Strawberries are a bargain this week in local grocery stores. Their aroma, which wafts throughout the produce section, really makes me feel its spring. I’ve already brought home three quarts of the world’s most popular berry fruit and each and every container has been a sweet and delicious good deal!
Although strawberries are available year-round, they are at the peak of their season from April through July when they are the most luscious and most abundant.
If you have your Easter menu planned except for dessert may I suggest “Strawberry Dessert Pie?†I made this for our Life Group Bible study Monday night and it drew rave reviews.
I tasted this dessert last summer in the kitchen of my friend Marlys. I couldn’t leave her house with bringing the recipe home to mine. Fresh strawberries in strawberry Jell-O, placed atop a layer of cream cheese and Cool Whip which is placed on top a crunchy nutty crust, provides a superb treat for the taste buds.
If you do make this for Sunday and when you sit down to your Easter feast, decide ahead of time that you WILL save room for dessert.
Here’s the recipe:
Crust:
1½ cups flour
¾ cup butter
¾ cup walnuts
Mix and press in a 9×13-inch pan and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool
Blend together and spread over cooled crust:
8 ounce package of cream cheese
8 ounce carton of Cool Whip
1 cup sugar
Mix and let set until somewhat jelled:
2 packages strawberry Jell-O
2 cups hot water
1 cup cold water
1 quart fresh strawberries
When partially jelled pour over cream cheese mixture and set in refrigerator for several hours. When serving, top with a dab of Cool Whip. Believe me, it’s a beautiful sight for sore eyes.
And then enjoy!
Speaking of eyes, here’s a little health news: Remember when you were a child and your mom told you carrots were good for your eye sight? That may very well be true, but now it looks like fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating three or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.
Happy Easter!
Until Soon
