Summer Pink Lemonade Cream Pie

Submitted by Heather Sheehan
(Sorry for the photo; this pie was actually a very pretty pink)

1 graham cracker crust
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 regular sized cool whip
1 pkg Pink Lemonade unsweetened Kool-aid (for less tartness, only add 1/2 pkg)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 drops red food coloring

Whip together everything but the crust. Pour into the pie shell & chill.

Homemade Cake Batter Ice Cream

Submitted by Heather Sheehan

4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups heavy whipping cream
4 tsp vanilla
1 box cake mix (flavor of your choice)

In a large heavy pot, heat milk and sugar over medium heat just until sugar is disolved, stirring constantly. Add cake mix. Add whipping cream and vanilla. Combine well. Chill first or put directly into the ice cream maker. Follow manufacture directions for icing the cream & enjoy!

Fruit Smoothies

Submitted by Trish Schroeder

2 cups frozen fruit
4-6 oz juice
Plain yogurt
Honey

In blender combine frozen fruit, any varieties, juice, and plain yogurt (start with 6-8 oz, adjust as needed). Blend until desired consistency, adding juice or yogurt to liquify, frozen fruit or ice to solidify. When almost done, drizzle in honey to desired sweetness.

Rattafruitti

Submitted by JoDee Leahy

This dish was inspired by the making of Ratatouille, which was inspired by the movie. I just made it with fruit and ice cream instead of veggies and tomato sauce.

Fruit of choice (bananas, strawberries, apricots, kiwi, mangoes, etc.)
Cheddar Cheese
Angel Food Cake Bar
Ice Cream
Rich Hot Fudge Sauce (recipe below)
Frozen Blueberries
Whipped Cream

Pick several fruits that are about 1/2 dollar sized in circumference to your preference & different in color: I chose the fruits listed above (ok so the last isn't the right size, but I love them, so I used them and then cut the slices to size with a round spice jar lid.) Slice all the fruit very thin with a mandolin (or as thin as you can with a knife.) Slice the cheese and Angel Food Cake as thin as you can and cut into circles with a 1/2 dollar sized jar lid. In a Tupperware bowl, stack the fruit, cheese, & cake, with each circle sightly exposing the one underneath, alternating flavors and colors, in a spiral fashion until you run out of most items. This can then be covered and saved in fridge until you're ready to serve the dessert.

In a small bowl, heat the blueberries in the microwave until thawed and slightly cooked. Beat until smooth or mash and remove skins. Store in fridge.

When you're ready to serve, Heat up some fudge sauce, drizzle some on plate. Drizzle some blueberry sauce on plate, & place a scoop of ice cream in middle. Carefully pick up a small length of rattafuitti layers and place around and up the sides of the ice cream. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Tempting Bon Bons

Submitted by Molly Wood

This is a recipe I got from my neighbor when I lived in Vegas, it is very addicting if you like peanut butter and chocolate, so it's best to make these for your sweetheart and then give the rest away if you lack willpower like me.

1/2 lb. margarine (2 sticks)-softened
8 oz box cream cheese
1 tsp. salt
2 lbs. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1&1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter
about 20 oz of chocolate bark

Mix margarine and cream cheese with mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. Shape into small balls and chill until hard in the freezer. Dip the balls into melted chocolate bark and place on wax paper. Chill. Once chocolate looks dry, transfer to any container. These can be served room temp. or chilled.
Makes about 60 bon bons.

The first time I made these I pressed the peanut butter mixture into small heart shaped candy molds and then froze them before dipping them in chocolate, the idea was cute, but unless you have VERY flexible candy molds, rolling into balls is the easiest.

Ice Cream in a Bag

Submitted by Cynthia Valentine

This isn't really a picnic recipe but its a summer one and would work if you wanted to do it in your backyard. And its SUPER EASY and fun for kids!!!

1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 Sm ziplock bag
1 Lg Ziplock bag
6 TBSP salt
Ice

Put milk, sugar, and vanilla in small ziplock bag. Fill large ziplock bag half full with ice. Add salt to ice. Place sealed small bag into large bag. Shake for five minutes or until thick like ice cream. Eat out of bag. makes 1 serving.