Father's Day Desserts

For our family's Father's Day celebration this past Saturday night we had some really yummy food as I'm blessed to have a mother-in-law that is an amazing cook and baker.  She really could have her own restaurant.  Additionally, my sister-in-law and future sister-in-law are pretty talented themselves.  So if you go hungry at one of our family celebrations, it is definitely your own fault.

In addition to some great appetizers and sides, we had quite the assortment for dessert.  I made my father-in-law's favorite Robert Redford, tried out a new Gooseberry Patch recipe, and then my sister-in-law, Auntie E, tested all of our taste buds with her new creation... bacon ice cream.  (You might want to check out her blog as I'm pretty sure it will be making an appearance in the near future.)  I can't say I would want to have bacon ice cream every night, but it was definitely interesting and added a good combination of sweet and salty all at the same time.

The new recipe I tried came from Gooseberry Patch's Quick & Easy family favorites and from the 5 ingredients or less section, which is becoming my favorite.

Magic Bars
Ingredients
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 1/3c. graham cracker crumbs
14oz. can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free)
1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate as I didn't have enough semi-sweet on hand.)
1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Stir together melted butter and graham cracker crumbs.

Press into a 9x13 baking dish.

Pour milk over crumb mixture.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until edges are browned and bubbly.

These didn't make it past last night so perhaps they really are magic.

Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day with a baseball giveaway

Happy Father's Day!!!


As I said in my Farmer Fridays post for The Real Farmwives of America and Friends, there isn't much more then baseball besides agriculture and farming that makes me think of my dad and Papa.  


Baseball is a big deal in my hometown and I have great memories of watching the Cubs on TV with my Papa.    This is why I'm so excited to tell you about an awesome event my friends over at Indiana's Family of Farmers (IFOF) are having on July 19th at an Indianapolis Indians Game.  And not only do I get to tell you about the event, they also gave me 8 tickets to giveaway to one of my lucky readers!














The winner will receive 8 tickets to the event for their family and friends to join IFOF at the July 19th Indians Game at 7 PM. Winners will also get a wristband to join IFOF in the picnic area for a special picnic at the park that will include a choice of hot dog, hamburger or pulled chicken BBQ in addition to baked beans, pasta salad, fruit salad, cookies and drinks! What more could you ask for?  

Well if that isn't enough for you, I think some of the The Real Farmwives of America and Friends might just be there too along with a lot of other Indiana bloggers so it's bound to be lots of fun.  (Unfortunately, work will keep me away; however, The Farmer just might be there with our kids.)

If you would like to enter to win this giveaway full of free fun and food for the family, there are LOTS of ways to enter and you don't have to use them all, just do the ones you want and be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and why you are at be sure to check out my awesome Gooseberry Patch cookbook giveaway.  

1. Follow 3 kids and lots of pigs through Google Friend Connect (GFC) (right sidebar)

2. Join our Facebook Community

3. Follow @proudporkmom on Twitter

4. Subscribe to us via email (right sidebar)

5. Subscribe to our feed (right sidebar)

6. Check out The Real Farmwives of America blog and follow through GFC 

7. "Like"  The Real Farmwives of America and Friends on Facebook

8. Follow @realfarmwives on Twitter

9. "Like" Indiana's Family of Farmers on Facebook

10. Follow @FamilyofFarmers on Twitter

11. Tweet about this contest and include @proudporkmom and @familyoffarmers in your tweet

Contest ends 9PM EDT on June 27th.
 The Indiana Family of Farmers provided the tickets for this giveaway and for my family to attend the event.

A Favorite Dessert from the pig pen

When I married my husband almost 10 years ago, his family introduced me to a dessert I had never heard of before in my life.  They call it Robert Redford.  It is a delicious chocolate pudding concoction with a shortbread like crust.  Yummy!

 

The thing that makes me laugh about this dessert which  got its name because people say "It's better than Robert Redford" is we now have a generation or two of people that don't even know who Robert Redford is.  I think my daughter would prefer to call this dessert Better than the Jonas Brothers or Zac Efron. If you don't have a young daughter, you may be wondering who the Jonas Brothers or Zac Efron are, but they are common names at our house. 

Any way, I made this dessert for our family's Father's Day Celebration as it is one of my father-in-law's favorites and its relatively easy to make.

 Ingredients
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
8 oz. cream cheese (can use regular, reduced fat, or fat free)
1 c. powdered sugar
Large container of Cool Whip
2 packages of instant chocolate pudding mix
3 c. cold milk (can use whole, 2%, or skim milk)

Mix first three ingredients (the nuts are optional, I prefer it without nuts in the crust) together.

Spread the "dough" in a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let the crust cool before adding the additional layers.  

While the crust is cooling, cream the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and Cool Whip. 

 Spread on the cooled baked crust.

Whip the pudding with the cold milk and spread on next.

  

Spread the remainder of a large Cool Whip container on top and garnish with nuts if desired.  

Chill and store in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy!