Lindsey here. I’m into my second week of helping to fill in for my boss, who just had a little bundle of joy. In fact, three Roanoke Times co-workers became parents within about 3 days last week!! There was an entire Roanoke Times wing at RMH!

In addition to helping with editing duties, I’ve been cooking up a storm — chili and chicken pie for new parents; Swiss steak for us, which we cooked in the pressure cooker.

Anyway, I plan to pick the blog back up full-time next week. I will post later this week with the Swiss steak recipe and a few observations from judging the rib cookoff at the Big Lick Blues Festival this past weekend.

Meanwhile, I had to chip in my 2 cents’ worth on Nona’s wonderful blog postings. Thanks a bunch, Nona!

I’m excited about the un-perforated dough because I make little pigs in a blanket several times a year. I love them with Lil’ Smokies and dipped in both ketchup and mustard. Mmmmmm!! I’ve never had a party when they didn’t disappear in a flash.

I’d like to try the new dough in some kind of foldover with a mixture of browned ground beef with onions and other seasonings. Like an English pasty.

As for chiffon cake, I’ll bet it’s delicious and not too fattening. Maybe you could make it and frost it with light whipped cream and strawberries or mandarin oranges. It’s beating the egg whites that’s a pain, but I’ve done it for angel food cake and if you have a cold metal bowl, it’s actually a cool cooking experience.

This is Nona again, filling in for Lindsey while she’s still tied up with editing duties. And once again, I am working with some promotional literature from the good folks at General Mills.

For years I have turned to a trusty tube of Pillsbury crescent roll dough to make a favorite appetizer: Pigs-in-a-blanket. These simple little gems are a holiday tradition in my family, and something I always liked making with my daughter when she was a child. We like to wrap up the sausages in so much dough we call them pigs-in-a-down-comforter.

But there was always a bit of geometry involved in slicing up the perforated triangles in the Pillsbury crescent dough, and inevitably a few of the little smokies only got the small, pointy tip as a wrapping. Pigs-in-a-baby’s-blankie.

Problem solved. Pillsbury is now selling their famous flaky dough in full, non-perforated sheets as Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations.

No more smoothing over or piching up the dotted lines, no more short-sheeting a sausage. Now you can parse your dough anyway you need it.

I checked with a reliable source I have at Kroger, and they don’t have this item yet. Post a comment if you have seen it anywhere else in the Valley. I am going to post some recipes that Pillsbury sent after the jump, including the mini pear brie bites pictured above, but feel free to share your favorite, fun family recipes.

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I had such a hard time deciding who should win “Roadfood” by Jane and Michael Stern that I tried something new this time.

I wrote down the names of all the best entries on little slips of paper and had my co-worker, Stephanie Ogilvie, draw one from a basket.

And the winner is…….. Amy!!

Amy, if you’ll e-mail me your home address at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com, I’ll put this book in the mail for you.

Thanks to everybody who entered to win this time. The diner stories were awesome, from Marion’s 50s diner in Augusta to Lori’s honeymoon food at the Ohana diner in Hawaii. I also really enjoyed Greg’s story about being a newlywed and a stranger to Maine, where he found a friendly place that served killer seafood chowder. What I wouldn’t give for a bowl of that stuff today.

Thanks, everyone! My desk is stacked high with cookbooks right now, so stay tuned for the next giveaway!

Moving on, I wanted to address yesterday’s blog entry about the missing recipe for peanut butter fingers. According to Whitney, the reader who was looking for the recipe, we have found a winner!

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Behold, my most beautious new kitchen tool — a Fagor 6-quart stainless steel pressure cooker.
You know you’ve purchased a serious gizmo when it comes with an instructional DVD that shows you how NOT to blow yourself up.
All former concerns about pressure cookers aside, this is an incredibly easy tool to use. The pressure cookers of the 1940s or even 1970s are things of the past– or at least, they should be. If you’re still using one of those dinosaurs, consider updating.
This bad boy made me two batches of falling-off-the-bones chicken wings last night for the Super Bowl in six minutes!! Six minutes! Since when can you cook anything that fast?
All of the food at my house — jalapeno dip, pigs in a blanket, veggie pizza, chicken pizza, spinach dip, cheese and crackers — was delicious, but the guests descended on those wings like a swarm of locusts.
Do any of you use a pressure cooker on a regular basis? After I’ve had more time to experiment with mine, I’d like to do a column on them. I’d be interested to hear about your experiences.