Strawberry- Rhubarb Cream Dessert

We just finished having three grandchildren for the week, so the dust is still settling at our home! 

Since the three youngest grandchildren are the only ones who stay for the week, we call this our Mini Grandma’s Camp! Luckily we have one veteran of the original Grandma’s camp - which consisted of six kids - to help: 14 year old Nik. I consider him my Activities Director. He’s a big help and can go on those amusement park rides with the little ones while I sit them out! I am not what I used to be, but I still have the energy to do lots of cooking, playing cards and board games and of course going to the water park!

I had given the grandchildren a children’s cookbook for Easter so they brought it along, marking many recipes for us to try! We did manage to try four of them, which were fast and easy. We decided, for the most part, that we would make them again! 

I always enjoy cooking with kids and hope I instill the love of cooking into them and teach them to try new foods, sometimes going out of their comfort zone. 

I plan to share a couple of the recipes we made in the future but today, since rhubarb is in season and strawberries should be ready any day, I decided to go that route. Here is one of my favorite strawberry/rhubarb recipes. I hope you like it too!

Crust:
 2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup melted butter

Mix above ingredients, press into a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake @ 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, just until edges are turning slightly brown. Cool.

Filling:
1 - 8 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup whipping cream, whipped or I have used whipped topping
1 tsp vanilla

Beat together cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar, then fold in either whipped cream or whipped topping. Spread on top of cooled crust; refrigerate while making topping.

Topping:
5 cups cut rhubarb
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

Combine sugar and cornstarch in large saucepan, stir in rhubarb, bring to a boil, stirring until thick and rhubarb is tender. Remove from heat and stir in sliced strawberries, cool, pour on top of cream cheese layer and refrigerate 3-4 hours.