0 strawberry jello pretzel salad

This weekend was Labor day so of course we had a cookout and I took the excuse to make something dessert-y. I found the recipe in a bunch of placed but I'll site these two since I basically combined them >Paula Deen< and the other is >HERE<

Here it is.. these are my mom's hands by the way

So here is everything that went into it.. and yes that is a giant easter-egg-shaped spatula.

Bust up the pretzels, I used sticks but the regular kind would work too

You can further smoosh them this way or you can leave them chunkier, I was seconds from pretzel dust and I think that may have been bad

Theres still chunks though. You'll need about a cup and a half to two cups

Mix in 3T of sugar

Melt down 1 1/4 C butter

Pour it in and mix well

Looks kinda gross but just go with it

You'll want a 9x13 baking dish.. I figured this would do but it turned out being too small. Bake 10mins @350F

Beat up two blocks of softened cream cheese

Add 3/4 to a cup of sugar

It should get creamy

Fold in 8oz of whipped cream

Oh yes.. =]

Spread evenly over the pretzel mush

Stick it in the fridge while you do this next part

Boil 2C of water

Pour in 6oz jello mix and stir well

Add 16oz frozen strawberries

Also add the small can of crushed pineapple

Mix it in good

Pour it over the chilled cream cheese stuff

Stick it back in the fridge for an hour or so and it's ready to go =]

Mmm... Okay I actually didn't really have any of this, mom says it wasn't bad at all but shes had better.. she's pretty brutal, she also says when she had it before it was mixed all together rather than layered. BUT; The Easons(of Sliding E Stables, sorry, no website to link to) came over for a visit and I made them have some, Angie said it was really good and she really like the whole salty vs sweet thing it had going on. So I suppose this means you'll have to make and eat it for yourself to really know how good it is. My input: USE A 9x13 DISH! Mine was smaller and I had an overflow issue, my counter is now stained red from the jello. 


Happy Baking!
Enjoy! =]

0 Chocolate Peanutbutter Cream Pie =]

I'll admit it, I've been keeping this one from you.. it's my very own. I've only shared it with a handful of people yet it's my go-to recipe anytime I need something quick to take to a group of people. Sunday church dinners, family gatherings, visits to hospice, bible study meetings, the list really doesn't have an end. This is what it looks like, sometimes:

It's usually much more attractive/ neater. 

This is everything that goes into it, I generally have most of this stuff just lying around, minus the pie crust (which I do sometimes keep around for just such an occasion) and the yogurt. 

Dump the vanilla yogurt into a mixing bowl. If I have a string of events to make pies for or multiple pies to make I'll get a big thing of plain yogurt and use a cup(or so) of it for each pie. Keep in mind that this is one of my made-up recipes and therefore has no exact measurements. 

Throw in some peanut butter, the important thing here is to try to make fairly equal parts.

Mix it together

Add whipped cream, again equal parts, try to make it about the same as the amount of peanut butter you used

They go crazy for peanut butter =]

Mix the whip cream into the peanut butter mix

Spread evenly into the bottom of the graham cracker crust (you could of course make your own but I'd rather leave people with a disposable pie plate)

Dump the pudding mix into a mixing bowl (this one is bigger- it's not the same one)

Add cold milk, about a cup and a half, or so.. -ish

Add whipped cream, about a cup or so and whisk it in (yes, I mixed the pudding first, sorry, forgot to get a picture in between)

Pour the pudding mix into the pie and spread evenly over the peanut butter mix

Spread out some more (yes more) whipped cream evenly over the pudding mix

Decorate as desired with chocolate syrup =]

This pie has done great by me, I've used it many many times and almost always get asked for the recipe by someone or other, I can throw it together in 20 minutes. It should be in the fridge to set up for an hour or so but it makes for tasty slop as well and if you've got the time, I'm told its really good frozen but I'm not crazy about frozen things so I have yet to see for myself, also, if you make it ahead of time and freeze it you can take it somewhere and let it sit out for a few(2-4) hours until the group is ready to make its way around to the dessert table. 

Happy Baking!

Enjoy! =]

0 Fudge!

YES! I made fudge! I know, I've been slacking quite a bit on posting since I started school but 40hrs a week there plus holding a job.. leaves little time to bake besides weekends, but I promise, this totally makes up for that. Anyway, this is one of those 'mishaps' mentioned in the blurb at the top of my page.. you'll know it when you see it. 

Here is my very end final result:

Again [like my last post] I apologize for not getting an out-of-the-pan picture.. but it pretty much all got eaten almost immediately. 

This is everything you will need.

Choose your pan and line with foil

This step is a pain in the butt, just saying. You can use any pan as long as theres room for all the mix, a 9in baking pan would also work.

put 5oz evaporated milk [NOT sweetened condensed milk], 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 3 C sugar into a large sauce pan and set stove until you get a rolling boil

Once you get a rolling boil keep it going for 4min

Remove from heat and add in 12 squares of baking chocolate

Add some vanilla

Then mix together

It'll get thick

This looks funny.. pour it into the baking dish

Yes, something is definitely wrong but what...

AW! The fluff! I forgot the fluff! DO-OVER!

Ok, this time I'm using the back burner to give me a place to work in front of it, also I noticed this time around that it needs to be on medium heat and that it requires constant stirring

So we stir..

I went ahead and unwrapped the chocolate with my other hand because I think it cooled too much the first go-around

I also decided foil baking cups in a muffin tin would be much less of a pain.. I was right.

Wow, constant stirring really does make a difference, so does med heat, I had it on high the first time.. oops, that'll teach you to pay attention to what you're doing

Heres that rolling boil, now set the timer for 4mins and continue constant stirring

DON'T forget the fluff! [1 1/2 C]

Get it good and mixed

Oooh, yeah, this looks much better

I made four varieties, the first with sliced almonds & coconut, the second has chopped walnuts, the third has peanut butter and last but not least, plain old chocolate. 

Top them off with whats left and I used colored toothpicks to label them. The first batch was still edible according to the family but I didn't like it, I could taste the evaporated milk in it and didn't like that. The second batch however, was AMAZING, and I'm not just saying that.. I'm really picky about my fudge and this was great. 

Happy Baking!

Enjoy! =]