Mary Beth Schultz displays her homemade apple pie while serving a dessert course during a July 2022 dinner party at her Valparaiso home. Schultz won kitchen acclaim for her recipe for Chicken Fajita Quiche, which earned her a chance to win $1 million as a finalist at the 2006 Pillsbury Bake-Off. (Phil Potempa / Post-Tribune)

I wrote a January 2017 column answering readers’ questions about the sudden disappearance of the iconic Pillsbury Bake-Off annual competition.

At the time, an official statement posted at www.pillsbury.com alerted: “Bake-Off Contest Update -- Since 1949, the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest has inspired tens of thousands of people to submit original recipes and Pillsbury has awarded millions of dollars in prizes. We are currently assessing how this 67-year-old contest comes to life in a relevant way for a new generation of home chefs.”

The reps at Pillsbury and parent company General Mills were rather cryptic with me in 2017, only telling the media: “Future plans have not been determined.”

The last time a Pillsbury Bake-Off had been held was in 2014, which left thousands of kitchen cooks to wait patiently in 2015 and 2016 for an impending announcement for the next contest.

Thankfully, in 2018 and 2019, the recipe competition returned, before the 2020 COVID Pandemic cancelled the contest yet again. In 2021, the Pillsbury Bake-Off was back, but as a virtual contest.

For 2022, a reinvented Pillsbury Bake-Off is back to tempt home cooks, and this time, participants are being instructed to “leave ovens turned off.”

The 2022 Pillsbury Ovens Off Bake-Off contest is explained as this: Calling all bakers! Our Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is finally back! This time, we put a fun twist on this iconic tradition, and we can’t wait to see what mouthwatering masterpieces you’ve been baking—outside the oven. That’s right, it’s the Pillsbury Ovens Off Bake-Off Contest! Whether you’re grilling up family memories or creating air fryer favorites with your little chefs, discover a new way to bake qualifying Pillsbury products while creating a dish that’s destined for greatness. There are so many ways to homemade! Submit your recipe for a chance to win $50,000 in cash for yourself and $50,000 to donate to an eligible charity of your choice!”

And yes, besides air fryers and slower cookers, grilling is also allowed as an option.

Recipe submission via online began July 18 and continues through Aug. 14 with details at www.pillsbury.com/bake-off and all the rules. Among the requirements, only one recipe submission allowed per person and any recipe must include “no more than eight total Ingredients,” including at least one of the eligible Pillsbury products listed with the rules on the Pillsbury web site.

A “fun fact” from the contest rules is that “the following items do not count toward the Ingredient limit: table, kosher or plain sea salt; Plain black pepper; Water at any temperature; Cooking spray for pan treatment; or Dusting of flour used to minimize sticking.”

Launched in 1949, for the first quarter of a century the Pillsbury Bake-Off was held annually. But beginning in 1976, it was changed to an “every other year” schedule. For 2013 and 2014, the contest suddenly returned to a yearly event before it disappeared completely from the recipe landscape until 2018.

I’ve been covering the Pillsbury Bake-Off since 1993, and Valparaiso reader Mary Beth Schultz remains one of my favorite local kitchen celebrities after she was a finalist in the 42nd annual Pillsbury Bake-Off in 2006 in Orlando, Florida. She is a registered nurse and an experienced cook who has made recipes and varied menus a favorite hobby. This mother of two daughters, and now grandmother, is also a community leader who spend two decades as the executive director of The Caring Place, a women’s shelter for survivors of domestic violence in Valparaiso, before her retirement in October 2020.

It was Mary Beth’s culinary creation for Chicken Fajita Quiche that earned her the finalist spot in the competition and a chance at what used to be the $1 million top prize of the annual contest.

I enjoyed a dinner invite with other guests to Mary Beth’s home last month where the menu included steak and steamed crab legs, au gratin potatoes, garden salad, Pillsbury biscuits and a homemade apple pie which of course boasted a flaky and delicious Pillsbury crust.

During the cocktail hour prior to dinner, which included frozen strawberry daiquiris, Mary Beth served chips with her variation of Texas caviar sometimes also called cowboy caviar. Because this blend of beans and diced ingredients, all bathed in a generous splash of vinegar and oil, provides a finished result so colorful and inviting, the name “Cowboy Confetti” is even more apt.

Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, P.O. Box 68, San Pierre, IN 46374.

2 cans (15 ounce) black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans (15 ounce) pinto beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans (15 ounce) white corn, rinsed and drained

1 (4-1/2 ounce) can chopped green chilies, undrained

1 jalapeno chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 punch of cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1. In a large bowl, combine beans, corn, chillies, diced peppers, onion and cilantro.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a sauce pan to create the vinegar and oil dressing and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3. Pour cooled liquid over ingredients in bowl and toss to coat.