Strawberry Banana Dessert

I recently made this dessert for a family get-together. My family always requests my chocolate desserts and they disappear quickly along with smiles and comments of "my favorite dessert!". But, great as chocolate is, I really wanted a   change of pace so decided on this strawberry banana dessert - I mean really, who doesn't like strawberries and bananas?? Well, this was a definite hit! One brother even commented that he now has a new "favorite"! I don't have an actual "recipe" so I've tried to list the ingredients I used as accurately as I remember. If you have any questions on the dessert please do not hesitate to e-mail me or put your questions in the comments and I will get right back to you. I really hope that you enjoy this dessert as much as my family did! (My picture doesn't do justice to the dessert so please don't judge it based on that - give it a try anyway)

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

I love puddings and by far prefer cook and serve puddings to instant puddings. I'm also a big fan of items I can make at home that taste as good as the items you can buy, but that don't have the long list of chemicals. When I saw this pudding recipe listed at Hillbilly Housewife I just had to give it a try. I was very pleasantly surprised! This pudding recipe was very easy to make and tastes fantastic. It's a rich and creamy chocolate and has a great consistency. In addition, it has no eggs and can be made with powdered milk - what more could I want? If you, like me, like homemade items, this is a recipe you really should give a try - it's well worth the little amount of time it takes to make it and you can serve it to your family without worrying about unwanted chemicals!

Angel Pudding

I came across this recipe in one of my Mom's old cookbooks. I really can't remember if she ever made it or not but she had noted on the recipe that it was really good so she must have at least been served it on some occasion. It sounded good to me so I decided to give it a try and I was mostly pleased with the way it turned out. It is a very simple, easy dessert to put together. I baked my angel food cake but it would really be quick to put together if you purchased an angel food cake already prepared. I am not a big fan of instant pudding so if I make it again I will make it with cooked pudding - then I think that I would be great.

I will be keeping this recipe handy though, for when I need a fast dessert to put together for unexpected company.

Cherry Crunch

My Dad, who will be 90 in June, is still, thankfully, in very good health and lives on his own. He is very alert and does some basic cooking for himself. My sister in law cooks extra and takes things to him and when I visit I take things I know he likes but doesn't cook for himself. I'm going to visit tomorrow and plan on taking meat loaf, scalloped potatoes and green beans in ranch dressing. Because I know he also loves desserts I decided to take a Cherry Crunch this time as I know he enjoys anything with cherries in it. Would love to hear from you if you try this dessert - it's another from the Hill N' Holler, Madision County Arkansas Extension Club cookbook. This cookbook if rapidly becoming one of my favorites as I keep finding recipes for things I haven't had for years. It was published in 1977 (hard to believe that was 35 years ago!). I hope we can keep some of these great old recipes alive.

Brownie Delight



This is a rich layered chocolate dessert that I make for family get-togethers. I'm expected to bring it to all of them and never have any leftovers to bring home. It's a really simple recipe and I never tell them how simple it is to make, I just let them think I slaved in the kitchen for hours. This recipe came from a booklet from Taste of Home called Start With a Mix.

If you enjoy brownies and you like chocolate this is worth trying!

Ingredients:

• 1 package brownie mix (13-inch x 9-inch pan size)
• 2 packages (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 carton (16 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
• 2 cups cold milk
• 1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans - optional

Directions:

Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions, using a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Cool completely. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar for 2 minutes. Fold in 2 cups whipped topping. Spread over brownies.

In another bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix; beat until smooth. Refrigerate for 5 minutes; spread over cream cheese layer. Spread with remaining whipped topping and sprinkle with pecans. Refrigerate until serving. Yield 12-15 servings.