Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter
3 tbsp sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar
1 8oz package cream cheese
2 cups whipped cream
2 3oz packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
2 cups boiling water
2 10oz(5cups) frozen strawberries
Whipped topping or whipped cream, to garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar. Fold in the whipped cream, and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled.

In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Add the strawberries, and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.

Pistachio Torte- My Famliy Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup. flour
1 stick butter
1/2 cup. finely chopped walnuts
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temp.
1/2 cup. powdered sugar
8 oz. size Cool Whip
2 small size pistachio instant pudding
3 cup. milk


Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix flour, butter and walnuts. This makes a crumbly crust. Press into one 9 x 13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Next, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/2 carton of Cool Whip. Spread on crust. Mix pistachio pudding mixes and milk together and spread on second layer. Let set. Top with remaining Cool Whip and sprinkle with walnuts.

Raspberry-Lemon Easter Cake

Ingredients Cake:

3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
5 large eggs, room temperature

Icing and Filling:

1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch fine salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
Rabbit and Egg Sugar Cookies, homemade or store bought
Candied almonds
Pastel sanding sugars

Directions:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly brush 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with shortening or butter. Line bottoms with buttered parchment paper and dust with flour. Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt into a medium bowl; whisk to combine evenly. Stir the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup, and set aside. Beat the butter in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on high until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop and scrape butter off the sides of the bowl. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar-- it should take a couple minutes to add all the sugar. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the lemon zest. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes; then turn cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.

For the Icing:

Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk the sugar, the egg whites, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the bowl to a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the whites at medium-high speed until they almost hold a stiff peak and are cool, about 10 minutes. Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until the icing is smooth and spreadable. (If the icing separates, just keep beating and it will come back together.)

(You can use any sugar cookie recipe for the Bunny and Egg cutouts)

Old Traditions-Easter Pie

Ingredients:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for garnish

3 large eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese

1/2 cup cooked short-grained rice

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

6 sheets phyllo sheets, thawed

3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Blend 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange zest and ricotta in a food processor until smooth. Stir in the rice and pine nuts. Set the ricotta mixture aside. Lightly butter a 9-inch glass pie dish. Lay 1 phyllo sheet over the bottom and up the sides of the dish, allowing the phyllo to hang over the sides. Brush the phyllo with the melted butter. Top with a second sheet of phyllo dough, laying it in the opposite direction as the first phyllo sheet. Continue layering the remaining sheets of phyllo sheets, alternating after each layer and buttering each sheet. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dish. Fold the overhanging phyllo dough over the top of the filling to enclose it completely. Brush completely with melted butter. Bake the pie until the phyllo is golden brown and the filling is set, about 35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the pie and serve.