Thursday, May 20, 2010

Chocolate Chip Cookie Carmel Trifle

I am all about a trifle. They look pretty, are super easy, and serve a ton of people. I made this one for my Women's Bible Study group on Tuesday and have been asked the recipe by several, so here it is.

Ingredients:
- 3 boxes of instant vanilla pudding
- 6 cups of milk
- 1 bag of chocolate chip cookies
- 1 jar of ice cream carmel topping
- 1 large tub of cool whip

Directions:
- Mix pudding mix with milk, let sit to firm up a little.

Trifles are awesome in that you just take your ingredients and layer them, and it doesn't really matter in what order and what amount as long as you use everything and finish with cool whip. (Pudding tends to get a little crusty if you leave that as your top layer!)

So...
- Layer: crumbled cookies, carmel drizzle, pudding, cool whip-- Repeat.
- I usually try to get three layers just so it looks pretty, but it doesn't matter.
- It's best if it sits a few hours before serving. (And leftovers are always YUMMY!)

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- I use a large trifle bowl, so to fill it I need 3 pkgs of pudding, you may only need 2. If so, cut your milk to only 4 cups.
- I usually don't use the entire jar of carmel, use however much you want.
- I often use sugar free pudding and fat free cool whip, I pretend that this adjustment makes it a healthy dessert.
- This dessert is really awesome if you use crumbled brownie pieces instead of chocolate chip cookies, but that requires you to make brownies too. So in a rush, I do cookies.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

While we were up north I got a bunch of rhubarb and decided to try making some strawberry-rhubarb jam. It turned out super yummy! Here's the recipe for anyone who might want to try it.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups fruit (I used 1 cup strawberries and 1 cup rhubarb)
- 4 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 box sure jell

Directions:
- Chop, mash, or food process your fruit to the desired "chunkiness"
- In a large bowl, mix fruit with sugar and let stand about 10 minutes
- On the stove, boil water.
- Add the sure jell and boil for one minute.
- Pour sure jell mixture into your bowl of fruit/sugar- and mix well for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Pour the jam into glass or plastic containers.
- Allow to set for 24 hours without the lids.
- After 24 hours, either put them in the freezer or the fridge. (Keeps up to 1 year in the freezer or a few weeks in the fridge.)

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- If you live in Gaston County, Lineberger Farm's Market Stand sells packets of "dutch jell" for $1 that I think works better than the certo or sure jell that you buy at the store for jams and jellies-- and it is WAY cheaper.
- This is the same recipe I use for regular strawberry jam-- just use 2 cups of strawberries and no rhubarb.