Hi Friends,

I saw two t-shirts that represent my life. The first one said, “I used to be mama, then mommy, then mom and now I’m just bruh!” and the other t-shirt said, “Life is better with my boys!”

These shirts truly represent my life! I am the mother of 4 sons, and I love it! It was so much fun living in a house filled with men!

Our fourth and final son Taylor was born in July. He is truly a July baby! He is warm and bright and fun and sunny!

We brought Taylor home from the hospital on Pioneer Day. I remember my OB coming to discharge me from the hospital the morning we came home, and he was dressed in shorts because he was leaving to go to the big Days of ’47 parade in Salt Lake City.

As we drove home from the hospital, there were American flags displayed all over town in commemoration of the holiday. It is a very special memory.

Because Taylor’s birthday is in July, we always celebrated with barbecues, water parties and lots of frozen treats.

His was an easy birthday party to plan. I just needed to make sure there were PLENTY of water balloons and popsicles!

And instead of birthday cake, Taylor always wanted this cool lemon dessert. I made it for him every year. It really is delicious and refreshing and there is no oven involved which is really nice in July in St. George!

Happy Birthday to our wonderful, sunny caboose! We love you Tay!!!

Taylor’s Striped Delight

Directions

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Middle Layer:

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
•  1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 8 ounces whipped topping, thawed (You will only need half of this for this layer.)

Lemon Layer:

• 2 pkgs. (4 serving size) instant lemon pudding
• 3 1/2 cups cold milk

Directions

1. For the crust, combine the cracker crumbs, 1/4 c. sugar and melted butter. Press mixture into a 9 X 13” pan. Chill.
2. For the middle layer, beat the cream cheese with 1/4 c. sugar and milk until smooth. Fold in 4 ounces of whipped topping, saving the remaining topping to spread over the top of the lemon layer. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chilled crust.
3. Using 3 1/2 cups of milk, prepare the pudding. Pour the pudding mixture over the cream cheese layer. Chill several hours or overnight.
4. Before serving, spread the remaining whipped topping over the top.

* -- If you prefer chocolate to lemon, you can replace the graham cracker crumbs with 35 chocolate sandwich cookies made into crumbs. Do not add any extra sugar to the crust. Use 6 Tablespoons melted butter instead of 1/3 cup. Then follow the directions as given but replace the lemon pudding with instant chocolate pudding.

Delicious!!!

Delish Thursday is a KDXU weekly feature written by local St. George culinary expert Laura Squires. Laura doesn't have a restaurant or bakery, but if you've ever tasted her food, you know that she is one of the best food artists in the world! Laura has been a resident of Southern Utah for  more than 30 years.