Sharon's crunchy apple cashew salad with poppyseed dressing

Dressing:
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (can use apple cider but better with red wine)
1 tbsp finely minced red onion
1/2 cup oil
1 tbsp roasted poppy seeds (toasted in frying pan on stove)

Mix first five ingredients in blender, food processor, or bowl with a whisk. Slowly add oil to create emulsion. Add poppy seeds.

Salad:
Head if iceberg lettuce, torn
2 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped into small squares
1/2 cup cashew pieces
1/2 cup cubes Swiss cheese

Mix salad ingredients, toss with dressing. Serve immediately.

Orange Dream jello salad

1 large lemon cook and serve pudding
1 small instant lemon pudding
1 small orange jello
1 cup milk
2 cups hot water
8 oz. Cool whip
1 can mandarin oranges, drained

Make large lemon pudding according to package directions. Dissolve jello in hot water. Mix jello with lemon pudding and spread in 9 x 13 pan. Refrigerate aovernight to set. Top with instant pudding mixed with milk and cool whip. Decorate with oranges.

Banana Cream Pie

Mm-Mm-Good...

Makes 1 9-inch pie

  3/4 c sugar
  1/4 c cornstarch
  1/4 tsp salt
  3 c milk
  4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  4 tbsp butter, softened
  2 tsp vanilla

Precook 9-inch pie crust.

In a large saucepan, mix dry ingredients thoroughly with a wisk until consistent texture (no lumps of cornstarch remaining).  While continuing to whisk, pour in milk, slowly at first.  Stir thoroughly.
Stir about 2 cups of the milk/sugar mixture into the egg yolks, and stir until well mixed.  Pour back into saucepan.
Stir constantly over medium heat until full boil (can't be stirred down).  Should be thick at this point.  Lower heat to medium low and continue to stir for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add butter and vanilla, and stir until well mixed.

(Note:  You can use 2 T butter if you prefer.  Also, if using real vanilla, you may choose to use a bit less, unless you like stronger vanilla flavor.)

Cover with plastic wrap (to inhibit a 'skin' to form on the pudding) and let sit for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, slice 2 medium-sized, ripe bananas, into pie shell.
Remove plastic wrap from pudding, and stir well.  Pour into pie shell.

Serve as desired: warm or cold, with cream or meringue, 1/2 pie or full pie :)

Alternatives

Instead of bananas, gently stir 1-2 Tbsp sugar into 1 1/2 cup fresh raspberries or blackberries (depending on sweetness).  Pour 1 cup into pie shell.  Fill pie shell with pudding.  Sprinkle remaining berries on top.