Making a spectacle

I just wanted to post some pictures of the kids for your viewing pleasure.

A nice Fall-ish picture ofBen playing in the leaves

I think that they go the other way Gemma!

There we go!

Ben's turn! This is what I get when I tell him to smile.

Gemma's reaction to Ben getting a turn. She's not the best at sharing these days.

Ben makes this little fist whenever he knocks his blocks down. It's so cute that I had to post a picture of it.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

The Kitchen Sage offers his advice

Yesterday I got a call from our Life Group leader asking if I could bring the dessert for the week. I had been signed up to bring it the week before but we were all sick with colds so I was unable to bring the pumpkin cheesecake that I was planning to make. I was super excited to try this recipe and although I had never done a cheesecake quite like this one, it turned out really well.

My only issue was the water bath that I had to do in order to cook it properly. I didn't wrap my spring-form well enough I guess, and the water got into the crust a bit. I took to the internet and found some advice for soaked crusts and all was well after I let it cool on a wire rack for a while and let the crust air out.

But, being me, I couldn't leave well enough alone and I got a brilliant idea. I was going to do chocolate feathering on top! Why oh WHY did I think that this was a good idea? Let's first say, that this would have been a great idea if I had done it when the cheesecake was still a bit warm. I tried to do it when the cake was cold and it looks like my Ben was responsible for the cake decor, not his grown-up mommy. So, lesson learned. Never try to do chocolate feathering on a cold cake. At least it will taste good. Next time, I'll listen to the Kitchen Sage.

Here is the recipe and some embarrassing pictures:

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (Oreos)
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups vanilla or white chips, melted and cooled
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg
White chocolate curls, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°
Press cookie crumbs onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. springform pan; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in melted chips. In a small bowl, combine pumpkin and spices; gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Place on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Place in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 325° for 60-65 minutes or until center is just set. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with white chocolate curls if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 10-12 servings.

Before

After. What have I done?!

Cranberry Bog Bars

Last night was my night to bring a dessert to our Life group. I was really excited to have an actual reason to bake something yet I had a serious problem finding the motivation to do the baking project that I had originally planned. We had all been sick for over a week and even though I felt pretty good, I spent yesterday doing very little. Unless you count watching Mulan with Ben as a productive activity.

Anyway, by the time that I was ready to bake, I didn't have the time to do anything epic so I settled for these "Cranberry Bog Bars." This Taste Of Home fall cookbook is proving to be extremely useful! They were so easy to make and they had such an obscene amount of butter in them that they couldn't not be good. I didn't have pecans on hand (let's face it, I never have them around. They set my teeth on edge.) so I subbed them with raw almonds which toasted up really nicely during baking. I am going to have to make these again. Also, they are egg-free.


Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups butter, softened, divided
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar, divided
3-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 can (14 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy. Combine 2-1/2 cups oats and flour. Gradually add to creamed mixture until crumbly. Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Spread with cranberry sauce.
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining butter; stir in the pecans and remaining brown sugar and oats. Sprinkle over cranberry sauce. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Starbucks Gingerbread Recipe!

Today I got the inspiration to find a good gingerbread loaf recipe. Then, I thought to myself "Hey! I wonder if anyone has come up with a recipe for Starbucks' Gingerbread loaf." Well with the help of Google, I quickly found a recipe and to my surprise and extreme delight, it is egg-free! Waa Hoo! It turned out very well and it tasted so yummy.


Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf:

BATTER
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/4 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon orange extract, optional
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon baking soda

FROSTING
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.
Then set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in orange extract.

Mix baking soda into applesauce and stir into creamed butter mixture.
Add flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes or until a
toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

FROSTING:
Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in vanilla and orange extract. Slowly beat in confectioner’s sugar.

Once the cake has cooled, evenly spread the frosting on top. Decorate with chopped candied orange peel .

The tale of the epic zucchini and the consequent baking splendor.

Holy Toledo! That's a big zucchini!

I was given a ginormous zucchini by mom. The thing was like a cave-man club. Colin and I actually joked around with it quite a bit and I was almost serious when I told him that I would hit an intruder with it if the opportunity presented itself. Apparently someone at my mom's church had an over-abundance of zucchini in their garden and decided to share their bounty with the church.

Anyhow, the thing was really big and when I cut it open, the seeds were the size of pumpkin seeds. I scraped out the pithy center with a spoon and then grated it. I ended up with 4 1/2 cups of grated zucchini. Hmmm, what does one do with 4 1/2 cups of grated squash? Bake! And then bake some more. So I made a batch of zucchini chocolate chip bread and did five mini loaves instead of two big ones and then froze them immediately after cooling.

That didn't use up all of the squash so I also made a batch of 24 zucchini cheese rolls. I kept a dozen out and froze the other half. Colin ate one fresh out of the oven and proclaimed "Now I know why I married you. Other than the fact that I love you. You bake really yummy things!" The amazing thing is, I still have a cup of grated zucchini left in the fridge begging to be used. I got my recipes form the Taste Of Home fall cookbook that is currently on newsstands.

Zucchini Chip Loaves

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup canola oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup raisins, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, zucchini, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips and raisins if desired.
Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

Modification for chocolatization:
My Mother-In-Law did a batch of this as well but she changed it up a bit and made it into "Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Loaves." She added 1/2 cup cocoa powder and cut the cinnamon to 1 tsp and cut all of the raisins and allspice out. Apparently it turned out very well. It's more chocolate, how could it not?

Zucchini Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup grated peeled zucchini
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 package (1/4 ounce) quick-rise yeast
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water (120° to 130°)
1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions:

Place zucchini in a small bowl; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let stand for 5 minutes; drain.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine 3 cups flour, yeast, 1/2 cup cheese, sugar and remaining salt. Add zucchini; toss to combine. Combine water and butter; add to dry ingredients. Add remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Divide dough in half; shape each portion into 12 balls. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Repeat. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 2 dozen.