When gardeners attend holiday buffets, they’re usually the first
to bring a dish of late-season tomatoes or a plate of sliced
persimmons. Tasty but not exceptional. I have a better idea: Take a
Dirt Cake.
When gardeners attend holiday buffets, they’re usually the first to bring a dish of late-season tomatoes or a plate of sliced persimmons. Tasty but not exceptional. I have a better idea: Take a Dirt Cake.
Walk into a room carrying a Dirt Cake and people will swarm around you asking, “What is THAT?” Or, “Can you REALLY eat it?”
You can. indeed, eat it. The Dirt Cake is made from crushed Oreo cookies (the “dirt”), vanilla pudding and cream cheese, and a handful of Gummy Worms. It all goes into a clay flower pot, served with a trowel to scoop up the servings, and a few flowers on top for decoration. Believe me, everyone will remember this dessert.
DIRT CAKE
2 small packages of instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 12-ounce container of Cool Whip
1 20-ounce package of Oreo cookies (crumbled a few at a time in blender or food processor)
1 small package of Gummy Worms
1 8-inch clay flowerpot and flowers for top.
Blend together pudding and milk. Blend cream cheese and Cool Whip. Add to pudding mixture and mix well. Put a layer of crumbled Oreos into flowerpot. Add some pudding mix and Gummy Worms, and continue layering. Top layer of “dirt” is crumbled Oreos with worms coming out. Place a few flowers “growing” from the pot. Use the trowel to dish it up. Serves 15 to 20 people who will never forget this dessert.
I’m not sure where this recipe first originated, but it came to me in a newsletter from the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners. It is a huge hit with children, who are thrilled to “dig up” the Gummy Worms.
As silly as the recipe looks, it is remarkably tasty. An added note: Make some copies of the recipe and take those along. Others will want to know how to make it. Just think: You could become the president of the Dirt Cake Club.
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A Reader Wants to Know: I have two tomato plants that still have quite a few green tomatoes on them. They are in front of our South-facing porch. I was thinking of putting some plastic or other material from the porch to the ground, making a tent to cover them when frost is predicted. What kind of material should I use?
Sandra Davidson, San Juan Bautista
Joan Says: You are right on tract with what to do to protect your tomatoes. You can buy clear plastic drop cloth at home supply stores like Orchard Supply Hardware. Cut the drop cloth into the size you need to make the tomato tent. Leave the sides open for ventilation. You should remove the covering during the day.
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Another Reader Wants to Know: I have a big persimmon tree that is loaded with fruit. I can’t reach to pick them, and I’m too old to be climbing a ladder. Would I damage them if I started whacking them with a long stick to get the persimmons to drop off? Tom. T., Hollister.
Joan Says: There is a better way than whacking them. Tie, or tape an empty coffee can to a long pole. Place the can beneath the persimmon, and gently nudge it to fall into the can. You can pick a few at a time this way and the fruit is not damaged. If you have more persimmons than you can possibly use, take the extras to Community Pantry, 30 Airport Ave., Hollister. They will be shared with others in the community. Or, if you simply don’t want to bother with the harvest, call the Pantry at (831) 637-0340 to request volunteers to pick your donated persimmons.
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Tip of the Week: Feed shrubs and trees that will bloom in January and February. If azalea and gardenia foliage is light or yellowish-green, water plants with a solution of chelated iron.
