"Dirt Cups" or Jello Pudding Cups

Yield: 8-10 cups

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups cold milk
1 package instant chocolate pudding
8 oz. Cool Whip
8-10 clear cups

DIRECTIONS:
Mix pudding into milk well blended.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.  Stir in Cool Whip and 1/2 crushed cookies.  Place 1 teaspoon cookies into cup.  Fill 3/4 full with pudding.  Top with remaining cookies.  Refrigerate one hour.  Garish with gummy worms, frogs, candy flowers, or chopped nuts.  Another way to do it is do a cookie layer, chocolate pudding, vanilla pudding layer, Cool Whip/chocolate pudding layer and top it off with crushed cookies/gummy worms.

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

Yield: see note*

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups finely crushed graham crackers (1 pkg. makes about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup margarine, melted
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Mix first four ingredients together well, and press into 9x13 pan.  Melt chocolate chips.  Pour over and cool thoroughly in refrigerator.

*For those counting calories, I figured out that an entire pan full is 5,980 calories, so:
1/20 = 299
1/25 = 239
1/30 =199
1/40 = 149.5

Chocolate Cream Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 baked pie shell

1 cup powdered sugar

3 1-oz squares semisweet chocolate (or a little over 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup butter, softened

 

DIRECTIONS:

In a small pot on low heat melt chocolate (not cook!).  In small electric mixer bowl, combine chocolate, then sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla.  Don't put the butter in until after the sugar-it matters!!  Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.  Spread onto shell and chill.  Top with whipped cream.

Diana's Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening

1 whole egg

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/4 cup cold water

 

DIRECTIONS:

Sift flour and salt together.  Cut shortening into flour until it resembles coarse corn meal.

Beat egg and combine with vinegar and water.  Combine with flour mixture and blend well.  Fore best results, handle dough as little as possible.

For a baked pie shell: After building up fluted edge, prick pastry thoroughly to prevent puffing.

Bake at 475 for 8 to 10 min. until golden brown.

Raspberry-topped Lemon Pie

Yield: Serves four to eight, depending on how you slice it.

INGREDIENTS:1 (10 oz) pkg frozen red raspberries in syrup, thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
Yellow food coloring (optional)
1 graham cracker pie crust
Whipped cream

DIRECTIONS:Preheat oven to 350.

In small saucepan, combine raspberries and cornstarch; cook and stir until thickened and clear. When using homemade frozen raspberries I add a little bit more cornstarch.  Mix egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk & lemon juice.  Pour into crust and bake 8 minutes.

Chill slightly and add raspberry mixture. Chill four hours before serving.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Yield: 1 pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 graham cracker crust (or Oreo)

¾ cup hot fudge sauce

1 cup peanut butter

¼ cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 (8oz.) container Cool Whip

1 Reese’s Peanut butter cup

DIRECTIONS:

Spread fudge sauce in bottom of graham cracker crust.  Beat peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar until very smooth.  Stir in whipped topping and some of the cut up peanut butter cup. Garnish with whipped cream and chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Special Salad

(Serves 8-10)

This is a modified version of a recipe I got from my mother. When we lived in St. Louis, there was this little restaurant my parents loved to go to, and this was the House Salad there. Growing up, i always called it "special" salad because its been my favorite since forever. It's fresh, light, and has a lemony/parmesany dressing that is to die for. It's total comfort food to me, and even to this day my family still calls it "Special Salad".

Note: If you want to make this a main-dish salad, get 1/4 lb thick sliced pastrami from the deli and cut it up into strips. DELICIOUS. 

INGREDIENTS 

Salad

1 large head lettuce ripped or cut into bite-sozd pieces (either green leaf, red leaf of romaine. I like red leaf the best)

1 large hot house tomato, chopped (or 2-3 small roma tomatoes)

1 small can artichoke hearts, chopped

1/4 red onion, sliced thin

1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Dressing

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 tablespoons parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Put all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Stir and refrigerate while you make the dressing.

For the dressing, put the lemon juice in a small bowl. Mix in the garlic powder, dry mustard, and pepper. once mixed, start adding parmesan a little bit at a time while stirring. (At this point, you want it to be very pasty, but not dry. Add the olive oil until it's creamy in consistency. You may have to add more or less oil than specified. 

Make sure you test the dressing before you put it on the salad! It should be mildly tart. If it's too tart, you can add more cheese or more olive oil, or both. If it's not tart enough for your liking, add more lemon juice. :) 

Once dressing is made, pour over salad and toss. It is excellent when eaten just after being tossed, but does not keep well for leftovers because it wilts.