Holiday (or anytime!) Strawberry Pretzel Salad

This is a yummy & colorful salad (or could even be dessert). It's sweet, salty, and creamy & beautiful! What could be better?

Servings: about 12

This is a three layer salad that has a pretzel crust, cream cheese center, and strawberry topping.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (I use lower fat)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (I use lower fat)
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen sliced strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the pretzels, 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping and vanilla. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Let it "set" just a bit before pouring it over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least a couple of hours.