“Mom.” Twin A materialized before me last week brandishing a kids’ cookbook that she had checked out of the local library. ”Can we make this? Please?”
I regarded the earmarked page in the cookbook, and my mind immediately fixated on an old episode of Friends.
The one where Rachel tries her hand in the kitchen with a recipe for a traditional English trifle
Only the pages in the recipe book stick together
And instead of making a trifle
She makes half a trifle and half a shepherd’s pie.
And then she makes her friends all try it. With a bit of coaching from Joey, the aspiring actor, they manage to look like this whilst consuming mouthfuls of ground beef, onions, custard and whipped cream.
Mmmmmm! It’s so good, I’m going go enjoy this out on the balcony!
The only exception is the thespian himself, Joey, who shovels the stuff in by the spoonful, muttering with a full mouth,
“What’s not to like?
Custard? Good.
Jam? Good.
Meat? GOOOOOOD.”
Anyway. I was having vivid recollections of that show while surveying the recipe that my daughter was so keen on preparing. It was a cornucopia of all the things that would appeal to an eleven year-old’s palate. And, truth be told, it did include five of my all-time favorite candies.
What? I can’t help it if I favor all things, chewy, gummy, and sugary sweet.
So, with my stupidity blessing, we got cooking.
Cheesecake with a bit of food coloring? Good.
Sour cream whipped with sugar? Good.
Sugared pie crust “tortilla chips?” Mmmm. Mmm. Gooood.
And when you take all of this goodness,
And top it with Raisenette “beans,”
Gummy Lifesaver “black olives,”
Sour apple licorice “peppers,”
And “salsa” made with jelly-coated Swedish fish,
You do know what you get, right?
Nacho Average Cheesecake.
We happened to have cousins visiting from out of town, so Twin A served it up to a crowd aged 8 to 14. It was a hit with this demographic.
And yes. That *is* the most fabulous cake server ever.
Me? What did I think of it?
Well. Let’s just say that I rubbed my belly, smiled…
And enjoyed mine out on the back deck.
Recipe courtesy of…
Inspired by a prompt from
“Do you have a sweet tooth? List your top five favorite candies!”
Spree, Zero Bar, SweeTarts, Hershey Bar, 3 Musketeers(before they changed the nougat).
Mmmmmm. And that begs the question: Have you had them all together atop a cheesecake?
Love that episode! Made me smile reading this morning.
Classic. I miss Friends.
So cute! I *I might* actually be able to get my kids to eat Mexican with this kind of nacho platter! Oh, and (in no particular order) Peeps, Tootsie Rolls, Hershey’s Special Dark, Charleston Chew and Rolos.
Clare, I really wanted to put Peeps on that thing. Just couldn’t figure out a way to work them in with the Mex theme. But we will ALWAYS have Peeps sushi, right?
Oh I LOVE!!! Nacho Average Cheesecake – hah! Clever.
Alison, that whole cookbook is pretty amazing. We’re going to try a cake that looks like a stiletto next.
The Friends Thanksgiving episodes were THE BEST! This recipe had me until the sour apple candies…yuck! Must close this browser window quickly before my 6 year old spies this post!
Hey, you can always pick off the peppers, Nic…just like at a restaurant.
True, true! Hmmmm….maybe we’ll try this tomorrow if we’re stuck inside for another rainy day! Maybe…we’ll see how brave this Mama feels when the sun rises.
You are a good mum. That looked very involved – so glad it was worth the effort.
Worth it for Twin A, anyway. And that is good enough for me.
I guess.
OMGross. I read this on an empty stomach. I can’t handle food that’s disguised as other food. Particularly sweets disguised as Mexican food. You’re a great mom to go with the flow like that. Kudos!
As of this morning, the leftovers are in the trash. *fist pump*
That looks awesome! Please note I said “looks” – it sounds like it tastes super disgusting. But I bet my kids would love it. But that’s because kids’ taste buds are defective.
It’s mostly about appearances with the children, no? I believe I could dye Brussels sprouts turquoise and they’d be a big hit with Twin A.
That is totally cute and looks so delicious! I have a little one’s bday coming up and we might have to make that for it!
Let her help, Missy…you’ll have a blast.
yum! she did a good job. kaye—the road goes ever ever on
Agreed, Kaye.
Love love love this! That girl sure got the cooking bug
Sho nuff, Cath.
Also? Look out. I am totally trying to worm my way into your cooking blog niche.
Sue, I love Friends, and that is one of my favorite episodes!! My husband and I still quote that…”meat, GOOOD!”. LOVE.
Thanks for the laugh
Also, the “nacho average cheesecake” looks pretty darn good to me too.
I tell you what, Jen: American society was dealt two big blows in the ’90s with the loss of Seinfeld and Friends.
My kids would be all over that recipe! I, on the other hand, cannot cope with food that looks like other food.
I’m currently eating jelly beans and it’s midnight. What do you think I”ll think of that recipe?
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Yup. Me too, Stacey. On both counts.
Awww, I love that you made that together purely because she asked. So sweet!
Yes, Kat. Sweet. Sickeningly so. But a fun project.
[...] it costs is a little time and a lot of clean up. You could even do something so awesome as make a Nacho Cheesecake together like Sue did over at The Spin Cycle (do yourself a favor and visit her blog–she is [...]
Hooray for Pingbacks! Thanks, Hillary!
What is the melty cheese-looking cream colored stuff on top? Inquiring minds!
Thanks!
Hi, Vanessa-
That’s sour cream mixed with sugar and a bit of food coloring. We filled a Ziploc bag with it, snipped off a corner of the bag, and piped it on through the hole.
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