This is a recipe for Pea Salad that I absolutely love to serve for Easter Dinner. It's a recipe I have found in my favorite Mennonite Cookbook, in a Company's Coming cookbook and in a number of other cookbooks that I have. Yes, I collect cookbooks - does this come as a surprise?

My favorite version is by my favorite cook, Lee Drummond (The Pioneer Woman Cooks). She is my inspiration and cooking hero, and although my blogs aren't as professional or lovely as hers, with as dynamic photos and excellent, humorous insights, I hope that one day I can grow up to be just like her :)

Seriously. 

So here is her most excellent recipe for:

Pea Salad

Ingredients

·  1/3 cup Sour Cream

·  1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise

·   Salt And Pepper

·  1 Tablespoon White Vinegar

·  4 cups Frozen Green Peas, almost totally thawed

·  8 slices Bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped

·  1/2 whole small red onion, halved and sliced very thin

·  6 ounces, weight Cheddar or American cheese, cut into small cubes

·  3 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Preparation 

1. Mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and vinegar together to make the dressing. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
2. Stir 2/3 of the dressing into the peas until the peas are coated. Gently stir in the bacon, onion, cheese, and parsley until all combined. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours before serving. (Pop the extra dressing in the fridge, too.)
3. Remove from the fridge and stir in the rest of the dressing to your liking. Sprinkle with more parsley before serving.

So all you need now is a ham, potato salad or scalloped potatoes, a green salad and a lovely dessert like Crown Jewel Cake or Unbaked Cheesecake (aka Pineapple Dream) and you are all set for Easter dinner!

No Bake Italian Cake

<from Wrap You Skinny With Tonya>

No Bake Italian Cake

No-Bake Italian Cake

Ingredients

• 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 c crushed pineapple, un-drained
• 40-50 vanilla wafers
• 1 8-oz. carton light cool whip, thawed
• 2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
• 12-16 maraschino cherries, rinsed

Whisk together sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Mix in pineapple with juice and set aside.

Line the bottom of a small glass baking dish (8x8 or 7x10) with vanilla wafers. Pour all of the pineapple mixture over vanilla wafers then add another layer of vanilla wafers on top of pineapple mixture. Spread cool whip evenly on top of vanilla wafers then sprinkle with coconut. Top with cherries then cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving.

Simply Delicious

                                  

Note: I got this recipe on Facebook and had to try it. I used a more-or-less 7x10 dish that came with a cover so I broke some of the wafers in half to fill the pan. It worked :)

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

A little bit sweet, a little bit salty and totally delicious. That is the only way to describe this recipe that I found while surfing the 'net. Everyone enjoys this tasty treat - perfect as a light summer dessert, a side dish at special occasions or to bring along for a potluck. Whether you prefer the saltiness of pretzels or the taste of graham cracker crust, this versatile dish is just right either way.

Ingredients:

• 2 c crushed pretzels
• 3/4 c melted butter or margarine
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 8 oz box of cream cheese
• 1 small container of Cool Whip
• 1 c confectioners sugar
• 1 pkg of strawberry jello (6 oz.)
• 2 c boiling water
• 10 oz container of frozen strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine pretzels, margarine and sugar for the first layer. Or make a graham wafer crust with crushed wafers, butter and sugar. Put first layer into 9x13 pan.
3. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove to cool.
4. For the second layer, beat sugar into the cream cheese and fold in the whipped topping. Spread over cooled base.
5. Third layer: mix jello with boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in frozen strawberries.
6. Mix together and set aside for 10 minutes. Pour over the cream cheese mixture.
7. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares and serve.