Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lemon-Blackberry Cheesecake

On Valentine's Day our kids were sick. We didn't get a babysitter to have a night out so we decided to dine in. The menu included steak, creamy mashed potatoes, broccoli and to finish it off, some lemon-blackberry cheesecake.

My hubby loves cheesecake and I love anything lemon...so this was the perfect combo. It's a bit time consuming but not complicated. It's very worth the effort! It's from the cookbook "My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking"  by John Besh



Ingredients:

                                3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
                               1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
                    2 pounds cream cheese
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
         1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 pints blackberries
   3/4 cup milk
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 eggs
  • Preheat the oven to 350˚. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium bowl. Press onto the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan.

  • In a large bowl, use a handheld mixer to combine the cream cheese with the sugar until smooth. Blend in the milk, then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in the sour cream, flour, and vanilla until smooth. Divide the mixture between two bowls.

  • In a food processor or blender, purée 1 pint of the blackberries with the lemon zest and juice. Pour the purée into one bowl of the cheese mixture along with the remaining 1⁄2 pint of whole blackberries and mix well.

  • Pour the blackberry filling on top of the prepared crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and pour the remaining filling over the top. Return to the oven to bake for 1 hour, until the topping is set. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Pinkalicious Pancakes

My daughter loves the Pinkalicious books by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann and the color pink of course. Last Saturday I thought it would be fun to add some food coloring to my pancake batter to make them 'magically' transform into Pinkalicious pancakes. Needless to say...they were a success!
All you need is your favorite pancake recipe ... I like Martha Stewart's basic pancake recipe...find it {here}, some pink food coloring and your favorite toppings. We used bananas, strawberries, walnuts and syrup, of course. Naturally, they turned out pinkatastic! =)



 





The Girl Creative

This week in pictures...

Emma holding our new little puppy

Bentley ...our little labradoodle

Valentine mailbox downtown Loveland



Mailing their valentines to friends and family

A rare sweet moment of brother/sister affection


Not pictured:

  • Decorating for a missions banquet
  • Snow... over a foot =)
  • Supper at Panera by the fireplace
  • Practicing for our Easter cantata
  • Studying for a ladies Bible study on Prov. 31
  • Playing Kinect with friends...oh the laughs!
  • Purell, boogie wipes, tylenol, humidifiers, cough drops...you get the picture
  • Cabin fever
  • Potty training, Lukee
  • Cartoon marathon
  • Pinning
  • Starbucks...salted caramel latte

Recent Pinterest Favorites

I've tried several crafts and recipes this week that I found on Pinterest and thought I would share them. (The no-bake nutella cheesecake is a BIG favorite, now) =)

(No Bake Nutella Cheesecake) Go {HERE} for the recipe!

This guy, is SO delicious and easy to make! We had some friends over for supper and I made lasagna, garlic bread, tossed salad and these little bowls of heaven...mmmmm. =) On a side note, you can find these 'mini bols' and spoons at Pier 1. They come in a set of 24 and they fit this dessert perfectly!


Mini legos in your soap dispenser. =)

Germs have been going around our church and my kids got sick. Hopefully my husband and I will stay healthy?? Maybe?? =) ...wishful thinking, perhaps. But needless to say we've been washing our hands non-stop. I bought some Softsoap bottles at Target and took the stickers off and filled them with legos like in this picture. It makes washing hands more fun for the kids.

Boy Valentines


  I have a little girl and boy. It's super easy to find girly valentines but a bit more challenging to find boyish looking ones. I was excited to find these free printables this week. If you have a little man you need to give a valentine too...here are some more options. You can print them via SHE Paperie.

 
Valentine treats
We have a Valentine's party coming up this next week at our church and I'm bringing these fun little snacks. I love the girly colors!