I don't mind putting Mary's name here since there are so many Mary Eshs in the Amish community, no one would ever know which one gave me the recipe, LOL..this is a real goodie! Enjoy! 1 phg cream cheese 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1/4cup lemon juice one eight ounce conatiner frozen whipped topping 1 and 1/4 cup crushed graham crackers 1/3 cup melted butter 3 tablespoons sugar ALSO: 7 cups water 1 cup sugar 1 pkg Kool Aid 3/4 cup Clear gel mixed with 3/4 cup water 2 cups strawberries or cherries (whichever Kool aid you picked)

Line a cake pan with graham cracker crust. Beat cream cheese with a mixer, adding condensed milk and lemon juice..after well blended, fold in the whipped topping. Pour into the lined cake pan and chill. Add the Kool Aid "Mush"....after preparing as below:

MUSH Mix 7 cups of water, with a cup of sugar and one package of kool Aid..heat slowly and add the clear gel plus water..stir constantly until bubbly..remove from heat, then add 3/4 cup of jello..add fruit when cooled..add to cake pan by just pouring it over the top of ingredients. I found clear gel here in Alabama in the canning section of the supermarket.....if you cannot find any, I THINK you could substitute gelatin..does anybody know for sure?????????

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), May 02, 2002

Answers

MMMMMMM. Cheesecake, I can taste it now!

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), May 02, 2002.

lesley......I don't think clear gel and gelatin are the same thing. Sounds like a fun recipe, must try!!!

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), May 02, 2002.

Lesley, just this week I found a cheesecake recipie in an old "FARM Journal" cookbook-similar to yours except-two packages of cream cheese-no whipped topping, and a package of lemon Jello-not koolaid, but it makes me think you could exchange the clear gel for the jello. It was really good, and easy to do.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), May 03, 2002.

Can someone tell me what clear gel is? I have never heard of it and I don't imagine I will find it in the grocery store. Thanks.

-- J (jjdenton@st-tel.net), May 04, 2002.

I'm not certain what it is either.LOL..when I lived in PA, I used to buy it at the Amish stores..it came in clear plastic bags, marked "Clear Gel"..sort of looked like tapioca...I just checked my cupboard to see if I had any left and realized that I didn't buy clear gel here in AL at all, but used "Sure Gel " Pectin instead, so the joke's on me...I wouls guess it is somewhere inbetween pectin and gelatin, but laening more towards pectin...if you live anywhere near where there is an Amish settlement, visit one of their stores and try some..OR I think Lehmans' carries it...BTW, this recipe is absolutely on of the most delicious goodies I have ever tasted! Mary had two of her children carry this up to the house one hot July day several years ago...I had gone to her house to check on her new baby who was ill...it had colic and she had been giving it too much catnip tea..caused a horrible rash..Mary had 9 kiddos and was very poor, so I told her to forget about the bill..when she was up and around, I'd take something from the garden as my fee.....I could never stop Mary from giving me things after that..every month or so, here would come the children with a bag of corn, or green beans, or some homemade desert..I tried to tell her to STOP, but she would just smile and keep sending things up the hill..LOL....this "mock" cheesecake desert on a hot July evening had to be better than a five star hotel selection!!!!! I hope you all try it!

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), May 04, 2002.