Baked Cheese Cake

I love cheese cake. When dining at a nice restaurant, I will almost always go for the cheese cake when the dessert tray comes around. I find it very disappointing if they don't offer a cheese cake of some kind. However, the best cheese cake I have ever had is made by my sister's mother-in-law, Bonnie. She has graciously given me permission to share it on the blog, so here it is.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 can Holland Rusk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C sugar
1/4 butter, melted

Filling:
3-8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 pint sour cream
2 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375.

Crush rusk into crumbs.

Set aside 1/3 C crumbs to sprinkle on top.

Combine remaining crumbs with cinnamon and sugar.

Melt butter and add to crumb mix.

When well mixed, line 10-inch springform pan with mix.

Press with thumbs until smooth. The crust may ride up the sides of the pan a bit, but that's okay.

Cream cheese well.

Add eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

Mix well with hand or stand mixer.

Pour into crust.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. The center should still be slightly giggly.

Increase oven temperature to 475.

Mix all topping ingredients together well.

Carefully spread over cake like icing. I made two, and the first one I plopped the topping in the center and spread it out from there. Don't do that. Spoon the topping on in a ring and spread out from there. It's much less spreading and it won't take as much of the cake with it.

When the oven is hot, bake again for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with crumbs. Let cake completely cool. Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

Serve plain or with your favorite cheese cake toppings. I used the homemade blueberry topping from the Blueberry Sour Cream Pie.

Printed version

Cheese Ball of Yumminess

Yes, I know that yumminess isn't a real word (though my spell check knows it -- that's just weird), but this cheese ball is amazingly delicious. I got the recipe from a dear friend. She made if for a church social where it was the first thing completely devoured. The pictures show the recipe doubled, which makes quite possibly the biggest cheese ball ever made, so unless you are feeding your congregation, I would recommend doing the amounts listed for a single batch.

Ingredients:
8 oz. pkg cream cheese - softened to room temp
1/4 C mayo
2 C finely cubed ham
1-2 tsp parsley
1 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 C chopped nuts-divided

Combine first 6 ingredients plus 1/2 of the chopped nuts.

Mix well.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hrs. to set up. Remove from fridge, shape into a ball and roll in remaining 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Serve with your favorite crackers.

Printable version

Classic Potato Salad

I've made this a few times without my camera handy, and I'm glad I finally got my act together enough to snap pictures making it this time. Sorry that amounts aren't all that set, but this is really is a salad to taste.

Ingredients:
6-8 medium potatoes, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
6 hard boiled eggs
5 baby dill pickles, diced
1-1/2 - 2 C mayonnaise
4-5 squirts spicy brown mustard
Pickle juice to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil eggs. Drain and chill.

Chopped onion and put in large mixing bowl.

Chopped potatoes. Boil until soft. Drain. Add to bowl with onions.

In small bowl, mix 1 C of mayo and 1-2 squirts of mustard. Add salt and pepper to dressing. Add some dill pickle juice (not too much).

Coat potatoes and onions with dressing. If salad is too dry, make more dressing.

Dice pickles and add to salad.

Peel and dice four eggs. Add to salad.

Mix well. Slice last two eggs and garnish top of salad. Serve chilled.

Printable version

Frog Eye Fruit Salad

My husband has been asking me to make this salad for quite a while. Maybe even the full five years we've been married. I'm glad I finally gave into him, because it is a delightful salad, light and yummy. We took it to a family Christmas party, and it was a huge success. I found the recipe here: Frog Eye Salad with only a few minor changes.

Ingredients
3/4 C sugar
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 C pineapple juice
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp lemon juice
1 C Acini de Pepe pasta, uncooked
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (20-oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (20-oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
2 C miniature marshmallows
1 C real whipped cream, whipped
1 C shredded coconut

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a saucepan.

Stir pineapple juice into beaten egg then into the sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Set aside to cool.

Cook Acini de Pepe in 3 quarts of boiling water for 6-8 minutes, stirring often.

Drain and rinse.

Combine cooked sauce with cooked Acini de Pepe. Cover and chill in refrigerator.

When cool, stir in the well drained fruit, marshmallows, coconut, and whipped topping.

Chill at least one hour before serving. ENJOY!!

Printable version

Grilled Steak Fajitas

We enjoy Mexican food a lot. We've been wanting to make fajitas for a while. The multi-colored peppers make this a colorful as well as delicious meal.

Ingredients
1 lb. steak
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium orange pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 pkg. fajita seasoning
Olive oil
Tortillas
Shredded cheese
Sour cream

Grill the steak just enough to sear it and cut it into strips.

In a large, deep frying pan, saute the onion in olive oil until translucent.

Add peppers and saute until tender.

Add fajita seasoning.

Add steak.

Cook over medium heat until meat is cooked to your liking.

Fill tortillas and top with cheese and sour cream.

Printable version