Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Back to Reality with Cherry Yum Yum

Mindy here, fresh off the heels of ten-day visit with our brand new granddaughter, where I, hopefully, helped her and her mama adjust to their new life together. 
If you've ever had children, you, no doubt, remember those first days at home with your newborn. The joy of getting to know one another, adjusting to each other's schedules... Not to mention the sleepless nights. Fortunately, Grammy's an early riser, so she took advantage of some sweet time the baby while Mom got some much-needed rest.

But before I left, we took time to celebrate my SIL's birthday and one of his favorite things is Cherry Yum Yum.
Personally, I think that's a rather strange name for a dessert, but I wanted to make the boy happy.

Actually, this recipe has been given a few other names over the years. It's been around for a while and is so easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for it to chill.

To make it, you will need:
  • 3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (1 and 1/2 sticks)
  • 3 cups graham cracker crumbs, divided
  • 2 packets Dream Whip (Yes, they still make that stuff!)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cans cherry pie filing
Mix melted margarine and 2 1/2 cups graham crackers together and press into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
Beat Dream Whip and milk until soft peaks form.

In a separate bowl, blend cream cheese and sugar.
Add cream cheese mixture to Dream Whip.
And mix until smooth and creamy.
Spread over the graham cracker crust.
Top with pie filling and remaining graham cracker crumbs and put in refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight.
Tried and true. Simple and delicious. 
The SIL was one happy camper. However, I think the creamy filling might have tasted even better with a SECOND 8 oz. brick of cream cheese added. I'll have to try that next time.

On my drive back home, I couldn't help noticing how winter had settled over the Texas landscape.
And while there's no pretty snow to look at, the land is at rest. That time between harvest and new growth. Think about that. Don't we all need some time like that?

I have to say, after all the chaos of 2017 and the frantic rush to get into the big house before the holidays, it was nice to have some time away. A time to be still and stare into the face of one so pure and completely innocent.
Unspoiled by the world.
Life in its purest form.

Now it's your turn. Do you have a simple recipe that's been around forever yet stood the test of time? You know, sometimes the simple things are really are the best, no matter how we night try to improve upon them. Have you found that to be true? I want to hear your thoughts.









Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com  



11 comments:

  1. What precious photos!! I know you'll miss her. Now you're heading back to nearly grown young men and a husband! :)

    This dessert looks amazing! I've never bought dream whip. I usually buy frozen Cool Whip. I'll have to try it!

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    1. Actually, your guys are grown now! How time flies.

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    2. They are definitely grown, Missy. I'm officially the shortest person in our family, for those over the age of 13, that is. Even my grandsons tower over me. Now use them instead of a stepstool when I need something on the top shelf. Which is only fair since I'm the one feeding them.

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  2. Oh, Mindy! Thank you for this recipe! My mom used to make this...and as I look at the pictures, I can even remember how it tastes.

    I have to make it for our next get-together at church. :)

    And oh, the baby-love! I'm so glad you got to spend time with both of your beautiful girls.

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    1. So glad I could help out, Jan. Isn't it cool how certain foods hold such fond memories? Hmm...perhaps that's why cooking is my love language.

      So I called my daughter yesterday to see how things were going. She said the baby cries a lot. I told her it was simply because she missed her Grammy. ;)

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  3. Up here we call that cherry cheese cake but we don't put the crumble on top. And guess what? I can't make it? It never turns out. Ever. How weird is that???????? Sigh.

    The simple recipe that's been around forever in my family is lentil soup. Way back when I brought my wee baby girl home a friend made me lentil soup. She was so proud of herself because I'm a vegetarian and no one knew what to make me so I got a lot of desserts but no main courses. I lived on lentil soup for about a month after I got home from the hospital because it was so easy to make and to this day it's my daughter's favourite comfort food. And the one consistent meal she could always eat even when she developed food allergies.

    Love those baby bunting pictures! Bet you enjoyed all that grammy time!

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    1. Oh, you know I enjoyed it, Kav. I've never had lentil soup. But I bet you were one happy camper when your friend showed up with that instead of a dessert.

      So why doesn't this ever turn out for you? What seems to be the problem? Is it runny or too thick?

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    2. Always too runny no matter what I do. It doesn't seem to set. Once I brought it to a potluck birthday lunch at work...on the bus...it was cherry cheesecake soup by the time I got there. lol

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    3. I wonder if, maybe, you didn't whip the Dream Whip enough. Did you beat it until peaks formed?

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  4. OH SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! I am in love, Mind-O!!!!!

    And this recipe looks marvelous... I use Dream Whip for Dream Pie every Christmas because with all the homemade wonderful things I do, my kids still love dark chocolate Dream Pie!!!! So funny!!!

    Mindy, I bet you could do this with the extra large Cool Whip instead of Dream Whip.... Dream Whip is almost $3 a box in our stores here... and the large Cool Whip is about half that on sale. Something we can play with.

    KAV!!!!

    I wonder what happened? You know Dream Whip reacts with raw milk or anything that's not homogenized... It tells us that on the box and when we had a cow I tested it... Yup... Dream Whip doesn't react well with some enzyme in raw milk...

    But that's just weird, Kav!

    Maybe Canadian Dream Whip is different.....

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    1. Ruthy, I contemplated the Cool Whip, but since it was for the SIL's bday, I figured I'd best not mess with things. On Pinterest, I even saw a few versions of this recipe where they used whipping cream and powdered sugar instead of the Dream Whip. Now that would definitely make things creamy.

      I used to make cakes with Dream Whip and I'm pretty sure I've had cheesecake with it, too. But I gotta tell youse, I still love Cool Whip. Just give a container and a spoon and I'm a happy woman. At east until it's gone, that is.

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