Traditions...Traditions

Did you hear the song from Fiddler on the Roof?  If not, go back and read the title again...did you hear it this time?  The song really has nothing to do with this post, but every time I say "tradition", I start singing the song (ok, just the two words) in my head...love it!!

It's just the four of us here in Texas, my family lives in Alabama and his in Ohio.  That being said, holiday's are a little quiet here.  I try and do things that make the girls look forward to the holiday's and one of those things is Monkey Bread.  I found the recipe for a really simple version several years ago, and it was a hit!  Shelby looks forward to it the most; she starts reminding me that I make it weeks before the day gets here.  She also gets up early with me every year to help put it together.  This year I laughed, after I pulled the last biscuit can out of the plastic, Pillsbury has the same recipe on their packaging. 

She hates pictures, but she humored me today!  I had never had Monkey Bread until I found this recipe, and I'm thinking that maybe some of you haven't either.  Just in case, I'll share...

Monkey Bread

4 cans of the Pillsbury biscuits in the blue can

1/2 cup of sugar

lots of cinnamon

1 stick of melted butter

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Cut the biscuits in quarters, roll into a ball and coat .  Then place them in a greased bundt pan (that's what I use anyways).  Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over the top.  Combine melted butter and brown sugar, pour it over the biscuits and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes and invert onto a plate.

While that was baking, she helped me make the Banana Pudding that I absolutely adore!  No one but me eats it, but I'm well worth it!!

You can tell she's rather particular...they had to be lined up exactly just so!  It came out scrumptious!

After breakfast, it was time for the pies.  When I was growing up, my mother always made Chocolate Pudding Pies and she'd put them in the little individual pie shells.  I saw the Keebler graham cracker individual shells, so my girls got the same treat this year.  Shelby helped with that too and even tried one.  The Ice Cream Pies are Bob's favorite.  Never had I had one of these either until we went to visit his family the first time.  His mom does hers with raspberry Jello, but I abhor anything raspberry, so I usually do black cherry.   This year I tried lime Jello too, and it's my new favorite.  I'll share the recipe for this one also.

Ice Cream Pie

1 baked pie shell (I use frozen)

1/2 of a block of Vanilla ice cream

2 cups boiled water

2 small packages of same flavored Jello (Black Cherry, Cherry and Lime are great)

Add the jello to the boiling water in a large bowl.  Once jello is dissolved, add the ice cream.  Mix until the ice cream is completely blended in.  (a potato masher works great for this step).  Let the mixture sit for a few minutes to thicken up.  I put mine in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes.  Pour into the baked/cooled pie shell and put in the refrigerator for a few hours to set.  You'll have extra filling...pour it in a bowl and the kids love that by itself. 

I think the only important thing to remember on the jello flavor is, the stronger the flavor, the more it will come through when combined with the ice cream.  On the ice cream, I buy the generic Walmart brand that comes in a box and it works great. 

Being a firm believer of options, my family of four got to choose from four different dessert flavors this year. A little crazy, but why should we be penalized just because we don't have a huge get together?!

Shelby "marked" her pie, hence the vanilla wafer in the middle of the chocolate!

The turkey was great, Bob and his co-workers smoke them at work each year in one of the guy's  BBQ pits.  That makes my day a little less crazy, and they're the best!  We all ate too much and enjoyed the afternoon watching football and trying to nap!  In addition to the Monkey Bread, up until this year we've always gone to the theater in the afternoon and watched a movie as a family.  This year, no one could agree on the movie so that was bypassed. 

How about you, do you have any special traditions that make the day extra special? 

Mandy