Peach Cheesecake

Before school started we were invited to a brunch.  The hostess called it "drunk brunch".  I was in charge of bringing dessert and thought that I should bring something with alcohol in it. 

When I was talking about it with my husband, he remembered an idea that someone had given us while in Napa.  They recommended soaking peaches in a sweet wine and put them on cheesecake. A perfect idea for our brunch.

I found a recipe on Epicurious from Bon Appetit. They didn't call for the wine soaked peaches, but I soaked them over night and topped the cheesecake in the morning.  I soaked the ones that were in the compote also, but since it was baked I'm sure the alcohol cooked out.

"Drunk" Peach Cheesecake
From: Bon Appetit via Epicurious
 
Ingredients
Crust

• 25 gingersnap cookies (about 6 ounces), coarsely broken
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 4 small peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled, pitted, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze

• 1/2 cup peach preserves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 large peach, peeled, pitted, very thinly sliced

Directions

 

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grind gingersnaps in processor to coarse crumbs or crush in a zipper bag with a rolling pin. Add butter and blend until evenly moistened. Press crumbs over bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake crust until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Cool on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

 

For filling:
Combine peaches, 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice in heavy large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and peaches are juicy, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until peaches are tender and juices thicken, about 5 minutes. Cool compote.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. Spoon half of cheese mixture (about 3 cups) into crust. Spoon peach compote over by tablespoonfuls, spacing apart. Top with remaining cheese mixture.

Place large piece of foil on oven rack. Place pan with cheesecake on foil. Bake until puffed, set in center, and beginning to brown, about 1 hour. Place hot cheesecake on cooling rack; cool 5 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen. Place cheesecake, uncovered, on rack in refrigerator and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.)

 

For glaze:
Combine preserves and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until glaze comes to simmer. Strain into small bowl. Release pan sides; place cheesecake on platter. Spread glaze over top of cheesecake to within 1/4 inch of edge. Chill cheesecake until glaze sets, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours. Arrange peach slices in center of cake and serve.

It was delicious.  I wish I would have had a chance to go to the farmers' market for the peaches, but store bought worked just as well.

Chocoate Chip Cookies

One night, a friend of my husband's stopped by for dinner.  We weren't expecting him, so I didn't have anything prepared for dessert...I always have a dessert when someone is here for dinner:)  They were sitting around watching baseball or football or something sporty on TV and I getting a sweets craving.

I had seen this recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie on Pinterest and decided I would try them out.  I could satisfy my sweet tooth and make sure I kept my dessert serving reputation. 

They were great!!  A glass of milk with a couple of cookies and we had very happy bellies.

Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

From: Apple a Day - barely adapted from Anna Olson, Food Network Canada

Ingredients: 

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 c. brown sugar 

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 c. all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3.  Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4.  Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5.  Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.  

 

Makes approximately 3 dozen.  I would probably half the recipe if I was just making them for us in the future.  I sent quite a few home with our friend.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Last summer, when we visited my husband's grandma in Cape Cod we went to the annual Fourth of July pie sale.  It's a pretty big deal.  Everyone stands around the table with their hand on the pie they want and at 6:00 you can buy your pie.

My brother-in-law and I stood in line to get pies for everyone.  I chose apple and strawberry rhubarb.  My husband and his brothers made fun of me...they said that no one likes rhubarb.  Well, Grammy loves rhubarb.  The rhubarb pie was the first one gone (mostly because she and I were the only ones eating pie).

This summer she came to stay with us for a few days.  I wanted to make her a rhubarb pie, but didn't have time to deal with crust.  I found a great recipe for strawberry rhubarb crumble at Smitten Kitchen.

It was my first time making anything with rhubarb.  She was excited and again said that it was her favorite.  I served it with some ice cream and it was great. 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble
From Smitten Kitchen

For the topping:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Demerara sugar (or turbinado sugar aka Sugar in the Raw)
Zest of one lemon
1/4 pound (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 quart strawberries plus a few extras, hulled, quartered
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugars and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
3. Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a foil lined baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.

My First Quilt: Downy Quilts for Kids

My aunt is a quilter.  A real quilter...she hand quilts. My whole life I remember her talking about quilts. Because of this, quilting seemed very daunting to me.

After I began sewing, I thought that I wanted to try quilting.  I was scared to try it.  Then I saw this blog post about Downy Quilts for Kids.  They send you a kit to make a quilt that then gets sent to kids that are hospitalized.  The kit comes with all of the fabric and instructions.  I decided this would be a great introduction to quilting and went to a great cause, so I ordered a kit.

When my kit arrived I was really excited.  The fabric would not have been my first pick of fabric, but I guess I can't be too picky.  It was the last week of school though, so I had to wait until I had some free time. 

When I finally sat down to work on it, the directions a little confusing.  I think they were written for someone that had quilting experience. Luckily Ashley at Make It and Love It had a great tutorial with a lot of pictures. 

I think that it turned out great.  I'm excited that my first quilt went to someone that could really use something homemade.  I'll definitely make another one.  Maybe I'll buy my own fabric so that it is even cuter!!