This Monday's themed dinner was multi-purposed and loosely based on "4th of July" - in memory of my friend John's sister, who was born on July 4, as well as to put a little summer back into our below zero temperatures. We also used this dinner to celebrate my birthday, so they asked me what I would like to eat and to drink. I asked them to surprise me with new dishes, but I demanded "good beer" to drink - because really, what's the 4th of July without good beer? Our menu ended up being pretty much all over the board, but it was (like always) delicious.

• Hamburgers with all the Fixins
• Pork N Peppers Sammiches
• Cream Cheese Stuffed Breadsticks
• Chicken Wings
• Sauteed Mushrooms & Onions
• Sweet Date Wontons, Jalapeno Pork Wontons, & Turkey Cranberry Wontons
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cluster Cookies
• Spiced Rum Balls
• Raspberry Ice Cream Pie
• Drink: Beers of America Collection

My contribution was a raspberry ice cream pie. I had seen the recipe a while back, but never got to making it. It was amazing! It's very versatile, too - I used raspberries & blueberries for the red, white, and blue theme, but you could dream up a million ways to change the recipe. The ice cream is held together with Jell-O, so it can sit out for quite a while without melting. Fresh fruit works tastes best, but since it's frozen you can use frozen fruit, which I had to do with the blueberries because they're out of season right now. My only mistake was leaving the bowl in the fridge for too long - the gelatin started to set and so it didn't pour as nicely into the crust. I took the leftovers home where they were soon devoured and I was told I "definitely need to make this again."

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Raspberry Ice Cream Pie

• 2/3 cup boiling orange juice
• 1 pkg. (4-serving size) Raspberry Gelatin
• 1/2 pt. (1 cup) vanilla ice cream
• 1 tub (8 oz.) Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 1 pint fresh raspberries, divided
• Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
• 1 Oreo Pie Crust (6 oz.)

STIR boiling juice into dry gelatin mix in large bowl until completely dissolved.

ADD ice cream by spoonfuls, stirring with wire whisk after each addition until ice cream is completely melted. Add half of the whipped topping; stir until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the raspberries, and some blueberries. Refrigerate, if necessary, until mixture is thick enough to mound. Spoon into crust.

FREEZE 3 hours or until firm. Top with the remaining whipped topping and decorate with leftover raspberries & blueberries just before serving. Store leftover pie in freezer.

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I was amazed at how quick and simple this pie was; plus it looked beautiful, and everyone loved it. I would definitely make it again. I'm looking forward to trying it with different fruits. Mmmm Banana ICE Cream pie!

Labels: Berries, Dessert, Ice Cream, Jell-O, Monday Mania, Pie, Recipes