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Cook of the Week: Katie Sharp

Name: Katie Sharp.

Home: Trenton.

School: Sophomore at Edgewood High School in

Trenton.

How long cooking: She's been cooking since she was 7 years old. At the time, she helped her (late) grandma, Donna Pape, with Thanksgiving dinner. Sharp would cut up the lettuce, do other prep work, or do whatever her grandma asked.

How often she cooks: Sharp cooks at least once a week, and she helps her stepmother, Ginger Sharp, cook family meals about three times a week.

Cooking mentor: In addition to her late grandma and her step-mother, Sharp has had help in the kitchen from her dad, Bill Sharp, and her mom, Wendy Sharp Caniglia, of Loveland. She also learned a lot about cooking in her Work & Family Life Skills class in the eighth grade.

Specialty: Cakes and her Dad's corn bread. For the Fourth of July, she made an angel food cake and decorated it as a flag, using whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries. She also likes to fix prepared food, such as frozen pizza and spaghetti.

Favorite cookbooks or culinary resource: The Teen Betty Crocker Cookbook that her mom bought for her, and the Bobbit Family Reunion Cookbook she got in Kentucky.

Favorite restaurant: Applebees.

Special interests: Cooking, volleyball, FFA, hanging out with friends, entering projects in the Butler County Fair. She recently won first place for an FFA wood project for building a bench for the fair.

Two favorite recipes: Sausage balls and strawberry crepes.

Sausage balls

1 pound hot (spicy) sausage

3 cups Bisquick

10 1/2 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

In a bowl, add and mix together all ingredients, using your hands. (Note: She uses Bob Evans hot sausage.) Mix until there is no Bisquick powder visible. Roll into small balls, about 1-inch thick in diameter. Bake on a lipped cookie sheet for 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Yield: about 2 dozen.

Strawberry crepes

4 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup milk

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon melted butter

4 cups sliced strawberries

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

additional 1/2 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add 1/2 of the flour and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Stir well.

Stir in milk and water. Stir in the rest of the flour and the other tablespoon of sugar, then the melted butter.

Chill the batter while making the strawberry filling.

Gently mix strawberries and 2/3 cup of sugar in a large bowl. Beat cottage cheese, sour cream, and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.

To make crepes, pour a small amount of batter into a greased, heated crepe pan or small frying pan. Swirl around until the bottom of the pan is coated. Cook until browned on both sides. Repeat until all the batter is used. Fill the crepes with a small amount of the strawberry and cheese mixtures. Roll up.

Crepes may be reheated for a few minutes in a warm (300 degree) oven. Sprinkle with extra powdered sugar, when serving, if desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings.