk Pie is one of Anita’s favorite recipes. Pastry: 1¼ cups flour ¼ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon butter ⅓ cup shortening (I use butter Crisco) ½ cup ice water 1 egg ¼ teaspoon vinegar Filling: 1 cup sugar ¾ cup butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla 4 ounces dark chocolate, melted (I use Dove chocolate and melt it in the microwave.) 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese ¾ cup pasteurized egg product Topping: ½ pint whipping cream 3 tablespoons powdered sugar ¼ teaspoon vanilla Chocolate curls      Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl mix flour, salt, sugar, the 1 teaspoon butter, and shortening with a pastry blender. In a small bowl mix water, egg, and vinegar with fork. Sprinkle over flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all is moistened. Use about 3 to 4 tablespoons. Roll out pastry and arrange in pie pan. Prick bottom and side of pastry with fork. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. In a mixing bowl beat sugar and the ¾ cup butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and chocolate. Beat in cream cheese until mixed well. Gradually beat in egg product on high speed until light and fluffy. Pour into cooled pie shell.      In a chilled bowl beat whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Top pie with whipped cream and chocolate curls. Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Makes 8 servings.

This Des Moines baker has become a perpetual winner. For Anita Van Gundy, entering baking contests has become an important ingredient in her cooking skills. The mother of four and grandmother of 13 has had fun entering the Iowa State Fair and displaying lots of blue and red ribbons. Her specialties are cookies and pies, and her family doesn’t mind when she “practices” because they get to enjoy the results. Certainly, her practicing has paid off. She has increased her number of fair entries each year since she began in 2007. Last year she entered 50 items and brought home 16 blue ribbons. She has won first place in Tone’s Spices’ contest for sticky pecan rolls, along with a check for a cool $1,500. When she wins monetary prizes, she uses the winnings to purchase something new to use in her baking, from a new range to a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.      But her latest contest has been the biggest to date: entering the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off and becoming the only Iowa entrant to make the cut. The recipe she developed, Coconut-Filled Chocolate Delights, duplicated her love for classic Almond Joy candy bars. She was, of course, vying for the $1 million grand prize. Her recipe fit into in the Sweet Treats category. Other categories included Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, and Dinner Made Easy. In the end, she didn’t take home a top prize, but she and her husband, Dennis, did get a trip to Orlando for the big contest. The 100 finalists each had a mini kitchen for their recipe preparation, and each one was allotted four hours to prepare his or her recipe three times. “It really wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I thought it might be,” she said. “I really concentrated, as did everyone, so we all just prepared our recipes. There was so much media, so we were constantly being interviewed and having our photos taken.”      Anita had indicated on entry material that Fareway Stores are her favorite place to shop. Frederick Greiner, president of Fareway, which is based in Boone, surprised her by coming to Orlando to support her. He gave Anita a $250 gift certificate.      “I did pick up some tips while I was there, and I definitely plan to enter again next year,” she says. On their way home from Florida, the Van Gundys stopped in Savannah, Georgia, so that Anita could visit a spot she wanted to see—Lady & Sons, the restaurant owned by Paula Deen of the Food Network.      Winner in the Sweet Treats category was Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups. Other winners were Breakfast & Brunches, Tomato-Basil Eggs Alfredo in Bread Baskets; Appetizers, Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets; and Dinner Made Easy, Zesty Lime-Fish Tacos. The overall $1 million winner was in Anita’s category. The Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups garnered the top prize for Sue Compton of Delanco, New Jersey.      As a finalist, Anita won a GE countertop microwave oven and $125. Recipes were judged on taste, appearance, creativity, and consumer appeal.      For the Bake-Off, she submitted eight original recipes. “For many of the recipes, you must use certain products. For example, this cookie recipe had to start with Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough. I normally don’t use packaged dough, so that took lots of experimentation to figure just when the cookies were done baking. Every oven works differently, of course. Later I plan to experiment making them with homemade cookie dough.”       With a big stash of cookbooks and surfing the Internet on cooking sites, Anita finds lots of recipes to study and try. She works in the Iowa Secretary of State office in voter registration.        Some people might kid Anita about her love of baking. Her two sons are Jesse and Jason; her daughters are named Cinnamon and Ginger. “Even though cinnamon certainly is my favorite spice, we actually named her for a character on Mission Impossible, which was popular on TV at the time she was born. And Ginger just seemed to go along nicely with that name.”       The Des Moines native loves to pass on her passion for baking. Her daughters usually enter the cinnamon roll contest, too. Granddaughters Ashley, Summer, Alicia, Rose, and Lily have particular interest in and enjoy cooking, too, as does daughter-in-law Stacey.