Courtney's Birthday!

One of Courtney's favorite dessert's is Neopolitan, originally named Banana Split. The recipe is from Jan Petteys (our Pastor's wife) and she is one fine cook! Jan placed sliced banana's on top of the crust before adding the ice cream, hence the name.
Neopolitan:
2 packages graham crackers (finely crushed)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar (or a bit more)
Combine above ingredients and pat into a 9 x 13 pan, place in freezer for awhile
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1/2 gallon Neopolitan ice cream, sliced in approximately 1" pieces to fit on top of crust
1 cup chopped peanuts
Place the ice cream slices on top of crust and then sprinkle peanuts over all
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Now the chocolate sauce:
Melt together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk chocolate chips
add 2 cups 10x sugar (sifted) alternately with 1 1/2 cup evaporated milk slowly
over medium heat bringing to a boil and cook until thick ( this takes awhile)
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Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon of Madagascar vanilla
and allow to cool at room temperature
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After the chocolate sauce has cooled, pour on top of peanuts and place back in freezer
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Whip 2 small cartons of whipping cream and sweeten to your taste
Spread over chocolate topping and top with additional chopped peanuts if desired
Return to freezer
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Enjoy

Auntie Courtney with Maggie~ About to extinguish the candles

Another favorite recipe of Courtney's is chicken salad...
Chicken Salad:
1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked & cooled
1 cup chopped carrots
1 large head of broccoli, separated
2 cups grapes, sliced in 1/2
1 cup chopped sweet pickles
8 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2/3 cup chopped sweet onion
4-5 large chicken breasts, cooked
Mix the above together and add a little Hellman's Light to the mixture...(maybe 3/4 cup or so)
3 to 4 small cartons whipping cream (whipped & sweetened to taste) and now add to the salad

You can add chopped dried cherries, celery, etc. to the above~

I generally decorate the salad with a few mandarin oranges, sliced fresh strawberries, and sprinkle with dill weed.

The crowning touch is Sugared Almonds:
1 egg white, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Beat egg white at high speed of electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar (1 tbsp. at a time), beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in almonds. Pour butter into a 9" square pan. Spread coated almonds in pan over butter. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until almonds are dry, stirring every 5 minutes. Set almonds aside to cool and allow guests to garnish their own chicken salad!