7 Months!

A little late, but better late than never!  E is 7 months old now, and it has been a busy fall!  She is so independent.  She is sitting up all by herself and eating cheerios now.  She doesn't crawl yet, but she pivots and rolls until she gets what she wants.  We've done so many great fall things this year, pumpkin patch, making applesauce, trips to the zoo, and lots of football games!

Birthday Cheesecake

P's birthday was last week and I wanted to make him something special.  I made him a decadent chocolate cheesecake, and he loved it!  He ranked it number two in desserts that I have made him, pretty high praise.  I got the recipe from pinterest, of course.  And, for once, I remembered to take pictures of the dessert!

Chocolate Lovers Cheesecake
Original recipe found here

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1½ cups finely ground chocolate cookie crumbs
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
½ cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp. salt
1¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature

For the glaze:
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:
To make the crust, preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper.  In a medium bowl combine the cookie crumbs, and melted butter.  Stir with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened.  Add the crumb mixture to the springform pan and gently press about 1 inch up the sides of the pan.  Press the rest of the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Reduce the oven temperature to 300˚ F.

To make the filling, combine the sour cream, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (in short intervals, stirring frequently) until completely smooth.  Set aside and let cool slightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, cocoa powder, and salt.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the sugar and continue mixing about 2-3 minutes more, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Add the cooled chocolate to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed.  Beat in the sour cream mixture just until evenly blended.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing each just until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust.  Bake until the center jiggles very slightly when nudged, about 50-60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 1-2 hours.  Then cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight.

To make the glaze, place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan or in the microwave.  Pour over the chocolate and let stand briefly, 1-2 minutes.  Whisk just until a smooth ganache has formed.  Whisk in the butter until completely incorporated.  Pour the glaze in an even layer over the chilled cheesecake.  Chill thoroughly.

Soup's On!

I love the fall.  It is the perfect excuse to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.  In the last couple of weeks, I've made two soups that I was sure P wouldn't like, but after I pureed them, he really enjoyed them.  I couldn't be happier with this outcome since they were both very healthy and super tasty!

Curried Lentil Soup
Original recipe found here

Ingredients:

4 center-cut bacon slices  (I forgot the bacon when we had leftovers later in the week, still good but the bacon was a nice touch)
1 1/2 cups chopped sweet onion (1 onion)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup dried lentils
2 chopped carrots
2 chopped celery stalks
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, undrained  (I used frozen dices from my garden last year, they were great!)

Directions:
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add onion and garlic to drippings in pan; sauté 3 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to a slow cooker. Stir in broth and everything else. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup
Original recipe found here

Ingredients:
2 Tb Butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, sliced
3.5 C chicken broth
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 C milk
3/4 tp salt
1/2 tp pepper
1/8 tp nutmeg

Directions:
In large pot, melt butter.  Cook onion and garlic about five minutes, until onion is translucent. Then add potatoes and carrots, cook five more minutes.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add cauliflower and reduce heat.  Simmer for 20 minutes.
Blend all ingredients together in batches in the blender, or with an immersion blender.  Add milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  

Cream of Cauliflower soup, with smokehouse black pepper, so good!

Easter Cheoreg

Back in high-school, a friend of mine's family made this recipe every year around Easter.  It is a delicious bread, and I enjoy making it to this day.  However, it makes a lot of bread, so I end up freezing it.  Next time I make it I will take pictures, it's so pretty!

Ingredients:
10 eggs
2 c sugar
2 c milk
2 c butter
15 c flour
1 tp baking powder
2 tp ground mahleb
4.5 tp dry yeast
1 Tb salt

Directions:
Sift flour and put in a large bowl.  Make a hole in the center.  Dissolve yeast, melt the butter, beat the eggs, and pour all of this into the hole in the flour.  Blend flour with liquid gradually, first with spoon and then with your hands.  Knead the dough for about 1/2 hour or until your hands stay free of dough.  Cover the dough well and let stand 4-5 hours to rise.  Shape dough into braids.  Let the braids stand for awhile on a greased baking sheet.  Then brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven, until golden brown.

Barley Vegetable soup

My mother-in-law visited last week while my husband was out of town, so we got to eat whatever we wanted.  I made this soup, since there is no way that P would eat it, too many vegetables he doesn't like.  We ate it for four days and I wish I had more, I could eat it every day.

Ingredients:

1C chopped onion (1 large)
1/2C bias-sliced carrot (1 medium)
1/2C sliced celery (1 stalk)
2C sliced fresh mushrooms
1 15 oz can red beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 10 oz package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2C regular barley
2tp dried Italian seasoning
1/4tp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
5cups vegetable or chicken broth

Directions:
Put everything together in the crock pot and cook 8-10 hours on low, then enjoy!

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

My husband loved this dish so much, I couldn't believe it.  He's sitting next to me right now and when he saw this one was getting added to the blog, he got really excited.  I will have to make it again soon!

Original Recipe found here

Ingredients:
2 C dried elbow macaroni
2 Tb butter
2 Tb flour
1/2 tp salt
1/2 tp pepper
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
4 oz shredded Fontina
2 cups cooked pumpkin (I used cooked pumpkin, but you could use store bought  canned)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta in a large pot following package directions. Drain cooked pasta, then return to pot.
 2. For cheese sauce, in a dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add whipping cream and milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in cheese, pumpkin, and sage until cheese is melted. Add Pasta to dutch oven.
3. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil; sprinkle over pasta. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Tag blanket

I'm sure it is obvious that I love my daughter, based on the quantity of posts that are about her, but believe it or not, I've not made a quilt for her yet.  My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law both quilt, and they have made two quilts already for her.  I haven't needed to make anything for her yet.  

I am now working on an activity quilt for her, but I'm not ready to show that yet.  As a teaser, I will show you the little blanket that my mother-in-law and I made for her this past week.  We were at Mill House Quilts, looking for kids fabric, when we saw these kits for tag blankets.  The kit says it's a Luvi blanket, and that is well suited, because Evelyn loves it!  We gave it to her and within minutes it was soaked. It's only 12 inches square, but it's the perfect size for her.