Recipes

This weekend the parentals came into town. I thought it would be cool to bring them to some places that I like in North Texas while checking out something new to all of us. I took them to one of my favorite BBQ spots (yep, you guessed it), Rudy’s BBQ. My stepdad was amazed and in love with his jumbo loaded brisket potato (I’m sure that isn’t how it is described on the menu but that’s how I order it). Meanwhile my mom kept it simple with ribs.

So before I venture out to our next journey during Easter weekend, I will first let you know about my parents. They are old-school Southern parents who stick to the norm. They don’t venture out of their comfort zone and it has been that way for 50+ years. Their off the wall daughter is tempting to change that before 60. So I knew I had to ask them to spend the day with me to get them to go to my next venture and I also had to pay.

So Rudy’s was the first stop. Then as we left I proceeded to tell them that I needed some flowers to brighten my living room space and I needed them fresh. So in the midst of that explanation, we drive up the highway to Pilot Point, Texas to Texas Tulips. They were amazed at the rows of tulips that we could hand pick to fill our homes. I want to thank Fox 4 News for the advertising the weekend event because I NEVER knew there was such a thing in North Texas.

I would say the first step of helping my parents try something new was a success at the tulip farm.

The next step was Easter Dinner. My parents know that I love to eat out (only because I don’t have time to clean the dishes). In their head it was because I am the millenial who doesn’t know how to cook and without a family why would I (their thoughts not mine)? So I decided to cook Easter dinner and try some healthier versions of soul food. I whipped up some dishes from my favorite cooking blogger, Divas Can Cook (because they most definitely can). I made vegetarian collard greens, Southern creamed corn, hot water corn bread, my infamous broccoli cheese casserole, and lemon hot salt chicken. They were amazed although they felt my greens were too spicy. My stepdad even mentioned that now he knows I am an adult. LOL

Easter was fun and a great way to ease down the Texas highway to new ventures. I even drove them to the Oklahoma/Texas border just so they can say they have been to Oklahoma. The face my mother made when I told her to “Facebook it” was priceless. Her hands couldn’t type fast enough for her first Facebook post. All in all I cherished these moments with my parents. I was able to show them a new side of Texas and hopefully they will be up for the next journey as Drea Takes on Dallas.

How was your Easter and what was memorable for you?

It’s a few days before Christmas and I wanted to share one of my recipes that is super easy and finger licking good. Well the finger licking is after the mix of it.

(From left to right)

A. Gather all of the ingredients together.

Graham Cracker Crust
Strawberry kool-aid packet
Cool Whip
Frozen cut strawberries or fresh strawberries (I was a stickler for time so I chose to go the frozen route)
Sweetened Condensed Milk

B. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Save at least half of the cool whip to use as a topping.

C. Mix the ingredients until you see a smooth consistency and a solid color.

D. Place mixture into the graham cracker crust.

E. Take the remaining cool whip and place it as the topping of the pie.

F. Top the pie with the plastic from the graham cracker crust and set in the refrigerator for 2 hours and enjoy.

My mom gave me the recipe in high school and it has been my go to pie for holidays. I’ve recently add the strawberries to the recipe. You can easily change it to fit your favorite fruit but I prefer strawberry here. If you choose a different fruit, let me know the results because I like to do food testing in my kitchen.

What’s your favorite recipe to make during the holidays?

Recap of Easter Weekend

HOLIDAY RECIPE — STRAWBERRY CREME PIE