Cooking Club: Pumpkin Cheesecake

My friend and former co-worker, Jessica, invited me last month to her house for her monthly cooking club. It's really quite fun and an easy concept. Typically they get together the last Wed. of the month. Each month has a theme, last month it was fall favorites, this month's theme was pumpkin. Everyone brings a related dish to share and then we get to feast on all sorts of yummy goodness and get new recipes. I made a pumpkin cheesecake. I'm not overly impressed because it very strongly reminded me of pumpkin pie, which I'm not overly crazy about to begin with. So with the added challenge and difficulty of making a cheesecake, this recipe will not be reappearing because I'd simply just make pumpkin pie instead. But here's the recipe. Some really enjoyed it, I had the leftovers disappear in a matter of minutes at work



Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crumbs
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. sugar
Filling:
3- 8oz.pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
Whipped Cream
Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8" springform pan. Bake for 5 min. at 350. Set aside.
Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer. add pumpkin eggs, and spices, beat till smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 min. or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

Oh, PS - I did not win this month's cooking club popular vote - Pumpking Whoopie Pies and Stuffed Pumpkin Shells were the big winners.

Favorite Things: Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven

I have this chive green dutch oven. It's a great color and a much used item in my kitchen. I use it primarily for making soups on the stove and roasts in the oven. The lid has a dimpled top to help redistribute moisture to food as it cooks. I won't lie, this thing weighs a ton. Especially when it's full of chicken, potatoes, carrots, celery. It does a really nice job of cooking things at an even temperature. It retails on Amazon.com for $90.99 but I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for under $70 with a 20% off coupon (did you know they won't accept expired 20% coupons anymore? Let me tell you, that was a blow to my checkbook when I discovered this past spring). It's still a somewhat pricey piece, but much cheaper than the Le Cruset dutch oven I've been pining for for two years. That puppy retails for $249. Ha! It's going to be a few more years before I've got dollars to buy a Le Cruset.
Side note: If you live in an area with a Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Tuesday Morning, often times Le Cruset pieces will end up there for less. Still over $100, but less than typical retail amounts.

Grad School

I registered for graduation on Friday. Totally bizarre, but a good reminder that the end is in sight. I'm pushing through the hardest part of my coursework right now. I'm on an eight week stretch of double classes: Servant Leadership and Strategic Corporate Communications. I just finished Research Methods which by no means joyful, but in the end, manageable. Here's a little secret: I only do enough reading to be able to do my weekly posts and compose my papers. I do nothing beyond that. With Research Methods I could complete my project assignments with minimal reading, however Servant Leadership is turning into an entirely different beast - a reading monopolizing beast. I am working on refining the art of doing just enough to get an A.
I will say this about grad school: it's busy work. Sometimes I think getting into grad school was harder than my actual program. I'm sure it's different if you are an Engineer, but for a Communications gal, it's just papers and reading. I'm not even sure if this is the right path for me, but hopefully at some point in my life there is financial gain. Otherwise I'm going to be over-educated with a lot of private school debt.

Cheesecake

I believe cheesecake is sort of like pie. There's a certain amount of skill that not everyone is willing to undertake. But like pie, shortcuts do not pay off. You can't buy a pie from Hy-Vee on Thanksgiving and try and pass it off as homemade. In a similar way, you can not make instant cheesecake from a jello mix. It's just not the same and people will know. This cheesecake is absolutely worth the effort. Last year I made it for the Knaack Thanksgiving and I got the ultimate compliment from my cousin Kyle: "Screw pies (his mom and sister make the best pies in the world) you can make cheesecake for every family event!"


Graham Cracker Crust
1 pkg graham crackers
1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. sugar
Crumble graham crackers, melt butter, add sugar and mix all together.

Cheese Cake Filling
4 8 oz packages cream cheese (very, very soft)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 T cornstarch
1 T vanilla
Juice of one lemon (minus seeds, I have problems with this, more than once someone has accidentally gotten a seed)
1 c. sour cream
Line bottom of a 10" spring form pan with parchment paper circle
Pat graham cracker mixture to form the crust

Mix eggs, sugar+cornstarch, and cream cheese
Mix vanilla and lemon juice into cream cheese mixture
Add sour cream
Pour mixture into the prepared spring form pan
Place a 9x13 pan with 1" of water in the bottom rack of the oven
Place cheesecake on the upper rack and bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees.
Turn off oven and prop open oven door for an additional hour for the cheesecake to cool.

Raspberry Sauce (annoying, but necessary because it's the finishing touch)
2 12 oz pkg frozen raspberries, thawed
2/3 c sugar

Puree raspberries. Pour mixture through a wire mesh strainer into a small saucepan. Discard seeds. Cook sauce until the consistency of egg white. Cool and serve over cheesecake!

The final result ... delightful.

I made this cheesecake last week for a dinner we were having with my cousin Eric and his girlfriend Ashley. I hope none of them got a lemon seed ...

Enchilada Pasta

Everything looks so very ... orange. My high school home economics teacher would not be proud. She always told us that we need lots of color on our plates ... not just orange. Or beige. Opps. It was a good meal though!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

4-ounce can diced green chilies

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 (10-oz) cans green chili enchilada sauce

2/3 cup red enchilada sauce

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

16-20 oz. penne pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta until tender. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet and add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes, until pepper is barely tender. Add the cooked chicken, green chilies, spices, enchilada sauces. Let the sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sour cream and cheese and heat through, until the cheese is melted (but don't boil!). Pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Garnish with extra sour cream, cheese, diced tomatoes, green onions or crushed tortilla chips.

Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe

Giveaway: Beautiful Silver Handmade Mementos and Earrings

Don't you want to win these earrings? Go to bylynnkrestel's etsy shop to see some great things or you can try and win them in this Keeper of the Home giveaway. I love dark pearls. They are pretty, pretty!

Taylor Swift

Am I too old to want to go to a Taylor Swift concert? Probably. Am I too old to be ridiculously excited about her Des Moines concert in May? Probably. Am I going anyways? Most definitely. I so hopped up about Taylor Swift that I can't remember the last concert I was this giddy about.

Yeah ... I'm lame and I'm totally okay with that. This realization doesn't stop me from trying to win tickets off the radio everyday. :) Back to doing "homework"

Olive Garden Copy Cat Minestrone Soup

This minestrone is so stinkin good. And it only gets better with time because it really gives the flavors the chance to sink in and become even better. I love this soup because it's hearty, tasty, good for you and filling. It makes a huge batch, but it's perfect for leftovers. Trust me, you'll love this soup. Even for picky meat-a-tarians ...

Look at all those chunks of wholesome goodness!

Don't let the laundry list of ingredients scare you. This soup is worth it.

3 T olive oil

1 c minced onion

1/2 c chopped zucchini

1/2 c frozen green beans

1/4 c minced celery

4 t minced garlic

4 c vegetable broth (DO NOT USE CHICKEN BROTH YOU FAKERS)

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can white northern beans, drained

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juices

1/2 c carrots, julienned or chopped

2 T parsley (fresh if you have it spreading like wildfire in your garden and even frost doesn't kill it)

1 1/2 t dried oregano

1 1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/2 t dried basil

1/4 t dried thyme

3 c hot water

1 large handful of fresh spinach

1/2 c shell pasta

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a dutch oven

2. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions translucent

3. Add vegetable broth to pot, plus tomatoes, beans, carrots, hot water, and spices

4. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes

5. Add pasta and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until pasta is done

6. Add spinach and cook for a couple of minutes

7. Serve!

Favorite Things ... Honeycrisp Apples

Somebody save me from myself ...


I can't stop myself from buying 3 or 4 honeycrisp apples everytime I go to a grocery store.

Hy-Vee had them on sale last week for $1.38/lb

Fareway has had them on sale for $1.49/lb

Target has had them on sale for $1.49/lb

Basically, any grocery store within striking distance has had them on sale this past month and I just can stop picking up 3 or 4 at a time ... this means that I probably have about a dozen in that very large bowl you are seeing. I love Honeycrisp Apples, they are my favorite variety. But I must stop buying them!
And that my friends, is this week's edition of My Favorite Things.

Race for a Cure

Saturday morning Lance and I did the Susan B Komen Race for a Cure walk. It's the third year we've done the walk, each year we've been blessed with fantastic weather. This was no exception. My only suggestion for next year is this: have more buses running back and forth between the parking garages and the state capitol. We waited 35 minutes for a bus to come and pick us up. Yikes - we almost missed out on the free food! We still managed to grab some treats like Pink Ribbon Panera bagels (my favorite, every Oct I but a bakers dozen and freeze them) and Yoplait yogurt. I was really bummed that I didn't get a pink Hy-Vee bag, but Lance brazenly walked up to a woman who had like 10 Iowa Heart bags and asked her for one - and readily gave it up! (She must have felt guilty, I would have felt guilty for being that greedy)

Here's a picture of our capitol. Lance thinks it's a travesty that I've never been inside ... He also suggested that we should take the gold plating off the dome and replate it with something cheaper and then use the money saved on cutting the budget deficit. Somehow I don't think anyone in politics will think that's a good idea.



Oh my goodness. There were tons of people. I would have gone crazy for this kind of walk crowds when I was in fundraising. I heard that there were record numbers, you couldn't prove it by me. I just knew that it was hard to walk at any sort of brisk pace without weaving in and out of groups.



I asked Lance to show me his shirt. Please note that I did not ask him to pretend to be Superman ripping off his clothes to reveal his superhero costume.




I was thinking of a more casual picture ... something like mine. :)




I love this walk. My aunt Claudia was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in 5th grade. She'a 16 year survivor, back when breast cancer didn't have a whole month dedicated to it. Her cancer was pretty advanced, but she made it. Walking in this walk makes me realize every year that life is fragile and a gift. Life here is temporary, eternity is forever.