{Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits}

Shrek: For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example... uh... ogres are like onions!
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes... No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry?
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave 'em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs...
Shrek: NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.
Donkey: Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. What about cake? Everybody loves cake!
Shrek: I don't care what everyone else likes! Ogres are not like cakes.
Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!
Shrek: NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later.
Donkey: Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet! 

 So, Shrek is one of my very favorite movies on all of planet earth. Also, Shrek 2, which is veerd since most sequels kinda, well, let's not mince words here, suck.

Donkey is one of my all time favorite characters. Eveeer.

copyright Dreamworks

I luff him. I cannot, cannot, cannot make a parfait without thinking of the above conversation. Ever. Ever. Donkey resides in my brain and randomly quotes things, like, "we took a magic potion, and now, we're SEXY!". Yes. Donkey. In my brain. Which can be entertaining, but probably annoying to those closest to me. Quoting Shrek & Harry Potter lines all day long. There's nothing wrong with that, right? I know.

I wanted to make a quick and easy dessert for hubs for Father's Day. Two of his favorite treats are Aunt Rosie's Strawberry Delight and Grammy's Strawberry Pie. So, what I did today was kinda combine the two.

Funny story. The Bean took hubs to the movies today to see Man of Steel for Father's Day. While they were gone, I made this. I was editing the pictures when hubs saw them.

Hubs: WHAT'S THAT?
Me: a dessert
Hubs: Is there more?
Me: I ate it all.
Hubs: Those pictures are at our house!
WHERE IS IT?
Me: It's GONE.
Hubs: runs to fridge and proceeds to gobble it down.

So, I guess it was A-OK, huh?

Hope you've had a wonderful day celebrating all the special men in your life!

Tina



Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
serves 4 (photo above is a very large serving)

For the graham layer: 
3 full sheets of graham crackers
2 Tablespoons sugar

Add together in food processor and crush until very fine

For the cream cheese layer:
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat for a softer set)
1-2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 cup sugar

Starting with 1 Tablespoon milk, beat together cheese and sugar in mixer until well combined. Should be the consistency of pudding. If too thick, add the other tablespoon of milk.

For the strawberry gel layer:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons strawberry jello powder (mix)*

*store the rest in a ziploc baggie for making this again! 
 

On the stovetop, add all ingredients into a heavy saucepan. Stir together. Heat over medium heat. 

It will be kind of a milky red. Allow to boil, stirring constantly. As it begins to thicken, it will turn a clear, bright red. When thickened, remove from heat. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before assembling parfaits.

 

For the strawberry layer:

sliced strawberries

Assemble:

Graham cracker layer, cream cheese layer, gel layer, strawberries. Repeat. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles.

{ For Dad }

I don't know if you are aware... but in just 2 short days here in the USA, it will be Father's Day!

I say the part about not being aware, because someone sitting at a certain desk, typing these very words at this very moment could have possibly let that factoid slip her mind.

Possibly.

Until she was in Walmart today and saw Father's Day items.

Eek.

My dad, LOVES ice cream. love. Love. LOVES.

When I was a kid, he used to eat a heaping bowl every night. I'm not sure he still eats it every  night, but I've yet to have him turn it down here.

"Dad, you want some cake?"

"I reckon."

(He 'reckons' a lot. Do you 'reckon' too?)

"Do you want ice cream with it?"

"Well, of course!"

I'm not sure why I even ask at this point. If there's ice cream, the answer is yes.

So, I put together a box of ice creamness for him.

Here's what it looks like

Layer One:

Caramel topping, Chocolate Syrup, Sugar Cones, and Sixlets.

Layer Two:

Chocolate Dipped Cones, and little baggies of sprinkles (I used these baggies): Cookies n Cream Crunch, Multicolored Sprinkles, Mini Chocolate Chips, Marshmallow Bits, Mint Chocolate Sprinkles, and Turtle Crunch Sprinkles.

*of course these are just what I came up with, add whatever your heart desires!
I just realized I forgot to put nuts in it. Dag-gern-it!

I put all of the items into a Photo Box (found in the Scrapbooking Aisle), lined with Father's Day tissue paper. I made the tags for the sprinkles out of sticker paper. I also used it for the top of the box, which looks like this

He'll get a few dollars to go with it to purchase his Ice Cream, and done!

He needs nothing, so he's super hard to buy for, and I know he will love this!

The hardest part of the whole thing was pouring the sprinkles into the little baggies. The Bean held them as I poured. He informed me a need a funnel. Duly noted. The sprinkles still got all over the floor, but that's ok... the dogs approved.

Hope all the Dads in your life have a wonderful day on Sunday!

Tina

Credit: I saw an idea like this a while back on Tip Junkie :)