Berry Berry Cool Pie

My sweet dear mother invited us all over to her house for dinner last night. She made homemade lasagna... yummmmy! And this yummy dessert! Perfect for summer and even more perfect for THE FOURTH OF JULY!!! It's super quick and easy and is absolutely delicious. Enjoy!!

If you're looking to save some cash... buy generic sweetend condensed milk and cool whip topping (really... it tastes the same). Also, if you are in the east valley (Arizona)... I suggest going to Superstition Ranch Market on Main east of Greenfield... always great prices on produce!

Thanks Mom!

***DISCLAIMER... This is NOT my picture... it is (obviously if you look at it...) an advertisement lol... I totally forgot to get a picture of the pie we ate!!!***

Berry Berry Cool Pie

1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 C lemon juice

2 C assorted fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries or blackberries)

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip

1 premade cookie crust or your favorite graham cracker crust (recipe on BLB)

In a large bowl, mix together milk and lemon juice; combine well. Mix in berries. Fold in whipped topping. spoon mixture into prepared pie crust. Freeze 5 hours or until set. Let stand 30-40 minutes before serving. Garnish with one whole strawberry on each slice (or however you choose). Store leftovers covered in freezer.

Frozen Hot Cocoa

Okay so last night I wanted a chocolatey dessert, but not any baked goods... it's so hot and wanted something cool... but not ice cream... so what's a girl to do?!?!?! FROZEN HOT COCOA! I have had my eye on this recipe for MONTHS! I got it from My Kitchen Cafe and also Sister's Cafe (My Kitchen Cafe is one of the sisters on the latter). I LOVE dark chocolate and will try that next time... maybe half semi-sweet/half dark so it's not overwhelming. My hubbie loved it (and he's not a huge "drink person")... he said, "hmmm this tastes like a drink you would get at Starbucks...so I take that as a compliment because they have some yummy frozen drinks!

Also, this is a great way to use some of your food storage if you'd like... I was out of milk so I used my dry milk, and also used hot cocoa from the LDS cannery (my favorite hot cocoa actually... besides mexican hot chocolate!!). I also made homemade whip cream with heavy whipping cream, vanilla and sugar. I used approx 1 tsp vanilla, 1T sugar to 1 C heavy whipping cream and used an electric mixer till I got the right consistancy. Obviously the easy way is to buy some whip cream in a can from the store! One thing I didn't do, but would make the presentation oh so cute... chocolate shavings sprinkled on top!

Frozen Hot Cocoa

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, in chips or broken into pieces (about 1/2 C)

2 tsp hot cocoa mix

1 1/2 T sugar

1 1/2 C milk

3 C ice

Whipped Cream (optional garnish)

Chocolate Shavings (optional garnish)

Melt the chocolate chips about 30 seconds in microwave, stir. If not melted all the way, about 20-30 seconds more and stir again until smooth. Add hot cocoa and sugar, and stir till smooth. Add 1/2 C milk slowly while stirring consistantly. Let sit until room temperature. Add remaining 1 C milk to blender, followed by the chocolate mixture, and then the ice. Mix until you have a consistancy similar to that of a strawberry daquiri. Makes about 4 8oz servings (about 3/4 full blender). Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Grandma's Cheesy Squash!

So my mom joined my son and I on our weekly trip to the market to grab some produce and we got to talking about different recipes. She said that my grandma (who is 96!!) used to make mexican grey squash all the time... very simple but absolutely amazing! So I made a little bit today for lunch with black beauty organic squash from my own garden! Enjoy!

Grandma's Cheesy Squash

1 squash per 2 people serving, thinly sliced

1/4 C mozzarella per squash, grated

dash of salt and pepper to taste

Place thinly sliced squash in a pot, adding enough water to just cover the squash. Cook on medium heat until all the pieces are opaque and cooked through. Drain any water if necessary. Serve immediatly, adding a dash of salt and pepper and sprinkling with mozzarella. The cheese will melt onto the squash from the heat.... it's soooooooooooooo yummy... and semi-healthy I have to say!

Watermelon Sherbert Slushy

These are not only refreshing and yummy... BUT ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!! Another great find from my Kraft magazine... FREE Kraft magazine! Filled with coupons and recipes! Gee, I should get some sort of kickback for spreading the word .... hmmmm... Anyways! We had these as a little refreshment pool side before throwing the burgers and dogs on the BBQ for Memorial Day. Oh yummy! Still can't get over how stinkin' cute the mini chocolate chips are!!! Even my little nieces commented on how, "they look just like watermelon seeds!!!". Okay so enjoy! PS I think we came to a consensus that this is low calorie... FAB-U-LUS!!!

PPS I finally have my super nice camera back and took this horrible picture... lol... sorry we were out by the pool and having fun! At least I remembered a picture right?!?!!?

Watermelon Sherbert Slushy

3 C cubed watermelon

1 C crushed ice or at least 2 - 2 1/2 C cubed ice

1 C watermelon, raspberry or lime sherbert

4 tsp lime juice

2 tsp mini chocolate chips

Put watermelon, ice, sherbert and lime juice in blender and blend about 30 seconds or until smooth and well blended. Garnish with abotu 1/2 tsp mini chocolate chips. Makes about 4 8oz servings. Serve immediatly. Note* if using regular ice make sure to add more than a cup or it will be runny rather than slushy. Note* If you live in Arizona SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GROCER... BASHA'S!! I bought my sherbert there and there was only two options, Rainbow or Orange. Buy rainbow... it is like the neoplolitan of sherberts and guess what... it has watermelon and lime! So you just use 2/3 for this, and then the other third to make the Orange Dreamsicle Dessert in a previous post... Oooooh I'm goood!!!!!!

Orange Dreamsicle Dessert

We had friends over for Sunday dinner and had Cafe Rio night... recipe for that in another BLB post... super yummy! For dessert I tried a recipe that I found in a free Kraft magazine that I get sent to my home quarterly (I think it's quarterly). They have coupons and also some great recipes! This is straight from my recent issue... you can go sign-up for a free magazine online! I highly suggest it... they are great! This recipe tastes like the Real McCoy (is that how they spell it???).... it's so wonderfully cool, creamy, and DE-LISH-US! I will make this probably at least once more this summer... it was a hit! Most everyone had dessert SECONDS... you know it's good then!

Again like with my Watermelon Sherbert Slushy... not the greatest picture considering I have my camera back... I was nervous and embarrassed because my husbands friends were there and I had to snap a picture before they ate it all... and I knew they would tease me ... it was like I was fighting with myself taking the picture.... ugh the stress of being a closet-foodblogger.... ugh! I need to come to grips with it HEY WORLD ... I'M A FOODIE!!!!! HATE ME OR LOVE ME... I'M A FOODIE!! lol... I don't think I've been this worried about what someone thought of me since like... fifth grade! Ugh the trauma of being young!

Orange Dreamsicle Dessert

2 C Orange Sherbert, softened

1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C orange juice

1 8oz tub of Cool Whip, thawed

Line a loaf pan (9x5) with foil. You will want to make sure you have enough foil to hang over the edges at least a good 6-8 inches AFTER you have pressed it down to line the inside. Otherwise you may have some run-off which will cause your dessert to stick to the loaf pan when frozen... disaster! Once your sherbert is softened spread it on the bottom of loaf pan. Next using an electric hand mixer, blend the cream cheese well, until smooth (2-3 minutes). Add milk, vanilla, and orange juice. Mix well. Fold in cool whip until well blended. Pour cream mixture on top of sherbert. Fold up extra foil to cover. Freeze for at least 3 hours before serving. When ready to serve turn out onto a plate inverted... wa-la! Enjoy.

Blackberry Jam

First - I know this picture is horrible. lol sorry!!!! Anyways, I had recently posted about making strawberry freezer jam. Yesterday I made a batch of blackberry freezer jam by request from my hubby. Mr. H served his mission in the beautiful state of Oregon, and they have some of the most delicious blackberries ever! So since blackberries were recently on sale at Safeway... (thank you CouponSense lol)... I bought 4 5.6 oz packages. That was the perfect amount to make one batch using Sure-Jell Certo Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin. I googled forever to find out many ounces are in a dry pint because the recipe calls for them in pints... it ended up basically being 4 packages that ere 5.6 oz a piece.

I am still letting it set-up for the recommended 24 hours... that's why I don't have a pic of it on some yummy warm buttered rolls! Well, enjoy your jam making! There are awesome recipes that come with the pectin for all sorts of fruits that will be coming in season throughout the summer!

Also, after using the liquid pectin with my strawberry freezer jam... I really do feel this is pretty much full proof pectin or fool proof in my case as I am sometimes a little spacey in the kitchen. I have had no problems yet... and I am a total newbie!

Blackberry Freezer Jam

*Follow the recipe for whichever pectin you buy... they come with recipes*

4 (5.6 oz) containers of blackberries, smashed

Juice of 1 Lemon (2 T)

1 pouch of Certo pectin

4 C sugar

Smash blackberries with a potato masher. Don't over mash... you do want some of the fruit chunks in there.. it is jam! Use a seive to remove some of the seeds if you wish. I left them in. Juice one lemon to give yourself 2 T fresh juice. Mix the juice and pectin in a small bowl. Add exactly 4 C sugar to exactly 2 C smashed berries. Mix for a good 3 minutes, or until all sugar is dissolved. Add pectin/juice mixture and stir well. Pour into cleansed containers (1-2 C containers), leaving about 1/2 free at the top. Lightly screw on lids. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Then use within 3 weeks (storing in fridge), or store in freezer till ready for use. Thaw and store in fridge when ready to move from freezer for use.

Squash! Squash! Squash!

Okay so this is really not a new recipe... but an addition to a family favorite. The recipe to this pizza crust and sauce is already here on BakingLikeBetty in the main course section. HOWEVER!! I made it with a twist... usually we do pepperoni and cheese. Well because I had extra squash we made half veggie, half pepperoni. On the veggie side I cut the squash into thin slices and spread on half the pizza along with thinly sliced green bell peppers and sliced black olives.... oh yummmmmy!

*sorry used my camera phone again... not the best shot*

With the extra squash (because I only used half a squash for the pizza...) I cooked on stove top. No real measurements... just put sliced squash in small pan. Fill with enough water to cover squash. Cook on medium heat until "white" part of squash becomes transparent. Add about a T of butter and a dash of salt and pepper.