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Funny that blog reader Michelle brought up the Pillsbury Bake-off in her most recent comment, because I just received a big package of information from Pillsbury about their 44th Annual Bake-off contest. That's right, it's that time of year again! You could win a grand prize of one million if you dream up the best new recipe using a featured brand of products.

Most Pillsbury products (rolls, breadsticks, pie crust, brownie mix, etc.) are fair game for the primary ingredient; the secondary ingredients can come from a list that includes Jif peanut butter, Smucker's jams, Crisco oil, Eagle sweetened condensed milk and Hershey's cocoa or chips.

If you have an inspired recipe, you can enter online at www.bakeoff.com. That's also the place to find any additional information you may need. All entries must be received by 11:59 a.m. central time on April 20, 2009. 100 finalists will travel to Florida on April 12, 2010 to compete. Have you guys seen the documentary on the bake-off? It's pretty wild.

To get you motivated, here's a tasty appetizer recipe that was a finalist in the 43rd contest (2008). If you enter, best of luck!!

Ham Florentine Mini-Cups
Patricia Ingalls, West Paterson, NJ

1 box (9 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1/3 cup garlic-and-herb spreadable cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
3 Tbsp. freshly grated Romano cheese
2 Tbsp. finely chopped shallot or onion
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. salt, if desired
1/8 tsp. pepper, if desired
1 can (8 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls)
24 paper-thin slices of smoked ham (about 4 inches in diameter)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish, if desired

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients except rolls, ham and Parmesan cheese until well-blended. Set aside.

2. Unroll dough. Separate dough into four rectangles; press perforations to seal*. Cut each rectangle into 6 (2-inch) squares. Press 1 square in bottom and up sides of each of 24 ungreased mini muffin cups.

3. Pat each ham slice dry with a paper towel. Place each slice over dough in each cup (edges of ham will be higher than side of cup). Spoon rounded teaspoon of spinach mixture onto ham in center of each cup.

4. Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is hot. To prevent excessive browning of ham, cover lightly with foil for the first 5 minutes of baking. Cool in pan 1 minute. Gently remove from pan and let stand 3 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese before serving. Serve warm.

* I believe Pillsbury sells whole sheets of their crescent dough these days, so it may not be necessary to buy the rolls and press the perforations together.