it's a new day

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to you with great news. I have successfully replicated Miss Myra's famous lemon icebox pie recipe. After many tries and failures over the past several years, I am pleased to announce that I am no longer a slave to my late-night lemon icebox cravings. I no longer have to cry alone in my car when I realize the restaurant doesn't open until lunch time (so what if I wanted to have a slice for breakfast?). I no longer have to suffer the embarrassment of walking into the barbeque establishment alone and leaving with only a to-go box of dessert.

Citizens of the world, it is a new day. And now I want to share my joy with you. After you see this recipe, you are probably going to think it is a joke. Like I would ever be sarcastic...

This really is incredibly simple. Almost as easy as the cereal and tarts.

You can thank me later:

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 tubs (12 oz) of Cool Whip

1/2 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 can (12 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate

Directions:

Are you ready for this?

Mix it all together and throw it in a prepared graham cracker crust (I doubled the crust recipe so it would be extra thick).

Done.

I can't believe that the object of my affection for all these years has just been three ingredients. Looks like Myra is a smart gal. And now I can be just like her.

Also, it seems that I only blog about food these days. Hopefully that will change in the future. But for now, I must go polish this off:

recipe: chocolate tart

Because I've received such positive feedback about the cereal recipe, I've decided to release yet another jewel from the Todd family vault. We call them tarts. And yes, this also happens to be the term that my grandmother used to refer to flatulence. She refused to use the word "fart," so combining the words "toot" and "fart" was the obvious solution. Not that anyone in my family does that kind of thing anyway. Now... who's hungry?!

I'm going to warn you: this recipe requires a little more prep work. But trust me... it is worth the extra effort. Ok, let's get started.

First, open the box.

Next, take one of the foil-wrapped (I know... fancy, right?) packages from the box.

Then, unwrap the foil and place the tarts (there should be two) into the toaster.

Here comes the tricky part, and it's mostly a matter of personal preference. Some like their tarts a little more cooked and dark around the edges. If you're one of these people, then you might want to cook your tart longer. I would suggest doing a "practice run" to determine your ideal cooking time.

CAUTION: NEVER stick a fork in the toaster and move it around to see if the tarts are done. Just don't. Use bamboo tongs (notice I said TONGS, not THONGS). These are two simple mistakes that I've made before, but they are easily avoidable. I don't buy bamboo thongs anymore for this reason. They were uncomfortable anyway.

We prefer to make chocolate tarts around here, but the variations are endless. You can stick with the safe options, like blueberry, strawberry, raspberry or chocolate chip. But if you're really feeling dangerous, you can get crazy with flavors such as hot fudge sundae, s'mores and brown sugar cinnamon. All of these are delicious (I know because I've made them all).

Serving suggestions: a tall glass of milk is a must.

But if you're feeling extra fancy, you can always top it off with some Reddi-Wip. Always a classy touch.

This recipe is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's also a great snack for a pick-me-up in the middle of class. Just be sure to leave the Reddi Wip at home (trust me, people will give you dirty looks if you break that out during a PowerPoint presentation). Hope you enjoy!

gourmet

While stalking blogs recently, I noticed that many people like to post their favorite recipes and add pictures of the process. So I decided to join the fun and share my favorite dinner that I make. It's a secret recipe that my mother carried with her from the Old Country (Centerpoint, Alabama). She passed the secret to me, and now I am ready to share it with the world. We call it cereal.

Here's what you'll need:

First, start with a nice, clean bowl. I've used a coffee cup before, but I don't recommend it. I was desperate.

Next, pour about 1 1/2 cups of cereal into the bowl.

Now add 1 cup of milk.

Finally, grab your favorite utensil (I've found that spoons work best), and dig in!

I usually try to have a side item with this dinner. I personally think that fudgesicles are a great complement to this meal, but plain fudge would also work fine.

I know this recipe may seem difficult at first glance, but it's actually pretty simple. Not to mention nutritious. Growing up, it was always such a treat to gather around the television on Sunday nights and eat a big bowl of mom's famous cereal. Can't wait to pass this treasure on to my own children someday.

Enjoy!