If you’re looking for some wonderfully light desserts with fruit filling and all the goodness you wish for in the summer months, this round up is for you!

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All of these recipes are from my own recipe box and are perfectly light recipes for a sweet summer treat.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

When I first met my husband years ago, one of the things I loved most was getting to know his Grandma Jolley. She wasn’t too sure about me at first, but we eventually bonded over the love of cooking. She was an amazing cook and made everything from scratch, including this amazing pie, which is super light and refreshing.

The Perfect, Most Delicious Mello Jello Recipe

This Mello Jello Recipe is a tradition in our house for so many holidays, but it’s also great any time of year. Mello Jello is super easy to make and is the perfect side dish or can be served for a light dessert. It’s so yummy and tastes like a creamsicle – perfect for summer.

Fresh Peach Dessert Recipe

Whether I am in Utah or Washington, at the end of the summer it is peach season!  Both states have a lot of peach trees! I love peaches and the yummy desserts you can make with them. Peaches remind me of summertime and this light and fresh peach dessert recipe makes me wish it was summertime all year long!

Strawberry Lemon Trifle

If you’re looking for a delicious and easy light dessert recipe, definitely try my Strawberry Lemon Trifle recipe. It’s one of my go to’s and always a hit no matter when I serve it. Everyone always ask me for this one!

Stars and Stripes Flag Cake

This Stars and Stripes American Flag Cake is really easy to make and you don’t have to be a master cake decorator or expert baker to pull this off! The fruit keeps it light and refreshing. There are many holidays where this can be used and not just the Fourth of July! I’ve made it for Memorial Day and Veterans Day before. You don’t have to do the American flag either if you’re not an American! Try making your homelands flag using this idea.

Homemade Fresh Peach Pie with Cream Cheese Filling

This is another one of my husband’s grandma’s recipes and is essentially the same pie as the Strawberry Cream Cheese pie above. Grandma Jolley made the best pies and her fresh peach pie with cream cheese filling is one of our family favorites! You can also find the Homemade Pie Crust Recipe here that you can use with any of the pies I’ve shared!

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of my life, I’ve grown accustomed to having berries all throughout the summer and then freezing them for the winter months.  I love any type of cobbler because it’s good any time of the year! This one is no exception!

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The post The Best Light Desserts to Sweeten Your Summer appeared first on Home With Holly J.

Picnic Potato Salad Recipe

One of my favorite recipes to make for a picnic is my homemade potato salad. I love going on picnics, especially when we are in Montana spending time at our cabin. We were there a few weeks ago and my picnic plans kept getting derailed with all the thunderstorms we had there at the time so I decided I was tired waiting for the rain to stop and we had the picnic on the front porch of the cabin.

I made my homemade potato salad recipe, a strawberry pudding cake, fried chicken, corn, corn on the cob and cut up some fresh watermelon. Everything was perfect and even though it wasn’t the picnic I had planned, the view from our cabin’s porch is nothing to complain about!

This easy picnic potato salad is easy to make and you can adjust the ingredients to your liking. It’s one of the recipes where you can do that. I like a small amount of mayo in mine but feel free to add more! (and that goes for the mustard too) I also like food with a little salt so that is also adjustable to your own liking. The one thing to remember though, is that you always want to salt your potato water when boiling the potatoes.

Oh, and can you get over these blue eggs? One of our friends and our handy man that helps us fix things at our cabin has chickens and he shared a bunch of his beautiful eggs with me! I love how pretty they are and the color of the egg yolks was amazing! Definitely not your grocery store eggs.

Picnic Potato Salad Recipe

Alright, time for this yummy potato salad recipe!

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Picnic Potato Salad Recipe

This potato salad recipe is simple and easy to make and is the perfect side dish for a picnic, summertime gathering, or a barbecue.

Course lunch, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword picnic recipe, potato recipe, potato salad, Side Dish, summer recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Ingredients

• 8-10 small potatoes (I like Yukon gold's but any potato is fine)
• 10-12 large eggs
• ¾ cup mayonaise
• ¼ cup mustard
• 4 tbsp salt (for the potato water)
• 2 tsp salt (to season)
• 2 tsp pepper
• ¾ cup finely chopped dill pickles
• ¾ cup finely chopped white onions

Instructions

• Add the potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Add the 4 TBSP of salt to the water. Boil on medium until the potatoes are fork tender. When done, drain and set aside to cool.
• At the same time as the potatoes are boiling, boil the eggs for five minutes. Drain and cover with cold water in the same pan to help them cool faster.
• After the eggs and potatoes are cooled off, use a pairing knife to removed the skin from the potatoes and peel the eggs. When done peeling the eggs, make sure to rinse them off to make sure there are no egg shells left on them. Dry with a paper towel.
• Chop up the eggs and potatoes and put in a large mixing bowl.
• Chop up the pickles and onions and put in the bowl with the eggs and the potatoes.
• In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper, and mix well. Add that mixture to the bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix gently until well combined. If you like your potato salad with more mayo or mustard, add more! I like mine with less so make it to your liking. You can also add more salt and pepper if you like! Make sure to taste it as you go though if you add more.
• When everything is combined and seasoned to your liking, transfer to a serving bowl or some type of container with a lid if you're going on a picnic and refrigerate for at least an hour or two if possible.

I hope you give this picinic potato salad recipe a try! It’s so easy to make and always a hit at any gathering or picnic.

Enjoy! 

xoxo,

The post Picnic Potato Salad Recipe appeared first on Home With Holly J.

The Best Baked Beans Recipe

This recipe for the best-baked beans always turns out amazing and is so easy to make. The best part about it is that it’s made in the microwave and you don’t have to heat up your house in the middle of summer. This is why it’s the best baked beans recipe you’ll ever try and it’s delicious too!

My Favorite Kitchen Tool

This recipe has onions in it and I detest chopping them up so that’s why I love this chopper so much. You never have to deal with watering eyes and it’s so fast and easy. This is truly my favorite kitchen tool and it doesn’t take up a ton of space and goes right into the dishwasher! Just quarter your onion, drop it into the chopper and turn the crank a handful of times. Thats it! The onions are all uniform in size too and depending on how many times you turn the crank, they can be smaller-sized pieces or larger.

This is also a one-pot side dish! Just dump all the ingredients into a microwave-safe bowl and stir. Then pop it in the microwave. This is so easy!

You can add already cooked bacon too if you like. Here I used uncooked bacon and just cut it into small pieces.

I don’t know why, but for some reason, we always eat baked beans with potato chips! It’s like chips and salsa! It’s a match made in heaven. Try it sometime!

Another fun thing I like to use is little paper or plastic serving cups. Baked beans tend to run all over your plate so this keeps them in one place and you can set the cup right on your plate! It’s also cute serving them up this way!

I like that this recipe is a little sweet!

The Best Baked Beans Recipe

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The Best Baked Beans Recipe

This is a delicious baked beans recipe that is super easy to make and is "baked" in the microwave so you don't have to heat up your house using your oven in the middle of summer!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword baked beans, baked beans recipe, easy recipes, home cooked, Side Dish, summer recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon cooked or uncooked is fine
• ¾ cup finely chopped white or yellow onions
• 1½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 4 16 oz cans pork and beans or canned baked beans (I like Van De Kamps or Bush's regular baked beans. Two 28 oz cans work just the same.)
• 1 tsp yellow mustard

Instructions

• Put the 4 16 oz cans pork and beans or canned baked beans, ¾ cup finely chopped white or yellow onions, 4 slices bacon (cut into small pieces), 1½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce, ⅔ cup brown sugar, and 1 tsp yellow mustard in a microwave-safe, medium-sized bowl and stir until well combined.
  
• Put the bowl in the microwave and turn on for 10 minutes at high power. Stir and reset the microwave for another 5 minutes.
  
• Repeat for 5 minutes 3 more times so that the beans have been in for approximately 30 minutes. Make sure to stir after each 5 or 10 minute increment in the microwave.
  
• You can bake them as well for 30-40 minutes in a 350° degree oven if you like.
  

I hope you give this yummy recipe a try! It’s so easy and is sure to please a crowd at your next summertime barbecue!

Enjoy!

XOXO,

Sources Linked Below

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Caramel Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

This is the easiest fruit dip recipe ever!

This recipe is a favorite that came about by accident! Who doesn’t love when that happens?! One day I was hosting a baby shower and had bought all the fresh fruit for my favorite fruit dip which was made with cream cheese and marshmallow creme. I had all the fruit prepped and was ready to make my dip, however, when I went to my pantry to find the marshmallow creme, I discovered I did not have any! I hadn’t checked in the pantry to make sure I had some before I went to the store and I didn’t have time to go to the store again.

As I sat there and tried to figure out what I was going to do, I thought, what else goes good with cream cheese……something sweet always goes good with cream cheese right?! I quickly started looking around my pantry for something sweet to supplement my cream cheese. I saw my container of caramel apple dip and decided to throw it into the mixer with the cream cheese and BAM! My own version of fruit dip was born, and I now have the Easiest Fruit Dip Recipe!

Some of my best recipes have come from situations just like this! Whenever you’re cooking or baking and realize you’re missing an ingredient, brainstorm and find what might work as a replacement. You might end up with some interesting mixtures, but occasionally you’ll find a gem like this!

This fruit dip turned out amazing and everyone loved it! Most of the guests asked for seconds. That was ten or more years ago and it has been a hit ever since! I love how easy and delicious it is!

This dip is perfect for your summer BBQs and entertaining, you can simply buy whatever seasonal fruit is available and serve it on a platter with this dip, and your guests will all be impressed!

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Caramel Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

This is the easiest fruit dip recipe and it tastes amazing!

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword appetizer, baby back rib recipes, caramel, cream cheese, easy recipes, fruit dip, Side Dish, summer recipes

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 16 oz regular cream cheese (2 8oz packages) softened
• 1 container caramel apple fruit dip

Instructions

• In a stand mixer or a bowl using a hand mixer, add 16 oz regular cream cheese (2 8oz packages) and 1 container caramel apple fruit dip
  16 oz regular cream cheese (2 8oz packages), 1 container caramel apple fruit dip
• Mix cream cheese and caramel dip until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the mixer and mix for another minute or so. You don't want lumps of cream cheese. It should be smooth.
• Do not use a lower fat or lower sugar version of either ingredient or it won't turn out right.
• Serve with cut-up fresh fruit. My personal favorites are strawberries, apples, grapes, and bananas. To keep bananas and apples from turning brown, you can toss them in lemon juice.

Enjoy!

Holly

The post Caramel Cream Cheese Fruit Dip appeared first on Home With Holly J.