Dessert: Tiny Cheesecakes

My mother has made these tiny cheesecakes for years and it was a recipe I learned to make in high school to bring to holiday parties. When I asked a cousin for a recipe that was a derivative from this one, it had my mother's name on it. These are quick and easy and are always a favorite at holiday parties.

Not quite right Tiny Cheesecakes

This is what I'm talking about - creamy cheesecakes, perfectly done! (These are are out of the oven, not yet chilled.)

Cherry Pie Filling is a great topping for these.

Ingredients:
1 lb cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
24 vanilla wafers
cupcake liners, preferably foil

Directions:

1. Combine cream cheese, vanilla, eggs, and sugar and beat until mixture is smooth. 
2. Place vanilla wafers inside foil cupcake liners and fill with mixture about half-full. 
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min. 
4. Let chill at least 30 minutes. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve and top with cherry, blueberry, or pineapple pie filling or whipped topping. 

Other Details:

• Serves 24 
• Can be frozen 
• 125 Calories per cake (no topping)
• Brands do seem to matter. I've never had troubles with Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but have had less good cakes with off-brands and natural food mart available brands. The Trader Joe's vanilla wafers are fabulous, but Nilla wafers are fine (they just don't cover the entire foot of the cake.)
• My first photo was taken of slightly burnt, bad cream cheese brand cheesecakes topped with whipped topping. They were edible, but not something I would serve. The second photo is the creamy cheesecake photo, as they should be.
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Sides: Szechuan Chicken and Red Rice Salad with Sesame Dressing

This is another recipe out of Robin Asbell's The New Whole Grains Cookbook. I was a little surprised at how popular this dish was at our house. It is a cold salad, but we may try it warm. It also could be an entree rather than just a side.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 to 2 cups water
1 cup red rice, washed and rinsed
3 tablespoons tahini
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sesame oil
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed Szechuan peppercorns (optional)
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
2 cups bean sprouts
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
4 scallions, slivered
1/4 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. In a 1-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, bring the water to a boil, and add the washed rice. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover tightly, and cook for 25 minutes, or until the water is all absorbed. Take the pan off the heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Let the rice cool to room temperature.
2. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk the tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oils, sugar, ginger, garlic, salt, and crushed Szechuan peppercorns (if using). Put the shredded chicken in a small bowl and measure 2 tablespoons of the sesame mixture over it. Toss to mix. Stir the remaining sesame mixture into the chilled rice.
3. On a platter, spread the rice, then top with the chicken, sprouts, and cucumber slices. Scatter the scallions and peanuts over it all and serve.

Other Details:

• Serves 4 (Although, at our house, it was probably closer to 8 servings) 
• Use the smaller measure of water for Himalayan red rice, and the larger for Wehani or other longer, larger-grain red rice.
• You can skip the chicken or use a vegan chicken strips.

Entree: Ree's Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf with Potatoes and Strings

Watching a cooking/restaurant show on one of the food/cooking networks one day, we saw a bacon-wrapped meatloaf on a piled of mashed potatoes topped with onion strings. This sounded so good to us that day, so I looked up a bacon-wrapped meatloaf recipe. The Pioneer Woman's recipe came up. Already loving most of the recipes she provides, we tried hers. We decided it would become 1 of the 3 meatloaf recipes in a Codex, only with a few changes. Click the link for the original recipe in other details to get hers, this one reflects the changes (in size and sauce) that we made for our own family's taste. We call it's Ree's Meatloaf (Modified).

I direct you to last week's posted recipe for Ree's Onion Strings, which top the meatloaf. I've also included here our basic mashed potato recipe, which are plated first.

Ingredients:
Meatloaf
1/2 cup Milk
3 slices Bread
1 pounds Ground Beef
1/2 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 teaspoons Seasoned Salt
3/8 teaspoons Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/6 cups Minced Flat-leaf Parsley
2 whole Eggs Beaten
5 slices Thin/regular Bacon (you can wrap, but on the side is good as well)

Mashed Potatoes
4-6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3-4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, parmesan, mix, any will do)
half-and-half or milk, probably 1/4 to 1/2 cup - we eyeball this

Directions:

Meatloaf

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.
2. Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.
3. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain.
4. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)
5. Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.
6. Bake for 60 minutes. 
7. Slice and serve with mashed potatoes (& onion strings).

Potatoes

1. Boil potatoes about 20-30 minutes until fork tender. 
2. Drain water. Transfer into bowl for mashing and serving.
3. Cut the butter up into a couple chunks and add to the potatoes. Add the cream (milk, half-and-half) until the bottom of the bowl between the potatoes chunks is covered about a half inch. Mash with the hand masher. Throw in the shredded cheese and continue to mix and mash. If the potatoes are too dry, add a little more cream. 

Other Details:

Meatloaf

• Original Meatloaf Recipe 
• Potatoes serve 4-8. Meatloaf serves 6-8.
• Nutrition for 8 servings on meatloaf.
• Nutrition for 6 servings of potatoes. 
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Potatoes

Bread: Cilantropist's Mini Pumpkin Muffins

These looked so good and I love pumpkin (if you couldn't tell already)! These are perfect bite size bits and so moist! Even the family member who claimed to be tired of all the pumpkin I've made this fall (and I haven't even put all of it on the blog) kept eating them. 

Ingredients:

1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil 
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
About 1 tbsp turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)
About 1/2 tsp extra cinnamon for sprinkling on top (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease the cups of a mini muffin tin very well.  
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, all spices, baking soda and salt.  Then whisk in the flour until the batter is just smooth.  
3. Divide the batter among the greased muffin cups, filling each one just a bit more than 3/4 full.  Sprinkle the top of each mini muffin with a bit of turbinado sugar and bake in a preheated oven for about 10-14 minutes, or until they are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Watch them and check them often, because they go from still wet in the inside to fully baked in just a matter of minutes.  Mine were the most moist at about 12 minutes. 
4. Cool the mini muffins on a rack until cool enough to handle, and then remove them to cool fully.  Eat immediately or store muffins in an airtight container and keep refrigerated if storing longer

Other Details:

• Original Recipe 
• Mine took closer to 15 minutes 
• Made about 32 
• 75 Calories each
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Introduction

2 Months

In 2 months, I have posted 53 times, about 50 recipes. There hasn't been a week where at least one recipe did not go up. I am trying to link to original recipes when possible. Some of these recipes come from childhood and families, and so become nearly impossible to cite.

I welcome comments. Did you make one of these recipes? How did it turn out? I post links on my facebook page, and I get responses there. I'd love for those responses to show up here.

I'm getting just enough traffic here to feel like this is worth doing. Please let me know.

Dessert: Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

This is truly a luscious pumpkin cake! We started making it many years ago, and I try to make it or have the husband make it every year. The picture I have of it is from 2008. Obviously, we did not fully follow the directions, since we prefer fully iced cakes. This is originally a Kraft recipe.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip whipped topping
1/4 cup caramel topping
1/2 cup pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350^o.  Grease and flour 2 (9”) round cake pans.  
2. Beat cake mix, 1 cup of the pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.  Pour evenly into prepared pans.  
3. Bake 20 to 22 min or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Cool completely on wire racks.  
4. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, remaining pumpkin and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; mix well.  Stir in whipped topping.  
5. Remove cake layers from pans; cut each layer horizontally in half with a serrated knife.  Stack the layers on a serving plate, spreading the cream cheese mixture between the layers.  Do not frost the top layer.  Drizzle with caramel topping and pecans.  
6. Store in refrigerator.

Other Details:

• Original Recipe from Kraft 
• Prep: 20 minutes
• Total: 40 minutes (my original recipe said this, but Kraft has since updated it to 1 hour 50 minutes)
• Makes 16 servings
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Side dish: Ree's Onion Strings

The Pioneer Woman's Onion Strings get made in our house fairly often. She's right, it's hard not to eat them as you make them. However, I find her suggestion that it only feeds 2 people a little low. We usually get our family of 4 fed with one onion, and have leftovers. These are a great addition to so many dishes, and I'll be posting these on an entree next week.

Ingredients:
1 whole Large Onion
2 cups Buttermilk
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon (scant) Salt
1/4 teaspoon (to 1/2 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
1 quart (to 2 Quarts) Canola Oil
Black Pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Slice onion very thin. Place in a baking dish and cover with buttermilk and soak for at least an hour.
2. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
3. Heat oil to 375 degrees.
4. Grab a handful of onions, throw into the flour mixture, tap to shake off excess, and PLUNGE into hot oil. Fry for a few minutes and remove as soon as golden brown.
5. Repeat until onions are gone.
6. Eat before your family sees them.
7. Repeat with another onion, because they’ll be really mad they didn’t get any.

Other details:

• Original Recipe
• Prep Time: 1 hour 
• Cook Time: 15 minutes 
• Difficulty: Easy 
• Serves 2 (Although I'm pretty sure we get 4+ servings out, although it's possible the husband has used 2 onions and I just didn't pay attention.)
• Also, we don't usually measure most of this out. We cut up an onion, and fill with Buttermilk, and dredge in as much of a combination of flour, salt, and pepper as needed and the ratios look good.
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