Ok, I know I know. In the rules of blogging I'm officially disqualified for my lack of posts, but its been a long month & a half or so that has involved track meets, grading, Easter, three family birthday celebrations, mother's day & the unfortunate loss of my grandmother & a dear family friend.
However, I have finally caught up with my responsibilities and am fighting my way back into being a more committed blogger. I promise, and while I am nervous about keeping that promise for the next six weeks or so as school comes to a close, I know that summer brings fresh air & a bit more free time for me to do things like blog...so I PROMISE....and my mom better promise too.
In honor of soon to be summer & the passing of our dear friend, comes one of my ALL time favorite desserts. It's birthplace is the Shatel family fourth of July picnic that my family and I spent...mmm...probably decades attending. It was one of the many joyous constants in my life as a child. Each year we showed up around three with Mr. Shatel working the grill, the coaches hanging out drinking some beer, the women clustered around salads, desserts, and sides, and the kids getting some sort of game together.
After some mean hours of running bases, wiffleball, or manhunt, us kids were ready for some grub. I would get my plate and fill it with whatever my mom brought (as a kid I pretty much only liked my mom's food) and then head to the grill where Mr. Shatel would say, "Hey Red. Burger or Dog?" I would be awarded my request, grab a soda from the cooler, and plant myself on a chair somewhere close to my family. The next few minutes were spent chowing down and then my brother and I would sit waiting anxiously for dessert. Sometimes it felt like hours or even days. We never went back to the game because we wanted to be the very first kids in line for Mrs. Shatel's famous dessert: The Icebox Cake.
I don't think I ever left the picnic without two (okay maybe three) pieces and all year I would look forward to it's magical return on 4th of July. Until one day the unthinkable happened: Mr. Shatel decided there would be no more 4th of July party. I was in college at the time, and it was quite a blow...I remember saying to him, "What the heck am I going to do on Fourth of July?" Mr. Shatel replied, "Sorry Red, but why don't you have your dad have a 4th of July picnic? Oh right, because he's a frickin' cheapskate, that's why." Mr. Shatel spent a lot of time making fun of my dad and I reveled in every moment of it. It was the second best part of the 4th of July party. The first being the dessert of course.
I remember shortly after the party was canceled that I asked my mom, "but what about the icebox cake?" And soon it magically appeared in our refrigerator from the hands of Mrs. Shatel. It would reappear a few times a year on special holidays because she knew our love for it. She even sent me back to college with it one year. However, when Mr. Shatel retired and they spent more time in Florida, Mrs. Shatel blessed me with the recipe. It follows below. I recommend bringing it to parties though because if it's in your house you'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. TRUST ME. In the mean time, enjoy & please think of the good old Shatels each time you make it :)
Ingredients:
1 Bx of Graham Crackers
2 Small Boxes of Instance French Vanilla Pudding
3 1/2 cups of Whole Milk
1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip
2 sq. of unsweetened chocolate
3tbs. of butter
2 tsp of white corn syrup
2 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of confectioner sugar
Mix pudding, milk, and cool whip
Butter clear baking dish
Layer graham crackers, pudding, graham crackers, pudding, graham crackers
Refrigerate for two hours
In the meantime, melt chocolate & butter
Mix corn syrup, vanilla, and sugar.
Stir chocolate mixture in & spread icing over top layer of graham crackers
Refrigerate overnight
