Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

And so Turkey month begins!!

Usually I end up with 3 Thanksgiving dinners during this time of year.  The first being the one I host for my friends (a tradition since Junior year of college), the 2nd on actual Thanksgiving with my family, and the 3rd the Saturday after Thanksgiving with Brian’s family.

Well the season kicked off early this year with #4.  Another friend decided to have a “Friendsgiving” this past weekend to double as a house-warming! 

I was excited mostly because I got to see college friends I haven’t seen in a while and try out a new fun dessert!

After racking my brain for a while, and realizing I didn’t have time for anything that involved making any component ahead of time, I opted for a cheesecake.

Not any cheesecake though.  I was going to go off of my grandmother’s recipe which is my and my family’s FAVORITE! 

Ok, so her recipe is from some random old cookbook, but in my mind it’s still “Nanny’s cheesecake”.

I started there, but wanted to put a festive twist on it and after a little online research I blended 3 recipes into what I wanted!

Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
makes 1 9” diameter cheesecake

adapted from Nanny’s recipe, this epicurious recipe, and this allrecipes recipe

Crust

• 8 oz gingersnap cookies
• 1 cup pecans
• 2T brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling

• 3.5 packages cream cheese (8 oz each), room temp
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar (scant)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• shake of nutmeg and cloves

Toppings

• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 T sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350

Crust
In a food processor, grind cookies, pecans, and brown sugar until finely ground.  Add melted butter and pulse until all combined.

Grease a 9” spring form pan with cooking spray or butter (I used a non-stick pan and it didn’t need to be greased). 

Pour crust mixture into the pan and press into the bottom and up the sides about 2”.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cool in the fridge while you make the filling.

Filling
With a mixer, beat cream cheese until light.  Add eggs one at a time mixing on low after each.  Then add vanilla and sugar.  Beat until light and creamy. 

Add half of this mixture to your cooled crust. 

To the remaining filling mixture, add the pumpkin and spices and beat until well combined.  Carefully spread this mixture on top of the first layer.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. 

Topping
In a separate bowl beat together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla with a spoon.  Spread on top of cheesecake surface.  Bake for another 5 minutes.

Cool, and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, or overnight.

YUM!!  Love the crust, and mostly I love that the pumpkin aspect isn’t overpowering the cheesecake flavor.  I love the layer of classic cheesecake, the pumpkin layer adds a nice subtle spice and flavor, and the sour cream topping gives it a delicious sweet tangy flavor. 

This cheesecake got rave reviews at the party and Brian is fully enjoying the leftovers ;)

A Bump and Other Updates

Hello!!!

Well step one in getting back to blogging was my last post.  Now step 2 needs to be trying to get back to a schedule.  Apparently easier said than done ;)

But I’m going to start with a little update on my baby bump progression…or lack there of!

I know I’ll look back in a few months and regret saying this, but….I WANT MY BABY BUMP! 

Yes it would be nice to take the picture every week, in the same spot, with the same outfit… but well that’s just not happening.

 

And of course missed a few weeks, but as far as belly growth they were quite uneventful.   My pants didn’t even start feeling tight until around week 11 or 12!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other funny thing is when I took those photos I always felt like the bump looked bigger in the picture than it did in the mirror to my eyes.

So yeah, unless you know I’m pregnant most of the time I don’t even look it.  But I’m also not wearing leggings and tight shirts out in public haha. 

Case in point… I was 16 weeks this past weekend and had a fabulous time at Elizabeth’s wedding!!!

Me, the lovely bride Elizabeth, and Tina! 

I was looking for a dress to camouflage the belly and think I succeeded.  I actually decided to use Rent the Runway for this!!  I’m bigger than my normal size with my growing belly and apparently chest as well, so I didn’t really want to by a dress that would only be good for a few weeks.  I also had a $50 birthday credit to RTR and decided to try it out!

Luckily the dress ended up JUST fitting over my chest ;)  But it worked and I loved it!  So fun, and just had to toss it in a pre-paid envelope the next day!

And you can’t see it but I’m also wearing my fun magenta/pink heals I wore at my wedding! 

The wedding was a blast and even bonus there were cake pops!!

I’m definitely not in maternity clothing yet, but I’ve been getting a lot of use out of those Be-Bands! They are like a stretchy band you can pull up over your pants in order to leave your pants unbuttoned. I have one in black and neutral. I’ve heard mixed reviews on them, but I love them so far…they make it so I can still wear all my pants!

Lets see… in other news I turned 30 today!! 

I love birthdays but still not sure how I feel about this one yet ;)

But unfortunately it was a bittersweet day as my grandfather passed away on Saturday and the services were also today.  Not my first choice for a birthday, but it was actually really nice to be with ALLLLL my family today :)  My grand parents had 9 children and 25 grandchildren and we were all there. 

There was even a small bouquet of flowers the night before at the wake from his great-grandchild on the way :)  Talk about a tear jerker. 

Sorry to leave this post on a sad note! 

But I’ll have more fun things to report soon.  Especially since I was told to be free Friday night ;)  

Have a nice night everyone!

I’m back! With NEWS!!

Ok lets see if I still remember how to do this :)

You’ve probably noticed I went on a little hiatus from blogging.  It wasn’t intentional at first, but then it was kind of nice honestly. 

You see, pretty much since we returned from Seattle my eating has been a little…off.  I was eating things like crackers, and toast, and this handy ginger gum…

One day I even got a steak and cheese sub for lunch….it was spectacular.

I didn’t really feel like cooking, and was going to bed a lot earlier. 

All of these things left me with pretty much nothing to blog about.

But it’s ok.

Because….

Yep!  I’m pregnant!  Official due date is April 22, 2013 but I go by April 19 because I was measuring a few days ahead at my last ultrasound :)

Aside from some queasiness, a little tiredness, and my abnormal food choices I actually didn’t have that bad of a first trimester!  I know I’m extremely lucky.

I always had it in my head that I was going to be so sick and throwing up all the time, so maybe because I was expecting the worse what I had didn’t seem too bad??    I did end up hugging the ‘ol toilet once but it was after our red-eye home from Seattle, a bus ride to our town, and then a cab home…not fun. 

So I’d love to write lots more about the pregnancy and I intend to do so!  I’ve always left my blog open to write about whatever interests me and while I don’t plan on going all-baby-all-the-time with it, it’s obviously a big part of my life right now.  Plus I’ve loved reading other bloggers pregnancy journeys…so there will be more updates :)

And more food!  And Crossfit! (yes I’m still Crossfitting)

So I do apologize for being absent for so long, but I’m so happy to be back at it! 

Christmas 2011: The Recap

I’m basking in my last few hours of “Christmas Vacation”, although really I only had half a day off Friday and then today as my vacation.  I’m sure some of you have this whole week off…please don’t tell me ;)

I’ve figured out why I’m one of those people who likes listening to Christmas music on Nov 1.  Because usually by Dec 20 (give or take), I become a big ball of stress and can’t enjoy it and just want all my shopping and all my wrapping to be DONE!  On Nov 1, it’s the exciting anticipation of the impending holiday cheer…I’m much more “happy” about Christmas then ;)

Don’t worry, by the 24th I’m back to my excited and happy self!  And this year was no exception…stress leading to a FANTASTIC Christmas weekend with all my family!!

(my mom’s side of the family on Christmas Eve, we had to take a picture since everyone was there!  I’m down in front/right in case you’re looking) 

Let’s back track.  Friday (the 23), I had a half day at work, and as soon as I got home we headed up to NH to have Christmas with Brian’s family. 

I made some Oreo truffles (actually used TJ’s Joe Joe’s)

And some peppermint bark for good measure.

Up in NH we had the big family Yankee Swap, and exchanged presents with Brian’s family.  His mom was finally finished with our wedding scrap book and it came out AMAZING! 

She put in so much work, and it’s so incredible to have this book! (esp since we were slackers and are just now working on our album from the photographer hehe)   

On Christmas Eve, I dragged my butt out of my warm bed and headed to an 8AM Crossfit workout!

The 12 Days of Crossfit…oh.my…pretty sure this is the closest I’ve come to puking from working out haha.  I say that in a good way ;)

Let’s see if I can remember this…

1 Ground to Overhead
2 Sumo deadlift high-pulls
3 Burpees
4 Pull- ups (I used a green band)
5 Abmat sit-ups
6 push-ups
7 air squats
8 jumping lunges
9 Box jumps
10 Wall Balls
11 kettlebell swings
12 thrusters

So basically it went like the song: 1 ground to overhead; 2 sumo dead lift high-pulls and 1 ground to over head,; 3 burpees, 2 sumo dead lift high-pulls and 1 ground to over head…until the end where we did 12 Thrusters…all the way down to the 1 ground to overhead.  This was intense…my time was 23:07 I think. 

I’m still fairly new to Crossfit, but so far LOVING it!! 

After Crossfit, and finishing wrapping my presents, we packed up and headed out for Christmas Eve at my aunts!  My family is hilarious and I love our big get-togethers. 

Brian and I stayed at my mom’s house on Christmas Eve and woke up to a delicious smelling breakfast.

Home fries

and Eggs Benedict!

My cousin even texted me pictures of his the eggs Benedict my aunt made because she wanted to know if it was “blog worthy” :)

What can I say? My family looooves their Eggs Benny!

Blogworthy?? I’d say so!!  Look at that nice table setting!!  Good Job Aunty Joan!  Looks delicious!

Oh almost forgot we also had sticky buns!

This was one filling, yet delectable, Christmas breakfast!  Thanks mom :)

Present time!

(Brian’s stellar wrapping job…he cut those green stars out of wrapping paper for decoration)

But you know what was under that wrapping….

Boo-ya!  Bridget’s new iPad!!!   He TOTALLY surprised me with this!!!  I mean I’ve been talking about wanting one for a while but never thought I’d get it for Christmas!!!! 

I made out quite well this year :)  Other notable items:  new Lululemon top, a new All-Clad sauce pan from mom, a coat, a bag…yeah I am one lucky girl! 

Bromley loved his new cow squeaky toy.

The feasting continued at my other aunts house on Christmas day…

Yum…

Everything was amazing.

After dinner was dessert, then some intense rounds of Just Dance on my cousin’s Xbox Kinect!  FINALLY a video game I’m good at!!  Seriously…so fun, and you break a sweat. 

I didn’t stick around for the after party though, had to get home…mom and I were at the mall with one of my aunts and cousin at 7am :)  I know you think we’re crazy but we also got some crazy good deals! 

Well that about sums it up!  I hope your weekend was as good as mine!! 

I’m about to head to bed and forget that I have to work tomorrow.

What was the favorite part of your weekend??

A Thanksgiving Salad

Hope you all had (or are still having) a fabulous Thanksgiving!  For us, we just knocked off our 2nd out of 3 Turkey Dinners of the week…oh boy.

#1 – Friendsgiving at our house
#2 – Thanksgiving Day -  Dinner at my aunts
#3 – A Thanksgiving dinner at Brian’s Family in NH on Saturday

So much turkey! 

The only downfall to having an early Friendsgiving, is that I’m usually kind of sick of turkey by today.  Not completely, and I really enjoyed today’s dinner, especially the sides that were different than what I made (my aunt did garlic mashed potatoes and they were divine).

To counteract the Turkey dinner overload, I decided to bring a fresh colorful green salad!

I wanted something with a Fall-theme to it, but with lots of fresh veggies and fruits! 

I came across this salad on the Whole Foods website:
“Thanksgiving Green Salad”….sounded perfect to me!

This salad combined mixed greens, fresh chopped fennel, orange segments, dried cranberries, and candied pecans all tossed with a raspberry balsamic dressing! 

I also had the bright idea to add some crumbled goat cheese!  It’s pictured, but the cheese went excellent with the other ingredients.

I opted to peel and segment my oranges with a knife (I used 4 large navel oranges), instead of just peeling them and using the break-apart segments…I just think it looks nicer :)

I also have a few family members who can’t eat nuts or seeds, so I left the candied pecans in a bowl on the side so people could add them on their own.  I also had to strain the pureed raspberries to get rid of the seeds.

I packed the dressing in a mason jar and tossed the salad at my aunts house right before dinner!  From what I heard, it seemed everyone liked it!!  I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to re-create it at home.  I forget how much I love fresh fennel.

This girl needs to get to sleep now though…Black Friday tomorrow!!  I know most people won’t go anywhere near stores tomorrow, but my mom and I love it!  We don’t go all 1am @ Best Buy crazy, but we get to the mall around 7am…early, but not “crazy” early…yet early enough to not have to deal with traffic or finding a parking spot.  We browse around, try and get some Christmas shopping started, have an early-ish lunch, shop some more and head home :)  It’s just something we love doing together…although day after Christmas is my favorite (this is my 2nd fav…ok maybe 3rd after Birthday shopping ;)

Again, I hope everyone got to spend some time with family and/or friends today…those who you’re most thankful for :) 

Christmas will be here before you know it…

Spanish Steak: Another Family Favorite

I’m on a kick right now, and apparently craving comfort food.  Not just any comfort food, but things I ate growing up.  I feel like every week lately I’ve been calling my mom for another recipe.

The best part is that now I can take these “old school” dishes and tweak them to my taste as well as make them a little healthier if needed!

First was the chicken stroganoff!  I was so happy to have that back in my life.

Next was the elusive “Spanish” Steak.  I put “Spanish” in quotes because I’m fairly certain the only Spanish thing about it is the use of Spanish olives!  My family has ZERO Spanish in it’s lineage, so I wouldn’t call this authentically Spanish by any means.

However it IS extremely flavorful and super easy!  I have no idea where this one originated, but for once it wasn’t the ‘ol Betty Crocker cookbook ;)  All I know is that my mom made it, my grandmother made it, and apparently my great-grandmother made it!

One of the key ingredients was classic Campbell’s condensed tomato soup, but I’d be willing to bet the Campbell’s soup back in my grandmother’s day didn’t have high fructose corn syrup or “flavoring”…whatever that is. 

That was my first change…the soup!  I went with Trader Joe’s Creamy Tomato soup, as I’ve noticed it’s flavor and creaminess remind me of Campbell’s.

The only difference was that I needed to add a little thickener (flour) as this is not condensed soup.

Another tweak I made was to add a LOT more veggies!  This stew bakes for 2-3 hours, so the veggies definitely cook down a lot and I am always craving more.  

I also used lean stew meat!

Mom didn’t specify what cut of beef to use, but for a slow cooking stew like this you can go with the less-expensive kind :)

Definitely bake some potatoes for this one too.

One more thing! Don’t let the olives scare you away if you don’t like olives!  I never liked olives and would just pick them out, but I could NOT resist the flavor this dish has!!!  If you’re not crazy about olives, I would add maybe half of them and just add some extra juice from the jar :)

Ok the recipe!!

Spanish Steak
adapted from my family’s recipe

Makes about 6 good size servings.

• 1T olive oil
• 1.5 – 2lb stew meat
• 24 oz tomato soup *(SEE NOTE)
• small (5 oz give or take) jar of Spanish olives (the green kind with the pimento in them), with juice
• 3-4 bell peppers, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4-5 shakes Worcestershire sauce
• 3-5 shakes Tobasco (depending on taste)**
• 3-4 carrots, chopped in large chunks
• 1T flour + 1T water

NOTES:
*the soup: I mentioned above I used Trader Joe’s Creamy Tomato.  You want to find a soup that’s JUST tomato…a simple tomato soup.  I bought one other can to try, can’t remember the brand, but it had basil in it…not okay.  Check the ingredients.  Creamy is better for this as well!

** I used maybe 4 or 5 shakes of Tabasco and it left a slight heat in my mouth but I wouldn’t call it spicy.  Growing up I never felt any heat from this dish, so you could go either way!

Pre-heat the oven to 350

In a large heavy bottom oven-safe pot (or Dutch oven), heat oil over med-high heat and add meat.  Cook 3-4 minutes, just until meat is browned on the outside.

Add soup, olives and their juice, pepper, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and tobasco.  Stir to combine and put in oven, covered.  Bake for 1.5 hrs.

(after 1 hour you might want to put in some potatoes to bake along with the stew!  This is what we always do!!)

After the 1.5 hrs: combine water and flour and stir to get rid of lumps, add this mixture to the stew, stirring well to combine.  Also add carrots at this point.

Continue to bake for another 45min - 1 hour, uncovered.

There’s just no way to make a beef stew look pretty.

Usually I’ll put a little butter on my potato…because if I’m actually baking a potato I’m having some butter on it :)  Then once I eat off the butter parts, I’ll pour some stew right over it.  SO good!

I hope you try this one out!  I have another recipe from mom I need to make as well, and I haven’t had it in years so I’m excited!

And just for fun…an outfit!

Actually this was what I wore to the Nespresso Dinner with Ted Allen!

• red cardigan: Banana Republic
• turquoise top: Banana Republic
• Black crops with gold zippers: Banana Outlet!
• Tan/Red pumps: Pour La Victoire

Love these pants!  I’ve been looking for some cropped black dress pants, and bonus for having fun zipper details in front!