Catching Up

We've been terribly busy (no, honestly--going to bed at 9:30 really cuts down on the amount of time in which we can get things done). Anyway, I haven't made any new recipes for the past couple of weeks. I'm restarting this week, but first more random bits of information:

• Camping for July 4th with my family was a blast (despite some weird family dramas).
  
  
  


• I got a bonus at work that allowed us to pay off my CR-V, with some money left over to spare (which means we now own both vehicles outright).


• We went boating with some friends on Saturday, during which Sean and I both failed miserably at our first attempts to wake-board; however, we did discover that night-boating is awesome.




• We've got lots of trips coming in August, so that's going to be another busy month.

I just hope I can stay on top of these recipes, because that binder is fat with ones to try! This week's recipe was a big hit at Sean's maternal grandma's 94th birthday party, and it was super easy; it came from a website called Allrecipes that I often use (I modified it a bit to fit what I had on-hand). Sorry that there's no photograph, but the lighting in our house at night makes food look particularly unappetizing.

berry trifle

(serves 18)

• 1 package (10.75 oz) prepared pound cake, cubed
• 4-6 cups assorted berries (cut strawberries into slices, if using)
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 package (5 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, condensed milk, and 1 cup of whipped topping; whisk until smooth and set aside.
2. Place 1/2 of cubed cake in bottom of trifle dish or large glass bowl. Brush tops of cake pieces with 1/2 of orange juice. Layer with 1/2 of berry mixture and top with 1/2 of pudding mixture.
3. Repeat cake, berry, and pudding mixture layers. Top trifle with remaining whipped topping.
4. Refrigerate until well-chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 8.

responses

Sean said: "Really good."

Sarah said: "This was so easy! I'm making it my potluck go-to recipe."

Grandma said: "Delicious."

critique

The recipe, as I wrote it, already has some modifications of my own. The original recipe called for one layer of cake, one of berries, and one of pudding mixture, but I thought it would look nicer and be more balanced on the palate with two layers. Also, I was supposed to use frozen berries, but I had a quantity of fresh strawberries and blackberries to use up. I think it would work well either way. Finally, it wasn't nearly as good the next day, so definitely make sure it gets served and eaten within 8 hours.

P.S. The lack of formatting features is driving me crazy! I messed with the bullets and spacing in this post for about 20 minutes before giving up. I don't understand what rules govern the random spacing of bullets for this site.