Apple Cranberry Fruit Salad

This is a delicious winter fruit salad. It's easy to make, colorful and people will be lining up for a second helping! It could even pass as a dessert with the marshmallows and cool-whip it has in it.

It's the perfect salad to take to your holiday dinner!

I think the original recipe is enough for about 10-15 people. I tripled the recipe last week and took it to a church dinner and it fed about 40 people.


Apple Cranberry Fruit Salad
2 cups raw cranberries - chopped (I just did a few pulses on the blender in small amounts)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups diced apples
1/2 cup walnuts - chopped
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups mini marshmallows
8 oz carton Cool Whip

Combine chopped cranberries and sugar and chill overnight.

After chilling combine all ingredients.

Apple Man

My son had a preschool homework project to make something with an apple to bring for show and tell. We grabbed our tool box and found some nuts and bolts and came up with this little apple man.

My son very excited about giving his man spiky hair. I think he did great and he had fun showing it off to his siblings and friends.

This could also be done with a pumpkin and you could make a family of them too!

Creamy Peach Pie

This recipe is my aunt Mary's and it is amazing. It's fresh, it's tart, it's sweet, it's creamy! I could easily eat a whole pie by myself.

Nothing says 'end of summer, beginning of fall' like peach pie.

Creamy Peach Pie
-Make 2 pies-

12-14 peaches
1.5 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 small package lemon jello (not the pudding)
8 oz cream cheese
8-12oz cool whip
1/2 cup powdered sugar

2- Cooked Pie Crusts

1. Puree 2-3 peaches in blender until it equals about about 1.5 cups
2. Bring puree and and sugar to a boil in pot on stove. Mix cornstarch and water - stir into puree mixture unil thickened. Mix in the jello powder until disolved.
3. Set aside to cool.
4. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip.
5. Divide and layer into the bottom of the prepared pie shells.
6. Slice remaining peaches and layer on top of cream mixture.
7. Pour puree over top of peaches.
8. Cool and top with cool whip.
9. Enjoy!!

Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Pie

My friend Heidi and her kids came over to swim last week. She was kind enough to bring me some food from her garden, rhubarb being one. She told me it would be enough for a strawberry rhubarb pie. 

I haven't had rhubarb pie since I was a kid. I'm pretty sure my grandma made it for a family gathering once. I have no recollection if I liked it or not. 

When I told my husband that I was going to make a strawberry rhubarb pie to take to a friends house this weekend he gave me a strange look.  He's never had it before. When he tasted a small piece of the celery looking type veggie (yep, it's a vegetable) he really looked at me weird. Rhubarb may look like celery and have a very tart taste, but it makes one amazing strawberry rhubarb pie. 

Everyone loved it and we had seconds and thirds. Go find some rhubarb and make yourself a pie. It's so good! 

The recipe I'm sharing comes right from Heidi's own recipe blog, Tasty Sensations. Check out all her fabulous recipes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Pie

From Tasty Sensations

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 pound fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2.5 cups fresh strawberries, halved

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell (or go ahead and make it yourself.)

Streusel Topping

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup quick-cooking or rolled oats

6 TBS chilled butter

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg. Add the sugar, flour and vanilla; mix well. Gently fold in rhubarb and strawberries. Pour into unbaked pastry shell. 

2. For topping, combine flour, brown sugar and oats in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly (I wrapped mine with foil halfway through to prevent the crust from over-browning). Cool on a wire rack.

Watermelon Berry Star

Here is another easy, fun, and festive patriotic treat for this coming weekend. Nothing says summer more than watermelon and berries.  Happy 4th of July!!

Ingredients:

1 Large watermelon

Cool Whip

Blueberries

Strawberries

Cut a three-inch thick slice from the center of a watermelon. Place it flat on a cutting board and use a sharp kitchen knife to cut a star shape. (I printed out a star to use as a template.) Pat the watermelon dry with a paper towel.

Place the star on your serving dish or cake stand. Pipe some cool whip around the bottom edge of the star. I put some into a plastic bag and cut off the tip to pipe it out. Spread additional cool whip on the top of the watermelon. Decorate with berries as desired!

Wish I could claim this star idea as my own. I saw a picture of this on my apartment newsletter this week, but there wasn't a source. It was so simple and the watermelon and berries taste amazing together!