Pumpkin Pie Replacement

Stud and I volunteered to bring dessert to his family's Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I always make the mashed potatoes at my parents, so I thought I would try dessert for his family.  Last year we brought a CPB Pie - but I really wanted to take a nap so just told Stud to put in a handful of chocolate chips.  Bad idea.  His hands are much larger than mine and it was a little slash wayyyy to chocolaty.  This year we have the measurements!  But instead of bringing two pies (and Fine Cooking happened to do an article on Create your own Cheesecake), I thought Stud and I could bring a cheesecake!  And to keep it in the spirit of things, a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For the Crust:

8 oz gingersnaps

3 T. sugar

7 T. unsalted butter

For the Filling:

1 c. canned pumpkin

3 blocks cream cheese

2 T. all purpose flour

1 1/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. cloves

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 T. vanilla extract

4 large eggs

For the crust, preheat the oven to 375 and crust the gingersnaps into crumbs.  Combine the crumbs with the sugar and butter until everything clumps together slightly.  Put in the bottom of a 9" spring form pan and using your fingers, spread out evenly and about two inches up the side of the pan.  Bake until it darkens, about 10 minutes.

For the filling, lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees.  With the cream cheese at room temperature, beat along with the canned pumpkin, flour and a pinch of table salt until very smooth and fluffy, about five minutes.  Add in the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla and beat until well combined.  Add the eggs one at a time just until combined.  Apparently over beating the eggs will lead the top to crack as it cools.  Poor the filling into the crust and bake for 55-65 minutes, until the center wiggles like Jell-O when you shake it - the edges will be puffed but the center will still look moist.  I think mine took about 60 minutes.  Cover and refrigerate until well cooled - at least eight hours.  Remove from the spring form pan and you're ready to serve!

I learned some valuable cheesecake lessons with this one.  First - cheesecakes are super easy.  Also, when baking, put the cheesecake on a cookie sheet since the butter in the crust can ooze out the bottom.  Then your oven smokes like crazy and you have to run the self cleaner.  And my crust slumped down so it doesn't go all the way up the sides.  I think this is because I used a nonstick spring form pan.  Tomorrow I'm going to test using a stick one, so I'll let you know if it slumps.  Finally, during the cooling process, do not leave a cheesecake in the fridge unattended.  You could end up with finger swipes.

BABIES

YOU GUYS.  I am officially an aunt!  Stud's sister (still working on a good blog name - I would go with what Stud called her as a child, but I have no idea how to spell it - Awney? Aunney?) and her husband, Numero Dos welcomed their son, the first grandson, and the first nephew, Baby Chuckles last Thursday and everyone is doing so well!  Since I was sick all last week, I awkwardly hovered until Stud cleared me, and yesterday I spent a good hour harassing Chuckles, and giving him a comb over.  He is just so cute I can't help it.  And since I'm not sure if the new parents want Chuckles forever in cyber space, here is a picture of the new proud cousin:

Beau is very comfortable with internet stardom.

Sick Kid Dinner

Still suffering from the dregs of this head cold.  And last night Stud was on call so I made of my favorite foods that could easily be made for just one without leaving a huge mess to clean up.  I love hot sandwiches, so I made a pesto and mozzarella panini on my Griddler.  Probably the best kitchen appliance ever - especially in college.  Then warmed up some of my favorite creamy tomato soup and you can even get it at Costco!  And it was the perfect warm me up dinner that I needed and it will probably be lunch and dinner today as well.

Head Colds and Bourbon

So I have been feeling a little under the weather, suffering from the first head cold I've had in years.  My freshly minted Husband-Stud has been taking care of me, and I am not a pleasant patient.  I don't get sick all that often and I don't like it one bit.  Last night, I think Stud had enough and made me a Hot Toddy to send me off to bed so he could watch My Cousin Vinny in peace.  It was the perfect send off to an early night to bed and I might start drinking them whenever it's chilly outside.

Hot Toddy
1/2 - 1 shot of bourbon
1 T. honey
1 T. lemon juice

Combine ingredients and microwave for 10-15 seconds until warm.  And then go to bed at 8:30.  It's amazing.



Disclaimer: Stud MD does not recommend Hot Toddy's as an effective treatment of a head cold. It only leads to dehydration and can make things worse. But Husband-Stud was desperate.

Daily Fluff

Beau thinks it's really funny that he has decided that he no longer obeys leash rules while walking.  We had to stop every few minutes and have him sit and calm himself down.  He's laughing at me because he knows it's not going to work and he will attack once again!

"Lo Mein"

The other night, I was having a huge craving for lo mein, and I thought I could try and make it instead of heading to our local Chinese take out.  So I did some research and combined a few different recipes I thought looked good and attempted homemade chicken lo mein.

Chicken Lo Mein

2 chicken breasts, cut into small strips

2 1/2 t. sugar

1/2 t. ginger

1/3 t. rice vinegar

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 c. chicken stock

1/2 c. water

1 T. sesame oil

1/2 t. black pepper

2 T. cornstarch

2 T. vegetable oil

1 T. minced garlic

2 eggs

1 c. sliced mushrooms

1 c. snow peas, cut in half

1 lb. spaghetti

Green Onions

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, ginger, rice vinegar, soy sauce, chicken stock, water, sesame oil, and black pepper.  Mix some with the cornstarch and then combine the cornstarch mixture with the sauce.  In a separate pot, cook the spaghetti.  In a large sauce pan (I used a wok because I actually have one and it's really fun to use), add some vegetable oil and cook the eggs.  Remove from the pan.  Add more vegetable oil and add the chicken strips to the pan.  Cook just until you can't see anymore pink and add the mushrooms, garlic, and snow peas.  Cook until the mushrooms and snow peas are soft and the chicken is done.  Add the pasta to the saucepan along with the eggs, chopped green onions, and sauce.  Cook on low heat until the pasta has absorbed all the sauce and serve.

This was pretty easy, but unfortunately, did not quench my lo mein craving.  It just wasn't the same.  It was good, just not Chinese take out lo mein.  And I bet it would have been cheaper to get it from Chinese take out.  Humph.  To satisfy my cravings, I strongly suggested that Stud make some Asian noodles for dinner the other night while I was in class - they are easier and tastier than the lo mein.  He did, and they are just so so so good.  And he has decided that he is better at making them than me.  SCORE!  I told him from here on out, Asian noodles are his dinner.  And he can make it for me whenever he wants because they are so delicious.  I have already polished off the leftovers.  Maybe dinner next week too?

Obsession.

Another video for you!  The more I watch Glee, the more I absolutely love it and the episode on Tuesday might be one of my favorites ever.  I just finished watching it over my lunch break today.  It is probably the only show on TV where I might cry if I missed an episode.  And I have a Glee Pandora station that I listen to at work - highly recommend it.




Oh yeah, and I wish I could sing.