Strawberry Pretzel Squares

Kraft Foods
2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1-1/2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
1-1/2 cups cold water
4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

HEAT oven to 350°F.

MIX pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min. Cool.

BEAT cream cheese, remaining sugar and milk until blended. Stir in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened.

STIR berries into gelatin; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Strawberry Romaine Salad

Taste of Home

8 cups torn romaine
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

Poppy Seed Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

In a large bowl, toss the romaine, strawberries and onion. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients until blended. Serve with salad.

NOTE: Mom adds feta cheese and sugared almonds.

Strawberry and Mascarpone Filled Cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 min
Inactive Prep: 30 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Total: 1 hr 25 min

Ingredients
1 box vanilla cake mix (like Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe French Vanilla cake)
1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese, chilled
1/2 cup thawed and drained frozen strawberries
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions
Special equipment: 1 muffin tin

Make the cupcakes according to package instructions. Lightly grease the muffin tin and fill the batter almost to the rim of each muffin cup. Bake according to package directions and let cool.

In a food processor combine the mascarpone cheese, strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Process the mixture until smooth. Transfer the strawberry mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small tip. Push the tip gently into the bottom of a cupcake and squeeze in the strawberry mixture until the cupcake plumps. Continue with the remaining cupcakes.

In a small saucepan bring the 1/2 cup sugar, water, and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved. In a medium bowl combine the vanilla syrup with the confectioner's sugar. Stir until smooth. Working quickly, use a rubber spatula spread the icing on the top of the cupcakes. If the icing begins to firm up, place in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up again.

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

"Everyday Italian"

The Food Network

Note: I was not able to find Mascarpone Cheese so I used Cream Cheese. I also don't have a food processor so my mixture wasn't as smooth as it could have been, but it still worked and they are yummy.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Linda Brown a.k.a Mom

3 cups fruit - mashed

5 1/4 cups sugar

1 box of pectin

Mash fruit. Add sugar. Stir well. Let mixture stand for 10 minutes (mom lets it stand for 20-30 minutes). Boil pectin for 1 minute. Add to fruit. Put in jars and let stand for 8 hours. Freeze.

I did an internet search to find other recipes and there were a few that used 4 cups of fruit and about 1 1/2 cups of sugar. These recipes also used freezer jam pectin. I have never seen that kind of pectin before. Apparently it is not good to blend the fruit. The jam doesn't set up. It is more like a syrup than a jam.

I will be sticking to my Mom's original recipe since it is what I grew up eating and absolutely love!