Happy National Cheesecake Day!

Usually when I hear about these holidays, I'm like, 'Really?  Should we really be calling that a holiday?'  With cheesecake, I'm totally on board.  It's National Cheesecake Day!  And if you live near a Cheesecake Factory, you can get a slice of cheesecake for half price.  If you don't, or only believe in homemade, here's a couple ideas for you.  These are some of my favorite cheesecakes.  I like most of these more than any cheesecake I've ever eaten, restaurants included.  Hurry and make one today! :)

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake- Oreo cookie crust, vanilla cheesecake with Oreo chunks.  Topped with crushed Oreos and white chocolate drizzle/ganache.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake- Graham cracker crust with vanilla cheesecake, covered with cinnamon apples, caramel, pecans and melted marshmallow.  (And I think toasted coconut would be good here.  Like it on an apple?  Throw it on your cheesecake.)

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake- Spiced graham cracker crust with pumpkin cheesecake covered with caramel and toffee bits.  Maybe it's just for fall.  Maybe not.

Turtle Cheesecake-  Vanilla wafer crust with a chocolate cheesecake base, pecans, caramel and white and dark chocolate.

Have a great Cheesecake Day!

Table Talk: Southwestern Black Bean Salad

 It's my week to host and when I chose this recipe, I wanted to pick something easy.  I haven't really been feeling like spending a ton of time in the kitchen lately.  I think it's because I'm pregnant (with someone else's baby) and nothing really sounds that great.  Then, late last week, we got some devastating news.  My little baby nephew had passed away in his sleep.  It was the most heart-breaking experience but at the same time, there was such an out-pouring of love for my brother and his family, it was lovely to see.  Our weekend was spent crying and driving and then more crying and driving and I don't know that we'll recover anytime soon.  This recipe ended up being about all a person can handle after something like that.  I knew it would be easy and once I got in the kitchen to make it, I found my kitchen to be what it always is-therapeutic.  I know some people won't understand but sometimes I think cooking keeps me sane.  Once I got in there I decided to bake some bread because fresh baked bread makes everything seem a little better.  And also because I knew Calvin wouldn't be too savvy on the dinner plans but he always likes bread. :)

Table Talk: Pasta Salad plus Sun-Dried Tomatoes minus Arugula

 Last time I made something with Arugula in it, my family wasn't impressed.  I decided to leave it out of our pasta salad since I didn't want to watch everyone pick it out and waste it.  I'm wondering though if I should have given it a go.  I'm thinking that the vinegar in the dressing might have been enough to tame the overwhelming flavor that arugula can have.  Next time, I'll have to throw it in and see how it goes.  I threw in some olives and I had deli sliced provolone that I cut it into strips.  The recipe called for whole wheat penne but whole grain works too, right?  I didn't have parsley so I substituted basil.  Next time I would add quite a bit more than 1 T.

My husband and I liked this dish.  It was easy to make and worked perfectly for last night because I made it and then put it in the fridge for an hour while I took Hadlee to swimming and it was ready to eat when we got home, starving.  Calvin didn't love it but his palate is pretty sensitive and things with vinegar usually aren't his cup of tea.  He took a couple bites and then poured himself a bowl of Life cereal.  

I think this would also be great with some cucumbers for crunch and anything else you like with vinegar-like dressing.

If you'd like the recipe you can buy the book or get it at Jen O's blog.  She was our host for the week and chose the recipe.

Berry Cheesecake Salad (Red, White and Blue)

Are you still deciding on your 4th of July menu?  I, personally, like to wait until the last possible minute.  I'm one of those people.  Decisions are hard for me.  Especially really big ones, like menu finalization.  I have to think about it for a few days and weigh all options before committing.  Some people might say it's smart planning to look at every angle.  Others might say I should just make up my mind already and quit being such a procrastinator.  (I tend to fall in with the latter crowd, I don't know what my problem is.)  Well, if you're anything like me and you're still looking for ideas for what to take to a barbecue or what to make for guests, this 'salad' is super easy and a complete crowd pleaser.

Table Talk: Buffalo Chicken (Sticky Finger) Salad

I'm not a huge buffalo wing fan.  Mainly because I'm the biggest sissy ever when it comes to spicy food.  Ever.  There might be something wrong with my taste buds, I don't know.  I knew right off the bat that I wouldn't be making this full-spicy, since I have issues.  When I read through the recipe, and it said to use specifically-'Frank's Hot Sauce'- it reminded me of THIS recipe for Winger's Sticky Fingers that I've been wanting to try.  I thought it might be a nice compromise for my sticky situation.  (See what I did there?  Yeah, I'm also a dork.)

It was perfect for my family and me.  Tyler normally likes buffalo wings but the kids weren't going to eat something too hot and this seemed to be a perfect balance to please everyone.  It had a little bit of heat and just enough for me.  The dressing and the veggies toned it down a bit in the salad and made it perfect.

Here's what I did:

I used chicken tenderloins and cut them in half lengthwise. 

 Michelle mentioned in her post that the cornmeal mixture kind of fell off the chicken after cooking so I decided to experiment and see if I left the chicken in the cornmeal for a while, if it would stay on the chicken better.  I prepared the chicken first and left it coated in the bag for probably 20 minutes, while I got everything else ready for the salad.

 For the sauce- 1/3 cup Frank's Wing Sauce, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup brown sugar (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups but I didn't think the extra half cup was needed and I was right-it does happen sometimes.)  Mix all together in a sauce pan and bring to boil.  Boil 1 minute and then remove from heat and set aside.  {Next time I would half this mixture, I had quite a bit left over but I've heard it's good mixed with Ranch.  If I do leave these proportions, I would reserve half to mix with Ranch and dump half over the chicken}

Once everything else was ready, and the chicken had become one with the coating, I tested my theory and cooked the chicken.  I used a bit more oil than the recipe stated, maybe 2 T altogether, but probably because I had more coated surface with my smaller pieces of chicken.

 Once the chicken is browned and cooked almost through, add the sauce and stir and turn to coat the chicken.

 I would have liked blue cheese dressing but I know my family would have not appreciated it (mainly Tyler) so I whipped up a simple, light Ranch dressing to go with it. {1/2 cup light sour cream, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, juice 1/2 lime, 3 T cilantro-combine in food processor or blender, add water to thin to desired consistency}  More kid friendly, ya know.  To make myself feel more adult-ish, I added some goat cheese to my salad.  It was a good call.

 I'm happy to report that the coating stayed on the chicken.  I decided I really liked this method of cooking the chicken and pouring the sauce over it.  I will be doing that everyday in the future.

If you'd like to try the recipe, you can visit Michelle's blog for the recipe, she was our host for the week.  Thanks for picking such a fun recipe Michelle!

Sources:

Sauce:  Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Dressing:  Girlplusfood Original

Salad:  The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

Table Talk: Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies

Valerie was missing Bake 52 so she decided to pick a dessert this week.  I'm always on board with those kinds of ideas.  But then I remembered that this would be a healthier version of a dessert.  I'm fine with having fruit for dessert or something light but I'm not always a fan of turning a classic dessert into a healthier version.  I figure if you're going to eat a chocolate chip cookie, then just eat a chocolate chip cookie, don't be a pansy about it.  I expected to open the cookbook and find some weird substitutions in the recipe.  At least some applesauce or pureed prunes for the fat in the cookies.  Nope.  What I found was a pretty normal cookie recipe.  It left me wondering if these were in fact healthier?  At some point I'm going to have to do a comparison with my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and see what the real difference is.  The book does a comparison but I'm not really sure what they were comparing this recipe to.

According to the book, the reduced the amount of butter and made up for it with the addition of some brown butter.  I don't have any pans that aren't non-stick so I just used my microwave and a glass bowl.  This was after I added the regular butter to stir it in.

 It seemed like my dough was a little less stiff than the dough in the photos.  I used my scale to measure the flour in hopes that it would be spot on but ?

 As a result of the looser dough, my cookies were a little more flat than the picture in the book.  They were still pretty good.  

They had a slight crunch on the edges while the center was softer and moist.  The next day, the cookie texture was slightly different, more of a chewy/soft combo but they were still really good. I didn't expect them to dethrone my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and they didn't, but no one was complaining.  We all really liked them.  And you can never have too many good cookie recipes.

If you'd like to try the recipe, you can visit the blog of our hostess for the week, Valerie.

Table Talk: Vegetable Lo Mein

I was so on board with this week's recipe choice!  I happen to think lo mein is one of the greatest things on earth.  I've made quite a few versions of it and most of those include me going into the kitchen and throwing a bunch of stuff together.  

We all really liked this recipe and I would make it again tomorrow.  I loved how fast it was-after everything was chopped and ready to go-and I loved that there wasn't an insane amount of dishes.

   The only thing is, I didn't realize until I was cooking that I was missing a few ingredients   I really thought I had oyster sauce, but nope.  I didn't have corn starch, which I was supposed to buy at the store and I forgot.  I used a few vegetables that weren't in the recipe-zucchini, yellow squash, and broccoli.  And I just used regular mushrooms instead of shiitake. I also used a lb of pasta instead of 12 oz so I increased the sauce amount to 1 cup chicken broth, 1/3 cup soy sauce (and I would have added 1/3 cup oyster sauce but didn't have it) so I went with 2 T brown sugar, 2 T rice vinegar and about 1 T of sweet red chili sauce and 1 T of flour to make up for my lacking corn starch.  I didn't have sriracha so I just added a few red pepper flakes.

Oh, and I also used linguine.  Have I told you guys about my weird aversion to regular spaghetti noddles?  Yeah, it's weird.  When I can, I always sub either angel hair or linguine.  Thin spaghetti is only marginally better and I'll only use that as a second to last resort.  Don't ask me to explain it either.  I'm a weirdo.  I've tried to tell you guys.

That seems like a lot of changes now that I've typed them all out......

Anyway, here's a picture of all the veggies right before I added the sauce.

 And here's a picture right before I ate it.

This was a great recipe.  Everyone should make it.  If you hate meat-less meals, a few of my cooking friends added chicken and it looks delicious.  You can buy the book, or get the recipe at Talesha's blog.

TWD: Savory Brioche Pockets

After looking at the recipe, I felt like I should stuff some chicken and other things inside these 'pockets' but decided I better just stick to the recipe.  And after making them and eating them, I'm thinking maybe I should have listened to my heart.  Dramatic, I know.  I forgot to add the chives to the potato and goat cheese mixture, oops.  I ended up sprinkling them on top to try to make up for my misfortune but these just didn't wow me enough to make them again.  

It was a 2 day process for the brioche and then several different pans are needed to 'steam' the potatoes and cook the asparagus and caramelize the onions.  And honestly after all that time and all those dirty dishes, I was expecting to have my socks knocked off.  Sadly, they weren't.  My socks are still in tact.

I enjoyed mixing the dough, but we've made brioche before so I knew what to expect.  And I have to admit, I think she's so pretty.

 Calvin helped me fill up the pockets and I caught him eating asparagus!  I just about died because he usually and forcefully refuses asparagus.  So there's that.

 The pockets before the rise.

 After the rise and ready to bake.

 Baked.  The edges didn't really want to stay nicely pressed like they were in the book, but I figured the fillings were solid enough, I didn't worry too much about it.

I KNOW the brioche recipe is a winner because these Pecan Sticky Buns blew my mind and used the same brioche recipe.  I think it's just a matter of what you shove inside these things and your preferences.  If you'd like to try the recipe or a variation of it, you can visit the blog of our host for the week:  Loaves and Stitches.

I'm sure the amazing TWD bakers have come up with some mouth-watering renditions.  To see their links go HERE.