All the right attributes

Everyone loves this strawberry pretzel Jell-O. It works as a dessert, or it could be a side dish for a holiday cook-out. It has all the best attributes -- creamy, salty, sweet, crunchy. Note that this dish requires several hours of refrigeration time.

THE RECIPE:

2 c. chopped/crushed pretzels
1/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c. sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip

6 oz. package strawberry Jell-O
1 c. boiling water
1 c. cold water
1 lb. fresh strawberries, sliced

Chop pretzels in food processor. You'll get a nice mix of chunks and powder. I found about 4 cups whole pretzel sticks reduced to 2 cups chopped. Mix with sugar and butter, then press into 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.

Place cream cheese and sugar in dish and microwave until soft so sugar can easily be stirred in. Let stand to room temperature. Stir in Cool Whip. Spread over pretzel crust, ensuring that cream mixture reaches edges of baking dish and seals off access to pretzels. Refrigerate several hours.

Stir Jell-O into boiling water until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water, then sliced strawberries. Pour over cream layer, which should be firm enough by now to handle liquid. Arrange strawberries evenly. Refrigerate about 3 hours, or until Jell-O is set.

Creamy goodness

For the Fourth of July, we had to have some red-white-and-blue food. But these yogurt Jell-O cups would work for any party or holiday. Just change the colors and toppings according to your preference. They taste creamy and delicious, they are very cute, and they are beyond easy to make. Next time, however, I won't use paper muffin liners. They weren't firm enough to make a good mold. I will either try the foil liners or just put the Jell-O in individual clear glass dishes for serving.

THE RECIPE:

1 6-ounce package Jell-O, any flavor
1 32-ounce container low-fat vanilla yogurt
12 muffin tin liners
Homemade whipped cream
Berries

Combine dry Jell-O powder and yogurt in microwave-safe dish. Microwave 2-3 minutes, or until powder is completely dissolved. Spoon mixture into muffin tin liners or glass dishes and refrigerate several hours. Decorate as desired.

Pick your colors

I thought this glass block Jell-O looked so cute when I saw it on Our Best Bites. I just had to make it. What's funny, though, is I don't really love Jell-O unless it's been spruced up, like this or this. So, even though the recipe made a festive side dish for St. Patrick's Day, I didn't think the taste was anything special. You Jell-O fanatics out there will probably beg to differ.

THE RECIPE:

4 3-ounce packages Jell-O, any colors
2 packets unflavored gelatin (such as Knox)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Find as many containers as you have colors of Jell-O -- Tupperware or glass baking dishes will do. I used an 8x8 baking dish for my green because I had three packages of it. I used a small square plastic container for my yellow because I only had one package. If you choose four different colors, you will need four small containers. Spray with cooking spray. Clear out a shelf in your fridge.

Mix 1 cup boiling water with each package of Jell-O. That's it. Stir until dissolved and pour into containers so that Jell-O is up to an inch deep. Refrigerate several hours, or until firm.

Mix unflavored gelatin with 1/2 cup cold water. Let stand until thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and sweetened condensed milk. Allow to cool while slicing colored Jell-O into small squares and tossing together in sprayed 9x13 pan. Pour milk mixture over all. Try to poke down any squares that want to stick out. Refrigerate overnight.

Nice buns

This recipe for sticky buns comes from the Whitesides family. It uses Rhodes rolls and is extremely easy to make. Just plan ahead for the rise time. The butterscotch sauce is delicious.

THE RECIPE:

24 Rhodes rolls, still frozen
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 package Jell-O cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Put frozen rolls in greased 9x13 baking pan. Pour butter over rolls. In medium bowl, combine dry pudding mix, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over rolls. Cover with plastic wrap lightly sprayed with cooking spray and let rise overnight. In the morning, place baking pan on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 20 minutes, then invert onto cookie sheet.

St. Patrick's Day dessert

My kids took St. Patrick's Day very seriously this year. They literally pinched me at least 100 times in the morning, until I put on a green shirt. I got with the program, and everything was green after that! We had a St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and a bunch of yummy green sides.

We ended the night with the lime Jell-O cream cheese pie you see above. It is the easiest thing in the world to throw together, and its thick, creamy, Jell-O-y filling is delicious. You must serve it with fresh whipped cream. Plan ahead for refrigeration time.

THE RECIPE:

1 graham cracker pie crust
1 3-ounce package lime Jell-O
1 c. boiling water
8 ounces light cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. lime juice

Dissolve Jell-O into boiling water. Add cream cheese and beat with electric mixer until smooth and combined. Add lime juice. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate at least four hours, until set.

Creamy and dreamy

One of the side dishes for our St. Patrick's Day dinner was this creamy Jello. It is far better than plain Jello, of which I am not usually a fan. The recipe comes from my aunt Susan, who usually makes it for Thanksgiving, using orange Jello instead of lime. She tops it with mandarin oranges. I like it best with orange, but the lime was really yummy, and orange just wouldn't have had quite the same effect for St. Patrick's Day. So, if you're on the fence about Jello, make it creamy and you will be pleasantly surprised.

THE RECIPE:

1 package Jello (a flavor that goes with lemon)

1 package cook-and-serve lemon pudding

In saucepan, make lemon pudding according to package directions. While it cools, make gelatin according to package directions. Whisk the two together until frothy and well-mixed. Pour into 9x13 pan, cover and refrigerate all day or overnight.

Creamy, dreamy coconut

Everyone commented on this coconut milk cake after tasting it a few nights ago at a family get-together. They all said they loved the taste and liked that it was "something different." I like the flavor of coconut -- fresh coconut, coconut milk -- but I despise dried, flaked coconut. I'm cringing at the thought of it. So I catered this cake to my taste. If you want to decorate yours with dried coconut, knock yourself out.

THE RECIPE:

1 white cake mix
1 package coconut pudding mix (I used Jell-O brand)
1 can coconut milk, refrigerated for several hours*
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c. oil (I used canola)
4 eggs
3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients. Open can of coconut milk and scoop out cream. Cream rises to the top during refrigeration. About half the can will be cream. Set cream aside. Measure remaining coconut liquid and add water to equal 3/4 cup. Add liquid to dry ingredients, along with sour cream, oil and eggs. Mix well, then pour into desired pan/pans (sprayed with cooking spray). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Don't overbake or cake will be dry. As soon as toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, take the cake out. Meanwhile, beat coconut cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until thickened. Use icing as desired.