Tribute to Fall: Pumpkin Cheesecake

Cheesecakes are one of those desserts that, to me, feel like they take a lot of skill, time, love and finger crossing to get right.  We never made them growing up, and after marrying my husband, I saw that they held a cheesecake recipe very dear in their family.  My husband's grandmother would actually make tons of these cheesecake around the holidays and give my husband one (an ENTIRE one) all to himself usually on Christmas.  So of course, this only furthered my distrust of the cheesecake world, and I just didn't think it would be something I would ever really want to do.  Then?  My husband got the recipe from his grandma and actually made the famous cheesecake himself for Thanksgiving last year!  HE MADE IT.  FROM SCRATCH. It is safe to say that I lowered my awe of cheesecakes a bit after that.  My husband has always been good at following recipes, but seriously, if he could make a cheesecake that turned out just as delicious and beautiful as grandma's, then I could definitely handle one!  So, as my last kick of fall flavor for this year, I decided to have a go at a pumpkin cheesecake in honor of my husband's birthday.  (It seriously turned out great!!)

Crust it up:
Go ahead and buy a store graham cracker crust if you want, but I wanted to make mine.  If I was going to do a cheesecake, I was going to do it right!
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tsps cinnamon
1 stick of butter
-Process that all together (food processor love) and then press into the bottom of a 9 or 10in springform pan 


Fill it up:
This recipe has the 'double layer' look, but if you don't feel that brave, or you feel too lazy, skip the 'white' layer and just mix everything together and add to your crust... It won't be as pretty but it is essentially the exact same cheescake. 

Add two 8oz packages of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla to your stand mixer (or your trusty ol' bowl with a hand mixer) and mix until very well combined.  Then add two eggs, one at a time until they are completed mixed it as well. This is the point that you can scoop out about 1 cup of the batter at spread in an even layer on your crust, or just ignore that if you don't feel like it.  

Continuing on: add 3/4 cup pureed pumpkin, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, a pinch of freshly grated cloves and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  I buy most of my spices dried and prepared but these are two (especially the nutmeg) that I don't skimp on because their flavor is much better fresh.  Plus if they are pre-ground they lose flavor much faster than if they are whole.  Blend all of that together well and then add the pumpkin layer to your white layer carefully so they don't mix (or just pour it in your crust if you took the lazy route).  Spread it out evenly and bake at 325 for anywhere from 50 minutes to 75 minutes.  Basically you are looking for a cheesecake that only jiggles in the center when you take it out, so just keep checking it from minute 50 on.  

Serve with a dollop of sweetened, whipped cream or cool whip.  Pictured is cool whip because I took the lazy option!  Enjoy!

Pies & Pints - Fayetteville, WV

Out of all the restaurants that have gluten-free menus and offerings, Pies & Pints is at the top of my list!  We weren't sure what to expect, but knew that they had been featured on the Food Network, so we wanted to give them a try.  Looking up their website, they seemed to have a decent offering of unique pizzas, and it noted that they did have gluten free items.  So we went!

The most amazing aspect of our time their?  They were willing to make ANY pizza OR sandwich gluten free!!  Now, a lot of pizza places will do a gluten free crust on your pizza, but to also offer to make gluten free bread for the sandwiches? Unheard of!  Thinking back, we should have gotten at least one sandwich to try, but we opted to all get a different pizza.  We LOVED them all!  Out of 10 stars, I give this pizza place 10 stars!  And, what makes that better is that I am often not a pizza fan at all, nor is my mom--so for an impression that big, well, it takes a lot!

Anyway, here are the dishes we ordered and loved:

 So this was our appetizer, the Char-Grilled Hot Wings.  Very tasty with flavors of sriracha and cilantro.  Not 'to die for' exactly, but very tasty none-the-less.

 This was my pick and also my favorite of all the pizzas we tried; the Cuban Pork Pie.  Seriously DELICIOUS!  Pulled pork, onion, pineapple, feta, jalapenos, creme fraiche and cilantro... It just has the perfect balance of sweet (pineapple and onion) to savory (pork and feta) with fun bursts of spice throughout (jalapeno) topped with an earthy freshyness brought to you only by cilantro.  Now, this was TO DIE FOR.

This was the husband's pick (no surprise there), and they actually don't have it on their menu anymore...and I can't remember it's name.  But it was basically a spicy red-sauce with lots of meat and mozzarella.  Yes, it was good, but doesn't it say a little something that it isn't on the menu now? ;)

 This was the first gluten free pick: Chicken Gouda Pie.  So yummy!! It was loaded with chicken, bacon (can't go wrong there), smoked gouda, red onions and a chipotle crema (can't go wrong their either!!).  I don't always like chicken on my pizza but this is one way I would not turn it down!

 And the second gluten free pick of the night: Mediterranean Shrimp Pie. None of us had ever tried a sea food pizza and this was pleasantly surprising!  I don't know that I'd think to order it if I were in a pizza mood, but if I were in a big Mediterranean or sea food mood, this is a great way to fix that craving!  It was a 'clean' bite too, with shrimp, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and your typical seafood pairs - lemon, garlic and herbs.  A refreshing and light pizza!

Lastly, it will really help your dining experience if you have a really cute baby at your table.  Oh, and the iced tea was good too!

So, the next time you're in Fayetteville, don't let Pies & Pints pass you by!

Potato Soup with a Kick

Okay... so anyone who knows me, knows I love food.  And, if they know me really well, they know my favorite food time of year is fall/winter when everything turns warm and hearty!  So to kick it off right, the first 'fall' inspired dish I chose to make this year is potato soup! My original intention was to make the classic soup, a creamy white soup with celery and onions but as I browsed multiple recipes, one caught my eye.  Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) has a soup with the addition of carrot (orange in my white soup?!?!) and her added spice is Cajun seasoning!  I love Cajun seasoning!  So, I had to give it a go!

Her blog/recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/01/perfect-potato-soup/

Now, instead of going step-by-step with the recipe, I might as well just give you the link to her blog with the recipe.  She has great pictures to go along with each step and it is super easy to follow, so I encourage you to try it!  And I will leave you with a few of my favorite parts of the process. ;)

 This is the smell of heaven... carrots, celery and onion together are perhaps my all-time favorite trio when starting out a recipe. I often try and sneak these three into many of my dishes if I can!

 And then of course you get the smell of heaven on steroids when you add bacon into the mix.  As a side note, bacon is a MUST in any good potato soup.  Don't even try without it!!! ;)

P.S.
PLEASE top this soup with some sharp cheddar! Although it isn't pictured at the top, I promise it will only add fulfillment to your dining experience.

Rest from the Savory: Snickerdoodles!

Throughout my pregnancy, the only real 'craving' I had was sugar.  Sugar is not something I had ever really loved.  Every now and then I would want a big bowl of ice cream or a piece of Costco cake, but I almost always chose savory and salty over sweet.  Well, my pregnancy with Connor changed that.  I could have cinnamon rolls and pancakes for breakfast, fudge and popsicles for lunch, cobblers, sour punch kids and chocolate truffles for dinner...and then turn around and have dessert after that!  Thankfully, the majority of my love for sugar left when Connor was born, but not completely.  So I've found a quick, easy and oh-so-yummy fix: Snickerdoodles.

I feel like the 'American' cookie leans toward being the plain chocolate chip cookie, but I am pretty picky about my chocolate chip cookie, and they are quite temperamental to make right every time...  So I'm out to change the go-to cookie!  Snickerdoodles are just as easy as chocolate chip cookies, just as fast to make, they are just as delicious, and heck, I think they are better looking than the boring ol' chocolate chip cookies!  Just picture it; the glistening bits of sugar next to the warm browns of cinnamon... yep, Snickerdoodles are the cookie for me!  So here's the recipe I use (tried and true, and they have always come out great!):  

Ingredients:

.5c margarine (not butter!)
.5c shortening
1c sugar
2 eggs
2.75c flour
2tsp cream of tartar
1tsp baking soda
.25tsp salt

Do it:
Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time until well mixed.  At this point, turn the mixer to high and let it go for about 30 seconds to a minute.  Add in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.  Mix well.

Now, form the dough into balls (about the size of a quarter in diameter--definitely no larger than that).  It should make between 65-80 balls.  Roll the balls in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (1c sugar, 2tsp cinnamon) and bake at 400degrees for 8-9 minutes.  Take them off the baking sheet to cool as soon as you can... and then try not to eat them all in one day!

Back from my Hiatus!

So it's been a long time.  I mean, a really long time... just over two years since my last blog post.  A lot has happened in that time.  I began teaching Middle School, got pregnant, got a puppy, bought a house, had a baby boy, quit my job and now I'm here.  And I'm so happy!!!  There are many reasons for my happiness, but one of the current perks of being a stay at home mom is that I get to sit here at my computer and write about food. :)  Life is good!

So for my return post... I wasn't sure what to do.  Do I go grand?  Something new and fresh?  An old classic?  Something featuring my son's favorite food (avocado)?  Meh.  I decided to kick those ideas and go with a recipe I've been dying to try since the LAST post!  And here we are: Fried Green Tomatoes.

Growing up, I never had fried green tomatoes.  Even with my somewhat-southern upbringing, it wasn't something my mom ever made.  Two summers ago (just before the last post), my husband and I went on our 'honeymoon' roadtrip and tried Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time.  They were everything I had hoped--tangy, bitter, salty, spicy and just delicious!  Sidenote: There will be a post on the restaurant we had them at coming soon, as we went there again a few weeks ago on vacation.  So, since that dinner, over two years ago, I have been itching to try them out for myself.  I have never seen green tomatoes in the stores here, and I don't frequent farmer's markets often enough to check there either, so I just kind of gave up.  This spring, I planted an herb garden, some sunflowers, Thai Chili Peppers and tomatoes.  Lo and behold, as my second tomato 'crop' was coming in a couple weeks ago, I realized I had green tomatoes in my backyard!  Fried Green Tomatoes it is!

The ingredients:

Green tomatoes

Flour

Eggs

Breadcrumbs (I like Panko)

Oil

The recipe:
-Cut your green tomatoes into 1/4in slices
-Season them with salt and pepper
-Prep your station: one pie pan of flour, one pie pan of eggs, one pie pan of panko breadcrumbs 
            *Mix about 1tbsp of your favorite cajun seasoning into about 1.5cups breadcrumbs

-Begin the frying process!  Dredge your tomatoes in flour, dip in the egg then coat with the breadcrumbs and stick them in the hot oil.
           *You can deep fry if you have a fryer, or pan fry if you do not own a fryer :)


Now sit back and enjoy your southern treat with a tall glass of iced tea.