The UltimateCheesecake

Here I am, back on the food sphere.  Hopefully, I will have some more recipes to share soon.

Jacob almost always requests a cheesecake for his birthday.  With so many birthdays in one month's time, I happily agree to a change.  I was even happier to find this recipe from Creative Cook's Kitchen.  It is also very simple--no baking in with water all around it or anything like that.

The Ultimate Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
2 T sugar
1/4 C margarine or butter, melted

Filling:
5 packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 C sugar
3 T all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/2 c sour cream
2 t finely grated lemon peel
1 1/2 t vanilla extract

Jacob wanted blueberry pie filling on top of his cheesecake, so I omitted the topping it suggested, which was a meringue like topping with apricot and raspberry jam ying yanged over it.

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Add melted butter. Stir to combine.
2. Press crumb mixture into 9 in. springform pan. Chill 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 325. In large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat cream cheese for 2 minutes; add sugar.
4. Gradually add flour; mix until combined.  On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, until just blended.
5. Add sour cream, lemon peel, and vanilla.  Beat until just blended.  Pour into crust.  Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
6.  Turn off oven; let cheesecake sit for 1 hour with oven door ajar.  Place cake on wire rack to cool completely.

It cracked.  But I also covered it with blueberry pie filling, so it didn't matter.  It tasted like cheesecake should.  And was awful for my hernia. We ended up not even being able to eat all of it.

Eggnog Cranberry Muffins

I meant to make these muffins last year. Then with watching Mischa and my thyroid stuff, it got pushed off and off and then never happened. So, when Big Chubb begged me to get eggnog, I decided I would make these.

I don't know if Mom ever made them. I was skeptical because I am not an eggnog fan. Yet, they turned out pretty tasty. So tasty that I took all the ones leftover and made another batch the next day and took them to our ward Christmas brunch. They all disappeared, probably because they were the only homemade muffin and most of the baked goods were cinnamon rolls.

Favorite Cupboard Project Recipes

I think a lot of CP recipes have ended up being...meh. Some are old enough that they are out of style or no longer considered healthy. But, there have been some gems. So, what CP recipes do you regularly make?

For breakfast, these cinnamon stack biscuits have become a favorite. They are pretty quick and easy, and a nice change from pancakes or German pancakes when we want something hot and special for breakfast.

I've made both of these enchilada recipes a lot. The black bean and chicken one I really like, but we don't have bacon around a lot. The bean and cheese enchiladas are a staple for non-meat enchiladas.

Everyone in our family loves gnocchi with zucchini ribbons. Some only love the gnocchi and won't touch the zucchini, and some don't love the tomatoes. I love all of it.

This squash cake recipe is just so delicious, especially with whipped cream cream cheese frosting. Yum. I didn't make it this summer since we didn't have a lot of summer squash, but I miss it.

I made the pumpkin caramel pound cake for a 3 birthday cake. It is so decadent that I haven't made it again, but I often think about it! Maybe this fall will be the time. I'm allowed to gain lots of weight now, right?

I haven't made it with the nuts, but I've made tortellini with butter and parsley several times. It's so simple and delicious. A couple tablespoons of butter is definitely enough though.

What Cupboard Project recipes have stuck around your kitchen?

Mustard Pickles

Update: Big Chubb opened a jar of mustard pickles last night. He was surprised at first because they are sweet. He was hoping/expecting dill. But, everyone liked them, of course. And, I didn't mess them up. They tasted just like the ones I remember having growing up.

Tis the season here in Minnesota to get your garden goods put up for the winter. I started on Wednesday and have been doing some food preservation everyday since. Today I did this one. I actually remember having these when I was little. I loved them.

2-3 lbs pickles (8 cups)
1 1/2 c vinegar
1 (c?) water
1 c sugar
1/2 c mustard
2 tsp salt

5 min

That was all the handwritten recipe said, so I guessed it meant cook all the ingredients for 5 minutes and then process them. I'm really hoping it was right because I don't really want to be eating mushy pickles all winter.

I haven't actually tried them yet. They need a some time to pickle. I'll let everyone know if I messed up or they turned out great.

Super Simple Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Brian loves stuff like this, and it sounded good, so I planned it out for a Sunday meal.

Super Simple Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Ingredients

1 package (24 oz) frozen shredded hashbrown potatoes, with peppers and onions

3 cups cubed Farmland Hickory Smoked Ham

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c (2 oz) shredded Swiss cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oven tp 350 degrees. Combine hashbrowns, ham, and soup in 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle top with cheese.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through

I have been avoiding cream of soups, but I figure once in awhile is fine. It was easy and good. I mixed in most of the cheese (only cheddar), and added in a couple spoonfuls of sour cream since my bag of hashbrowns was a little bigger. I liked that it wasn't as greasy/goopy as other potato casserole recipes.

Cookies n' Cream Pie

Sunday late afternoon saw me looking through recipes trying to find a dessert to make for after dinner. I was aiming for a cake to celebrate President Monson's birthday, but when I saw this one and realized that I actually had all the ingredients, I decided to go for it. Doesn't it sound way better than a dry piece of birthday cake?

Cookies n' Cream Pie

1 6-oz Keebler Ready Crust Reduced Fat Graham Cracker Pie Crust
1 1/2 c skim milk
1 (4-serving size) package of vanilla, fat-free instant pudding
1 (8-oz) container frozen, light whipped topping, thawed
1 c (10-12 cookies) Sunshine Hydrox Reduced Fat (or Regular) Choclate Sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed

1. Beat together milk and pudding for 1 minute until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Fold in whipped topping and crushed cookies. Spoon into crust.
3. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours. Makes 1 pie.

We came home from the reunion with a big box of graham crackers, and Brian's mom bought (among a bunch of other oversized packages of things) a bulk package of Oreos for the drive home. There were only four of us, and it's only a 15 hour drive, and Owen threw up in his seat, which suppressed all of our appetites. Hence, we had lots of Oreos and graham crackers to use for this. I also happened to have Cool Whip and I made some homemade pudding.

Advice: Plan ahead! My Cool Whip was frozen still, and the pudding was hot still, but I was in such a rush I mixed it all anyway and probably made it less fluffy than it is supposed to be. And we wanted to eat it that night, so Brian and I had it as cold pudding consistency rather than frozen. I just finished a frozen piece and it was better frozen. It is yummy, even dense rather than fluffy, and even as pudding rather than frozen. It was also probably better since I didn't use any low-fat versions of anything.

If you ever happen to have graham crackers, Oreos, pudding, and Cool Whip at the same time, give it go. Otherwise, it would be pretty expensive.

Smilin' Sammy

I knew I wanted to make this cake for Haley's birthday, especially considering her favorite song and book is You Are My Sunshine.

I only have a small part of the "recipe" and, even then, I changed it a bit to accommodate my frugal budget.  I think Joanna has the actual recipe, so maybe she'll make it again sometime. It suggests licorice for the mouth and sunglasses, with oreos for the eyes.  I just used black frosting for everything.

The rays are just ice cream cones that are frosted.  I had a hard time getting them to stay up on the cake, but it was hard to notice, so no big deal.

Everyone loved it. Jacob's family was there for her birthday and they all said it was cute.  I liked it, because it was cute and also very easy.  Haley liked it a lot, too.

Sorry I don't have a better picture.

She never even made it to the cake.