hello. 

my name is katie krause.  ” the appreciator” is my favorite older sister.

ok, she is my only sister.

but she is still my favorite.  other than my parents, she has taught me what unconditional love means.  i’m very appreciative of her.

let me first start off by saying that this is very hard to write all in lower case.  you see, i’m a compulsive capitalizer.  i’m known for capitalizing words that should not Be capitalized. (side note: i’m grateful for the appreciator for pointing this out.) this is a great lesson in self control.

the recipe I chose is the jell-o pretzel desert.

i chose this because it’s been a staple at our thanksgivings and Christmas’ for as long as I can remember.  we all LOVE this dish.  When things were upside down for the holidays and we didn’t make a big dinner, my brother jim would always say, “can we at least make the jell-o?” and so we would.  This dish signifies HOME for me.  one year, one of the children (who will remain nameless because this is her blog and I wouldn’t want to embarrass her) tried to make it and the jell-o never set.  you would think that the world was ending.  it ruined Christmas! (j/k)

where this recipe differs from the other similar recipes on the internet, is that instead of using 2 cups of boiling water, use 2 cups of boiling pineapple juice.   i also used 1/3 less fat cream cheese and lite cool whip.   OOHH sooo good!

the recipe:

2 c. crushed pretzels (katie side note: don’t use fancy choppers, pound your stress away with a baggie and a can!)
3/4 c. butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. sugar
1 (9 oz.) carton cool whip
1 (6 oz.) pkg. strawberry Jell-O
2 c. pineapple Juice
2 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries in juice

mix crushed pretzels, melted butter, and 3 tablespoons sugar together. press into a 9×13 inch pan. katie note: use a clear pan so you can see all the layers!

bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. cool.

combine cream cheese, cool whip, and 1 cup sugar. mix well and spread onto the cooled crust.

mix jell-o with pineapple juice, then add frozen strawberries. stir until berries soften and jell-o starts to thicken. gently pour or spread mixture over cream. refrigerate.

thanks for letting me share my memories and my favorite dish with you.  enjoy!

Tags: food, jello, pretzel, recipe, special recipe