Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

I've been doing a little experimenting with different kitchen ideas the past few weeks, one of which required a little bit of cheesecake filling.  However, I needed it to be no-bake, and I only needed half a cup of it.
I whipped up this creamy no bake cheesecake filling with so much left over it would have been a shame to waste.  So I decided to spread it into a graham cracker crust pressed into a pie plate, throw some sliced strawberries on top, drizzle it with white chocolate, and voila... cream cheese pie. 
This filling is so light and airy it would be a lie to call this no bake cheesecake.  The filling came out more like a whipped cream, with cream cheese folded in, so I feel like it wouldn't be honest to portray it as a cheesecake.  It is, however, one of the lightest and most delicious desserts I've ever made, and so easy it should be illegal.
I know it's a little summery for February, but what the heck... it sounded good.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 Tbsp melted butter

Mix well until crumbly and press into the bottom of a pie plate.

Filling:

1 8 oz package room temp cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 strawberries, sliced 
1 oz melted white chocolate

In the bowl of a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese til smooth.  Add in the sugar and beat 2-3 minutes, until fluffy, then stir in the vanilla. In a clean glass bowl, beat the whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold or mix the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well combined then press into the graham cracker crust.  Layer the strawberries across the top of the pie and drizzle with melted white chocolate.  Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight before serving.

This seriously took no time to toss together, especially because I really liked the look when I left the edges of the crust somewhat unfinished looking, and I loved that during the summer I can make this without heating up the kitchen. It's an easy dessert sure to impress any guests, and a great make-ahead for a party. Also try pressing the crust and layering the filling and toppings into lined muffin tins for personal pies, or changing up the toppings, like maybe grated chocolate or fresh raspberries and white chocolate.

Homemade Pizzas!

Last week, we had a craft night that ended up not being so crafty.  Instead, we sat around and ran our mouths for a good two hours while we made homemade pizza, then my guests went home.  It turned out to be just the kind of evening I needed.... relaxed, lighthearted, and an all around good time.  Also, it was a reminder that when people come over you don't have to be productive to have fun.  Sometimes I forget that...

Anyway, I highly recommend making your own pizza, especially if you have kids.  What could possibly be more fun than dipping your hands in flour, tossing dough around, topping it any way you want, and then (in our case) watching it cook on your countertop? My dad gave me this amazing Pizazz countertop pizza oven a couple years ago and I get a total kick out of it.  Get one.  They're cheap. And once you taste this crust you'll never order a pizza again.

The Dough  (I doubled this recipe to accommodate the number of guests I had and it was perfect.)

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit til good and foamy.  I set a timer for ten minutes and it was just right.  Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and add in the yeast mixture and oil until a strong dough forms.  Cover and let rise to double, about half an hour.  Turn out onto floured surface and either shape into a round crust or, as I did, divide into separate, smaller dough balls and let each person round out their own. We used a countertop pizza oven and made 10" round pizzas with different topping choices (olives, canadian bacon, pepperoni, diced onion, chopped bell pepper, mozzarella, pizza sauce) and cooked them for around 9 - 11 minutes.  They were amazing!  If you do one large pizza I'd recommend probably 20 minutes at 450, or until golden. 

We had so much fun!  Every time I bring out the pizza oven I get all giddy with excitement.  This dough is so flexible, and is also delicious brushed with garlic butter and baked, then sliced into breadsticks.  So many options!  And check out Christian's artistic abilities.  I love it...

Tex-Mex Queso

I love white queso.  I have been on a quest for a good white queso recipe for quite a while now.  If you're thinking this is going to lead into a fantastic tale about how I've finally discovered how to make a good homemade white queso that really hits the spot, you're wrong.  I'm still searching.  However, on my quest I happened upon a really tasty yellow queso that's easy to make and great for say, Super Bowl Sunday... which is when I made it. 
What happened is this... I bought the wrong cheese for the white queso I was going to try, and ended up dumping a saucepan of cheese dip down the drain in a dramatic, frustrating show of womanism.  I still wanted queso so I started searching for a recipe I could live with for the day. Not only was this a pretty good recipe from the Homesick Texan, it's definitely one I'll make again, although it still doesn't have that creamy goodness that white queso has.  The search continues. In the meantime, give this a try.  Especially if you love yellow cheddar.

Ingredients:
1/2 onion diced (about 1/2 cup)
4 cloves of garlic minced
3 Serrano peppers diced
3 jalapeno peppers diced
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of milk
6 cups of shredded cheese, can use any combination of Longhorn cheddar and Monterrey Jack
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
1diced tomato
1/2 cup of sour cream
Salt to taste
(I just want to throw it out there that I did not have Serrano peppers, so I improvised for a different flavor with 1/4 cup diced green bell peppers and 1 can drained green chiles. I also felt that the amount of cheese was a bit much... ok, a LOT much.  I only used 3 cups. Worked out okay. Pretty tasty.)

In a saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onions and peppers about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another minute or so.  Whisk in the flour, then the milk, and cook to a simmer.  Let cook about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly.  Stir in the cheese until melted, then fold in the tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream.  I ended up adding about 1 tsp of chili powder and 1/4 tsp or so of salt as well.  Like I said, it's definitely a unique flavor but one my family really enjoyed.  Have fun with it!  Try different peppers or cheese combinations, and add or subtract a little sour cream or tomatoes to suit your taste.

Sew happy!

So my friend's daughter recently added me to a Facebook group called Beg, Borrow, Buy and Sell.  I started browsing and found that I have a highly addictive personality.  First Facebook, then Etsy, followed shortly by Blogger and Pinterest.  And of course the Gawkerverse. Wow, I never realized what a web nerd I really am...
Oh well, I'm sure the rest of you already knew.
Anyway, within an hour I had posted all of my living room furniture on the group page.  By the next day, I stood in an empty living room.  In selling my furniture I didn't take into account the fact that my family would have limited sitting space (i.e. the floor) if I got rid of the furniture.  That being said, I'm typing this blog while sitting on my mother in law's old (but still only a couple years old) broken couch that was in our garage.  We're using it until we get something else.  Granted, it's a beautiful couch... off white, contemporary design, quite comfortable.  Still, we're lucky we had it.  Otherwise, we'd have been sitting Kumbaya style on the carpet to watch American Idol.
On the bright side, I also made a purchase I'm quite excited by. I came across a post for an old sewing machine and was intrigued... the picture wasn't super clear but the caption said that it works and I could tell it was an antique.  Recently my friend and I had a conversation about why my modern, inexpensive Singer kept breaking down on me and the consensus was that unless I bought a sturdy old metal sewing machine or spent my kid's college fund on a high quality machine, I might as well consider early retirement from sewing.
I know, this blog is going on and on, but I can't contain my excitement.
Long story short (too late) I bought the sewing machine.  Brought it home, turned it on, set it up, everything works.  It's so beautiful I can't even believe it's mine.  I can't wait to start making things!
I consulted my sewing genius friend Melanie and her mother and decided it was probably a good idea to look up the serial number and model of my new Singer and found that it's a Singer 301A, probably manufactured in Anderson, SC in 1951. Everything is original, and everything works properly, even the original buttonholer that came with it. Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement at this remarkable find... I couldn't believe my luck!  Can't wait to share my first project... after Melanie comes over and shows me how to thread the machine, of course.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I love broccoli cheddar soup.  I don't know what it is, but something about it just warms up my spirit.  A good hot serving of broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl on a cold night is just the thing. I've had a hard time finding a good recipe for this because so many recipes called for processed cheeses or just didn't have the flavor I was looking for, they tasted bland and not hearty enough.  After several years of testing, I believe this is hands down, the best broccoli cheddar soup I've tasted.

1/2 cup real butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups broccoli florets, or 1 package frozen florets
1 cup grated carrot
2 1/2 cups grated white and yellow sharp cheddar
1/4 tsp nutmeg

In a large pot, melt butter and add onion.  Simmer until translucent.  Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add in half and half and cook to a simmer.  Stir in chicken broth.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 20 minutes.  Add carrots and broccoli and cover, simmering another 20 minutes.  Remove half of soup to a blender and puree.  Return to pot, and cook to a simmer.  Add cheese and mix well until melted.  Add nutmeg.  Serve immediately and garnish with freshly grated cheddar and nutmeg.

I love this soup.  I could eat it every day if the calories would magically disappear.  Chad likes it better when I replace half the cheese with American or Velveeta and I don't add any nutmeg, so if you have a husband like mine that prefers the processed cheese, feel free to do it that way instead.  But I'm saying this may be a travesty.  Just being honest...

Sweet, Delicious Cranberry Orange Scones

After the week we had, we definitely needed a Sunday morning pick-me-up.  These scones did the trick, and judging from the white chocolate mustache on Brooklyn and Christian's empty plate, I'm not the only fan.
The sour cream in these babies makes them so moist and delicious you'd be hard pressed to believe you're not in London.  Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Scones with White Chocolate

1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
Zest and juice from one large orange
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
2 cups sweetened dried cranberries

In a small bowl, mix together sour cream and baking soda and set aside.  In another small bowl, mix together orange juice and zest.  Set aside.
Preheat oven to\ 350 and lightly grease a large baking sheet.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, sugar, and salt.  Pour flour mixture into bowl of a food processor.  Cut in butter, mix in egg and dried cranberries.  Pulse just until combined. You can also do all of this by hand, using a fork or pastry knife to cut in butter and a wooden spoon to mix in egg and cranberries.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Flouring hands and lightly flouring top of dough, knead lightly and form a round about an inch and a half thick.  Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut into 12 pie shaped pieces.  Arrange 1-2 inches apart on baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes, until bottom is browned.  In a glass bowl, melt 1 ounce white chocolate in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals until creamy.  Don't heat too long, 1 min 30 seconds max. Use a spoon to drizzle white chocolate over the scones. 

Seriously, these scones are a daymaker.  They don't take long to put together and they're perfect for a delicious weekend breakfast.  You can also leave out the cranberries and orange and replace with everythign from chocolate chips and walnuts to raisins and dates. 

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I love banana nut bread. But it's always a problem to make because I rarely have the patience to wait until the bananas are ripe enough, so they usually get eaten up before anything gets baked.  Now, when I'm grocery shopping, I scour the bananas in the produce section for the ripest, brownest ones available.  Sometimes, if I'm lucky, they even have completely overripe bananas for 19 cents a pound.  Can't beat that. This time, I bought bananas overripe and some still green for the family. Lo and behold, today we have banana bread.

Banana Bread (with or without nuts)
6 mashed bananas, so ripe they're juicy
4 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup butter
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups of walnuts (opt)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare 4 loaf pans or 2 loaf pans and a 12- count muffin tin with cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp white sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.  Coat the pans and muffin tin with the mixture and set aside. 
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside. In a very large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar til fluffy.  Slowly blend in the eggs. Mix in the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla until well incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until a batter is formed and no lumps remain.  Stir in walnuts and divide batter between pans.  Bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hr 10 minutes, removing the muffins after 40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

By far the best banana bread I've ever had, and it's so moist it just melts. I've been making this recipe for years, sometimes as a loaf and sometimes as muffins.  It's always a crowd pleaser and definitely one of my personal favorites. And when it's this easy, there's no excuse not to set aside a Sunday afternoon and make this with the kids.  Christian loves to help, and these were enjoyed on a beautiful and crisp Sunday afternoon with my gorgeous niece and my kids.  Even Marco, our fostered Catahoula, had a muffin. I love how baking gets us away from the electronic devices and brings us into the kitchen together. (Maybe I shouldn't mention that Christian was trying to get the Wii to work for the better part of an hour of this, but at least I tried.)