Pumpkin Cheesecake

Oh my!

That's all I have to say about this!

Not really.

I have been waiting to taste this thing ALL day

Totally worth it.

I have never made a cheesecake before

I thought it would be hard.

Making my little cheesecake minis a few weeks ago showed me that it isn't hard at all

So, I decided that since we're doing all things pumpkin ,and since I do not want to make pumpkin pie,

Well, this would be the perfect dessert.

I was not wrong.

I actually took a few different recipes and sized them up and then came up with my own concoction

I don't think you'll be disappointed

I know I'm not

We'll see what the neighbor/taste tester thinks

This was supposed to be her cheesecake

Payment for babysitting my kids

But since my internet was down yesterday and I couldn't access my recipes, I couldn't make it

Today she is going out of town for the Holiday

She won't get the whole cheesecake... but I will make sure she gets the piece in the picture before she leaves.

I'll make her another dessert soon

Anyway... on to the recipe.

One warning... it IS very easy... but there is a LOT of waiting involved.  This is best made the day before you want to serve it..... trust me! 

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 3/4 C crushed Nilla wafers
1/4 C Brown sugar
1/3 C Butter, melted


Filling:
1 container (24 ounces) nonfat cottage cheese (3 cups)
1 1/2 pkg  (12 ounces) Neufchatel/cream-cheese
1-1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large egg whites
2 large eggs
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin puree (2 cups)
2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings:

Carmel:
1 1/2 Stick butter
3/4 C Brown sugar
1/2 C Heavy cream

Candied nuts:
1 C Nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds)
4 Tbs White sugar


Directions:

Crust:
Lightly grease bottom and sides of 9x3-inch springform pan.

In case you don't know, this is a springform pan.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (only for the crust)
Put the cookies in a food processor and blend until you get small crumbs
OR you can roll then with a rolling pin or crush them in a bag ...get creative
Add the sugar and mix
Add the melted butter and mix until coated
Using the bottom on a greased glass, press the crumb mixture into the bottom and an inch up the sides of a springform pan
Bake at 350 for 6 minutes
Set aside
Turn oven down to 325 degrees and go on to cake filling directions below

Filling:
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. (only for the cheesecake)
Process cottage cheese and cream cheese in a food processor or blender about 2 minutes until thick and smooth.
Add brown sugar, process until sugar dissolves.
Add eggs and egg whites and process just until blended.
Transfer mix to a large bowl.
Stir in pumpkin, cornstarch, spice and vanilla until well blended and smooth.

Pour into crust.

Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until top of cake looks set.

Turn oven off.

Cool completely on wire rack in oven

Cover and refrigerate in pan at least 6 hours or up to 4 days.
See?  Here is where all that waiting comes in....grrr!

Toppings:

When ready to serve, you can add this yummy topping:

Nuts:

Spray a fry pan with Pam and add 3 TBS sugar and 1 C nuts

I used walnuts, but pecans or slivered almonds would work too
Cook nuts & Sugar until sugar melts and carmelizes onto nuts

(don't cook too long or the sugar will burn)
Set aside to cool
Place on cake whole or chopped up
Carmel:
Melt butter and sugar in sauce pan
Add heavy cream and bring to boil
Simmer for 3 minutes, stir often
let cool and drizzle over nuts on cake

***Review:
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!  Is that enough?  Everyone but the child allergic to pumpkin LOVED it!  He didn't get to try any.  It's ok, don't feel bad.  He wasn't even home ;)  It actually tastes similar to pumpkin pie (but way better) but I'm not complaining... no one else is either!
UPDATE:  Here is the neighbor's response: "Not to be the bragging neighbor or anything, but YES, YES once again I got to eat this too. My husband thinks pumpkin pie is just OK, but this cheesecake I'm thinking must have rocked to him b/c he ate nearly the whole piece and it was a large piece!!"
**Tips:
I will state the obvious first... you don't have to use any of the toppings.  I just wanted to.  You could just used whipped cream really... or nothing at all.
Using the glass to press the crumb crust into the pan is really the BEST way to go.  I tried it other ways... didn't work.
You have to wait for the cheesecake to be fully cooled before you can take it off the springform base.  Trust me... I tried that too.  Almost a disaster.  I am not the most patient person!

Apple Pumpkin Bisque

Well, in the spirit of "All things Pumpkin" I tried to make a dinner that incorporated pumpkin

I mean, this is a dinner site after all

I know a lot of desserts have pumpkin... so that part is easy

But dinner?  Well, not so much

Soup is about the closest thing I can find

I tried an apple squash bisque a few weeks ago and I liked it

So, since squash and pumpkin are related, I figured I'd search for a similar recipe

I found a few

Most of them call for the same ingredients, so it was easy to just pick one

Since I already had the pumpkin ready, it was very easy to make.

I didn't take long at all.
I did change the recipe up slightly from the original and the recipe reflects my changes

Here we go

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter ( I used salted, because that's what I had on hand)
1/2  small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger root ( I used 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
2 1/2 C pumpkin purée
1 1/2 C  unsweetened applesauce
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon apple-cider vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

1 small, dried chile pepper ( I didn't use this)

Pinch ground nutmeg

Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream or sour cream ( I used the heavy cream)

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat in a large, heavy saucepan.

Sauté the onion and ginger until onion is tender, about 4 minutes.

Add all other ingredients (except the cream), and simmer about 15 minutes until flavors are blended.
 Stir in cream just before serving.

This is what the soup looked like after I stirred the cream in

***Review:
I am still not sure what I think about this soup.  I have a major cold/sinus infection and can't taste much.  Probably a bad time to be taste testing new foods huh?  I didn't like it at all until I added the cream at the end, and then I liked it.  (But I can't be trusted since I couldn't even taste the bitter stuff the dentist put in my mouth yesterday)
2 Children ran to the sink to spit it out immediately...lol   I am guessing it's a thumbs down in the kid area.  It is kind of a savory soup and not really kid friendly I guess.  As of this posting, Hubs is working late and hasn't tasted it yet.  I am definitely curious to see what he will think!
UPDATE:  Hubs loves the soup... says it could use some cheese. Baby also loves the soup, although his opinion is questionable since he is also walking around eating a raw onion. 


**Tips:
If I were to have the motivation (which my cold has sucked from me) I would put this soup in the food processor to blend up all the onion bits... I think that would add to the texture.  Obvioulsy, it's not necessary, but definitely would be good.  Also, you might think of adding a bit less of the chicken broth until you get the texture you're looking for.  I personally, thought it needed to be thicker, but I added the broth in the beginning .
Do NOT forget the cream in this soup... trust me.
As for serving, I would most definitely not eat this alone... it's a very light soup and just wouldn't cut the "meal" status at my house.  I added a little cream on top before serving and if I'd had any, a sprinkle of chives would have looked awesome!  But, sick people don't grocery shop....so I didn't have any.



All things Pumpkin

Thanksgiving is coming!

Not that my neighbors know this... because they all have their Christmas lights & trees up already

Ahem.... anyway.

I am thinking about all things pumpkin & baking

I normally don't do this, so I'm going to go with it

I bought some cute little pie pumpkins for my boys to paint before halloween

We ran out of time to do that so they've just been sitting here staring at me for a few weeks

I couldn't just let them go to waste

But, I've never done anything with a real pumpkin besides carve it

I assumed cooking it was similar to cooking squash but I wasn't sure

So, I googled "how to cook a pumpkin" and found this handy dandy site

I also saw some great recipes online and decided to make a few of them

I am sick of plain old pumpkin pie... so I am opting for a pumpkin cheesecake

And some pumpkin scones ( I am hi-jacking those off my friend kara's site)

These will all be in my up & coming Holiday posts

I promise they won't be difficult recipes....

Pureeing your own pumpkin, however, is a pain in the butt ( I won't lie)

But, I had to try it... and now I have to share it!

This is what I did to my little pie pumpkins this morning.

In case you a have a few pumpkins that you're feeling angry with.....

You'll notice that they are not all nicely cut... 2 of them were so hard that I had to smash them on my tile floor because the knife wouldn't even penetrate them.  Not fun!

Anyway.... here we go!

Ingredients:
- 4 pie pumpkins (yes, there are "pie" pumpkins ... not all pumpkins are good for making pies)

Directions:
** I made these 2 different ways... just to see if there was a difference or one was easier than the other
I would recommend the boiling.. it's faster. But I will post them both

• Wash the exterior of the pumpkin in cool or warm water, no soap.
• Cut the pumpkin in half. 
• Scoop out the seeds and scrape the insides.  You want to get out that stringy, dangly stuff that coats the inside surface.
• Baking in the oven:
• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• place pumpkin pieces face down in baking dish
• fill dish with about 2 inches of water

• Bake for about 45 minutes or until pumpkin is soft and a knife goes right through it

OR

• Boiling in a pot:
• Place pumpkin in large pot
• cover with water
• Once the water is boiling it should take about 10 minutes until done
• When pumpkin is really soft it's done
• Scraping the cooked pumpkin:
• Using a spoon gently lift and scoop the cooked pumpkin out of the skin.  It should separate easily and in fairly large chucks if the pumpkin is cooked enough
• Place in a bowl then add to food processor in batches


• Blend the pumpkin until smooth

And ..... you're Done!

Now the pumpkin can be placed in freezer bags and frozen until you are ready to use it...or start baking your pumpkin goodies right now.  You can use this just like canned pumpkin.

I am using some today & tomorrow and freezing some to use for a thanksgiving treat!

***Review:
This was not the most difficult thing to do.... but I wouldn't say it's something I would do all the time.  Honestly, opening a can of store bought pumpkin is much much easier.  But.... this is not difficult... just time consuming.
It was fun to do... the kids always love helping me do something different... so that was a bonus.  Today was one of those rare days that not much was going on so I was able to make this stress free..... and in my jammies!  At least now I know if there's ever a time that I can't find canned pumpkin, I can make my own.

**Tips:
Well, as I mentioned above, boiling the pumpkin was much faster and the pumpkin cooked more uniformly.  I thought baking it would give it a different flavor... more rich & roasted tasting...but it didn't.  Same exact flavor... so I say, if you have a large enough pot... boil it.  Either way... it's cooked.
I was also thinking that this would make great baby food.  I mean, how fresh and natural can you get?
Also, it would be good to use in recipes from Jessica Seinfelds book Deceptively Delicous (which you can actually see in my kitchen in the background of this photo)
Here's a tip from the site I found: "To eliminate watery pumpkin, I strain my pureed pumpkin through a cloth overnight. If I use frozen pumpkin I do the same again as it thaws out. It works great and my pies cook beautifully."


I am looking for some different ways to use this pumpkin puree!
Do you have any yummy pumpkin recipes you want to share with me?
E mail them to me at thedinnerdrama@hotmail.com

Dogs in a blanket. Dinner or Appetizer....with a holiday twist!

You may have made these little guys before.

This is only my second time. 

I did not know they existed a few years ago... so I'm posting this just in case there are others that have never seen them either.

My kids think this is a super fun food and I wonder why I don't make them more often.

This time we put a little twist on them. 

Not only did we make the dogs in a blanket..... we made mummies.

I have boys... boys like mummies. 

And... it is still close enough to Halloween for it to be a fun thing.

I wanted to make them ON Halloween, but ran out of time to cook at all. 

So here we are on Nov 1st eating Mummies.  

No one in this house seems to care.

These don't have to be dinner... they make a fun appetizer for a party too. 

OR even a good after school snack. 

Ingredients:

-1 pkg  cressent rolls or pillsbury cresent roll sheet (these are a new thing)
- 1 pkg mini hot dogs or sausages  or you could use full size hot dogs and adjust your dough

Directions for the mummies:

Take out two of the cressent triangles and make them into a rectangle by pressing the seams together like this

Cut strips of dough off the long side of the recgangle to wrap around the mummy body.  Start wrapping dough at the middle point of the dog to leave room for the face and a head wrap.

next wrap a piece of dough around the top leaving enough room for a face.
Once you have them all wrapped,place them on a baking sheet (or pizza stone in my case)

 bake them according to package directions (375 for 11-13 minutes)

When they come out, use a toothpick to "paint" the eyes, nose and mouth with mustard.

They are ready to eat!

Now, if you are totally not into the mummy thing you can always make regular ol' dogs in a blanket like this:

Ingredients:
- 1 pkg cressent rolls
- 1 pkg mini dogs or sausages OR regular hotdogs (adjust dough size for large dogs)

Directions for the dogs in a blanket:
Seperate dough into triangles. 
Cut each triangle in half or into 3rds.
Place dog on small triangle piece like this:

And just roll it up so it looks like this:

Place it on a baking sheet and bake according to package directions (375 for 11-13 minutes) and this is the yumminess that you should get!

Review:
We love these.  As a dinner they are more for the kids than for the adults although, our friends made them for our bible study last weekend (as an appetizer)and they were a big hit.  It's just a fun food to make every once in a while!  I'll be honest, it's a little bit of work to make the mummies... but I don't mind a little hard work every now and then.  The dogs, however, take no time at all.

Tips:
I think this is a pretty easy dish, so I don't have much in the way of tips.  If you do make them with full size hot dogs, you can cut them up into bite sized servings and serve them that way so that they aren't so big.  Or, you could add a little cheese under the dough for something different.

Halloween treats

This week my neighbor/taste tester and I got our kids together to do some fun Halloween crafts.

One of the crafts was a food craft!

Right up my alley!

We decided we were going to make pumpkins out of rice krispie treats and let the kids decorate them.

As I was letting the rice krispie treats cool on the cookie sheet, I realized that it already looked like a giant pumpkin, so I just added a few accessories and got this:

But this is what we actually were going for:

we put a ball of rice krispies on the plate with some "accessories" & let the kids create their masterpieces~

 Here is the finished product

The kids loved making these and loved eating them just as much!  Definitely a fun thing to do with things we already had around the house. 

Ingredients:

1 package (10 oz., about 40)  regular marshmallows (or 4 cups miniature marshmallows)

6 cups rice cereal 
Assorted candies to decorate with
Red & Yellow food coloring  (red + yellow = orange in case you missed that in art class..lol)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Directions:

 In large saucepan melt butter over low heat.

Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.

Add red and yellow dye to get the orange color you want (you can use orange dye if you have it)

Remove pan from heat.
Add rice cereal. Stir until well coated.

Scoop mix onto wax paper or a sprayed cookie sheet

Let it cool

Start making your pumpkins

Use any candy you have around to decorate with

Other things you might need:
Pretzel sticks or milk duds for the stems

Green candies or gum drops for leaves

Mini chocolate chips or frosting for eyes/nose/mouth

Candy sticks for noses or eyebrows.

Any other candy accessory that would be fun

Tips:

To make the milk duds more pliable, I microwaved them for about 5 seconds then rolled them out and cut them.

To keep the warm rice krispie mix from sticking to your hands, wet your hands before handling it....it wont stick.

To flatten out any candies or gum drops use a rolling pin

Use a sharp knife to cut the shapes you need from the candy

Let the kids have fun... their pumpkins will be crazy and totally imperfect.. but that's just the way they like them!

Hope you have a Happy and Safe Halloween! 

Got any fun holiday recipes?  Please share them with us.

You can e mail them to me at: thedinnerdrama@hotmail.com

I would love to use reader recipes each week!