Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

This is another recipe that comes from my Clovia cookbook. It's so delicious & refreshing, and it always brings back memories from my college days. I highly recommend this for your next summer outting.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups crushed pretzels, not too fine

3/4 cup melted margarine

Mix above ingredients in 9x13 inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees and then cool. (It will look like the picture above.)

Cream 8oz cream cheese with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Fold in 1 small carton of Cool Whip. Spread over baked layer. (See picture above)

Dissolve 6 ounces strawberry jello in 2 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir in 10 ounces strawberries (I unthawed a bag of 16 ounce strawberries & it worked well. The frozen berries will make jello cool faster).

Chill jello mixture until slightly thickened. Spread over cream cheese layer. Chill. This is best to make the day before.

Strawberry Shortcakes

Here's a favorite Memorial Day's treat...

Another one of my favorite summer desserts is strawberry shortcakes. Instead of using angel food cake, I prefer Bisquick's recipe which can also be found at http://www.bisquick.com/.
Strawberry Shortcakes

2 1/3 cups Bisquick mix

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, sugar, and the butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped topping.

For a variation, I grated a lemon & squeezed the juice into a double batch of dough. In another batch, I added about 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Yet another birthday at work this week. This time I decided to bring this dip that I had seen in another blog. I'm not a big fan of buffalo chicken but my husband is so he enjoyed it.

My husband enjoys the dip.

For the original recipe that you bake, please click here. I followed the recipe for the most part but changed things a little. Instead of baking the dip, I decided to keep it in the crock pot so it would stay warm at work.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

4 chicken breasts

16 oz cream cheese

3 cups cheddar cheese

8 oz buffalo sauce

8 oz ranch dressing*

I seasoned the chicken breasts with garlic seasoning & chili seasoning while they cooked in the crock pot. Once done, shred the chicken & add the buffalo sauce. Add in the cream cheese & stir while it melts in the crock pot on high. Once melted, add cheddar cheese & stir until melted. Add ranch dressing & turn crock pot down to low. Serve with tortilla chips and celery.

*You may want to use bleu cheese dressing instead of ranch.

Rhubarb Bread

I love the newness of spring. All the flowers are blooming, animals being born, & the weather is getting nicer. Currently, my husband & I have been enjoying our walks in the park, smelling the fresh air & watching the baby geese grow.

We also have been planting our garden & visiting the local farmers market. Last weekend I was excited to see that the local farmers had some rhubarb for sell. This fruit takes me back to my childhood when my grandparents grew it & made a variety of delicious desserts. So I decided to make one of my old favorites, rhubarb bread.

Rhubarb Bread

2 cups rhubarb, diced

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour milk or buttermilk*

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix ingredients together. Divide batter between 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. You can also make 4 mini loaves or 2-3 dozen muffins.

*To make sour milk, add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice to 1 cup milk.