Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

There have been at least three activities in the last year that I've attended where this dessert was served. I kept thinking, I need to get that recipe! So when Kim Joslin of Mt. Vernon served this up the other day I asked her for the recipe.

This dessert combines sweet and salty flavors with crunchy and soft textures - a tasty experience!

I noticed there are several recipes for this circulating on the Internet, and there's a nice video with a similar recipe at the Kraft foods website, see the link below.

It's easy to make, you just need to allow for time to cool the crust and let the strawberry gelatin firm up.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Ingredients
Crust:
1/2 (15 ounce) package pretzels, crushed
1 C. butter, melted
1/4 C. white sugar
White layer:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup white sugar
Red layer:
2 C. boiling water
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen strawberries, chopped
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin (or two small boxes)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Use a food processor or plastic bag and rolling pin to crush the pretzels.
3. In a medium bowl, combine crushed pretzels, melted margarine, and 1/4 C. sugar. Press mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan using the bottom of a cup.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and 1 C. sugar thoroughly, then fold in the whipped topping. Pour over pretzel crust and refrigerate.
6. In a large bowl, pour boiling water over strawberry-flavored gelatin. Stir in frozen strawberries, refrigerate. When it’s cool and begins to thicken, but is not completely thickened, pour over cream-cheese filling. Refrigerate until firm, serve.

Serves 20.

Tip: To lower the fat content, lower butter to 6 Tbsp., use 1/3 fat cream cheese and use lite whipped cream. 

Kraft, Strawberry Pretzel Squares

Honey Mustard Chicken with Mushrooms and Bacon

Chicken doesn’t get better than this. The combination of flavors in this dish just sings: chicken marinated in a honey mustard sauce, with bacon, sauteed mushrooms and green onions stacked on, along with Monterey and cheddar cheeses.

I hadn’t made this dinner in a while. When one of my children saw what was being served he exclaimed how he loves this kind of chicken then proceeded to gobble his dinner down.

This recipe serves four.

Honey Mustard Sauce:

½ C. Dijon mustard
½ C. honey
1 tsp. vegetable oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 T. vegetable oil
2 C. sliced mushrooms
1/4 C. sliced green onion (reserve a tablespoonful)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. butter
A dash of salt, pepper, paprika
8 slices of bacon, cooked
1/2 C. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 C. Cheddar cheese, shredded (more cheese if you like)

Mix up honey mustard sauce, reserve and chill one 1/3 of the sauce, and pour the rest over the chicken breasts in a dish. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or two.

When done marinating, place chicken in a baking pan, sprinkling the minced garlic over the chicken and seasoning with salt, pepper and paprika. Cover with lid or aluminum foil. Bake at 400 F for approximately 40 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Check for doneness - juices should run clear.

While the chicken cooks, fry up the bacon. Wipe out the pan, melt the butter and saute the mushrooms and green onion over medium heat with a dash of salt, pepper and paprika.

Before chicken is done, use a little of the honey mustard sauce to baste the chicken, saving extra in a small serving dish.

With chicken still in the baking pan, stack two pieces of bacon crosswise on top, then mushrooms, 1/8 C. Monterey Jack cheese and 1/8 C. Cheddar. Pop them back in the oven until the cheese bubbles, about 5-10 minutes.

Plate the chicken and top with green onion. Serve with honey mustard on the side to be drizzled on top.

Tip: This chicken is also great grilled on the barbecue, just place in a pan when done grilling and basting, stack and melt the cheeses in the oven.

Pasta in Chorizo & Tomato Sauce Recipe - Macaroni en Salsa de Tomate con Chorizo

Last September, my family hosted a wonderful high school student, Dani, from Segovia, Spain, for three weeks. He brought gifts from Segovia for us, including a cookbook written in Spanish. I tried this pasta recipe with a little help from a similar recipe I found online from Lisa and Tony Sierra at the website below. Since I only speak a little Spanish, the English version was very helpful!

The recipe calls for penne pasta (or pasta of your choice), crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, Spanish paprika and Spanish chorizo sausage, a firm, dry sausage - I used a Basque chorizo from a local store. See the link for the recipe.

The Sierras say this dish is a very common in Spanish households. For me, it was a new flavor for pasta. The paprika and chorizo give this dish a unique, delicious taste - muy bueno!

Click here for: Pasta In Chorizo & Tomato Sauce recipe