I've been cooking up a storm

I've spent a lot of time on Pinterest browsing through food recipes. I saw a photo of a strawberry dessert & knew it would be on my menu for Book Club tomorrow. Just look at it:
Don't you just want to dive in & never come out????

Here's the recipe........with some adjustments made by me. I might even scale back on the sugar the next time I make it.

Strawberry Delight

Crust:

1 1/2 sticks melted butter

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup finely crushed pretzels

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9X13 pyrex pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes & then place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Layer

8 oz brick softened cream cheese

1 cup sugar

fresh whipped cream (the recipe called for 1/2 carton of cool whip, but I don't use HFCS) to make whipped cream, beat 1 cup heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form, add 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tbsp powdered sugar and whip until peaks become stiff. I put my stainless bowl & beaters in the freezer 10 minutes before whipping, it makes a huge difference.

Beat together cream cheese & sugar. Fold in whipped cream and then spread over cooled crust.

Strawberry Layer

strawberry glaze:

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons strawberry jello powder mix

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat until thick, remove from heat & cool completely. Meanwhile, arrange strawberries(I used 2 cartons) on top of cream cheese layer. Once glaze is cooled, pour the glaze over the strawberries.

Chill at least one hour. Cut into squares and serve!!! Original recipe is from http://sugarbakers.blogspot.com

busy-ness

Is "busy-ness" even a word? I doubt it, but that's what I've been up to around here! I keep telling myself I'll find time to scrapbook, make cards, or knit.......but it just isn't happening. I got a little down the other day looking at scrapbook blog........the woman has 4 kids, under the age of 6(a set of twins in there) and still manages to find time to scrapbook. I'm doing something wrong, I just haven't figured out what yet!!!! But my mood changed quickly when I stumbled across this photo:

This little fellow was chowing down in The Mall at DC. I've noticed a theme......I have photos of squirrels from most of our vacations. Now how odd is that??? Ron & the boys think I'm one photo away from a psychiatric diagnosis, but I think it's fun. That could be a sign, since most crazy people don't think they're crazy!!!!

I also realized this past week, that I have my very own Lenten tradition!! For about the last 3 years or so, I began buying Paczki to honor a Polish tradition. They are the yummiest pastries.....they are very similar to jelly donuts, but the dough is denser and they have much less sugar. I only eat them prior to Ash Wednesday, and then start my lenten fast.
I guess these are my equivalent to King Cake........although I don't mind eating both on Fat Tuesday!!!!

Sweet Treats

My sweet girlfriend gave us these super yummy red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing for Valentine's Day. Let me just say that they taste even better than they look!!!

Another Milestone.....

We made another milestone as parents of a newly licensed teen. This past weekend we bought a 3rd car for the family (a.k.a. Colin).


I'm now relying on prayer every time Colin drives somewhere. Right now he's on his way to a trombone private lesson.......I won't relax until I get the "safe arrival" text. I can't imagine how my parents survived my teen years without cell phones.......then again, we always had to call on the good old tethered phones!!

Last game

Ethan played his last basketball game at PJHE last night. It was a rough season for the boys, but they played their hearts out and most importantly had FUN!

For some reason, my son is the only one not cooperating in the photo. Luckily his friend added some "character" to his pose.
I was hoping to scrapbook some layouts and post them, but it just hasn't happened. I decided to just let that go. Creativity can't be forced & my creative juices just aren't flowing.......