The fact that the Fourth of July fell on a Wednesday this year meant the day stayed simple without feeling obligated to cram travel plans into a three-day weekend. We stayed home, walked down to our small town’s parade, and hosted my parents for a cookout on the deck. We were asleep before the fireworks and that was OK.
I made this super tasty no-bake dessert to celebrate the birthdays of both America and my mother. It’s a variation of a recipe I found in an old family cookbook, the kind where church potluck favorites reign supreme. I used strawberries and blueberries for a patriotic look, but you could play around with all kinds of fruit combinations. Keep enjoying summer, everyone!
Recipe:
- 3 sleeves of graham crackers (whole)
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
- 2 3.4-ounce packages of instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 1/2 cups of cold milk
- 1 carton of fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 carton of fresh blueberries
- 12 ounces Cool Whip (or homemade whipped cream)
- 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
- With an electric mixer, cream together the instant pudding mixes and the cream cheese.
- Gradually add the cold milk.
- Fold in the Cool Whip, reserving enough Cool Whip to coat the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan.
- Spread a small amount of Cool Whip in the bottom of the pan.
- Place one layer of whole graham crackers in the pan, breaking them apart if needed.
- Place a layer of pudding mixture over the graham crackers and sprinkle (or carefully place if that’s your thing) the fruit over the pudding layer.
- Do another layer of graham crackers, followed by pudding, followed by berries.
- You’ll do three layers total, ending with the pudding/fresh berries on top.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and spoon over the top layer. (I spooned it into a plastic bag and cut off the corner to create a little piping bag.)
- Chill at least four hours (overnight is even better.)
A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER 