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o Asp when I decided to serve this dessert. I knew I wanted something we could all eat together and didn't want a big production (think ice-cream bar) or a huge mess to deal with later (again, think ice-cream bar). But I wanted the kids to like it and the adults to at least give it a half-hearted thumbs up.

I was WAY SURPRISED. We licked the pyrex clean. All 6 adults and 9 children couldn't get enough.

2 cups boiling water

2 (4-ounce) packages cherry gelatin dessert

1 cup Simply Cranberry Cocktail

1 (8-ounce) container whipped dessert topping, room temperature, divided

1 (15-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 package shortbread cookies (or something similar. Ours were gluten free, of course!)

Whisk the dried gelatin powder with the boiling water until it's completely dissolved. Whisk in the juice, and then refrigerate the mixing bowl for 90 minutes. You want the gelatin slightly set, but not really.

Now stir in 2 cups of the dessert topping and the entire can of cranberry sauce. Pour this mixture into a 9 x 9 glass baking pan. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until completely set. Spread on the additional whipped topping and dot with shortbread cookies.

Cranberry retro yumminess. It's tart, but not too tart, and sweet, but not too sweet.

It was the perfect end to a perfect night. And you know it was good when you wake up to this in the morning:

I had so much fun and feel so lucky to have the best friends ever. Thank you to Simply Cranberry Cocktail for giving me an excuse to have a party. And for the realization that I shouldn't have to have an excuse to have friends over--I should just do it!

I'm pretty sure we're not going to have a UTI anytime soon...

Simply Cranberry Cocktail understands that sometimes it's just not possible to have a spur-of-the moment party when you're busy living your life and all "extra" (HA on the extra!) income goes towards retirement, or college, or braces, or new tires. So they are offering to help out by giving one lucky winner a $100 Visa gift card to spend however you'd like.

Maybe you'd like to have a cranberry party of your very own?

What is your favorite way to make a party or get together at your home more festive? Tell me about it in the comments for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Rules:
P.S: I didn't make these up.

No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

I'll randomly select a winner from the responses (leave an email address or sign in so I can find you!) and will make sure the gift card gets sent out promptly.

The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2012 - 6/1/2012

Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

"Simply Cranberry_™" is a trademark of Simply Orange Juice Company.

BOO-YAH!

Hot Dogs for a Crowd

Guess what? You can fit 60 hot dogs in a 6-quart slow cooker. This is kind of big news if you happen to be:

planning an end-of-the-year swim party for the 5th grade graduating class
planning a block party potluck and know that kids really don't want to eat 75 different types of salad
manning the Little League concession booth
trying to beat the world's record in hot dog eating
interested in testing out your cholesterol medication

The Ingredients.

a crap load (technical term) of hot dogs (60, to be exact, although you can wimp out and do fewer, if necessary)
buns
fixens'
6-quart slow cooker
an outlet

The Directions.

Unwrap all the hot dogs and throw the wrappers in a plastic bag and then immediately take out the garbage because if the kittens knock over the garbage can and hot dog juice gets all over the kitchen floor you're going to get annoyed and then have to mop unless you just wipe it up with a baby wipe and pretend the cats didn't really lick your floor.

Stand hotdogs on end if you're trying to cram in 60. If not, you can just dump them in. There's no need to add water. This is for two reasons: 1, the hotdogs will release moisture all on their own, and 2, if you have a crockpot full of hot dog water it'll just be kind of gross to dig through the water to pick them out. and 3 (I lied, there are 3 reasons) if the hotdogs hang out in hot water for too long they'll end up splitting on you.

Cover, and cook on low for 4 hours, or on high for about 2 hours--check to make sure the ones in the middle are fully hot before serving. Serve with tongs into buns and top with desired fixens'.

Your dogs can stay on the "warm" setting for an awfully long time. If your pot has a hot spot (mine does), the dogs on the edge will get kind of crispy and blackened, which will COMPLETELY fool your 10-year-old into thinking you learned how to barbecue.

The Verdict.

If you eat too many hotdogs in a day because you don't want to waste them you'll be really really thirsty for the next three days.

Also? 6 hotdogs in two days is too much for a 2-year-old. Don't do that.

and? it's kind of fun to call your neighbors and have them over for spur-of-the moment hot dogs and it's even cooler that when you call to squeal that 60 hotdogs can totally fit in a 6-quart they know what you mean and highfive you through the phone.

Adam says these dogs remind him of the hot dogs from 7-11 or the movies where they cook on the roller bars--they aren't boiled, aren't barbecued, but hot. And hot dogs are fully cooked anyway in the package, so all you're doing is heating them through.

Happy Almost Summer!!

more cool stuff:

crockpot baked potatoes

use your crockpot as a rice cooker

crockpot as a smoker

make yogurt in a crockpot

crockpot as foot bath

crockpot as air freshener

1 Minute Muffin (not in a crockpot)