Need a quick covered dish that’s bound to be a crown pleaser? Try this dessert! It’s sure to please a family, too!

It’s a quick and easy recipe starting with a cake mix. I’ve always enjoyed reading cookbooks and looking at the mouthwatering pictures. Years ago, I found a Duncan Hines cookbook for quick and easy baking with cake mixes. I may never make all recipes shown in this book, but I drool over the photos every time I look through it. With specific mixes, these recipes will produce baked cakes, cookies, cheesecakes, fruit desserts, muffins and so much more — all quick and easy and baked with cake mixes. Need a special dessert for a group? Pick up a cake mix and add that extra ingredient or two.

Mama had very few recipes but made a variety of desserts. She made everything from scratch and it was oh so good! Everyone remembers her jellyroll; we also enjoyed her fresh pies, cakes cobblers and much more. Berry-picking time was our favorite time of year. Not only did we eat berries as we picked them, Mama would make the best pies and cobblers and she also made lots of jelly. She fed six children and two adults and we never went hungry; I don’t know how she managed, but she did. She was up before the crack of dawn to cook breakfast, pack school lunches and make certain we were all on the bus, ready for school. We had a few chores before we went to school. I know the boys had to milk the cows and the girls helped in the kitchen preparing lunches and made the beds. Chores would be waiting for us when we got home from school in the afternoon; however, school was always important to Mama and Daddy. Mama always had a snack for us when we got off the school bus in the afternoon. It may sound as though we had a tough life, but everyone around us lived just like we did. We were all farmers who lived off the land and enjoyed fresh food — never processed. Looking back to those days, we didn’t realize how fortunate we were.

Heavenly Cake Squares

Ingredients

1 box butter recipe cake mix

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple

1 3.4-ounce box vanilla instant pudding

2 cups milk

1 8-ounce package Philadelphia Cream Cheese

1 16-ounce tub Cool Whip

Preparation

Bake cake as directed using a 9x13 pan. Remove from oven and punch holes in top of cake. Spread pineapple and juice over cake and set aside to cool.

Mix instant pudding with milk for 2 minutes with mixer. Blend in cream cheese. Spread this mixture on top of pineapple. Spread this pudding cream cheese mixture on top of pineapple.

Spread Cool Whip on top of pudding. Cover and refrigerate to cool. Cut into squares, cool and serve; enjoy. Refrigerate leftovers.

From the scriptures

Spiritual food is essential for all of us, as well as physical food. We enjoy two or three meals every day. We should nourish our mind and feed our spirit daily just as we feed our body. Bible Verses are fabulous spiritual food. We should look forward to reading our Bible daily; just one or two verses of scripture each day would help feed our spirit.

Our Bible verse for this week is: Philippians 4:13: – “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.