Friday Morning Happenings
Jun 25, 2010 Uncategorized
This morning I’m sitting on my couch with a cup of coffee watching Hurley try to get all of the peanut butter and ice out of a Puppy Kong. I’m pretty convinced that all of the Kong toys for dogs are pretty good. They are the only ones he consistently likes to play with that he can’t tear to shreds. The Puppy Kong is a rubber toy that you fill with ice, treats, or whatever dogs can eat and they have to bite on it to get the treats out. It’s supposed to be good for their teeth. All I know is Hurley really likes it. Today was the first day he got all of the stuff out of it! He’s getting so big.
Hurley: “This is way better than being in my cage all day. I love peanut butter.”
“Uh… Mom? Could you please stop taking my picture while I’m trying to eat?”
So I left and instead of taking his picture I decided to show you my luxurious herb garden, which is by no means or in any way, shape, or form luxurious. I have three pots.
First I have a basil pot. This one is actually doing pretty well. About 2 weeks ago I picked all of the basil from it to make bruschetta and it grew back! Tonight we are making grilled pizza and having fresh basil for that makes it so much better.
The next plant isn’t an herb, it’s a plant, and it’s actually doing pretty well too. It’s a Pepperoncini Pepper plant, and it’s starting to grow a lot of peppers. My mom loves pepperonicinis, but I have never really gotten into them. I know they are good on certain salads and I like them on pizza, but I need to research some other recipes that I can use them in. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
We tried really hard, but the third pot sort of died. Growing cilantro is apparently hard to do. I’m sorry cilantro. It could have been fun making guacamole with you this summer.
Brian’s birthday is Tuesday, and my next task of the morning is to plan his birthday dessert. Brian isn’t a normal person. He doesn’t really care much about dessert and when I told him he could have any dessert in the whole world he didn’t get excited and try to think of anything. He just said “I don’t care.” Normally when people say they don’t care it really means, “I don’t want to put you out,” or “I want you to look deep inside and pick something you know I’m going to love, and if you do that then I know you love me,” or “I care but I love you and I want you to be happy so make whatever you want.” But the thing is, I know Brian wouldn’t think any of those things. I’m starting to believe that he actually doesn’t care.
This presents a challenge. I want to make something that will make him care. I want to find a recipe so wonderful that he says, “This is awesome and I want to eat this every day for the rest of my life!” Wishful thinking. I have a tough audience. I’m going to try though to find something, and even if he doesn’t care about it too much I know other people who eat it will love it. Birthday dessert is a necessary part of a birthday. It can’t simply be skipped or everyone will be severely disappointed.
So, now my quest begins. If you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know.
S’mores Cheesecake
Jun 20, 2010 Cakes, Chocolate, Marshmallows
Before I get to the S’mores Cheesecake, which is absolutely delicious, I want to give an update.
Three weeks ago Brian and I adopted a puppy, and he is perfect. He is the reason you haven’t seen much of me lately. For one, I haven’t been cooking as much now that I’m severely distracted by a cute little baby. When I’m playing with him I don’t really think about writing or cooking or anything else that I usually think is fun. He’s just so darn cute. Now though, I think we are starting to settle in and learn to live without staring at him 24/7. I might slowly start to remember who I am here pretty soon.
I thought tonight I’d go ahead and introduce him to you. This is Hurley. He is a part Australian Shepherd part Blue Heeler super cute puppy:
I’m sure you’ll hear a lot about him as the years go on. For now, let’s stick to the cheesecake.
This is my dad, Tim. I made the cheesecake for him for Father’s Day. My dad is truly the friendliest person I know. If it were up to him I think he would have a big party every single weekend and make tons of food. He is the person who taught me how to have fun in life. If there is anyone who loves and appreciates the little things in life it is definitely him. I’m so lucky to have such a great dad. I figured cheesecake was a pretty good way to tell him that.
I honestly can’t think of a better summer cheesecake than S’mores Cheesecake. S’mores are a very outdoorsy, summertime dessert, and for those of us who just want another excuse to eat cheesecake, making one out of the same ingredients you would make s’mores with is just perfect. I first made this cheesecake a year ago, before I had this blog, but making it was part of my inspiration to start something like this. I loved making it. I served it as Brian’s birthday dessert at his party, and it was a huge hit. I mean, everyone really, really loved it. I had never had such a good response from a dessert, and I started to think… hey… maybe I should do this more often. Everyone loved it again today.
It’s such a great and easy recipe, and it’s probably pretty hard to mess up. If you want a super impressive dessert to make without making a ton of dishes dirty, this is it. All I put in my dishwasher afterwards was my food processor, two bowls, a whisk and a spoon. Pretty awesome. You do have to start a day ahead, but each part only takes a short amount of time to do. You won’t spend hours of attention on it. Most of the time it sits in the refrigerator and magically it turns out delicious.
I got the recipe from Bon Appetit, and they suggest serving it with summer berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries). I’m sure that’s wonderful, but it honestly didn’t need anything extra, so I left the berries out. The berries make it seem a little more summery, but it’s so delicious without them that I didn’t feel like anyone would miss them. They didn’t.
S’mores Cheesecake from Bon Appetit
Ingredients:
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (made from 9 whole crackers finely ground in processor)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
- 9 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt or Ghiradelli), chopped **Molly Note: I used Hershey’s milk chocolate chips and it tasted awesome. You can go with the expensive stuff if you want, but just in case you want to go with Hershey’s you can know it tastes wonderful.
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 large eggs
Topping:
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 12 large marshmallows, cut into quarters with wet kitchen scissors
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pint fresh raspberries (if using)
- 1 pint fresh blueberries (if using)
Directions
For crust: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Mix crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add melted butter; stir until mixture is evenly moistened. Press onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake until set, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven; cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
For filling: Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until smooth. Remove from over water and cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.
Combine cream cheese, sugar, and salt in processor and blend until smooth. With motor running, add whipping cream through feed tube and process just until blended. With motor running, add melted chocolate, then add eggs 1 at a time, blending and scraping down sides after each addition until mixture is smooth. Pour batter over crust in pan.
Bake cake until outer edge is slightly puffed and cake is barely set in center (center will look shiny and move slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 55 minutes. Transfer cake to rack. Run small sharp knife around cake to loosen. Chill uncovered until cold, 8 hours or overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.
For topping: Whisk sugar, egg whites, 3 tablespoons water, cream of tartar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to blend in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water; whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens and is hot to touch, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water and stir in marshmallows (keep water simmering in saucepan). Let stand until marshmallows soften, about 3 minutes. Set bowl with mixture over simmering water; using hand held electric mixer, beat until stiff shiny peaks form, about 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
Scrape topping onto cheesecake. Using offset metal spatula, spread topping to edges of cake, swirling decoratively. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes.
Using kitchen torch, lightly brown topping in spots. (Or preheat broiler; place cake at least 4 inches from heat source and broil just until topping is lightly browned in spots, watching closely to avoid burning, about 2 minutes.) Chill cake until cold. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and keep chilled. Remove pan sides. Place cake on platter.
Mix raspberries and blueberries in medium bowl. Cut cake into wedges. Serve berry mixture alongside (if you want).
Tags: bon appetit s'mores cheesecake, cheesecake, S'mores, s'mores cheesecake, s'mores desserts, summer cheesecake, summer dessert
