How many recipes on Pinterest? Well, she started with 30

Claire Watson recently set out to make and test recipes from the popular Internet site Pinterest. Hundreds of recipes with fabulous photographs of the dishes are on the site. Claire started with 30 recipes, calling her experiment The 30 Days of Pinterest. With each recipe she has comments and a review on her Pinterest page at pinterest.com/heartlandmom/30-days-more-or-less-of-pinterest/. I am sharing a few of the recipes and her comments here today, noting that the Angel Chicken is her favorite. What a great idea, and I'm sure it was a lot of fun along the way.

Day 25: Angel Chicken

"I am not usually a fan of dishes with canned soup, or of crockpot meals, but this is SOOOOO Good! The chicken was fall-apart tender. But who cares about the chicken? The white wine sauce was so delicious I swear I could eat a whole bowl of it. I served this with Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice (use only half the seasoning pack) and steamed broccoli. The house smelled wonderful while this was cooking. And it was so good you could serve to guests."

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds)

1 (8-ounce) package fresh button mushrooms, quartered

1 (6-ounce) package fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 (0.7-ounce) package Italian dry salad dressing mix

1 (10-3/4-ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 of an 8-ounce tub cream cheese spread with chives and onion

Hot cooked rice or angel hair pasta

* Make the sauce: Melt the butter in saucepan, add in the dry Italian dressing mix, then mix in the soup, white wine and cream cheese.

* Cook over low heat, stirring, until cheese melts and ingredients are combined. Place mushrooms in the crockpot, top with chicken, then poor sauce over all.

* Cover with crockpot lid and cook on low for 5 hours.

Day 22: Monterey Chicken

"I made this for company. It was super-easy and very good. It reminded me of a dish my husband and I used to like at Ruby Tuesday until they took it off the menu."

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon, or real bacon bits

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses)

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 (1.5-ounce) can fire-roasted green chilies

Sliced green onion

Salt and pepper

* Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook on indoor or outdoor grill, or in pan over medium-high heat.

* Lay cooked chicken pieces out on foil-lined cookie sheet. Top each with barbecue sauce, then grated cheese, tomatoes and chilies (mix these together first), then bacon and green onions.

* Pop into oven preheated to 400 degrees until warm and cheese is melted.

This recipe is a variation of the traditional Texas Sheet Cake in the method of preparation. Based on the popularity of that cake, I am sure the peanut butter version will be just as delicious.

Day 28: Peanut Butter Cake

"There were so many things that told me this recipe would not work. Boiling peanut butter? Adding wet ingredients to dry instead of creaming the butter and sugar? Baking a cake, especially a thin finger cake, with easily burned peanut butter, at 400 degrees? But I took this to a potluck at work, and it was gone in no time. If you like peanut butter, you will love this cake. I sprinkled some chopped peanuts on top of the frosting."

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter

1 cup water

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 whole eggs

1 stick butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 teaspoons milk

1 pound powdered sugar

* In a large bowl, mix together sugar, baking soda, flour and salt. Set aside.

* Combine butter, water and peanut butter in saucepan and bring to boil. Pour over flour mixture. Add milk, vanilla and eggs. Mix.

* Pour in large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

For the frosting:

* Bring butter, peanut butter and milk to boil in saucepan. Add one pound of powdered sugar. Pour warm frosting over cooled cake.

Here are a few more Pinterest recipes I found while looking at Claire's.

Apple Pie Enchiladas

These are incredibly easy to make and are out-of-this-world good!

1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

* Spoon about one heaping quarter cup of pie filling evenly down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon and roll up, tucking in edges; and place seam side down in prepared dish.

* In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes, remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.

* Pour sauce over enchiladas and let stand 45 minutes. Don't rush the 45-minute resting time for the sauce on the enchiladas before baking; this step helps to magically transform the flour tortillas into a faux pasty dough.

* Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden. Each sauce recipe is enough for 6 Apple Pie Enchiladas, but you can make a double batch of sauce for plenty of gooey richness.

Creamy White Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts

1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped

1 package (8 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided

12 lasagna noodles, cooked

* Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 tablespoons basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture.

* Spread half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice.

* Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover.

* Bake 25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting to serve.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.