Bonnie Boor's Strawberry Pretzel (salad) Dessert

I always thought it silly that it was called salad so I prefer to call it dessert:)

I like to make a little extra crust so it's a little thicker because that's my fav part:) The glass dish I used this time was a little bigger than 9x13 so I just did a little extra of all the layers

2 cups crushed thin pretzel sticks
(Crush with rolling pin or use food processor (I prefer FP)
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups boiling water
1 package (6 ounce) strawberry flavor gelatin
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup whipped topping
2 heaping cups sliced strawberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Combine crushed pretzels with 3 tablespoons sugar and butter. With a spatula, press pretzel mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan to form a crust. Bake 6 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Pour 2 cups boiling water over strawberry gelatin. Stir until melted and let cool to room temperature.

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and whipped topping until combined. Spread evenly over cooled crust.

Add strawberries to cooled gelatin and let thicken slightly. Spread strawberries and gelatin over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until firm.

Cut into squares to serve.

Easy peezy Christmas treats

Round pretzels as many as u can fit on a baking sheet. Set a Hershey's kiss in middle...be creative with flavors. Bake on 170 degrees for 3-6 minutes. Push an M&M onto melted kiss. Again be creative with flavors. I put in freezer for couple minutes to quick harden.

We did menthe filled kisses with mint M&Ms and Carmel Filled kisses with regular M&Ms. Tried cherry cordial kisses but didn't work to well as the center was to liquidy.

Grandma Brown's Holly Cookies

My dad's mom, Ann made these every year and we LOVED them. We couldn't wait to get to grandma's house to have a holly cookie. They taste similar to a Rice Krispie treat, but way better!

½ cup butter
30 large marshmallows
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp green food coloring
3 ½ cups corn flakes
red hots

1. Melt butter and marshmallows, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and food coloring. Mix in corn flakes. Grease a spoon and drop spoonfuls of mixture on vegetable oil sprayed wax paper. Put red hots on and press so they stick.

2. Let sit until they have hardened.

Heart candy cane chocolates

I saw this on Pinterest but just had photo so here's how I make them.
2 candy canes shape of heart then melt choc in a squeeze bottle. Squirt choc in heart. Can top with crushed candy canes or any other sprinkle. Then drizzle with choc if desired. Put in fridge or freezer for few minutes to harden.

DIY Christmas card display

Take fishing line or very thin metal wire (for jewelry making) and tie drape rings with clips every 4-6 inches. I have been wanting to make a cool display for years and never got around to it. I had just taken these off some curtains I had in our old house last week and it hit me. So yeah for creativity!

Onto the good news...

Research started immediately for the perfect dog for our family. First on the list NON SHEDDING! Next sm to med dog leaning toward small... Not difficult to potty train... Gets long with kids...references from friends and family. We did online quizzes to match us up with dogs and cross referenced top results with references from friends and puppies and very young dogs that were in shelters foster or rescues. I felt we needed a young dog to train properly from the get go. A couple dogs came up 2 shih tzu poodle mixes called shihpoo and 2 Shih tzu yorkie mixes called shorkies. The shihpoos were in Marion and were 6mths old and the shorkies were in coal city and were 4 wks old. Lots of questions and paperwork I felt like I was adopting a child. Drove to my moms took grandma and great grandma with us and what do u know we fell in love. They were all making fun of me because I looked over every inch of the three we had to choose from. Checked out all the coloring. Did they stand straight. Ones bobbed tail looked weird. One was too light. I picked the shorted muzzle but didn't want the skinniest pup. Ones ears were longer ones higher on its head. My mom thought I was nuts. I am not taking this lightly. This is a big commitment. So here are some pics of our new baby who comes home July 23

We have good and bad news...

We adopted a dachshund Bassett rescue dog That a good friend fostered. She has an older niece but no young kids. Teddy tried a home and snapped at but didn't bite their children but they decided against it. We did a trial and the day we said yes he bit my friends 2 yr old. He has since bitten nieces nephews ups lady and last thurs a good friends little boy. He is very good with our family. Never bitten our children but we've established the pack order with him. We assume that he was probably abused by a 2-4 yr old child as its always that age group. Anyway it was a very difficult decision one that wasn't taken lightly but we are surrendering him back to his foster mommy. He I a very good dog but we can't take a chance on a serious bite on the face, eyes etc. Corynne is very attached to teddy and was very upset. We assures all the children we would work very hard to provide them with a special new dog who would be safe for our family and friends.