Comics and cookies: ‘Garfield Road Pizza’ by Jim Davis

Perennially popular Garfield returns in this 2022 book (his 74th comic strip collection!). Jim Davis' world-famous comic strip is syndicated in more than 2,000 daily newspapers with 200 million daily readers. Peek into the daily life of the lazy orange cat in this book.

Pairs well with: No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Lasagna. Everyone knows Garfield's favorite food is lasagna! Make a sweet cookie version using the recipe found at shugarysweets.com/chocolate-lasagna.

Ingredients for the crust:

23 crunchy chocolate chip cookies
1/3 cup unsalted butter

Ingredients for the layers

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
2 small boxes Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
2 1/2 cups cold milk
8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

For the crust layer, pulse cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs. Or use a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin!
Add melted butter to the cookie crumbs and pour into the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish.
Using the palm of your hand or the bottom of a cup, firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the dish. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Fold Cool Whip in cream cheese mixture until blended. Fold in mini chocolate chips.
Pour over crust. Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture evenly over the crust layer.
In a large bowl add two packages of INSTANT chocolate pudding mix. Make sure you purchase the instant variety or this won't set up properly.
Whisk in milk. You'll use less milk than the box says because you want this layer extra thick and fudgy.
Once the pudding mix is well blended, spread the pudding over cheesecake layer.
Add remaining Cool Whip to the top of the chocolate lasagna. Sprinkle with more mini chocolate chips and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
Slice and serve. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days. ENJOY.

Discuss:

Why do you think Garfield has remained so popular since he was introduced in 1978? What do you like about Garfield?

What clues can you find that Garfield loves Jon and Odie even though he often says negative things about them? Who does Garfield not get along with at all?

Do:

Make a 3D papercraft Garfield! No glue or fasteners required. Just print the template from supercoloring.com/paper-crafts/garfield-paper-toy. Cut it out and fold on the lines, inserting the paper tabs into the slits to hold it together!