strawberry pretzel salad

last night i attended a work party.  it was a beautiful orchestral performance and fireworks.  we had a picnic at the concert, and of course, because i am known as the "work baker," i was in charge of dessert.  i knew it would be hot, and that my boss isn't a huge chocolate fan, so i decided to go with my mom's favorite summer recipe: strawberry pretzel salad.

the actually cooking part actually only took about a half hour, but it is about a full day process because each layer has to completely set before you can add the next layer.

i altered it slightly for the 4th of july, and added a fruit flag on top.  here is the recipe!

ingredients:

2 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 cup melted margarine

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz cool whip

2 - 3 oz strawberry jello packets

2 cups boiling water

2 - 10 oz packages of frozen, sliced strawberries

8 oz can crushed pineapple

10 fresh strawberries

 1/2 pint fresh blueberries

directions:

- preheat oven to 400 degrees

- combine pretzels, margarine, and sugar

- press into 9x12 pan

- bake for 7 minutes; allow to cool

- beat confectioners sugar and cream cheese until smooth, fold in cool whip

- add mixture on top of crust and refrigerate until chilled

- dissolve jello in boiling water; cool slightly

- add strawberries and pineapple to jello mixture and pour over cream cheese

 mixture

- refrigerate until firm

- optional for american flag: (ingredients: 8 oz cool whip, 10 fresh strawberries, 

and 1/2 pint fresh blueberries) smooth additional 8 oz of cool whip on top 

of jello/frozen strawberries. cut strawberries into 1/4ths and shape strawberries 

and blueberries into an american flag on top cream cheese/cool whip layer