Cheesecake

So it was my boss's birthday not too long ago.  I am going to gush a moment (a rarity for me) so feel free to continue on to the next paragraph!  My boss is one of the best I've had, and I'm pretty sure one of the best in the world.  He supports his staff and stands up for them.  He takes the time to teach us and train us in all aspects of work (special shout-out to his tutorial in business emails!), and he listens to our life stories--good, bad, and ugly.  We can joke and laugh with him too.  He does more than I can say not only for his staff but for our entire workforce.  Many people don't realize it, but I do!  I appreciate him, and I try to show that to him. 

{Homemade original CHEESECAKE!} 

So his birthday was a bit ago.  I love to make someone's favorite treat for their birthday (it's my thing!).  So although he LOVES my black bean brownie recipe, I decided to make his other favorite: cheesecake.  It's been a minute since I made cheesecake, but I have a wonderful recipe.  It's not too sweet or rich; it's really perfect.  It's also very easy and bakes up in less than an hour!  This is a German-style cheesecake with a butter cookie crust which is my favorite!  We can still be friends if you prefer a graham cracker crust (I suppose.......).  If you would like a graham cracker crust go for it! 

{Butter cookie crust!}

{Baked crust}

{Filling beaten to a smooth consistency and ready to bake!}

Cheesecake

Serves 8-16 depending on who does the cutting

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

16 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3 cups sour cream, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Make the crust:  Combine butter and sugar until ight and fluffy; add vanilla and blend.  Add flour until just combined.  Press into the bottom of a springform pan and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown. 
3. Turn the oven down to 375.
4. Make the filling:  Combine the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs and beat for 3 minutes on medium speed.  Add salt, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until combined.  Stir sour cream in gently until incorporated.
5. Pour filling on top of crust.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until just set when shaken.
7. Cool overnight in the firdge.

My cake was ALMOST done so I gave it another 5-6 minutes, and that's why my top is a bit 'done'.  The cake was still delicious though!  Items will continue to cook/bake even if you take them off the heat source.  In hindsight, I should have taken it out.  I was told that the cake was completely eaten the day I gave it to him which means that it was definitely FABULOUS!

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No Knead Bread

Growing up, my family made their own bread in our bread machine.  I love the smell of baking bread!  When it was done, we would cut the top of the bread off, slather it in butter, and eat it in pure happiness!!!

{Yummy fresh bread!}

I am all about fresh, homemade food.  I know bread is daunting especially yeast breads (sometimes I am intimidated!), but leave it to smitten kitchen to make bread super easy!  Seriously-- three ingredients and no kneading!  I could not ask for more!

I grew up on German bread, and this recipe makes a hardy, heavy bread which is what I love.  This is the second time I made this recipe; this particular bread is a white wheat bread (I substituted some of the bread flour for whole wheat flour).  Side note--I am playing with sourdough starter so my next bread will be sourdough!  Actually, now that I am thinking about it--this bread recipe is almost like a sourdough starter (just flour, water and yeast).  That's pretty cool!

{Blooming yeast}

{Dough will be extremely sticky!  Don't worry--it'll work out}

{After 18 hours of just sitting on the counter}

{Put in a hot ceraminc pot}

No-Knead Bread

Makes 1 medium loaf

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour (can substitute up to 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)

1 5/8 cups warm water

1 envelope of active dry yeast

1. Place yeast in warm (NOT hot!) water; this is called blooming the yeast.  Since the yeast is in a dry form, it works best to rehydrate it before using it.  Just let it sit for 3-5 minutes or until the yeast looks like super soggy cereal.
2. Add yeast and water to flour.
3. Mix to create a sticky dough.
4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (or lid) and let sit for at least 12 hours, preferably 18 hours, at a warm room temperature.  Dough is ready when the surface is dotted with bubbles.
5. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
6. Heavily flour the work surface with flour; form dough into a ball shape. 
7. Heavily flour the top of the dough and cover with a cotton towel.  Let it rise for two hours or until double in size.
8. About 30 minutes before the dough is done doubling, preheat an oven to 450.  Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats.
9. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under the dough, and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but don't worry.
10. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
11. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned.
12. Cool on a rack.

How easy is that?  Mix it up; leave it.  Play with it a bit; leave it.  Bake it; DONE!  Fresh, homemade bread with no stress or worries!

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The Raising of Caterpillars

So last week I get a text with a picture of the cutest caterpillar from Ben; he said they were on our balcony (which is 3 stories up!) eating all of my herbs.  I told him to get them off my herbs immediately!  They had already eaten all of my parsley and were working on the chives....  Oh well.  Ben decided to use them as fish bait which was fine by me, but then I got to thinking--if those are monarch caterpillars (which is an endangered/threatened species) then we need to ID them before we kill them!

{Original picture}

We looked all over the internet, and finally, we identified them as black swallowtail caterpillars (without any doubts).  We got all of our information on the black swallowtail caterpillar/butterfly was from this source. 

{Black Swallowtail Female Butterfly source}

Then Ben and I started talking about the caterpillars; I had never seen one grow into a butterfly, and he admitted that he hadn't either.  Then he said that I could have one (of the three caterpillars we found) and grow it into a butterfly.  I told him he couldn't just pick and choose which one lived, and he finally gave in and let me grow all three!  He is enjoying watching them too!  (although he might not admit it)

{Unfortunately, we lost one caterpillar to natural causes after day one}

{When you touch them, horns pop out of their heads--pretty funny!  (No animals were harmed)}

{See that green pile in the bottom center?  No--it's not caterpillar poop--apparently when caterpillars are ready to morph, they empty their stomachs.  So yes--it's caterpillar vomit}

{The first caterpillar to start coccooning.  See the silks that attach the caterpillar to the lid?  It was pretty awasome to see!}

{The second caterpillar started coccooning about one day after the first!}

{Can you spot the completed coccoon?}

{Completed coccoon!}

The website says that it will be 1-2 weeks before they are done changing depending on the weather and such.  Right now it's just a waiting game!  See you in a bit with the butterflies!  We also get to find out the sex of our caterpillars!

PS--It's really the little things in life!

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Coconut Ice Cream with Chocolate and Roasted Almonds

One of my favorite flavor combinations: chocolate, roasted almonds, and coconut (Almond Joy!!!).  The other wonderful women in my life love it too.  My mother requested that I make this after a fiasco with a real Almond Joy ice cream bar (she is lactose-intolerant), and so I was happy to do it. 

Since she is lactose-intolerant, making ice cream from cream or milk was out of the question.  So I substituted coconut milk instead!  This ice cream was delicious!  It's also easier to make than the last ice cream recipe that I made.

Coconut Ice Cream with Chocolate and Roasted Almonds

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
cups sugar
2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup sliced almonds, roasted
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 oz butter

1. Heat coconut milk until it begins to steam.
2. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and sugar until light lemon in color (I used farm eggs so the color was closer to lemon).
3. Prepare an ice bath (ice in a bowl with water).
4. When coconut milk is heated, pour slowly into the egg mixture whisking the whole time.
5. Put bowl with coconut ice cream base in the water bath.  Coconut will separate if you don't cool it quickly!
6. When base is cool, place in fridge overnight.
7. Freeze base according to your ice cream maker's directions.
8. When coconut ice cream has achieved a soft serve stage, mix in chocolate and almonds.
9. Freeze overnight.
10. Serve!

I've been tasked with a Banana Bread Ice Cream by my brother who is coming in about a month for my wedding!  I'll be so happy and excited to see him!  Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how to make this ice cream so my mother can eat it....Pin It