Frugal Trifle

What is more frugal than using what you have on hand to take care of what you need? 

Last Thursday I had a brunch meeting to go to...ok, I thought it was last Thursday!  (At least I wasn't the only one!  hee hee)  It was a "bring something if you'd like, but you don't have to."  That was nice not to have that pressure, but my Mama would have given me what for if I'd have shown up empty-handed.  So...Thursday morning rolled around, and I still hadn't figured out what to take.  Looking around the kitchen and the fridge I found angel food cake, strawberries I had cooked to make fruit leather, and heavy whipping cream.  Oh yes.

Trifle rocks.  I just have to say.  :-)  You really can't mess up a trifle -- it's just layers of yummy stuff, preferably in a clear glass bowl so that you can see the lovely layers!  Here's what I did for my "try the floor" (Thanks, W!)

For my trifle, I started with the whipping cream.  I eyeballed it into the mixer and added some powdered sugar and a bit of vanilla.  Then I let the mixer do its job.  I'm always paranoid about making homemade sweetened whipped cream -- if you go too long, you get sweet vanilla butter.  On this day, however, it turned out beautifully!  It was light and fluffy and just stiff enough.

Begin the layering!

• angel food cake cubes
• strawberries
• whipped cream
• repeat at least two more times

(One thing my husband suggested later in the day was shaving dark chocolate with a peeler and putting it in the layers on top of the whipped cream.  Not a bad idea!)

So...I had my beautiful, perfectly sized trifle (see pic; so proud!), and off I went to the church.  I met my dear friend FO as I was going in.  She had made healthy homemade muffins.  Good girl!  We checked the Parlour and the Loft and finally headed to the Main Office.  And when did Mrs. R (the lovely secretary) have it on her calendar?  Next week.  Ha!  At least I have an idea of what I can take then...or should I try something else?  Hmmm....