Monday, December 7, 2009

My favorite holiday recipes

One of the things I love about the holidays is the food. 
What can I say?  I love to eat. 
I also love to make desserts. 
And eat them. 
Oh yeah, I said EAT already, didn't I?

When I was a kid,
One of the things I looked forward to at Christmastime
was my grandma Philpott's Cherry O'Cream Pie.
I've never been really big on fruity desserts
but this pie would float my taste buds right up to heaven.
With each bite,
I would savor the thick creaminess of the white yumminess on my tongue
feeling the smooth, rich, sweet texture dissolve in my mouth as I swallowed it down.
The cherry filling on top added just the right tartness to the sweet taste
and oh, the pie crust was just the righ flakiness.

I never did learn how to make my grandma's recipe
but several years ago I found a really simple recipe
that is remeniscent of the pie from my childhood.
Of course, it could never be as good as my grandma Philpott's
but it is really easy to make with no baking and it tastes pretty darn good.
This is what I like to make for the holidays.

Cherry O'Cream Pie (The easy way)

1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/3 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup cool whip
cherry pie filling

blend all ingredients except cherry pie filling until well blended.
Set aside.

Graham Cracker Crust
1/2 pkg. crushed graham crackers
1/4 to 1/3 cup margarine
Crush together with fork in a pie pan and form a crust.
bake 10 minutes @ 350 degrees
(you can also use a ready made pie crust of your choice)

Let cool.  Pour creamy filling into pie crust and top with cherry pie filling.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.




If you haven't tried Paula Deen's original eclair cake recipe you are missing out. 
It doesn't sound like the ingredients would garner the taste of eclairs
but they really do.  chocolate eclairs are one of my very favorite desserts.

Here is a recipe I created from her original recipe.

I call it:

 Chocolate Frosted Pisatchio Eclairs

(1) 1 pound box of graham crackers
(1) 3.4 oz. pkg. of french vanilla instant pudding
(1) 3.4 oz pkg of pistachio instant pudding
3 1/2 cups of milk
(1) 8 oz. container of cool whip (thawed)
1 can of chocolate frosting
Chopped pecans

Butter the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch pan.
Line with whole graham crackers.

In a bowl, mix pudding and milk with an electric mixer. 
Beat at medium speed for two minutes.

Fold in cool whip. (do not mix or beat)

Pour half the pudding mixture over graham crackers.
Place another layer of graham crackers over pudding layer.
Pour rest of pudding on the layer of graham crackers.
Add one more layer of graham crackers to the pudding.

Soften the chocolate frosting for about 10 seconds in the microwave if not soft enough.
Spread frosting over the last layer of graham crackers. (as thick or as thin as you want)
Sprinkle frosted cake with chopped pecans.

Refrigerate overnight.
This is very important, as this last step is what softens the graham crackers
making it taste like an eclair crust.

Next day,
eat and experience an explosion of flavor on your taste buds.



This post is inspired by Nancy at Life in the Second Half.  She is posting favorite holiday recipes and her cream puffs look divine.  I'm going to try making those this year.  What better dessert to go with my eclair cake than cream puffs?

Yummy!

I only wish I had pictures to show you.


10 comments:

  1. I love both of these recipes! Oh my, we are going to have to try both of them. Thanks for participating!

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  2. Oh dear... these sound delicious. I don't dare.. or maybe I do.. ;)

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  3. Your desserts sound delish, and different from the "usual" holiday fare(gingery, cinnamon-y, buttery).
    I LOVE cream puffs and have not made any in a long time, and an eclair cake (with pecans..a favorite!)sounds really good.
    Did you know that you can only make cream puffs on a dry weather day(with zero humidity--not that you get that problem too much where you live)?? Or else they just won't come out right?

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  4. I actually ate at Paula Deen's place and had a picture taken with both of her sons. They are very handsome!

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  5. When I saw the title of your post I was hoping you would actually post some recipes. I love to try new recipes and the cherry pie on sounds fabulous!!

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  6. I'm resisting. I'm not going to dwell on food. No, I'm not!

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  7. You know how you lose weight...

    Write about food as if it were a poem, and eat slowly...

    I love this, now I have to look away and chew on some other words :)

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  8. My husband is a sweet lover. I'll try these on him. Thanks for sharing JL!
    <><

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  9. Oh no...more calories in the waiting.

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  10. Mmmmmmmmmmm, that O'Creamy pie sounds delicious. But I've come to consider this a photo blog and NO PICTURES??? :-)

    I'll try it. My mom loves cherries and it seems easy enough even I can do it. Maybe I can make it and you can photograph it? I can cook/bake better than I can photograph and I'm not that great a cook...lol

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