Peanut Butter Cream Pie

1 baked pie crust

Make crumbs out of the following:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

Spread 1 cup crumbs over the bottom of crust, save the rest to put on top of cool whip.

Filling:

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1 container of cool whip

1 1/2 cups milk

Mix pudding and 1 1/2 cups of milk together. Put on top of crumbs in crust. Top with some cool whip and a little more of crumbs. Refrigerate.

When we went on our Church History tour we had dinner served by an Amish family. (see past post here and read a little about the Amish people at the end of the post.) They served peanut butter cream pie for dessert.

I made it the other night and I would make the following changes to the original recipe. I would use crunchy peanut butter. I would also use real cream that has been whipped and sweetened instead of cool whip.

Tres Leches

Yellow cake mix with pudding (plus the ingredients to make it)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle brand)

2 cans evaporated milk

whipped cream

strawberries, sliced (optional)

Make the yellow cake according to directions on the box.  Let it cool, then use a fork to poke holes throughout the top.  Mix the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk in separate bowl.  Pour milk mixture over the cake (make sure to get around the edges) and put in the fridge for several hours  or overnight.  The milks should be absorbed and the cake should be moist and spongy.  Frost with the whipped cream just before serving.  Garnish with strawberry slices, if desired.

I had a friend who was on an eternal quest to find a recipe for Tres Leches that was just as good as Cafe Rio's.  He said this was a close contender.  I hear that the recipe found here is even better, but it has WAY too many ingredients for me.  So, I'll let you be the judge.

Mango Chip Dip

1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 oz) bottle Pace Picante sauce
1-2 avocados, diced
2 mangos, diced
juice of 2 limes

Mix.  Eat with chips of your choice.

I love mango salsa.  I have never tried this recipe, but found it in a ward Relief Society recipe book and thought it looked delicious.

Overnight Potato Salad

12 eggs - hard boiled and shredded

12 cups shredded potatoes

1 1/2 cups onions diced

1 1/2 cups celery diced

Dressing:

3 cups salad dressing

3 Tbs. mustard

3 Tbs vinegar

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 tsp salt

Cook potatoes until almost done, but still firm. Cool.

Shred chilled potatoes and eggs with shoestring potato shredder. Add onions and celery. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes. Mix well. Let set overnight for flavors to blend.

Note: Chilling of potatoes is the secret to this recipe. If not chilled they will crumble instead of shredding into long firm strands.

Our family just returned from a Church History tour. One night we had a wonderful dinner at an Amish home in Ohio. The family served a chicken dinner with the above recipe of potato salad as one of their side dishes. I was intrigued with the texture of the potato salad. When I read the recipe I realized the different texture was from the potatoes being cut with a shoestring potato shredder. I"m now on the lookout for a shoestring potato shredder. Does anyone know where I can pick one up? Maybe at the local Amish shop?

When I get a chance to make this salad, I'm going to cook my potatoes in the oven. I'm also going to use Mayonnaise and not Miracle whip.

".....In the beautiful hills of Pennsylvania, a devout group of Christian people live a simple life without automobiles, electricity, or modern machinery. They work hard and live quiet, peaceful lives separate from the world. Most of their food comes from their own farms. The women sew and knit and weave their clothing, which is modest and plain. They are known as the Amish people...." Pres. James Faust April 2007 General conference.

The Amish family served all 50 of us from our tour in the sun room of their house.

Below is a picture I took of their family carriage.

To finish the story that Pres. Faust tells about the Amish community, click here.