By Angela Stephens
Gannett News Service

Often, the best recipes are the ones we create in our own kitchens. While cookbook cooking is fun, interesting and filled with variety, home cooks are smart enough to come up with ideas for dishes that are easy to prepare, appeal to the whole family and rely on what's usually in the pantry.

And these are the dishes that get made over and over again, the ones that friends and relatives regularly ask for. These raves are often the only - and the best - reward for the creative home cook.

I recently stumbled across just such a recipe, one that ended up with national recognition through the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off contest.

We were planning to make a quick coleslaw - you know, prepared mix tossed with salad dressing - to go with a simple dinner of sandwiches when we came across a freebie grocery-store brochure highlighting several Bake-Off recipes.

One of the recipes dressed up a packaged coleslaw blend with a slightly sweet homemade dressing and some canned corn and mandarin oranges.

Because I had all the ingredients on hand, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did. It's not only super easy to make, but a refreshing variation on plain old slaw. It's colorful and cheery-looking, too.

Not only will I be making this again, but it has inspired me to come up with some other variations on coleslaw.

Mandarin Orange-Corn Slaw Salad

3 cups purchased three-color coleslaw blend

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

1 (11-ounce) can Mexican-style whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained

1 (11-ounce) can mandarin orange segments, drained

For the dressing:

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients and mix well. In a small bowl combine all dressing ingredients, blend well.

Add dressing to salad. Toss to coat. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until serving time. Makes eight ( 1/2 cup) servings.

2002 Pillsbury Bake-Off (www.pillsbury.com)