Frankoma Facts
for Busy Folks...

• Put your Frankoma into a cold oven when you're baking; then set the temperature. Frankoma loves to warm up with the oven and your overall baking time will be reduced!
• Look carefully at any Frankoma piece and you'll see tiny dots. These are actually special pores that absorb heat or cold, so your entrees stay warm on the table and your cold recipes stay fresh and crisp!
• Celebrity chefs like the Food Network's Paula Deen bake with Frankoma because our unique clay transmits heat so evenly there are no problem hot or cold spots. Everything bakes beautifully!
• Frankoma's mixing bowls are designed to reduce beating time and spattering around the kitchen. They really work, and both our Color Works design and our Mountain Air (shown below) are so pretty you can use them as home accents throughout the house!

One Bowl Challenge

Recently I found a recipe for a yellow squash casserole that caught my attention. It seemed easy enough and if I improvised a little I had most of the ingredients on hand, but if it took more than one bowl to prepare, I wasn't going to try it. After a long day at work, I had no interest in fixing anything that would leave me with a sink full of dirty dishes…But what if I could prepare the whole thing in one bowl? I knew our bake ware and bowls could multi task, but could Frankoma stand up to a one bowl challenge? I decided to find out.

I beat a couple of eggs in a Mountain Air serving bowl, tossed in some diced summer squash and onion, and then added some soft bread crumbs, cottage cheese and pre-grated cheddar right out of the package. A little salt and pepper, and the serving bowl casserole was ready to pop in my cold oven. A real time and energy saver, there's no need to preheat because Frankoma's unique terra cotta likes to warm up in the oven as it climbs to the desired baking temperature.

About 45 minutes later, I checked on my "bowl". Much to my surprise, not only was the casserole fully cooked, but the top was golden and a bit puffed like a small soufflé. It looked great on the table and was a big hit! Needless to say, there wasn't much left, but after dinner I put the leftovers in the fridge. The next day I reheated the remaining serving for lunch by zapping it in the microwave for about a minute and a half. Since Frankoma absorbs and transmits heat evenly, things cook faster than usual in either the microwave or oven. I could've just put it on a Frankoma plate and nuked it there, but I was still in the midst of my one bowl challenge. When I finished, I filled the bowl with water for just a couple of minutes and then gently swished it out. It was so easy care it hardly needed the dishwasher, and my Frankoma had passed the test for mixing, baking, serving, and reheating all in one bowl, and the squash recipe...Well it's now one of my family's favorites and I'm happy to pass it along to you. Enjoy!

One Bowl Squash Casserole Recipe

2 eggs
2 cups diced summer squash and/or zucchini
1 cup diced onion
2 slices soft bread
1 cup low fat cottage small curd cheese
1 cup grated cheddar or your favorite cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Use medium Frankoma serving bowl. Beat eggs in the bowl with a fork. Add squash and onion. Tear bread - whole wheat, white or whatever you have - into small pieces. Add to the bowl. Fold in rest of the ingredients and put in cold oven. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until set and golden.

Whoops! I Forgot The Dessert!

If I'm invited to dinner or a potluck, I happily offer to bring dessert. With illusions of grandeur I imagine I'll concoct a chocolate trifle, or even a flourless hazelnut torte, but of course this never happens. Instead I get busy with other things, and rationalize that hazelnuts are too expensive anyway. At the last minute when I'm forced to choose between a cake, bought at the super market, or something I can throw together in minutes, I usually opt for a dessert I can make right in the pan. I call it a fruit and nut crumble to make it sound important--and to hide that with only 4 ingredients. It's so easy it's embarrassing when you put it together in a Frankoma bake pan! I like to use our cornbread baker. Before serving tie a ribbon and tuck in a flower or two on the handle, and this dessert steals the show.

You can serve the crumble right from the pan and spoon out the portions at the table. I like to use Frankoma's individual dipping bowls as small dessert dishes for this crumble because it's very rich. Top it off with a little dollop of a favorite ice cream or an easy vanilla sauce (melted vanilla ice cream) and dessert is ready. And here's a tip: if "Harry and Sally" turn up unexpectedly, you can stretch this dessert by using the crumble as an ice cream topping. Anyway you serve it, this is a real family and crowd pleaser.

Fruit and Nut Crumble

1 can prepared apple, cherry, peach or berry pie filling
½ cup melted margarine
1 pk. Jiffy type plain yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Pour pie filling in Frankoma bake pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly, right out of the package onto the pie filling. Pour melted margarine over dry cake mix, and sprinkle with nuts. Put into cold oven and set at 350 degrees. Bake about 30 minutes, until golden. Serve warm or cold.