An easy but really decadent looking dessert is a cherry Boston Cream Pie. You simply bake a yellow cake in (2) 10" round pans. Once cooled-cut any rounded tops off-so cakes are completely flat. While cakes are baking..make up 1 box of vanilla pudding (NOT instant-use the cooked one-decreasing the milk so it's thick when done. Cool in fridge until real cold. Open a can of cherry pie filling & have some toasted slivered almonds on hand, and a tub of cool whip. Place one layer of cake on serving tray, spread the pudding on the cake-coming to about an inch from the edge. Place the other layer of cake on top & rock it gently so it sits firm. The witha rubber spatula-gently spread the pie filling on top. Stick some toothpicks in the top & cover w/plastic wrap & refridgerate until party time. Remove & place 8-10 high 'dollops' of cool whip around the edge-better yet-if you can use a pastry bag-do it that way. It looks best when the dollop is equally placed (designating each serving). Sprinkle w/almonds for garnish.

roselvr, do you make the Company Cheesecake from the BH&G cookbook? That's our "old reliable"... back when my dad was teaching he and I would bake twenty or so of them every Christmas for the other teachers and a very few other very lucky people. I much prefer their shortbready crust to the more common crumb crusts. I need a new copy of the OLD big book - the red plaid binder - mine's gone walkabout and they messed around with the recipes in the new version. (Did the same thing to Joy of Cooking. Irritating.) I broke the spine on the paperback in about six places ages back, it's held together with packing tape! Pie for breakfast was a staple at Grammie's when I was a little kid. No half and half though. Slab of apple pie with a hunk of "rat cheese" (very sharp cheddar) on the side - Gramp liked apple best for breakfast, other kinds were for dessert - with "Navy coffee" you could just about stand your spoon up in. (I once had a version where they tried to bake the cheese into the pie. It was vile.) She made terrible crust though. You could hurt someone with the "bone", the bit around the rim. Then she decided to go all "healthy" and the delicious breakfast pie disappeared in favor of a bowl of Wheaties. *mourn* golddust, I do so hate to disagree with you, but I've had enough people insist "oh, I just can't stand that store-bought pie crust", mumbling it around a mouthful of pie... made with that very product. *chuckle* About the third time it happened I decided not to waste precious energy on making piecrust anymore (when you have 4-6 usable hours in a day, you take your shortcuts as you can)... My mom makes kick-@$$ pie crust - perfect texture etc. - but she also smokes heavily so all her baked goods have a strong overtone of "ashtray" to the flavor. We usually give them away to friends who smoke who won't notice it. Oh! I forgot Oatmeal Pie. It's an old Amish/Mennonite recipe, IIRC. It makes a chewy-crisp top sort of like an oatmeal cookie and underneath that is a layer like the gooey part of a pecan pie. As I said above, many of our friends are allergic to nuts, so this is what I bring to a lot of wintertime potlucks as a "replacement" for pecan pie. 25 or so people will wipe out 2 or 3 10" pies and leave other desserts untouched. LOL I used to love making fancy desserts, but they are usually too time consuming for my limited time budget and our friends don't really appreciate them anyway. They'd rather have the simpler, homier stuff.

I had wondered about the pasteurized eggs too. Hmmm, will they work? Kissing a horse? I think I'll pass on that one! I don't understand why my recipe looks so screwed up from my work computer. I checked and re-did some symbols before I hit submit. I'm guessing it's the font that I used, but I see it occasionally in other's posts too.

These are some of my favorites. They're all simple and use common ingredients. Raspberry Bars 1 # Cold Butter 2 C Chopped Walnuts (maybe just use ½?) Blend together and add: 2 C Sugar 4 C Flour 2 Jumbo (preferably) Eggs Spray a jelly roll pan. Take a little less than ½ of the dough and press into the pan. Top with 2 Cups of Raspberry filling (jam/preserves/jelly) Add nuts to the other ½ of the dough. Break it up and put on top of the preserves. Bake 40-50 minutes. Another one was called EZ Bars. I tried to find the actual recipe but can't find my cookbook. I got it from a cookbook my mother had that was put out by the local paper and I can't find that cookbook either! I've seen variations all over the place. If you need the exact recipe I'll find it (it's somewhere!) but essentially you take a stick of butter and melt it in a 9x13 pan. I do it in the oven while the oven is preheating and I'm getting out the other ingredients. Otherwise you could use a pan or microwave but why dirty another dish? Then take and cover the melted butter with graham cracker crumbs (I get a good thick layer so it absorbs most of the butter, 1.5+ cups), top with a package or two of chocolate chips (I like to vary with butterscotch and vanilla chips or use a mixture), chopped pecans or walnuts, or both, about a cup I 'spose, some like to add coconut, but I don't like it, so I don't. Then just drizzle a can of sweetened condensed milk over the top of it all. I hold the can up a foot or more so I can get a thin stream and get it evenly distributed. Do NOT stir! Repeat, DO NOT STIR! You want the layers separated. Bake it about 25 min or so until slightly golden. I usually line the pan with foil to make it easier to remove and clean up. These have been a hit everywhere I've served them. If you need more details, let me know and I'll dig out the exact recipe. It is one of those recipes that can be varied and is very forgiving. I've thought about mixing in mini M&Ms or toffee bits or something as a variant too. I'm not a big chocolate fan although my Minnesota Mud Bars go over big. Here's one of my favorite brownie recipes: Butterscotch Brownies (From Franco Palumbo) 1/4 C butter or shortening 1 t baking powder 1 C packed brown sugar 1/2 t salt 1 egg 1/2 t vanilla 3/4 C flour 1/2 C chopped Nuts (opt) Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Add flour, salt, powder, and vanilla. Batter will be thick, spread it in an a sprayed 8x8" pan and top with nuts if desired. Bake 350° for 25 minutes or until done. You can use vegetable oil in place of butter or shortening and mix whole wheat flour as part of the flour in this recipe. AnnT from the cooking forum provided the following recipes. I've substituted different nuts and mixed the types of nuts too. They're always good. Graham Cracker Chewies ====================== These are amazingly good and simple to make. They are a nice alternative to brownies. Recipe from the Nantucket Open House Cookbook. (AnnT's from the Cooking forum) Crust: 1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature 2 tablespoons A/P flour Topping: 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla ext 2 large eggs beaten Preheat oven to 350° Crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and flour in a mixing bowl until moist and crumbly. Press the mixture firmly and evenly in the bottom of a 9 inch square baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Topping: Stir all the ingredients together until blended. Spread the topping over the baked crust and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely, then cut into 16 squares. Double for 13 x 9" pan. And another one of her contributions: SILLY TOFFEE SQUARES 1/2 cup flour 3/4 cup Rice Krispies cereal 1/4 tsp. baking soda Pinch of salt 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup butter melted 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT Evaporated Milk!) 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1-1/4 cups Rice Krispies cereal Combine first 6 ingredients and press into 8-inch square pan and bake at 350° F. for 10 minutes. In heavy nonstick saucepan combine condensed milk, 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Bring to a low boil and cook 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Be careful not to burn. Remove from heat and pour over baked crust. Melt chocolate chips over low heat. Stir in remaining cereal until well coated. Using two forks spread over caramel layer. Chill and cut into squares.