Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake

It was the week of Thanksgiving and my wife was getting in the holiday spirit and asked me to fix something festive. She suggested I try a recipe she had pinned on Pinterest, it was a recipe from Smucker's for Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake. I looked it up and printed it off, as I was on my way to the store she had some recipe change requests, which I obliged and made the necessary changes. The original recipe calls for a chocolate Oreo crust, the picture looks to have some chocolate pieces mixed into the cheese cake but there's no mention of it in the directions. I prepared the recipe using a vanilla wafer crust and prepared the cheesecake as directed in the recipe, the end result was mediocre at best. The cheese cake it's self is dead on for the Holiday season, but I think the Oreo crust would have been a better pairing. I'm not sure yet if I will try this recipe again with the appropriate crust or let it go, I may give it another go for one of my Christmas get togethers.

Recipe as shown on Smuckers.com

Ingredients;
2 cups chocolate wafer cookie or sandwich cookie crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
Red food coloring (optional)
Smucker's Chocolate Fudge Spoonable Ice Cream Topping (optional)

Directions;
1. Line 9 inch round cake or spring form pan with foil
2. Combine cookie crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter; mix well. Press 2 cups crumbs firmly onto bottom and partway up sides of prepared pan. Chill.
3. Beat cream cheese until fluffy in large bowl. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in peppermint extract and food coloring, if desired; mix well. Fold in whipped vreap. Pour filling into pan.
. Cover; freeze 6 hours or until firm. Garnish with fudge topping, if desired.

Happy Holidays!

I hope every one has had a wonderful holiday season this year, I know I have. The last three months have absolutely flown by, partly because we quite literally had one get together after the other. It all started with Thanksgiving and ended the day after Christmas, but it's a short break before the festivities of ringing in the New Year. We are having some family over to play some Wii and maybe watch a movie this year. I am planning on some finger foods, not sure what yet, but I will be sure to get the posted next week. I also received some new kitchen and gadgets that I can't wait to get to use and show them off to every body.

Now what post a couple of days before New Year's would be complete with out at least talking about one's New Years resolutions? Yes, I have made New Year's resolutions for my time in the kitchen as well as for the blog.

1. Be more adventurous in recipe selection!
2. Look for healthy comfort food alternatives.
3. Try new recipes on the grill.
4. Shake it up with mixed drinks and cocktails.
5. Do more recipes that my little girl can help with.

So there it is, my short list of goals for 2011! It's simple enough so I should be able to actually accomplish most if not all of them. Well I hope every one has had a Happy Holidays and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Peanut Butter Fudge

This was my first attempt at peanut butter fudge and it came out perfect. It was soft, creamy, and absolutely delicious. I have prepared chocolate fudge before and I have learned a couple of lessons from past failures. The first lesson is to use a timer to keep track of the seven minutes, or you can use a candy thermometer if you have one. The next lesson is to use either a wooden spoon or a metal spoon to stir the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter mixture; a plastic spoon will melt and become part of the fudge. Go ahead, ask me how I know!

Ingredients:
4 cups white sugar
1 cup ligh brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1 (16 ounce) jar peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Ina medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in marshmallow creme until well incorporated and melted. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth; spread in prepared pan. let cool before cutting into squares.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I always have fond memories of my Mom making sugar cookies for Christmas and how much fun they were to decorate, so I just had to be sure and continue this with my family. While my little one is still to young to do to much, she did help dump the ingredients in the mixer and cut out the cookies with the cookie cutter. She is destined to be my little helper in the kitchen for sure.  I also got a little creative with the decorating and let my often under used art abilities loose.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups whit sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs adn vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 400º F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on undgreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. (I actually had to cook mine for ten minutes to be able to scoop them off the cookie sheet.)