Dish The Pie with Monique & Alicia Dean
Today Alicia Dean is joining me on Dish The Pie. Alicia is an editor for The Wild Rose Press Suspense line. She is also a fab author of Romantic Suspense and Paranormal stories, and one of my very dear friends.
Alicia is here to dish the pie on her new 6-author Anthology entitled Escape to Africa. And to share her favourite pie recipe with us. Please help me welcome Alicia!
Welcome, Alicia! I'm so happy to dish the pie with you! The first question I always ask my guests is...
Do you like desserts? What is your favourite and would you share the recipe with us?
Alicia: I love desserts! It’s hard to pick a favorite, but it would definitely contain strawberries. I’ve chosen one of my simplest and most delicious recipes to share. (It’s more or less my own creation, modified from a ‘Chocolate Delight’ recipe I’ve been making for years.)
Monique: Oh yum! Anything containing strawberries has got my attention. Can't wait for you to share the recipe!
Recipe for Strawberry Delight
Crust:
 |
| Strawberry Delight |
- 1 cup crushed graham crackers
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
(Or you may use a ready-made graham or shortbread crust)
Filling:
Bottom layer:
- 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
- 8 ounce whipped topping
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Middle layer:
- Small box instant vanilla or French vanilla pudding
- 1 ¾ cup milk
Top layer:
- 10 to 12 oz sliced, sweetened strawberries (fresh or frozen, drained)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together the graham crackers, sugar and melted butter
Press into the bottom of a 9 or 10 inch pie pan
Bake for 10 minutes, or until crust layer is lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely (if using ready-made crust, no need to bake)
In a small bowl, prepare pudding per package directions except cut milk back to 1 ¾ cup.
In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth
Fold in HALF of the whipped topping, and mix well to combine. Reserve the other half for top of pie.
Spread evenly over cooled crust
Spread vanilla pudding over cream cheese layer
Spread strawberries on top of pudding layer. Top with remaining cool whip. (Garnish with fresh strawberries if desired)
Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.
TIP: This dessert is great with other fruits, such as canned peaches, cherry pie topping, blueberry, etc.
Monique: I'm looking forward to trying a slice of this. Have you ever eaten pie for breakfast? If so, what was it?
Alicia: Definitely. The morning after Thanksgiving or Christmas, I used to LOVE eating my mom’s pumpkin, chocolate, or coconut pie for breakfast with a big glass of milk! :)
Monique: Coconut pie! You have got to come back and share that recipe with us! I insist! What sort of things do you find funny?
Alicia: I usually don’t find really explicit humor all that funny. I find spontaneous remarks funny. I also find dark, twisted humor funny. And, random humor like “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey” I love sitcoms, including a lot of British comedies...which I guess YOU just call ‘comedies’, Monique😉. (I am currently looking for one to watch, by the way, if anyone has any recommendations) My dad was hilarious and my siblings and I often reminisce about what we call ‘Daddy’isms’ – They were little spur of the moment funny lines he used to say. I was just thinking about one of his Daddy’isms this morning because of an ant issue I’m having. I keep trying to get rid of the little fiends, but they seem to be multiplying. I remember one time Dad was swatting flies (he was our resident fly-assassin), and there were many of them. It was summertime and they were thick. He shook his head in frustration and said, “Damn. You kill one of the s.o.b.’s and a thousand come to its funeral.” LOL. He was quick witted and naturally funny like that.
Monique: Humour is very subjective. I think people say the funniest things. I also can't stop a belly laugh at the sight of someone falling over...sorry...😀. Your dad sounds so lovely. The fly comment made me laugh. Can you remember your first crush? Want to share?
Alicia: Funny you should ask (it’s really odd that two of your questions have been related to memories I’ve had just today! Hmmm…wonder if that means something). Anyway…I had a few grade school crushes, but my first ‘real’ crush was a boy named Jerry Vanderpool when I was in the seventh grade. I actually DREAMED about him last night! How’s that for freaky? In my book, Death Notice, I used his name as a ‘crush’ my main character had on a boy in school, and I ran across that part a few days ago, which is probably why I dreamed about him. Still, kind of weird.
Monique: That's cool. Maybe we're in sync or something. Interesting about the dream. Perhaps you'll run into him again before long. What do you think of PDA? (public displays of affection)
Alicia: Ugh, do NOT get me started. PDA annoys me, greatly. I find it highly discomfiting and unnecessary. I don’t even like it when a couple sits on the same side of a booth when they are the only ones at a table. Really? Is it worth it to give up elbow room and a handy place to keep your purse nearby, just to sit next to your significant other? I think not.
Monique: LOL! I'm more than happy to give up elbow room. Plus, sitting next to someone, if you work it right, can keep the draught off you! 😁. When it comes to you as a writer, do consider yourself a— morning Lark, afternoon Hummingbird, or night Owl? (which time of day is your most creative time?)
Alicia: Morning, no doubt. I’m useless in the creativity department by the time afternoon rolls around.
Monique: You're such a busy person that I bet being at optimal creativity in the morning works out perfectly! So tell us about your new release?
Escape to Africa Anthology
~6 stories by 6 Authors~
Denyse Bridger; Lynn Crain; Alicia Dean; Gemma Juliana; Marie Laval; Jenny Twist.
Take a trip to fascinating, breathtaking, beautiful Africa, without ever leaving your home! These stories will send you on a journey filled with danger, love, and excitement. Travel from Casablanca to Morocco, across the plains of the Serengeti, to the ruins of Carthage, from the desert of Algeria, to the shores of Tripoli. Six international romance authors share spellbinding love stories told across time.
6 stories by 6 Authors for ONLY 99 cents!!
Dangerous Liaison - Historical Romance by Denyse Bridger
In late 1942, Casablanca, liaisons can be deadly, especially those that involve intelligence the Germans are willing to kill for...
A Pirate’s Lady – Time Travel Romance - Lynn Crain
Amanda Hoskip, a Time Travel Bureau agent, is intent on discovering who is tampering with time. But when she’s captured, she must pretend to be the wife of fellow agent and rescuer, Trevor Haines, which seems impossible because he thinks she’s failed her mission.
Dying to Love You - Contemporary Romance with Paranormal Elements by Alicia Dean
To avoid purgatory, unloving and unlovable Autumn Baines is sent to the Serengeti where she must perform a selfless deed and find someone to fall in love with her. What she didn't count on was falling in love herself, or that her selfless deed could save a life, but sentence Autumn to eternal damnation.
Treasured Times - Romantic Suspense - Gemma Juliana
Nerissa Noir is a woman with many secrets. Leon Rizzo intends to figure them out, without revealing his own. From the shops of the exotic souk in Tunis to the ancient ruins of Carthage and beyond, deadly mysteries must be solved before time unravels… can they trust each other?
The Ravine of the Wild Woman - Historical Romance by Marie Laval
Algeria, North Africa, 1865.
Lenora Sharp is Azerwal's perfect woman. Brave, determined and unconventional, she is also related to the man who stole his name, his childhood and his identity - the very man and he has vowed to destroy, even if it takes him all the way to hell. Will love get in the way of revenge, or will Azerwal lose his soul before he loses his heart?
An Object of Desire - Romantic Suspense by Jenny Twist
Two students on holiday in Morocco discover that two sinister looking characters are following them. They meet an attractive man who offers to take them to their next destination. All seems well until one of the girls disappears.
Available on pre-order now!
