Cheesecake!

Of all the things I love to eat...cheesecake is probably my favorite! My in-laws visited before Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a dessert for dinner. I also baked an entire turkey and a lot of sides...and failed to take pictures of any of it! Oh, well.

This is a perfect fall dessert - Pecan Pie Cheesecake! It combines two of the best desserts...pecan pie and cheesecake. And, it's actually pretty easy to make.

Pecan Pie Cheesecake (courtesy of Southern Living)

Ingredients

• 1 (2lb, 4oz) frozen Pecan Pie
• 2 cups graham crackers crumbs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/4 t ground cinnamon
• 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 T all-purpose flour
• pecan halves

Preheat oven to 325°. Thaw pecan pie according to package directions. Cut evenly into 20 thin slices, keeping wedges intact, and set aside.

Stir together graham cracker crumbs and next 3 ingredients; press mixture onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 10-inch springform pan.

Arrange 10 pecan pie wedges in a spoke design in prepared pan, placing 1 cut side of each wedge on crust with narrow end towards center of pan. Reserve remaining pecan pie wedges for another use.

Beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add sour cream, half-and-half, and vanilla; beat until blended. Fold in powdered sugar and flour. Carefully pour cream cheese mixture evenly over pecan pie wedges in pan, making sure wedges remain in place. Arrange pecan halves evenly around edge and center.

Bake at 325° for 50 minutes. Turn off oven, and let cheesecake stand in oven 1 hour. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Chill at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Deviled Eggs

Ok, I hate eggs. Really...I will only eat them if they are baked into a cake or cookies! However, the department manager where Jason works swears I make the best Deviled Eggs. I'm not sure how that is possible, considering I have never eaten one in my entire life...but who am I to argue?!? They frequently do pot-lucks for holidays or showers and we always have to bring the Eggs. Trust me, I've asked for something else because I think they smell and they are a little bit of a pain to make...but the rumor is that anyone else who has tried just "messes them up." Hmm...

Deviled Eggs

• 12 eggs, hard boiled, and peeled
• about 3-4 to 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
• about 1/4 cup Yellow Mustard
• about 1/4 cup Dill Pickle Relish
• salt and pepper to taste

Half the eggs and remove the yolk. Add ingredients and mash with a fork. The measurements may be a little off...so just adjust to taste! Refill the egg white halves with the yolk mixture. Garnish with a little paprika and parsley.

Breakfast Baking

I've been dying to bake for a while now, but have opted not to because I really don't need to eat it! However, this weekend the in-laws will be in and I like to have a breakfast-type thing around for us to eat instead of resorting to cereal!

This recipe came from my great-aunt. My mom and I made it a few times, but the problem is that you can't really just eat a little of it. Well, we can't. I would eat anything with almond extract in it, so I have a hard time limiting myself when it comes to this recipe!

Almond Danish Puff

Preheat oven to 350. Cut 1/2 cup butter (softened) into 1 cup flour. Sprinkle in 2 T water and mix. Round into a ball and divide in half. On a baking sheet, put each 1/2 in strips of about 12*3" each. Heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and quickly add 1 cup water and 1 t almond extract. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and beat in 3 eggs, until smooth and glossy. Divide in 1/2 and spread over other dough strips. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until the top is crisp and brown. Cool and frost with glaze of 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 T butter, 1 1/2 t almond extract and 1-2 T water (as needed).

I honestly did not intend on baking anything else, but...I left a stick of butter on the stove to soften and instead ended up with very melted butter! After digging around for something that called for only 1 stick of butter and other stuff that I actually had, I found the following recipe

Pecan Pie Muffins (Southern Living)

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix butter, eggs and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans and bake 8-10 min. Makes either 1 dozen regular muffins or 2 dozen mini-muffins.

I've become my mother

Growing up, my mom decorated cakes. It wasn't a business...just a hobby and a way to raise extra money. She did them for all of our birthdays and did the same for most of our friends and family. My sister and I always helped, but never really took classes.
My first attempt was last year - a coworker found out she was having a baby and asked me to do her shower cake. I don't have pics for a good reason. I thought it was a disaster! Everyone else thought it looked ok, but had my mom not been there to bail me out...I think a trip to Kroger would have been in order!! After that, I decided lessons were a must.

My first Wilton class involved three cakes. Not good for the waistline...well not mine, but Jason sure liked it! All of my cakes for class have been boxes. There are just too many chances to take with a cake from scratch, plus since I was making almost one each week...I needed something easy!
The first cake was pretty simple - frost and decorate with the "star" tip. The baby (said reason for the cake classes) had his first frosting taste! The first few licks were not so great, but once he figured out that a sugar rush would accompany frosting...he was all in!

My second cake - clowns!

I don't have pics of the third cake (final one in the the first course) for two reasons. One, it was roses and I am really bad at making roses. Seriously. Two, they are on a friends camera and she has not sent them to me. :-)

The second course was all about Royal Icing and flowers. Lots and lots of flowers! We made flowers for three weeks...then put the cake together. I could have grown a garden!

Cooler weather means...Soups!

I just told my husband last week that I am so happy for the cooler weather...because we can have soups for dinner! Soups are ideal because I can cook them once...and they last almost the whole week. So yesterday, I went for the difficult one...Chicken Tortilla Soup. Not difficult because of the time involved or ingredients...but difficult because I'm not a huge fan of bone-in chicken, and I really don't like raw chicken. However, to make this taste correctly, it really needs a whole bone-in chicken. Blech.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 whole fryer
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
1-2 jalapeno pepper (your choice, depending on the heat level you are looking for)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilis
2 cans 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Whole Kernel Corn
1 t Chili Powder
1 t Ground Cumin
1 t Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Tortilla Chips
Shredded Cheese

Cook your fryer with the onions, garlic and jalapenos in boiling water, salt & pepper to taste. You can do this however you prefer - either the whole chicken or you can cut the chicken before you cook it. I can't stand to cut up the chicken, so I just boil the whole thing, let it cool, then remove it from the broth. Drain about 1/3 of the broth and any skin. All all canned ingredients and seasoning to the broth, bring to a boil and stir. Add shredded chicken back to mixture and simmer. Serve with fresh cilantro, chips & cheese. (about 4.5 WW points for 6 servings)