Featured Recipe - Sand Bucket Dessert with Edible "Sand"

• Beach- or shell-shaped candies (pre-made, ready to eat)
• New and clean plastic buckets and shovels
• 20 ounce package of crumbled vanilla wafers
• 1/2 stick butter
• 8 ounce-package of cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 3-ounce packages of instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups of milk (whole or percentage)
• 1 12-ounce container of whipped topping, thawed not frozen.

• Soften the butter in a microwave or stovetop.
• Put butter in large mixing bowl. Repeat softening process with cream cheese and add to the same mixing bowl. (Note: You can also place butter, cream cheese and whipped topping on counter for 1 hour to soften.) Mix butter and cream cheese together.
• Place powdered sugar in a sifter and sift powdered sugar into the butter-cream cheese mixture. Mix in the powdered sugar until it is well blended.
• In a medium size bowl, add milk. Sprinkle pudding over milk and whisk or beat until thickened, about 1 minute.
• Add the pudding and the whipped topping to the cream cheese mixture. Mix until smooth using a wooden spoon or electric mixer.
• In a food processor, process vanilla wafers until they form fine, even crumbs or place them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until finely crumbly to resemble sand.
• In the buckets, place a layer of crushed vanilla wafers, then a layer of cream cheese-pudding mixture. Keep layering until full (about four layers of each) and end with a layer of crushed wafers. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours. Before serving, decorate with beach-shaped candies such as shell candy, gummy fish, even gummy worms