Dessert Party

Finished! I successfully completed the dessert party with a lot of help from friends and family. The party knocked out 14 recipes and the best part is I didn't have to eat all of those desserts and gain 30 pounds. I learned some lessons in the process...  (recipes are at the bottom)

1. Sour milk in recipes is actually sour milk....disgusting! If you come across sour milk in a recipe and happen to not have a carton of old milk, don't fret. Here is a makeshift recipe.

2. Oleo (Which is apparently not pronounced O-lay-o) is a margarine brand. I couldn't find much information but it seems that the brand has been around since the 1940s and probably well before that. Does anyone know when Oleo came out? Moral of the story...I just used butter.
3. Karo syrup is corn syrup and is not in the baking section at the grocery store. You can find it in the cereal aisle. Okay, I get that it is a syrup...but your not going to put it on cereal!

3. Read through the whole recipe before you go to the store

4. Don't mess with molten sugar...no joke!

5. Mixers can be messy

6. Don't add too much liquid to a glaze

7. White trash can be a good thing

8. Homemade wine is great - but pretty strong

Ghosts in the graveyard. Do those look like ghosts or lumps of cool whip?

Grasshopper Pie - Brought by Gretchen. This is minty, chocolaty and ever has liqueur in it...perfect combo!

Applesauce Cake. I learned a valuable lesson about making glaze...do NOT use too much milk. I made a lumpy thin glaze that looked really bad. I had to make another trip to the store to buy more powdered sugar and start all over again so the glaze actually looked good.

White Trash - brought by Debbie. Similar to puppy chow but with a few extra ingredients. Best part is you shake it all in a trash bag. Classy, YES!

Apple Cake - Brought by Gail, but Kathleen's recipe. Gail was convinced that it didn't turn out pretty, but I thought it was beautiful (and tasty).

Mississippi Mud Pie - This dessert was VERY hard to make. You have to beat 4 eggs for 5 minutes each. That is 20 minutes! Very boring but this dessert is really good (similar to a chocolate silk pie)

Nut Cups - These were a labor of love. Probably the most time consuming endeavor, but my favorite treat there. The recipe comes from Rob's cousin. In order to make the cup shape, put a small ball of dough in a muffin pan and then use this tool from Pampered Chef to push it down. The result is perfect little cups. They tasted like miniature pecan pies. So I have a nasty habit of just making my shopping lists from the ingredient lists and not reading through the whole recipe. Often recipe writers (mom's who know the recipe by heart) sneak an additional ingredient in the instructions paragraph. So I sat down to make my nut cups and forgot a crucial ingredient...the nuts. Rookie!

Pumpkin! Just kidding, but it looks like one right? This is a Quick Coffee Cake from Jenny that couldn't be easier to make.

Not a recipe but part of the party flare. Raspberry-lemon ice cubes.

Rhubarb Crunch - This recipe from my mom is so good! Isn't it amazing how expensive rhubarb is in Colorado when it is a weed in the Midwest?

Spritz Cookies - Jenny brought these cookies, she usually makes them red and green around Christmas time.

 Cherries in the Snow - Jenny also brought these decadent, creamy, cherry dessert. A favorite of mine.

Rhubarb Picnic Cake - Made by my mom, this cake had a delicious cinnamon topping.

Caramel popcorn - Jenny used to always bring this to our family Thanksgiving weekend until her kids got braces. Careful, this dish is addicting! It is great to throw the caramel and the popcorn in a paper bag to make clean up a breeze. Also, careful because this recipe utilizes molten sugar. Have you ever had boiling sugar on your skin? Well my mom and I have. I had to take it one step further, though, forget about how hot it was and put a little in my mouth to taste...maybe someday I will be able to taste food again...

Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce for Ice Cream. I made this ahead of time and put it in tiny Tupperware as a party favor. In the process I spilled powdered sugar everywhere and had a little trouble with the mixer. My mom was helping me clean up and she said, "you got chocolate on the walls, on the counter, on the toaster!" - Sorry Mom!

Homemade wine brought to you by my uncle Harley. The rhubarb wine was pretty intense and sour. The sparkling apple was light, not too sweet and had a great apple taste. The Pumpkin Frost (which was used with pumpkins after the first frost) was not my favorite but other people loved it. The pear was sweet and strong. The apple wine was so good and my favorite. My uncle has these homemade labels that tell a story on the side...which one of his neighbors grew the food, examples like the pumpkin frost, etc.. It really is a great idea in a world where it is hard to know where your food is coming from. It felt like home drinking these.

 This one is pretty dark, but the photo grabbed my attention. Not sure why....

So after three trips to the store, and about $100 dollars (which was really good because my mom already had most of the ingredients) and hours of baking, I was ready to open the doors and allow people to come eat, drink and be merry. There was a drawing for prizes and we had four winners! Kori won a box of tea, Liz won recipe cards, Kelly won a soup cup that comes with a lid and our grand prize winner....Linda! Linda will receive a free printed copy of the recipe book when it is complete.

Ghosts in the Graveyard
• 3 ½ cups cold milk
• 2 pkgs. (4-serving size) Jello Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
• 1 tub (12 oz) cool whipped topping, thawed
• 1 pkg. (16 oz) chocolate sandwich cookies, crumbled
Pour cold milk into large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of the shipped topping and ½ the cookies. Spoon into 13x9in baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cookies.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Store dessert in refrigerator. Makes 15 servings. Decorate with cookies (tombstones), candy and remaining whipped topping dropped by spoonfuls (ghosts)

Grasshopper Pie
Crust:
• 1 ½ cup cookie crumbs
• ¼ cup melted butter
• Heat oven to 350°F. Mix cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press against pan and bake for 10 minutes.
Pie:
• 32 Large marshmallows (3 cups small)
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup crème de menthe
• 3 Tbsp. white crème de cacao
• 1 ½ cup chilled whipping cream
• Green food coloring
Heat Marshmallows and milk over medium heat stirring constantly just until marshmallows melt. Chill until thickened; blend in liqueurs. In chilled bowl, beat cream until stiff. Fold marshmallow mixture into chipped cream; fold in food coloring. Pour into crust. Garnish. Chill at least 3 hours.

Applesauce Cake
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups Applesauce
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. cloves
• Cinnamon glaze
In mixing bowl, combine oil, granulated sugar and brown sugar, egg, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat until blended, sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices. Add applesauce mixture and beat until smooth. Pour into greased and floured 2 quart Bundt or tube pan bake in preheated oven 350°F for about 50 minutes. Cool and drizzle with cinnamon glaze.
Glaze – combine 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, ¼ tsp. cinnamon, 1 Tbsp. butter and tablespoons milk blend until smooth.

White Trash
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 large bag chocolate chips
• 1 large box raisins
• 1 jar peanuts, dry roasted
• 1 – 12 oz box Rice Chex
• 1 to 1½ box confectioners' sugar
Melt together butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Mix in large pan the raisins, dry roasted peanuts, and Rice Chex. Pour melted mixture over mix and stir real well until coated. Put 1½ box confectioners' sugar in large white trash bag and pour in mixture. Shake, shake, shake.

Apple Cake
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• ½ cup water
• 3 cups chopped apples
• 3 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup nuts
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. vanilla
Mix together in a large bowl and pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes. You can frost with a powdered sugar frosting if you want. I usually leave it as is.

Mississippi Mud Pie
• ½ lb butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 – 9 inch prepared pie crust
In a medium-sized bowl, mash butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon and then add the chocolate and vanilla stirring well. Add eggs to the butter mixture on at a time. Beat each egg for 5 minutes with an electric mixer at medium speed. Pour mixture into the pie shell and refrigerate for several hours to set. Serves 6. You can also, instead of a pie shell, put the moose in custard cups.

Nut Cups
Dough:
• 1 stick (¼ lb) butter or margarine (cream butter)
• 1 – 3 oz pkg. of cream cheese (add cheese) blend well
• 1 cup flour
Add flour a little at a time. Blend as well as you can with a form and then with hands to form a soft ball. May refrigerate for later baking. Divide dough into 24 pieces and press into mini cupcake pans. Use your finger to form dough cups and bring dough slightly above rim.
Filling: Blend together
• 1 egg (slightly beaten)
• ¾ cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 tsp. butter or margarine (melted)
• ½ tsp or more vanilla
Fill cups with coarsely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) add filling over nuts with teaspoon (slowly), be generous but try not to overflow. May have to add a little filling at a time while the nuts soak it up. Top nit cups with a layer of coarse nuts. Bake at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes – until edge is light brown. When cool, remove from pan with sharp point knife (to loosen sticky edges). Sprinkle with powdered sugar. My family has to have these nut cups every Christmas.

Quick Coffee Cake
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1 stick oleo (butter or margarine)
• 3 tubs buttermilk biscuits
Mix 1st 3 ingredients. Pour ½ into a bunt of tube pan. Open biscuits. Do not separate, but arrange around pan. Pour remain syrup on top. Turn out of pan while hot. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350°F.

Rhubarb Crunch
• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cups oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup melted shortening
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 cups diced rhubarb
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 Tbsp. corn starch
Mix flour, oats, brown sugar, shortening, and cinnamon till crumbly. Add diced rhubarb. Cook white sugar, water, vanilla and corn starch over medium heat until clear. Put half flour/oatmeal mixture on bottom of 8x9in pan. Add rhubarb. Pour sugar mixture over.

Spritz Cookies
• 1 lb butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 5 cups flour
350°F, 100 cookies
Cherries in the Snow
• 8 oz cream cheese – softened
• 1 pkg. dream whip – made according to directions
• Graham cracker crust – 18 crackers, 4 Tbsp. butter, sugar
• 2 cans pie filling
Let cream cheese mixture set before putting cherries in.
Rhubarb Picnic Cake
• 1 ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sour milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. grated orange rind
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cups rhubarb, finely cut or chopped
Cream together sugar and shortening. Beat in egg. Stir in salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour together. Add alternately with sour milk. Blend in vanilla, orange rind, lemon juice and rhubarb. Pour into greased pan. Sprinkle with topping.
Topping:
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup slivered almonds or other nuts
Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes.

Caramel Corn
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup white karo syrup (corn syrup)
• 1 cup butter
• 1 ¼ tsp. soda
• 7 ½ quarts popcorn
Cook everything except soda and popcorn until soft ball for 240°F.

Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce for Ice Cream
• 1 – 16 oz Hershey’s chocolate syrup
• 1 – 18 oz jar peanut butter
• 1 – 13 oz can evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
Blend all ingredients together with mixer until smooth. Makes about 1 ½ quarts. Stores will in refrigerator.