Strawberry Pretzel Salad

If you have never had this, you need to try it. It sounds a little strange, but it is amazing-atleast in my book! Although it has quite a few steps, it isn't a hard recipe. Not too expensive either. So here you go:

1/2 to 3/4 cup butter (I only use 1/2 and it is still very good)

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 1/2 cups CRUSHED pretzels ( the small pieces are easier to eat)

1 6oz pkg strawberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water

1 16 oz container of frozen sliced strawberries-thawed or 3 cups fresh strawberries sliced

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1 8oz frozen whipped topping thawed

Cream butter with brown sugar. Beat your pretzels up and relieve the stresses of the day on them. Mix pretzels with butter mixture. Pat this down in the bottom of 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. This candies the pretzels. Sweet & salty-what a lovely combo. Let this cool.

In a medium bowl dissolve your gelatin in boiling water. If you are in a hurry to get this together, I use 1 1/2 cups boiling water to dissolve and then stir in 1 cup of ice to chill more quickly. This will need to chill until it is partially thickened.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and white sugar until smooth. Then fold in your whipped cream. Spread this over pretzel base. Make sure it goes all the way to the edge so your gelatin doesn't run down into your pretzels.

Remove gelatin from fridge and add strawberries. Pour mixture over cream cheese layer and cover. Put in fridge and chill until firm.

In my house we truly believe this is a salad because salad is good for you and you can eat it almost anytime without feeling bad about it. It is NOT dessert, because desserts are only supposed to be eaten after dinner. Enjoy!