I receive a lot of emails from PR firms here at the CbsoP kitchens. Most are simply requests to publish press releases or to offer trials of products that I quite honestly have no interest in. I get these two to three times a week on average. The politely worded requests get a polite reply that I am not interested. The pushy or downright poorly written requests are sent to the bin. This is the lot of a food blogger.
But every now and then someone sends me something that makes me sit up and pay attention. I received one of these emails early this week. It was something I couldn’t pass by. Something I not only needed to share with all of you, but something I simply had to be a part of.
I’ve been challenged. By Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. To do the thing I love most…
To create something unique.
Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry has challenged me to create a “Sophisticated and simple original recipe” based on Texan cuisine. If that’s not the absolute perfect fit for a seat of his pants cook, I don’t know what is. Of course, they’re going to supply coupons for the puff pastry, and compensate me for my time but the rest of the gig is all me, and I’ve been wanting to do something with puff pastry for quite a while now.
They want my recipe on their site. Can you believe that? How COOL is this!? Whatever I submit is actually going through a taste panel in their official kitchen. This is a professional gig. My first; and I’m quite excited.
I’m not doing this alone though. I need some input from you guys as well. Take a look at www.PuffPastry.com and see if there are any recipes that you think are really stellar. Are there any that you’d like to try? If so, I can use those ideas as a base for whatever it is I come up with.
Stay tuned for more information on the challenge. I’m sure I have fellow bloggers out there who are involved. It’s going to be very interesting to see what everyone comes up with.
For now, I’m off to ponder pastry. Have a great day all.
As always. Share and Enjoy!


Hi! Thanks for visiting cooking by the seat of our pants!
We're sharing hundreds of our favorite recipes, kitchen tips and favorite tools, all tested by me, Jerry Russell, and my family and friends




My name is Jerry Russell, and I'm a blogger. Since 2007 I've been writing about food and recipes at 
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I look forward to seeing what you come up w/ for Texas :) From CA, I’ll be bringing forth a recipe using avocado!
Avocado is going to be a challenge, but if anyone can pull it off, you can!
No doubt you’ll come up with some unique and tasty.
I hope so. Frankly, TX is a big place with a lot of different cuisines. This one is a big challenge
Awesome opportunity…
That it is. Now i just hope I can live up to it
Being paid to develop a recipe? Jackpot!
It’s a dream gig, innit! I was terrified at first, but now that it’s over, I would so definitely do it again.
Puff pastry is a very versatile thing. It can be used in sweet, as well as in savory dishes. It cooks up fast and it is easy to work with.bI cut up one sheet in 12 squares, top six of them with some kind of filling (sauteed onions and seasoned ground beef, crumbled feta cheese mixed with 1 beaten egg, with or without the sauteed spinach, sauteed onions and mushrooms, pizza sauce& mozzarella&other pizza toppings…….
Sweet: a square of Ghirardelli chocolate, a teaspoon of Nutella, some ground walnuts mixed with sugar, bananas done the “Fosters” way, apricot jam…
Cover with the remaining six squares. Or put less filling on all 12 squares and fold them into triangles. Treat them like empanadas or dumplings. Or like ravioli.
Bake at 450F until golden brown and delicious:)
Excellent when guests appear at your door announced. Happy baking!
For me baking is a foreign experience, but i managed to come up with something that was pretty-darned tasty, even if I do say so myself.
Congratulations on the challenge! I’m looking forward to reading what you come up with.