(Grandma Ahlden at her prom)
The Luscious Dessert was so great, that I didn’t even have time to take a photograph. Clearly, it was a hit! I mean, who doesn’t like a dessert with four delicious layers. Aunt Naoma’s Luscious Dessert is like Ogres and onions…it has layers: pecan crust, fluffy cream cheese, pudding, and cool whip. People have layers too. Our zillions of layers make us exactly who we are. We fill our layers with our likes and dislikes, struggles and joys, family and friends. All our life’s memories are kept within our layers. These days, every time I see Grams it’s as if she has lost another layer. Another layer lost, just like the discarded outside layer of an onion. Yesterday, I checked to make sure that Grandma Ahlden had no plans for today. Everyone confirmed that she was free to spend the day with me. I called Gram this morning to see if she would like to bake with me. She was so excited that I was home, and she immediately said yes. About ten minutes later, I was leaving to pick her up when my cell phone rang. Grandma had called to say that she couldn’t make it because one of her kids was going to be picking her up for lunch soon. Plus, it is also ten o’clock in the morning. I told her that I checked with all her kids, and they said it was okay if she spent the day with me. After that, she agreed to come. About two hours later, we went through the same episode. She told me she needed to go home right then because she had plans with someone else. Again, I had to reassure her that she didn’t have plans.
Luscious Dessert may have four layers, but it is actually easy to make. When we made the first layer for the crust, we thought we hadn’t made the correct about of dough. Just to warn you, it looks like it won’t be enough for the 9x13 inch pan. Don’t worry though, when it bakes it spreads out and turns out perfect. I chuckled a little to myself when we made the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip layer. Before I could even get the hand mixer plugged in, Grams had the ingredients so smooth we hardly needed it. Her muscles aren’t fading that’s for sure! For our Luscious Dessert, we chose to use chocolate pudding. I knew my family would prefer chocolate, but I think any flavor would be great.
With Thanksgiving rolling around, we couldn’t help but talk about turkeys. Let’s face it; turkeys, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pies are on ALL of our minds. Two years ago, my mom and I made a turkey for the first time. Watching two women who don’t eat meat fix a turkey was more than comedic. I asked Grams if she ever fixed a turkey for Thanksgiving before. She said “oh, yeah. I love turkey, especially the white meat.” She went on to tell me that her and Grandpa Ahlden used to raise turkeys and dress them for people at Thanksgiving time. They fixed dozen turkeys, and then sold them to their friends and neighbors. Grandma definitely would have laughed at my mom and me trying to fix our turkey. Ewww….guts!!!
Today, I learned about another layer Grams. Each moment we spend together creates a new memory for me, and a new layer of her for me to hold on to. I just pray that I can learn about each layer before she loses them. Just like the Luscious Dessert, Gram’s layers are disappearing quickly.
Luscious Dessert—Naoma Ahlden
Ingredients
No. 1
½ cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup flour
½ cup crushed walnuts or pecans (whichever is your favorite)
Mix and press into 9x13 pan.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
No. 2
8 oz. pkg. or cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cool whip
Blend with mixer and spread onto baked and cooled crust No. 1
No. 3
1 large pkg. instant pudding (I have used vanilla, chocolate,
butterscotch, and coconut. All taste great.)
2 ¼ cups milk
Blend with mixer and spread unto No. 2.
Top with cool whip and some crushed nuts.
Note from Naoma: This is a delicious d and refreshing dessert. It does need to be refrigerated for several hours or overnight before serving.
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