By Sheri Hopkins, Lifestyle Contributor
Hello everyone! Lovely weather we have been having in the River Valley. It’s supposed to be a little cooler this weekend. We can take it! I have been out of pocket for a couple of weeks, I have had so much going on. But I am back now! I hope everyone enjoyed the eclipse as much as I did. It was amazing. The temp dropped, it got dark, and the crickets were chirping. I just thought it was a great experience. We had an eclipse festival downtown on Saturday. We had good food, music, crafts and lots of laughs. To say I was tired was an understatement. When it was over I said, “I feel like I have been to Florida and back in a day.” I believe Marie Clopton used to say that line. I haven’t been that tired in a long time. I am getting old, I guess. Our next big event will be the Fourth of July. Time flies, it will be here before you know it.
My nephew and niece lost their mother last weekend. I met with them on Sunday at my nephew’s house. Y’all know who it is, but I helped them write the obituary. We had some laughs, and we had some cries. It is very hard to lose your mother or your father. We were telling funny stories, and my nephew was leaned back in his lawn chair, and he fell backwards, and I mean he fell for days, just kept going. His phone landed in the driveway; his legs were in the air. We laughed and laughed; he was pretty sore the next day. When someone falls, you have to laugh, you can’t help yourself. Falling runs in our family. My niece Kelly has fell so much. She fell one day at Burton Pools and Spas and hurt so bad she couldn’t even drive. She had to have her underage daughter drive her home. I fell so much that when Jacob got married and moved out, he wanted to know who was going to get me up when he moved out. He would always make jokes. He loved to say the Howard Cosell famous line “down goes Frazier!” He would say that when I would fall. I fell one time when I was helping my mom with one of her yard sales. I had a box of glassware, carrying it with both hands. Let me tell ya, I saved it, but I crashed hard! I fell off the swing set at my own house when I was eight and broke my arm. Being a klutz runs in our family. Enough about falling. I might jinx myself. This week’s recipe is a Jello Cheesecake. I hope y’all enjoy it. Have a great week and be kind, and always smile!
LEMON JELLO CHEESECAKE
8 oz. cream cheese
3 oz. lemon Jello
1 cup hot water
6 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 store bought graham cracker crust
Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and whip it till it’s nice and fluffy. Next, add in the sweeted condensed milk and mix till combined. Sprinkle the lemon Jello in and then pour the hot water (make sure you use hot water), add in the lemon juice and the vanilla. Mix everything until it’s nice and creamy. Pour in the graham cracker crust and chill for about four hours. Enjoy and if you want to do other flavors you could do different flavors of Jello – lime, strawberry, or orange to change it up. This is perfect for church dinners or just because you want some cheesecake. Enjoy!
