I think I'm going to try and make an interesting dessert that uses apricot baby food as one of the ingredients. My aunt often made it and brought it to various family gatherings when I was little. It's one of my favorite desserts and I haven't had it in forever!

2 packages apricot Jell-o
⅔ cup water
1 can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 ½ cup chopped nuts
⅔ cup sugar
2 jars apricot baby food
1 can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 package cream cheese (8 oz.)

Combine jello, sugar and water, bring to a boil and dissolve jello. Remove from heat, stir in fruit; set aside to cool. Combine milk and cream cheese, beat until smooth. Stir in jello mixture, add nuts. Pour into mold or bowl and refrigerate.

I was going to call my aunt to ask her for the recipe, but then I figured it might be somewhere on the net. Low and behold, it is. If all goes well, it should end up as a big bowl full of cold and fluffy, fruity, cream-cheesey yumminess.

**EDIT**
I ended up adding 4 cups of Cool Whip to the cream cheese mixture, only using 1/2 can of the sweetened condensed milk, and using 2 cups of water to dissolve jello instead of just 2/3 cups. I found another recipe on the web with these modifications, and decided to try it out. I'm pretty sure it'll end up more like my aunt's recipe - hers was set like jello, yet light and fluffy.
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My friend invited us to her Christmas Eve family get-together and I wanted to take a dish that is simple, inexpensive, and unusual. Plus, I almost ALWAYS make some sort of Jell-O concoction when bringing a dish to a potluck. We are also invited to another friend's house for Christmas Day. Maybe I'll make 2 batches and take one to each party.

We are still planning on celebrating "Festivus" on Saturday. (See previous post) We even bought a Festivus pole! But it is not as cool as the poles that this company makes. Thanks, Gladiator's Mommy for sending me that link! That company charges $38 for a 6' Festivus pole with a colapsible aluminum base, not including shipping. We bought a 7' pole at Lowe's for approx. $15, which is actually a metal composite electrical conduit pipe, not pure aluminum. It's much heavier than what I imagine Frank Costanza's original "High strength-to-weight ratio" pole being......but all in all, it looks just like a Festivus pole. The only problem is, we don't currently have a way to stand it up. It's leaning up against our dining room wall for now. I thought about getting a big plastic flower pot or a galvanized metal bucket, standing the pole up in it, and filling it w/ concrete....but I suppose it's getting a little late for a project like that, with Festivus being tomorrow and all. Oh well. Maybe next year. Next year, we'll be able to take a picture of our adorable 8-month-old baby all dressed up in his (or her) Festivus best (whatever that may be) sitting next to the glorious Festivus Pole.

**EDIT**
I went to Lowe's and bought some concrete and a piece of PCV pipe that the Festivus Pole would fit into. But instead of buying a plastic flower pot, I ended up getting a Christmas tree stand from Wal-Mart. When I got it all home, I found out that the concrete and piece of PVC pipe was not necessary at all. The pole itself fits securely into the tree stand and proves to be very sturdy. It is proudly displayed in our living room with a plain white sheet hiding the ugly tree stand. Hooray!
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Labels: food, holidays