New York Cheesecake

I’m back! After a week spent in fabulous New York City I am back to the blogosphere and ready to get back into the recipe groove. My husband and I had so many fun and exciting experiences, including partaking of oodles and oodles of delicious food. This week on the blog I am fully dedicating the posts to our amazing trip and to some of our favorite dishes we enjoyed while there. Here’s to you, New York! Thanks for a wonderful week!

And a happy Memorial Day to everyone as well! We sure are grateful for all those men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. We were lucky to have been in New York City during Fleet Week, and on the Hudson River during the parade of ships to see the men and women in their uniforms come under the bridge from the Atlantic Ocean on all of their ships. All of them saluting the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero as they went by each. It was a pretty amazing experience. I hope you have a great day with your families celebrating this very special day.

The first of many favorite dishes is a no brainer. You can’t go to New York and not eat a slice of famous New York cheesecake. The smooth and creamy texture is like a sweet song in my mouth. Today I’d like to share not only one recipe but three recipes for New York cheesecake. That way you can check out all the ingredients and decide which one sounds the best to you. Or make all three and pick a favorite, that’s what I would do!

All three recipes come from Moms Who Think. And all three contributors swear by their recipes!

New York Cheesecake #1

Ingredients

• 1/3 c. butter, melted
• 1 1/2 c. cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
• 3 1/4 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; press evenly on the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add the sweetened condensed milk, beating until smooth.
3. Add vanilla and eggs, mix well. Pour into prepared pie pan. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside. Prop the door open slightly for an additional hour. Refrigerate at least 6 hours until firm.

New York Cheesecake #2

Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. butter, melted

Filling Ingredients

• 2 lbs. ricotta cheese
• 6 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 large can evaporated milk

Directions

1. Begin by making the crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and the melted butter together. Press the mixture into the bottom of a spring form pan or 9 inch pie pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl add the eggs to the ricotta cheese, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each egg is added.
3. Mix flour and sugar together and add to the cheese mixture. Fold in vanilla and evaporated milk. Pour into the pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees, until firm. Chill overnight.

New York Cheesecake #3 (No Crust)

Ingredients

• 2 c. sour cream
• 1 lb. ricotta cheese
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 16 oz. cream cheese
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 3 extra large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Combine sour cream and ricotta cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, sugar, and cream cheese, beating together slowly.
2. Increase the speed to medium and add flour, eggs, vanilla, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Beat for 5 minutes. Pour into a spring form pan or 9 inch pie pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for one more hour with the door closed. Cool on a rack.

{Friday Friendzy} Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whenever we go to Tyson’s parents’ house the cookie jar is always full. Seriously. There are always cookies in that cookie jar and it is a wonderful sight. The most common cookie found in that beautiful display of sweets are these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They have quickly turned into a favorite. It’s tempting not to devour every single one of them when I’m over! Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, Julie, for this yummy recipe! I’m excited to share it with everyone and pass on the love.

I’m heading out on a sweet vacation to New York City for a week so I won’t be posting till Memorial Day. Check back for some awesome recipes to get you all sorts of excited for summer! Don’t forget about me, I’ll be back! :)

Ingredients/Directions

• 1 1/2 c. butter
• 2 c. peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
• 2 c. white sugar, plus a little extra to roll the dough in
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 c. brown sugar

Cream those ingredients together. Then add:

• 1 Tbsp. baking soda
• 5 c. flour
• 12 oz. milk chocolate chips (My mother-in-law uses the big Ghirardelli chips and they are the best!)

Roll the dough into little balls then roll into white sugar. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 375.

Recipes for Friday Friendzy can be e-mailed to

cupcakediaries1(at)hotmail(dot)com!

Cream Cheese and Toffee Fruit Dip

I love fruit dips! They are so refreshing and fun. This is probably the most unique dip I’ve ever had. By adding a little brown sugar and toffee bits, you’ve turned your fruit dip into a crunchy, sweet treat. So good! I can see this dip being served at a baby shower or bridal shower, or at a barbecue this summer.

This recipe comes from The Gooseberry Patch. Have you ever been to their website? If not, click their name above and head on over! It is so much fun. They sell cookbooks but also provide recipes online. It’s a very welcoming and friendly website that you will love.

Ingredients (for 2 cups of dip)

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• dash of salt
• 3/4 c toffee pieces

Directions

1. Beat the cream cheese till it is nice and smooth. Add everything else but the toffee. Beat till nice and glossy (about 2 minutes).
2. Pour in the toffee and stir together till just combined. Serve with all kinds of fruit you can think of! (banana, strawberry, apple, pineapple, kiwi, etc.)

Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Yes, my friends, this is THE recipe. I didn’t even have to share my copycat version of this recipe because Olive Garden has so graciously given us their recipe on their website. Remember the first recipe ever posted on Cupcake Diaries, Bruschetta al Pomodoro? Also from Olive Garden. Super cool of them to do that for all of us who love that place so much! Whenever I go to Olive Garden I get the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo-my fave! And now we all have the sauce recipe so we can enjoy it in the comfort of our own homes, fresh and homemade. Thanks again, Olive Garden!

Collette, my roommate freshman year, is going to love this recipe because it only takes 10 minutes to make. The one we used to make in college took us about 45 minutes!

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 c. Romano cheese, grated (Whenever I’ve used a recipe that calls for Romano cheese and I can’t find any in the store, I reach for the Italian blend. To me it tastes super close to the same. I can say that after working at an Italian restaurant for almost 10 years!)
• 6 jumbo egg yolks
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat milk and cream in a heavy bottom saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in cheese, then remove from heat.
2. Place egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly whip in a portion of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly add egg yolk mixture back into the remaining cream mixture. (This technique is called “tempering”. It slowly increases the temperature of the yolk so you don’t shock the eggs or even cook them.) Place back on very low heat and continually stir until simmering. Take sauce off heat so it thickens.
3. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Strawberry Mile High Dessert

I’m all about desserts. I love chocolate like it’s going out of style. But sometimes it’s nice to have a dessert that I don’t have to worry about eating and that’s light and refreshing. This dessert has all of those qualities. And it just happens to be my favorite dessert to eat in the summer! My grandma has made this for a few family events, and when I was asked to make the dessert for my husband’s family’s mother’s day dinner I immediately thought of this one. Each bite is cool and refreshing with a crust that adds a sweet crunch. It is a perfect dessert to share with your family this summer!
Thanks for the recipe, Grandma!



 
Strawberry Mile High Dessert


Ingredients (Strawberry Layer)

• 1 (16 oz.) package frozen strawberries, partially thawed
• 2 egg whites, unbeaten
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 c. cream
• 1/4 c. powdered sugar

Ingredients (Crust)

• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. walnuts, finely chopped (The chop size in the pre-chopped bag of walnuts at the grocery store is perfect size.) FYI if you have a nut allergy in the family you can use chopped up pretzels instead!

You will want to make this overnight for it to freeze all the way. Keep it in the freezer until you’re ready to serve, or if you’re taking it somewhere make sure you put it right in the freezer when you get there.

Directions

1. Begin by putting the 9x13 pan you’re using to put the dessert in in the fridge. It needs to be nice and cool when everything gets put in. Start the dessert by combining all the crust ingredients in a bowl. Mix together with a rubber spatula or spoon, but eventually you’ll want to mix it with your hands to get everything good and mixed.

2. Spread the crust mixture out on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

3. Take the mixture off the cookie sheet and just pour it right back in the bowl you made it in. That way you don’t have to dirty another bowl. Stir the mixture and allow it to cool. Place it in the fridge for quicker cooling and come back to stir it every now and then.

4. While the crust is cooling, begin making the strawberry goodness. In your Kitchen Aid (and you will want to do this in a stand mixer-you’ll find out why) combine sugar, egg whites, salt, lemon juice, and strawberries. Just throw it all in and turn on your mixer. Beat on medium high to high for 20 minutes (which is why you should probably use a stand mixer). It is important it gets mixed for this long so the egg whites get completely incorporated to make it nice and fluffy.

5. You now have 20 minutes to clean up the mess you just made and to put the crust in the bottom of the pan. You can either let the crust continue to cool in the bowl or you can take out the 9x13 pan and line it with the crust. Then just put it back in the fridge to finish cooling. You’ll want to save at least 1/3 of the crust to sprinkle on the top (oh yeah-so good). I lined my pan with the crust and pressed it till you couldn’t see the bottom.

6. After 20 minutes of mixing the strawberry mixture it will be super fluffy and fill the mixing bowl a lot higher than what it started. Pour it all out in a large bowl. (Don’t you just want to put your face in that and eat it? Just me?)

7. In a separate bowl whip the cream till it’s thick and peaky. Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be totally mixed in. Stirring this will make it liquidy and flat so be careful not to stir it. Just fold it right in.

PS Thanks to my hubby for taking these last few pictures of me in action!

8. After folding in the whipped cream pour everything onto the crust and spread it out. It will fill that pan right up.

9. Finally, sprinkle the remaining crust over the top. Place it in the freezer uncovered for about 2 hours, then cover it with foil to sit over night.

Another Way to Cook a Roast

When Sunday rolls around one of my favorite things to do is put a roast in the crockpot and it let it go. By the time we get home from church the house smells delicious and the roast is ready to eat. Easy and tasty.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes roast can get a little old. Cooking it the same way with the same vegetables, and half the time it comes out dry…bleh.

Recently I was watching an episode of “Barefoot Contessa” with Ina Garten and she was making a brisket for dinner. I loved what she was doing with it. All the flavors she was combining looked so good, and I really wanted to give it a try. So last Sunday was that day, and I’m really happy with how it turned out! I used a rump roast instead but everything else was the same. It had different flavors that I would never think to put together. And my husband really liked it too, so it was a win/win for everyone!

Ingredients

Please excuse my dorky picture of the herbs.

• 1 rump roast, your choice of size


• 2 to 4 potatoes, peeled or partially peeled


• 1 bag of baby carrots


• 1 can tomato juice (Even if you don’t like tomatoes you’re doing to like this! Once the roast cooks in the tomato juice it loses that super tomatoey flavor and makes a yummy gravy to pour over the veggies and roast.)


• 1 Tbsp. salt


• 1 to 2 tsp. pepper


• 1 tsp. oregano


• 1 Tbsp. garlic


• any other vegetables your family likes

Directions

Place your thawed or partially thawed rump roast in the crockpot. You’ll want it to be thawed on the top so some of the ingredients can be rubbed on top. The rest of it can still be frozen.

Rub 1 Tbsp. of salt over the top of the roast (or enough to cover it). Then sprinkle pepper over it, about 1 to 2 tsp. Next rub 1 tsp. of oregano over it. Finally, sprinkle 1 Tbsp. garlic over the top of the roast.

Next, cut up the potatoes into chunks and pour them over the roast. Pour the bag of carrots over as well. We ended up only using two potatoes for the two of us and half the bag of carrots.

Finally, pour enough tomato juice over the roast that it almost covers it. The roast will cook in the tomato juice and it will come out so moist and delicious. Cook on low for 6 hours. Remove the roast and cut into slices. Serve with the potatoes and carrots on the side. Pour the tomato gravy over the roast and/or veggies to serve.

Cantaloupe Smoothie

We had a Mother’s Day dinner at Tyson’s parents’ house yesterday afternoon. It was full of good food and good company as usual. As the different dishes were being passed around the table my eyes locked on a very colorful bowl. It was full of cut up strawberries, watermelon, and cantaloupe. And I was SOOOO excited to see it! Fresh fruit means summer is almost here. Everything tasted so sweet. It was so good.

I’ve mentioned before that we are big time smoothie makers at our house. Yesterday’s dinner made me want to make a cantaloupe smoothie for breakfast. If you like cantaloupe you will LOVE this smoothie. I can picture making this smoothie during the summer and enjoying it while reading a book on the lawn. But for now I’ll just make them on these rainy days and enjoy them in the comfort of my warm house in my sweats. Summer, please come soon!

Ingredients

• 2 c. cantaloupe, chopped
• juice of half a lime
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 c. ice

Blend everything together, pour in a glass, and enjoy!

{Friday Friendzy} No Bake Cookies

Oh friends, I hope you haven’t given up on me this week! The blasted stomach flu has plagued our house once again and this week has been miserable. The only person who hasn’t had it is my husband (knock on wood) and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn’t get it!

My husband has a weakness for No Bake Cookies. Ok, I admit it…they’re a huge weakness of mine as well. If I make these up I either have to 1) Make a half batch or even a quarter batch because we WILL eat them all, or 2) allow us to eat a few then plate the rest up for neighbors. They’re just way too delicious!!!

I’m a firm believer that every household needs a good No Bake Cookie recipe. And it just so happens that Nicole from Maryland agrees with me. Nicole and her recipe are this week’s spotlight for Friday Friendzy, and we thank you, Nicole!

Ingredients

• 2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. margarine
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. Quick Oats (And they must be QUICK or you’re going to have a chocolaty, gooey, delicious mess.)

Directions

1. When making No Bake Cookies it is super important to get every ingredient measured and prepped. No Bake Cookies are all about timing. You can put the margarine in the pot you’re using and let it start to melt, and while it melts you can get everything else measured and set aside. This includes setting out your wax paper. Just put the heat on low or to medium for the melting.
2. Get the margarine melted in the pot then turn the heat up. Make sure the heat is between medium high and high. You’ll want this heat because you don’t want to be stirring forever waiting for everything to cook together. Then add sugar, cocoa, and milk. Mix that and let it cook until it comes to a boil, stirring to keep the milk from scalding.
3. As SOON as you start to see bubbles then remove the pot from the heat. A common mistake in making No Bake Cookies is letting that mixture cook too long and waiting for a boil boil. All you need to see is a few tiny bubbles and you’re good. This stuff is hot so it will keep cooking after you take it off the heat.
4. After removing from the heat add the peanut butter, vanilla, and quick oats. Spoon onto wax paper and allow to cool.

A few more tips for making No Bake Cookies:

• Prep your ingredients then place everything strategically so you can access them easier. For example, put the sugar, cocoa, and milk on the counter closest to the burner you’re cooking on. And place the peanut butter, oats, and vanilla on the opposite counter where you’ll be placing the pot after everything cooks. That way everything is right where it needs to be.
• I’ve had people ask me how I get my No Bakes to look fuller and rounder and not so flat like “cow pies”. I recommend using a cookie scoop to shape them. Scoop each cookie with the cookie scoop and you’ll get perfect little round cookies each time. And it’s a lot less messy.
• Instead of using a larger soup pot I like to use a wider and larger stew pot. (Not sure what that’s called, but if you’ve ever bought a pan set it’s the big wide pot.) The more space the mixture has to move around and cook the less time it’s going to take for it to cook, which means less work for your arm and less chance it has to scald.

I realize this post makes me sound a little crazy. But I’m telling you this works for me every time! We get darn good No Bakes at our house when we do this. Of course we all have our little ways of doing things, so do what you like best!

PS Keep these recipes coming, friends! It’s fun hearing from you and getting new ideas!

Caramel Apple Crescent Rolls

A couple days ago I was at home with Brycen when I felt like making a treat. I thought of what I had in my fridge and cupboards when I came up with a little idea. And that idea turned out super tasty! And really easy. These Caramel Apple Crescent Rolls are like mini apple pies and they’re perfect size. The only problem was that I had seven leftover after trying one! That was one tempting afternoon.

Ingredients (for 8 crescent rolls)

• 1 can of crescent roll dough
• 6 Tbsp. sugar, plus 1 1/2 Tbsp. for topping
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, plus 1/2 tsp. for topping
• caramel ice cream topping
• 1 medium apple, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c. milk

Directions

Begin by mixing sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Blend everything together well.

 

Start with one crescent roll and stretch it out on a plate. Then spread some caramel over it.

 

Next, sprinkle some of the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the caramel. Pat it with a spoon to make sure it all sticks to the caramel.

 

Now is the time to add apple pieces if you’re putting apples in the rolls. Cut the apple in half from top to bottom, then cut one of those halves in half, and in half again. You will have cut the entire apple into 8 slices. Cut up one of those slices into little chunks and place them over the cinnamon and sugar on the crescent roll.

 

Roll up the crescent roll from the larger side down to the tip and place it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Combine the milk and egg in a small bowl, mixing together well, and brush the egg wash over each crescent roll.

 

In a small bowl combine the last 1 1/2 Tbsp. of sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the crescent rolls for that extra flare. It reminds me of cinnamon toast growing up.

Place in the oven at 375 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. They’ll come out a little gooey, but it makes them so good! Serve with vanilla ice cream. Or let them stand alone, either way they’re super delicious!