Easy on the Eyes

This post was originally going to be called "Christmas Cheesecake," but seeing as how Christmas was nearly a month ago now, it certainly isn't timely anymore. The following dessert was in fact made and served on Christmas, and it might just be one of the prettiest things I have ever made.

I followed this contest-winning recipe from Taste of Home almost exactly, and it paid off.

My beautiful, crack-free cheese cake. I was skeptical about needing to wrap the pan in foil and placing it water to bake, but in the end I am pretty sure these "extra" steps kept the top silky smooth.

And if rich maple-ly goodness wasn't enough, there was cranberry compote to put on the top! The compote had both fresh and dried cranberries.

My biggest regret was only eating two pieces before I left for Japan. One Christmas night and another for breakfast on the 26th. I definitely should have packed some for the plane!

Beautiful and delicious. Would really another piece right now!

Baking Bonanza

Over the past three weeks, I have made eight batches of Christmas goodies. I started making goody bags for gifts during finals and continued to bake at home in AZ, repeating some of the best recipes.

The first batch was "Foolproof Fudge" and I almost screwed it up because I didn't have as many chocolate chips on hand as I thought. Thankfully, I am a chocoholic, there were other sources available. And as an added bonus, now it's "Triple Chocolate Fudge!"

I also made some white chocolate fudge with cranberries and coconut and attempted nice shapes by pouring it into a heart shaped ice cube mold. It was a bit difficult to remove, hence the lack of photos.

Next up, "Peanut Butter Blossoms" These are some of my favorite holiday cookies, although it occurred to me while I was making them that there is really no reason I couldn't make them all year round. But that would make them less special.

On the back of the Hershey's Kisses bag was a recipe for "Chocolate Snowball Cookies" and the idea of baking a whole kiss inside of a cookie really intrigued me. I wanted to use mint Kisses, but when I went to the drug store, they didn't have any. I added some peppermint extract to the dough instead. I liked them so much, I made them at again at home.

I also repeated the PB Blossoms dough recipe at home, because I needed a yummy base for these awesome "Reindeer Cookies." I saw this idea somewhere on the vast internet probably sometime in late summer and was really excited to try it out.

Tip: the pretzels need to be applied right away when the cookies are taken out of the oven. Next time I will stagger the timing of the two sheets so that the second one stays hot and melts the chocolate on the pretzels. It also helps to have an extra pair of hands to help you!

I also made a batch of Double Chocolate M&M Cookies using a box of brownie mix and holiday M&Ms. They tasted fine, but came out looking like cow pies. My first ever brownie mix cookies came out great, but my subsequent attempts have all been seriously lacking in the presentation category.

And finally, the last treat I made was "Magic Bars" which were delicious as usual. My crust was a tad crumbly, but I don't think the thick topping to thin crust ratio prevented anyone from eating them.

Sunday Stew II

There's definitely a pattern going on here. And why not cook a whole bunch of food on Sunday for meals throughout the week? Especially when it only takes about 15 minutes to throw in all the ingredients, and the Crock Pot does the rest!

This week's menu: Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup.

Peas, crudely chopped vegetables and sausage are topped with chicken broth and left to simmer. Mine cooked for about 7 hours on low, then I turned it up to high for the last hour. Judging by how mushy the carrots got, 7 hours on low was probably fine. The extra hour was more a mind trick I played on myself to prevent me from eating too early and getting hungry later on.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have another bowl of split pea soup to slurp.

Blog > Essay Writing

Just a quick post that I am hoping will put me into writing mode so I can finish my paper that is due tomorrow.

One highlight of my Thanksgiving weekend was a trip to Trader Joe's, where I stocked up on "necessities" like whole wheat tortillas, low carb chocolate, gingerbread flavored coffee and ridiculously cheap, ripe avocados! Two of these ingredients found their way into my dinner last week. Guess which ones.

My mother graciously emailed me this recipe for "Mexican Lasagna." Tortillas take the place of noodles and regular tomato sauce is replaced by a bean/tomato/onion/olive/enchilada sauce extravaganza. The cheese part stays about the same.

Alternate layers of the ingredients listed above and sprinkle the top with tortilla chip crumbs and bake for 20 minutes at 350* F.

My mom's instructions said to serve with salsa on top, but I opted for some avocado instead, with a side of plum, which is another Trader Joe's find, but not quite as noteworthy as 4 ripe avocados for $2.99 and a $4 bottle of Chardonnay.

My new holiday placemats were also purchased Thanksgiving weekend, on Black Friday no less! I bought them and a Pyrex measuring cup for myself at Homegoods. Wild, I know. The trip to Trader Joe's was way worse for the wallet!

And writing this is probably bad for my grades. Back to work!