It's Not Over Til You've Had Dessert

     I have this need to have dessert with every dinner.  My taste buds seem to require that they end on a sweet note.  If I could get away with it, I would create a dessert for every meal of the day, 365 days a year, but my husband has been doing some research on the subject.  He tells me sugar and butter are apparently high in calories and fat and therefore unhealthy; these health nuts and their crazy ideas.  So he is trying to hold me to one dessert a day, for both our sakes.
     The problem, of course, is that I don't always have everything on hand to make a recipe.  I really need that sweet bite before I go to sleep (I've been conditioned), but I'm too lazy to go to the store (across the street).  So I must get inventive with dessert.
     Apparently, this has rubbed off on my husband, Nick.  I went into the kitchen the other night and he had all this stuff lined up: hot fudge, peanut butter, pecans, coconut, chocolate chips and he was toasting one of the cracker thin pizza crusts from the freezer.
"What are you going?"
"Making dessert pizza."
After discussing the battle plan for the troops, all lined up and ready to go, I suggested he add whipped cream.
"How do I do that?"
Oh buddy, it's so simple!

Whipped Cream

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1 tbsp Powdered Sugar*

Drop of vanilla (or flavor of your choice)

Whisk until stiff peaks form.

You can use an electric mixture.  

This is especially useful for larger batches.

*Sweetness can be adjusted to your taste.

Leftovers will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for...

well I don't know.  We've never had leftovers.

According to Nick, its dangerous to know how to make whipped cream.

     The pizza turned out pretty good.  We dubbed it "Belly-Ache on a Pizza" in honor of my sister, Amanda, who created the ice cream sensation "Belly-Ache in a Bowl" (with Grandpa's help, I'm sure).

She'll eat anything.

Bedtime Desserts

   My sweet tooth comes naturally.  Nearly everything on the menu is a family recipe.  My family is from Iowa, my great grandparents were farmers, so its no surprised that my favorite desserts are rustic, homemade and full of butter.  Yum.
   They say whenever more than two or three people began to gather around Great Grandma Dietz’s kitchen table, she would start putting food on it – pies, bread, cakes, you name it.  My grandpa, having grown up with this and continued by my grandma’s good cookin’, developed quite the sweet tooth.
  Bedtime Dessert became a tradition.  Whether it was ice cream, or pie (with ice cream) or cookies (probably with ice cream), you always got something sweet before bed when you stayed with grandma and grandpa.  It made for very sweet dreams and even sweeter memories.
                  Thank you, Grandpa, for my sweet tooth.