One Year Blogaversary!

Today I appeared on Studio 5 to demo my Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle. Thanks to all who tuned it! If you didn't get a chance to see it, check out the video below. This was the very first recipe that I ever posted on my blog and since April marks my one year blogaversary (is that a word?), it was a fun commemoration of how far my little blog has come. When I first started I was so excited when 30-50 people checked in each day. Now I can hardly believe when I see my numbers soring in the hundreds and even reaching over a 1000 on some days. I thank all of you out there that share in my love of cooking and life. Knowing you're out there and that you're interested in what I have to share, is encouraging and keeps me plugging away at this project! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE TRIFLE

2 qt. Strawberries sliced
1 C. sugar divided
2 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese softened
3 T. orange juice or lime juice (I prefer lime squeezed fresh)
3 C. whipped Whipping Cream
1 loaf (10 oz.) pound cake cubed (Sara Lee in the freezer section works great)
1 large chocolate bars grated
chocolate swirls and strawberries to garnish

1. Toss strawberries with ½ C. sugar. Allow to chill in refrigerator until juicy. (About an hour)
2. Cream together the citrus juice, cream cheese and the remainder of the sugar. Add whip cream and blend until creamy. (Make sure you blend the cream cheese, citrus juice and sugar first, or the acid will curdle the whipped cream.)
3. Drain juice off the strawberries and drizzle onto the cake cubes.
4. Layer in trifle bowl as follows:

½ cake cubes on bottom

1/3 cream cheese mixture

½ strawberry mixture

chocolate shavings

the rest of the cake cubes

1/3 cream cheese mixture

the rest of the strawberry mixture

chocolate shavings

the rest of the cream cheese mixture

chocolate shavings

Strawberries to Garnish