martha moments: strawberry pretzel salad

i'm usually not one for jell-o (or anything congealed for that matter). the word "congealed" itself just grosses me out...but this dessert salad is one of my favorites!

strawberry pretzel salad

you'll need:
2 cups pretzels, crushed
3/4 cups melted butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 cups Cool Whip
 2-10 oz. packages frozen strawberries
2 cups boiling water
1 large package strawberry Jell-O

To make:

Mix pretzels, butter and the 2 Tbsp. sugar.  Press into bottom of a rectangular baking dish. Cook at 400 for 8-10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese and 1 cup sugar together. Fold in the Cool Whip.  Spread onto cooled crust.
Combine boiling water and Jell-O, then add strawberries.  Let cool before pouring over the top of the cream cheese. Refrigerate to congeal, then slice into squares and enjoy!

martha moments: cake in a mug

okay, so this may beat the diet coke cupcakes, y'all.

and it only makes one a time, so you're not stuck being tempted with the remaining dozen plus cupcakes you have sitting on the kitchen counter. 

it's too easy.

you'll need:

1 microwavable coffee mug

1/3 cup cake mix, you choose the flavor

3 T. water

Combine cake mix and water in a mug (no need to spray with cooking spray).

Microwave for 1 minute. 

that's it. seriously!

I made the white cake mix one today for a snack and according to my calculations, it was 75 calories, and .75g fat.  

...and 100% worth all 60 seconds it took to make it!

notes:

• store the rest of the cake mix in a sealed container or ziploc bag.

• for a spongier, less dense cake, mix angel food cake mix and the regular cake mix in a ziploc bag and use 1/3 cup of that mixture instead of straight up cake mix. 

• have to have chocolate on top? drizzle with Hershey's chocolate syrup
  
  

sweet coincidence

two weeks ago, i wrote this post on the blog and used the verse from psalms, "I will lift up mine eyes unto these hills..."

today, i sat with my sweet grandmama looking through old photos and found this one. these are my great grandparents, george and nelle. they were vacationing at one of their friend's homes in highlands, nc just weeks before he passed away.

read the sign above them.

martha moments: happy berry crisp

we are fortunate enough to live right down the road from the happy berry, a berry farm that is just the coolest little place. it's fun to decide that you want to bake a blackberry cobbler or a blueberry pie and just be able to walk down there and pick whatever you need. i am trying to buy more local food, not only to support the local farmers here, but because of the sheer fulfillment of knowing how fresh and good it really is.

jeff and i went down to the farm wednesday and picked almost 5 lbs of plump, juicy, sweet blueberries. we would pick a handful and gobble them up just as soon as we picked em! needless to say, we had to contribute to the "sin bucket." it says if you eat so many off the bush that you feel guilty about it, you might feel led to contribute to the sin bucket. so we did. :-)

i made a blueberry crisp that was out of this world....so i thought i'd post the recipe for everyone. this recipe epitomizes summer! and if you live anywhere near the SC upstate, make sure to swing by the happy berry. i promise you'll be glad you did!

Happy Berry Crisp

Ingredients

• 6 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and lightly dried
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pinch salt

Topping Mixture:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 stick room temperature unsalted butter, cubed
• Whipped cream or ice cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Toss blueberries, cornstarch, sugar and a pinch of salt together in a bowl.

Combine flour, oats, brown and white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and pecans in a bowl. Add butter and pinch into chunks. Mix until it looks crumbly.

Add the blueberries into a 2-quart baking dish. Top evenly with the crumb mixture. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream and/or whipped cream.

martha moments: fried apple pies

now and then i have these moments that i like to call "martha moments." you see as much as i despise martha stewart, i have these instances when i go completely domestic. a real life betty crocker in the flesh.

so i decided that once a week i'll post about my martha moments. today's comes as a result of visiting my MeMa in the nursing home the other night (that visit is a whole other post in itself...let's just say that she's a mess!). anyway, in sitting and talking to her, she told me that Tim Sheriff had come by to see her. Tim is our old preacher and is also the one who married us. she said that Tim was talking about me and said that i made the best fried pies he's ever had.

funny.

i've never made a fried pie before.

and i doubt that Tim Sheriff said that. see MeMa has these moments where she is completely "there" and then these brief instances when she has no idea what she's talking about. i think this was one of those times.

anyway, she asked me the next time i came if i would bring some of my good fried pies. well, seeing as how i can't let my 85 year old MeMa down, i've educated myself this morning on how to make some fried pies like my Grandmama Betty makes 'em.

let me just tell you that my Grandmama Betty knows cooking. better than anyone. she can bring HER fried pies to the apple festival and once word gets out that she has some, people are trying to offer her money for them. i know this because it happened a couple of weeks ago....

anyway, i found this great video on youtube of this little lady showing you how to make fried apple pies the southern way. (note: this is NOT my grandmama betty, but it did give me the idea that i should go video her showing me things like this...)

you're gonna love listening to how she talks!

so rather than posting a recipe today for my 1st martha moment, i'm gonna leave it to Miss Edith Bradley: ("get ye a lil flire and ye board...")