Just in Case You Thought Our Snow Was Gone

We made cake pops for the Straight-haired girl's birthday in lieu of a cake. Poke Cake is a whole lot easier and will not consume the equivalent of an entire day's worth of time. Although I must admit, it is no where near as cute.

Here's the Poke Cake: Bake a white cake. While it’s baking away merrily, mix an 8 serving size Jell-o with ¾ c. hot water and ½ c. cold water. Let it cool as the cake bakes. When the cake is done, poke holes in it with a wooden spoon handle and pour jell-o mixture in the holes. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Ice it with 8 ounces of cool-whip mixed with ½ package vanilla instant pudding mix. Toss it back in the fridge and serve it cold. It’s just better that way.

Edited: After the rain we got yesterday, even our cake pops wear rain hats. Most of the snow is now gone! I did break out the flip flops, but the squelchy mud is causing technical problems...

My Relationship with Jell-o

It's complicated. Jell-o is quite possibly the most disgusting thing invented by man, yet more than enough of my recipes place it in a starring role. It's quite disturbing. Strawberries, on the other hand, are not complicated. What's not to like?

(Unless you suddenly develop a severe allergy to them - I wouldn't wish that on anyone.)

Right about now, you may be wondering why I would choose to drown fresh strawberries in Jell-o.

It's quite simple, really. P-I-E. Pie assumes you will glue together the items contained in the crust so they don't spread all over your plate when you slice them. Hence the need for Jell-o.

Sigh.

Photo credit: krumdieck from morguefile.com

Strawberry Pies

1 ½ c. water

1 c. sugar

2 T. cornstarch

Cook over medium-low heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add small box of strawberry Jell-o. Let stand until cool. 

Fill baked pie shell with fresh strawberries. Pour cooled jell-o mixture over the berries and refrigerate.

Pie this delectable must be served with real whipped cream. Anything else is a travesty. And yes, I am highly aware of my inconsistencies in this regard. 'Nuff said.