For Janette

We were in charge of dessert for our family Easter picnic, and it was a completely gorgeous day out, so I thought something cool and easy was in order. I settled comfortably on Jell-O pretzel salad. I know it sounds like an odd combo if you've never had it before, but my husband (who was wary at first) was fighting my Mom last night for the leftovers! I think it's the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

I have a friend who is completely crazy for all things Jell-O, and I think my inspiration for dessert might be partly to blame because of the awesome Jelly article she had up on her blog. So this one's for you Janette! *MWAH!*

Strawberry Jell-O Pretzel Salad

2 cups crushed pretzels (crush them up to wee chunky bits, and measure them after crushing)
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 (8 ounce) tub whipped topping (aka cool whip) thawed**
1 (6 ounce) package of strawberry Jell-O*
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen strawberries, or 16 ounces fresh sliced strawberries
1 small can crushed pineapple (optional)

~Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
~Mix together the pretzels, sugar and melted butter. Pour into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
~Bake for 7 minutes.
~Remove from oven and let cool completely.
~Once the pretzel crust has cooled, mix the cream cheese and sugar together, then fold in the whipped topping until completely combined.
~Spread this mixture over the pretzel crust. Cover the pan and put in the fridge.
~In a bowl, mix together 2 cups boiling water with the Jell-O until completely dissolved (about 2 minutes).
~Chop the frozen strawberries (I put mine in the blender until they're coarse chunks) or slice fresh strawberries. Put them in the Jell-O. Add pineapple if desired.
~Put the Jell-O Mixture in the fridge until thickened, but not set. Pour the Jell-O mixture over the cream cheese layer.
~Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Top with additional whipped topping if desired.

Serves 12.

*Feel free to change Jell-O flavors to your liking. I think that lime with pineapple would be tasty. Or orange with mandarins! BigScottishJerk.com also brought up the fact that a chocolate pudding type topping might be completely awesome. I think he might be very right.
**I know I have friends who can't do the cool-whip. I'm sure you could substitute 2 cups of heavy whipped cream in lieu of this.

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

It's supposed to be spring vacation where I live in Salt Lake. It's snowing. We're wayyyy past that six week mark that the groundhog was teasing us with. Me and my daughter even went to the Holi Festival of Colors over the weekend to bring in spring. It was 60 degrees and sunny! And yet...outside looks like a blizzard. At least where I'm sitting it does. UGH. I'm going to close the blinds and pretend this is all an April Fool's Day joke along with the current forecast for the week ahead. :(

Today seems like a good day for something cozy from the oven. I'm posting the recipe for my Mom's Apple Crisp, full of lovely cinnamony apples and covered in a crumbly, crispy, oaty topping.

Apple Crisp

12 peeled, sliced apples
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
~ Put all ingredients in a large bowl, toss together to coat the apples, and pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.

Topping:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice
about 1 cup of apple juice

~ Put the butter, oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl, and cut ingredients together with a fork or pastry cutter.
~ Spread the mixture over the apples.
~ Put the tablespoon of lemon juice in a 1 cup measuring cup, add apple juice to make 1 full cup.
~ Sprinkle the juice mixture evenly over the top of the crisp.
~ Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until crisp is golden brown.

And Now For My Next Trick

What could be better than hot, homemade cobbler straight out of the oven, scooped into bowls and topped with a giant scoop of vanilla bean ice cream? The only thing better than that is when it takes about 5 minutes to make. The hard part is waiting for it to bake! No one will need to know...powder your face with flour, tell them it took positively AGES, and bask in the buttery, sugary glow!

Don't be distracted by the directions or how this looks when you put it in the oven. Follow them. Seriously...it's magic!

~*Magical Peach Cobbler*~

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 quart peaches in juice/syrup*

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~Put the butter in a 9x13 baking dish and put it in the preheated oven until it melts.
~In the meantime, mix together the the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
~Stir in the milk and blend until smooth.
~When the butter has melted in the baking dish, remove from oven and pour the batter evenly over the butter in the hot pan.
~Pour all the peaches and juice evenly over the butter & batter.
~Put the cobbler back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Makes 8 servings.

* You can use any kind of fruit you like that comes canned or bottled in juice.

Time for Pie?

I admit, I'm not a huge fan of pie because I hate pie crust. I find it bland and greasy. There, I said it! But I will eat pie because of the filling! Oh, the custard and fruit goodness of it all makes me happy. So if you give me pie, please don't be sad if I leave an empty crust on my plate.

This may be the reason that, in addition to the perfect shortbread recipe, pie crust dough perfection still eludes me. I made one of those no fail recipes yesterday for a pie and it FAILED miserably. :( FAIL! I was so sad that I wasted the time and just didn't fork out the dough (hah! dough...) for some frozen Marie Callendar's crusts. Mostly because the filling, which was a fantastic lemon curd topped with a layer of fluffy lemon cake, was nothing short of angelic. Far too good for it's inferior crust.

So if you're a pastry diva, feel free to make your own crust. If not, do as I do and buy a couple of frozen Marie Callendars. At least until I find the perfect recipe...

Lemon Cake Pie
From the Sunset Cookbook

1 9-inch deep dish pie crust, unbaked
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
3 eggs, seperated
1 and 1/4 cups milk

1. Put the rack on the lowest position in your oven.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. In a medium bowl stir together the sugar and melted butter.
4. Stir in the flour, salt, lemon peel and lemon juice.
5. In a small bowl beat the egg yolks with the milk until well blended. Stir into the lemon mixture.
6. Beat the egg whites until they hold distinct but moist peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture.
7. Set the pie crust on a cookie sheet and pour in the filling.
8. You will have more filling than you need for the pie, so you can pour the extra into greased ramekins and bake them along with the pie.
9. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven until the top is browned and the center jiggles only slightly when the pan is shaken, about 45-55 minutes. If the top begins to brown too much, drape the pie with a piece of tin foil.
10. Let cool before serving. But it's good warm too!

Pumpkiny Wumpkiny!

This is one of the easiest and tastiest low-fat/low-cal desserts I have in my collection. It tastes just like pumpkin pie but without all the work and NO baking. I like to serve it in pretty glasses topped with a dollop of cool whip and a sprinkling of nutmeg or gingersnap cookie crumbs.

You can always make it with the full-fat ingredients if you like. I know some people have issues with sweeteners and like...either way it's tasty!

Pumpkin Mousse

1 small box (4 serving size) sugar free butterscotch pudding mix
1 and 1/2 cups cold skim milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 and 1/2 cups light or fat free whipped topping (aka: cool whip)

1. Beat pudding mix into milk until smooth.
2. Blend in pumpkin and pie spice.
3. Fold in whipped topping.
4. Spoon into dessert dishes.
5. Chill until ready to serve.
6. Top with a dollop of cool whip and a sprinkle of spice or cookie crumbs, like graham crackers, gingersnaps, vanilla wafers or even granola. You could also layer this with cookie crumbs and cool whip for a lovely parfait.

Serves 4-6

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Pumpkin is healthy! Only 40 calories per 1/2 cup serving.
Low in fat and has no trans fat, saturated fat or cholesterol.
It's also an excellent source of fiber and vitamin A. 80% of it is Beta-Carotene, an important anti-oxidant.