Ending Christmas in July with a festive flourish!

 

Wow, we did it!  Managed to post every day in July for the annual Christmas in July as I so enjoy doing.  This time I scheduled very few posts ahead of time.  It was mostly day by day, though I did schedule the last few since we'll be on a short getaway during that time.

For today, a really fun dessert idea which unfortunately is composed mostly of processed foods, but which I'm sure is also absolutely delicious.  Since this is a refreshing chilled dessert, it will be perfect to try in summer.

I imagine everyone has heard of the strawberry pretzel salad.  (It's much more of a dessert in my opinion.). Well, this recipe from Taste of Home takes the strawberry pretzel salad concept and gives it a festive red and green twist: Strawberry Lime Pretzel Salad.

It's actually even nicer than one might think from the title, because the green layer, rather than just being a lime green, is actually more of a pastel green owing to the addition of cream cheese and whipped topping.  As you can see, it's really pretty.

So use your own judgment in trying this recipe,  I'm thinking it might be something I'd make for a once-a-year splurge.  It really would be perfect for a Christmas in July party!

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Tidings of baking and joy -- a sweet vintage clipping

 

In an envelope of old recipe clippings, I came across the above: Tidings of Baking and Joy!  What a fun title!

The front of the clipping features a scrumptious-sounding recipe for Peanut Butter Cream-Topped Brownies.

 Above is the recipe for the brownie part.  Double clicking should help in seeing it.

And above is the recipe for the peanut butter cream topping and the chocolate glaze.

The back of the clipping features another recipe -- Easy Mocha Brownie Torte -- and a 25¢ coupon on Hershey's Baking Chocolate.

 

The date on the coupon (it expired in February 1998) tells me these recipes are from 1997.  

I appreciate that these treats are made from scratch!  They are also meant to be refrigerated, so they would make nice summer desserts as well.  Why not bake up some comfort and joy today?

Dessert ideas for Christmas dinner?

It's a little late for this now, but I did promise to share some dessert ideas for Christmas dinner.  And you know what?  I am coming up completely blank.

That's because (as I realize now) I very rarely make a specific dessert for Christmas dinner.  I haven't done so for many years.

I tried to think of good desserts I had made in the past.  There was a gingerbread trifle, I remember, but when I looked it up it just seemed too heavy somehow for a Christmas dinner dessert.  Sometimes I've made a cheesecake (again, sort of heavy and rich to follow a Christmas dinner), or some sort of pie -- caramel pecan, or chocolate cream.

I do remember a yule log that my daughter Joanna made at Christmas.   I think she made it a couple of times, and may have been in 8th grade the first time she prepared it.  Hers, however, was filled with whipped cream, while the one pictured at top of post has a coconut-pecan filling.  You can check it out here: yule log if  you are interested.

But none of those seem quite right.  My default dessert on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and any event we bring something to throughout the Christmas season is ... a cookie and fudge tray. 

I often start with a large round plate, around the size of a pizza pan, and arrange four or five cookies of each variety around the edges of the plate.  I usually put fudge in the center.   Sometimes I use a rectangular tray and arrange the treats in rows.

Sometimes I will serve this with ice cream alongside, but often it is just the cookie and fudge tray along with some tea or coffee.

So there you have my best thoughts on Christmas Day dessert.  What will you be serving?

A festive ice cream flavor to try!

Photo from Craftstorming

What could be more perfect for Christmas in July than homemade ice cream?  Here's one of the most festive flavors of homemade ice cream that I've ever seen: Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookie Dough!  It's from Laura at Craftstorming and is certainly an inspired thought as far as ice cream flavors are concerned.

I mean, chocolate chip cookie dough is a mainstream (and very good) flavor, but using gingerbread cookie dough in ice cream is just plain inspired.  The chocolate chip component comes in when you add dark chocolate chips to the cookie dough, and if that doesn't appeal to you, the chocolate chips can be omitted.  (But do keep an open mind; dark chocolate and gingerbread flavors are really good together.)

The really cool thing is that the gingerbread cookie dough recipe makes enough so that you can use half of it for the ice cream, and half to bake cookies with.  You will notice that this is a British recipe so you will need to "translate" some of the terms and measurements.  Here is a helpful tool for calculating the recipe amounts: Recipe Conversion Calculators.

I recently acquired a somewhat vintage electric ice cream maker (1990s; it uses salt and ice) and I am going to use it to give this recipe a try.   Try it yourself, and let us all know what you think!