My father married a woman back in the late 1970's who of course became my step-mother. Let's just say at first (several years) we did not get a long that well. She was however a great cook and served us many dishes that were out of this world. She had one recipe that I would always look forward to eating and that was her Cherry Crunch dessert dish.

It not only tastes great but the one hour it's baking - it permeates the house with an aroma that is intoxicating and creates an anticipation that will make your sweet tooth have a seizure awaiting it's removal from the oven. Her nickname "Step-Monster" came from the movie years later called "Saint Elmo's Fire" - Demi Moore's character was trying to figure out how to bury her step mother and would refer her to as the step monster throughout the movie.

Anyway - back to the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of cherry pie filling.
• 1 stick of real butter.
• 1 Duncan Heinz Extra Moist Yellow Cake Mix. (no substitutions or it won't taste as great).

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease large rectangular baking dish with Pam or Butter.
3. Open cans of cherry filling and layer contents into dish.
4. Open cake mix and pour over cherry pie filling and level.
5. Melt stick of real butter (salted) and drizzle evenly over the entire dish.
6. Bake for about 1 hour on center rack of oven or until the top is golden brown.

It's not really an ingredient of the recipe but a feature and not an option - When your cherry crunch is ready out of the oven - Add a scoop of Blue Bell's Homemade Ice-Cream while your dump cake is still warm and enjoy.

The flavor is out of this world - and will have your entire family clamoring for a serving long before it's done. Actually I think real estate agents should use this recipe instead of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven when having an open house to make potential clients feel more at home. I bet it would close a lot more homes!

You can of course use apple or peach pie filling instead of cherry - I have tried them all over the years but cherry seems to be the best choice for this easy dessert recipe.

This dessert will quickly become a family tradition in your household after you have only made it one time.