Just the best frickin dessert out there

For as long as I can remember my mother has had a recipe box in the kitchen containing her arsenal of go to dishes and growing up I would always get pretty excited when one of those small, hand written cards would come out because it usually meant that we would be making something special or with some sort of significance to it.  When I look through the cards now you can identify themes in cooking through the years of what was widely popular and you tend to get nostalgic over different dishes that you used to have a lot as a kid growing up such as "open sesame chicken", "do ahead mashed potatoes" and "cranberry raspberry mousse".  And then you realize that there was a very big thing having to do with all things jello considering it takes up a large chunk of the desserts section.  You start to think a little harder and remember that there was always some sort of jello dessert at the buffet of party, and my Mother and Aunt had these matching Tupperware jello molds where you changed the top symbol based on the specific time of the year (which I still think is in our basement because God knows I'm going to need it for some sort of project one day).  By no means were these your run of the mill basic jello recipes.  They involved layers of fruit, cream, or crust mixed in and usually spearheading the efforts was my Mother's good friend Barbara who I would even go so far as to deem in the land of jello, she would be the queen because she probably has a whole recipe box devoted to these recipes.  I know that jello gets a bad rap a lot of the time because there are some dousies out there involving multiple canned goods or weird texture issues that have mentally scarred you.  You think it's dated and old-fashioned and I even used to think "oh I'm way too gourmet for jello".


But then 2 summers ago, down at Barbara's cottage in Milford one of those jello desserts made an appearance from the archives and after one bite I forgot how much I loved it and those apprehensive, too good for jello thoughts quickly fell by the wayside as I went in for my second helping of the pistachio dessert and I was back on board of the jello train.  The pistachio dessert has now made appearances at multiple parties and one of my friends even deemed it "the best frickin dessert ever" because it's refreshing after a big meal and sometimes you just aren't in the mood for a slice of cake or another baked good.  I know I don't have to give any more reasons for you to make it yourself after you've seen the picture or ever experienced a bite of it but let me just push you further over the line so I can almost guarantee that you'll be running out to grab the ingredients.  It's super easy to make, travels well, and can be made the day before.  Do I have to be any more convincing?  I promise once you have your first helping, you'll be back on the jello train too and if you're still wavering then we'll just have to bring in Barbara's strawberry pretzel jello to win you over once and for all. 

good shot of all the layers

Pistachio Dessert Squares


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  With a pastry blender or two forks, mix together until crumbly:
-1 stick of unsalted butter
-1 and 1/4 cup of flour
Then add in:
-1 cup of ground nuts (walnuts work best) 


Spread into a 9 x 13 greased baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.  Set aside and let cool.


In a mixer, combine 
-8oz of cream cheese, softened
-1 cup of confectioner's sugar 
-Half of a container (the 8oz size) of cool whip.


In another small bowl, whip together until firm:
-2 packages of instant pistachio pudding 
-3 cups of milk 


First spread cream mixture evenly onto the cooled crust and then top with the pistachio pudding.  Add the remaining half container of the cool whip as your top layer and chill.