Happy Tuesday! I mentioned last week that I would be sharing my 4th of July BBQ dish and here it is. This is a recipe passed down from my Jama (her name is Joyce so we call her Jama, grandma with a J), so you know it’s a good one!
Whenever I think back to 4th of July as a kid, I remember the weekends at my grandparents’ lake house with family and friends. Every 4th of July weekend everyone would go to my grandparents lake house for a fish fry and to watch fireworks on the boat. The fireworks were great, but my Jama’s cooking was AMAZING. She makes everything from scratch and would feed you until you need to be rolled onto the boat for the fireworks!
My Jama is one of those cooks that brings a dish and apologizes because she “messed” something up, but everyone still devours it because even “messed” up it’s delicious! Her desserts are to die for, she is always putting her own little twist on recipes and rarely makes the same recipe twice. Growing up in the kitchen with my Jama, I always admired her passion for cooking and her ability to turn simple ingredients into something so delicious. When I got to college and started cooking on my own, I asked for some of her recipes to make for myself and friends. However, she cooks like every great cook, a dash of this and a splash of that, so my hush puppies were more of mush than hush puppies but everyone still loved them.
This dessert is one of my favorites and I’ve watched her make so I know it won’t be mush haha.
Strawberry Delite
Ingredients:
Layer 1
-1/2 cup butter (melted)
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
Layer 2
-8 oz cream cheese
-1 cup powder sugar
-1 cup cool whip
Layer 3
-1 cup water
-1 cup granulated sugar
-3 tablespoons cornstarch
-1 box strawberry jello
-1 quart strawberries (washed and sliced)
Toppings
-Cool Whip
-Chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions:
Layer 1
Preheat oven to 350. Combine melted butter, flour, and chopped nuts in a bowl. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray and spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of the pan. Mixture will be thick and the layer will be fairly thin, just needs to cover bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool completely.
Layer 2
Soften cream cheese (microwave at 20 second intervals on a very low power) and using a blender whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Slowly add powder sugar until just combined. Fold in cool whip and then spread onto layer 1. Place in refrigerator while prepping next layer.
Layer 3
In a pot, combine water, sugar, and cornstarch. Bring to a boil and cook on medium-high heat until thickened. Sugar will go clear and form a thick paste like consistency. Remove from heat and add jello packet to sugar water. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then add sliced strawberries. Combine strawberries with jello mixture, then pour evenly over layer 2. Top with a layer of cool whip and sprinkle chopped nuts on top of that for a finishing touch! Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to allow jello to thicken and cool whip to set.
Enjoy!
Jama, Papa, and I