Cinnamon Pepsi

JODI!!!!! I never heard back from that one Elder's mom on her exact measurements on how to make the Cinnamon Cubes. Anyway, I did my best remembering on Christmas Eve and they turned out great. This recipe was a tradition at this certain missionary's home every Christmas. We wanted to make it for him when he ate at our home last year. Once my kids tried it they told me it's OUR new tradition, so here's the recipe........although it IS the only time of year you will see me drinking Pepsi over a Coke. ;)


Obviously have Pepsi on hand. We opt-ed for Caffeine-free since it was at night when I DIDN'T want them full of caffeine and not sleeping before Santa came. It didn't change the taste at all.


For the Cinnamon Cubes. You need ice cube trays on hand. We used four for 12 of us eating. (The REAL taste is when there's 4 cubes per cup)

15 boxes of Hi-C orange juices (those boxes that come in packs of ten that people throw in lunch boxes)
2 boxes of Red Hots

Warm the Hi-C in a saucepan on med-high and then add both boxes of Red Hots. Stirring most of the time so they don't burn on the bottom. They need to melt in the Hi-C orange. You can adjust the temp as needed. When done, pour in ice cube trays until hard. (we made them the morning of the dinner and they were ready)

Here's the tip we learned. Put the ice cubes in the Pepsi EARLY on. We filled the cups probably 10 minutes before we ate. You don't get the cinnamon flavor unless it sits in there together for a while.

Now the above measurements ending up making 8 ice cube trays full, so you may want to half or fourth for you measurements....but we wanted to make extra for after Christmas Eve dinner too. In fact, I'm drinking a cup right now. :)

Peach Smoothies

These peach smoothies have been a favorite around our house the last couple months. I know I'm kind of past peach season here, but maybe next year....

1 peach (pitted)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice

Put in blender and mix it up! 

Suzie's Peach Pie

A couple years ago, I was on a mission to find a great peach pie recipe. I made a few pies and none of them tasted very good. I gave up thinking there just wasn't a good peach pie recipe out there. This year, my friend Suzie convinced me to try her recipe. When I first looked at the recipe, it looked just like all the others I've tried, but I made it anyway because I told Suzie I would. It was actually good!! The entire family loved it. Livie said "it was money." So, Melissa as promised, here is the recipe.....

As Suzie says, your pie will only be as good as the peaches you use, so use some nice ripe, juicy peaches!!

5 large peaches

1/2 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2/3 c. water

1 3 oz. package peach Jell-O

1/3 c. orange juice

1 9-inch pie crust

Make & bake regular pie crust (or just buy one in the freezer section and follow the directions).  Cool completely.

While pie crust is baking, stir sugar and cornstarch together in a small or medium saucepan.  Add water and whisk together.  Cook over medium-high heat and while stirring/whisking constantly and bring to a boil.  Continue to whisk and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in Jell-O until dissolved.  Set aside to cool.

Peel, pit, and slice peaches (after peeling I cut mine into 8th's or 12th's) and put in a bowl with the orange juice, stirring occasionally to keep all peaches coated.

Once the Jell-O mixture has cooled to room temperature (don't let it sit or cool too long...it'll thicken too much), pour it over the peaches and orange juice and gently stir/mix well.  Spoon peaches into the pie shell and refrigerate at least a few hours prior to serving. There is a lot of the jello mixture, so put all the peaches in, but if you don't get all the mixture in, that's ok! (Suzie uses a slotted spoon because she doesn't like too much of the gelatin mixture, my kids liked a little more)  

Top with whipped cream & enjoy!