My great aunt Marion Peagler, late of Savannah, won the title of best cook in our family
Hands down
Champ
A life long weight watcher, fat phobic, and stylish dresser, it’s amazing that Aunt Marion didn’t weigh a ton considering her freezer always had containers of okra stew, raw beaten biscuit ready for baking, what she called ham steaks, McKenzie gold foil butter beans, and these perfect little cream cheese tarts
Bacon drippings remained in a dedicated container ready to season those butter beans and all manner of vegetables
Real butter only
Full fat everything
She taught me to make her cheese straws, which were the stuff of legend
A great old school Southern cook who embraced the microwave, the food processor, and any new gadget to come from the mind of engineers
She gave me “Aunt” Blanche Grundy’s shrimp creole receipt
She gave me my great grandmother’s tea punch written in her curling cursive
Her crab dip notes say “bake in petit pans” whatever those may be
One of my all time favorites of hers was indeed those cream cheese tarts
I call them Aunt Marion’s Cream Cheese Tarts
Easy as can be
People eat them and about die off
A perfect base for fresh fruit in season
My favorite is to serve them with peaches, macerated in a little sugar with the smallest hint of almond extract
So good in late July and August when it’s hot and peaches are in season
Also great with any form of berry macerated in a little sugar
Aunt Marion shared this receipt with everyone, so, here ‘tis
Take them out of the freezer and onto the plate
Easily doubled, too, by the way
And, because we all could use something sweet these days, I’m proud to share this with all 27 of my followers
Enjoy
Aunt Marion’s Cream Cheese Tarts
8 oz. cream cheese, softened and at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 container Cool Whip – seriously – COOL WHIP -thawed
Line twelve muffin cups with cupcake liners.
In a mixing bowl, with a fork or hand mixer, mix the cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until well blended. Fold in the Cool Whip until thoroughly mixed. Drop by tablespoons into the cupcake papers. It’s about two full tablespoons per cupcake/muffin. Freeze in the muffin pan. After frozen, you can store in plastic bags.
If you serve with peaches make a simple syrup and add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Trust me. Do it.
Aunt Marion would be tickled to know I’m letting everyone in on this secret. Absolutely tickled
Her words not mine
Dad, what's for supper? 
Ohmigosh – making these today!
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I had to do a double take at this recipe as I was expecting a baked tart with flour. This is very unexpected, I must try! Thanks for the picture too!
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You are being very generous with Aunt Marion’s recipe which I look forward to using. Thanks so much. BTW, her recipe and my mother’s recipe for cheesestraws are very similar. I make them every Christmas; Emma and Eliza love them. 😊
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Making this tonight! The best recipes are associated with good memories and good people.Thanks,NoreenSent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
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Thank you sincerely for sharing your story with us about your Great Aunt Marion. I look forward to trying her recipe. I adore Georgia Belle peaches and this recipe sounds like the perfect combination. What a special treat you shared with us this Sunday evening!
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Tried Cool Whip when it first came out. Nope. No way. Metallic taste. Recently my cousin served a dessert with a dollop of (you guessed it) Cool Whip. Not to be rude I ate it. Hmmm…. not bad, maybe they reworked the formula or maybe my taste buds have gone slumming? Bought a container as a scientific experiment. It lasted three days. Can’t wait to try these morsels!
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