All grown up

 

This holiday season Thatboy, Thatbaby and I were very generously gifted giftcards to some of our favorite stores.  We decided to use this weekend as a fun "shopping spree" trip for the three of us to pick some things up.

I needed some things for my typical "mommy uniform."  I find that since having Thatbaby I tend to wear the same general thing every day. I wear all my old clothes - just your typical tops and bottoms.  But when I'm cold I have to top it with something that opens in the front - either a sweatshirt, jacket, or sweater that buttons or zips.  There are two reasons for this - the first is convenience for nursing. But more importantly, I wear Thatbaby a lot.  Pretty much every time we go out.  I'm not a big fan of strollers because they're hard to maneuver in stores and take up way to much room in aisles. 

So for the holidays I had asked for big chunky sweaters that I could wear with our carriers.  Large enough to close over the carrier for colder days to help keep little legs warm.  I didn't get any, but the gift cards were an easy way to fix that. 

This is obviously not me.  But it is the sweater I got.

In addition to the sweater, I wanted to pick up a new pair of flats since I'm wearing mine to death.  I'm usually a heels girl - I can use all the height I can get.  But flats are super easy to slip on and off when I want to tuck my feet up underneath me.  And they work equally well with my regular jeans, skinny jeans, and jersey skirts.

Both worked fabulously in action when we went to meet some friends for lunch.  The sweater is roomy enough for me to button it right over Thatbaby.

Earlier this week Valli claimed that cheesecake was very "80's."   Maybe it's because I wasn't around in the 70s, but for me, cheesecake is timeless.  But it also always seemed very grown up when I was a kid.  I mean, it's a cake with no frosting!  And it's made out of cheese - which doesn't sound like something very cake-like.  But I am, in fact, a grownup.  So I can obviously appreciate a good cheesecake.  My biggest problem with cheesecake however is the size.  A cheesecake in our house seems to last forever.  It's almost magical.  No matter how many slices you cut, there's always a ton left.  I decided to change around a cheesecake recipe to make a smaller, cheese-cake pie.  It's everything you love about cheesecake, just less.  Which means it disappears much faster.  And I made it chocolate because I'm not that grownup. 

Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

8oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Mix the graham crackers with sugar and melted butter and press into the bottom and sides of 9 inch pie pan.  Chill while preparing filling.
2. In an electric mixer, cream cream cheese.  
3. Add in 1/2 cup sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add in cocoa, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and egg.  Beat until thoroughly combined.  
5. Pour into prepared crust.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool for 20 minutes.  
6. While cooling preheat the oven to 425.  Stir together the sour cream, remaining sugar and vanilla.  Spread over the cooled pie and bake for 10 minutes.

A new tradition?

Every year during the fall season I end up making a pumpkin cheesecake. I think it goes back to when I was in college. Every fall The Cheesecake Factory would have pumpkin cheesecake as their seasonal menu choice and 2 of my girlfriends and I would mark the date it came out on our calendar. We'd find a way to get to the nearest outpost and indulge.

For some reason, I remember it marking the celebration of some annual event - but given the time of year it could hardly be finals. It might have been midterms. Then again, it might have just been an event to celebrate the annual arrival of pumpkin cheesecake.

I don't think I've been back to The Cheesecake Factory to sample their pumpkin cheesecake in years - definitely not since college and that was many many moons ago. But once I started living on my own and cooking and baking pumpkin cheesecake seemed to make an appearance despite the fact.

It started out with Peabody's Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake. Which evolved into a version that was less swirl, and more pumpkin. And then a couple of years later I discovered my go-to cheesecake recipe, Ruth Reichl's New York Cheesecake. Over the years I've worked to make a pumpkin cheesecake that was more similar to that than the original.

I don't usually bring a pumpkin cheesecake to Thanksgiving, mostly because it's been made and eaten by that time. But this year has been a little different and I haven't had time to get my pumpkin cheesecake fix in. So I'll be sharing this with family at our Thanksgiving table. For those of you who want something a little different than Pumpkin Pie, this is a great alternative. Although in my mind you can never have too much pumpkin anything, so might as well serve both! After all, pumpkin is certainly cause for celebration.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese
4 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the graham crackers with 1/4 cup sugar and the melted butter and press into bottom and sides of a 9-inch ungreased springform pan. Chill while preparing filling.
3. Beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth. Add the heavy cream, flour, cinnamon and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add the mashed pumpkin and blend until smooth. Pour into chilled crust and bake for an hour, or until the cheesecake is set. It should be a little jiggly in the middle.
   

Cheesecake for dinner

When I grew up in Pennsylvania we were worlds removed from a Jewish community. There was one other Jewish person in my school, and the Jewish population of my town could fit in a single room.

However, a mere hour and a half away lied our closest ties to Jewish civilization. An area in Pittsburgh known as "Squirrel Hill." And every year at Passover, this is where we would venture to stock up on Pesach friendly food. Of course, the trip would always include a stop at the bakery and the deli for our last feast before the week long ritual.

One of our trips t0 Squirrel Hill was not for Passover-stocking, but to dine with a Lebovitch family. I have no idea how my parents met them, or why we were driving an hour and a half for a dinner, but the dinner was completely memorable to me. First, because it was my first experience with Orthodox Jews. Like any other religion, Judaism separates out into various levels of orthodoxy, with Orthodox being the most conservative/strict/adherent. Our congregation was "reform" which leaned more on the "conservative" side. So visiting these people was a bit of an eye opener in terms of culture.

The Lebovitch family we dined with kept Kosher, which was a second reason the trip was memorable. I'd never met anyone who actually kept Kosher, the idea being akin to a unicorn or other mythical being. But this Kosher thing was going to work to my advantage in another way.

You see, when we arrived, Mrs. L told us she had picked up some kind of world famous cheesecake. The best ever. I can't remember where she got it, that's not the important part of the story. The important part is that Mrs. L wanted us to try this phenomenal cheesecake. But you, see there was a problem.

One of the tenants of keeping Kosher is that you do not mix meat and dairy. I had always assumed that meant no cheeseburgers, but it goes farther than that. You see, after eating meat, you can't have dairy products for about 6 hours. Which would mean, that to enjoy the cheesecake, we'd have to wait until after midnight. So the Ls told us their solution. Eat the cheesecake FIRST. That's right, you only have to wait an hour after eating dairy to consume meat.

Something about adults telling you to eat cheesecake first was life changing for me. Think about it, eat your dessert before dinner. It's brilliant on so many levels. Mostly because as a kid you don't really want dinner anyway, it's just a pathway to dessert. I can't tell you a single thing about whether that cheesecake was any good or not. But I do know that being able to eat it first, left a lasting impression on me.

So I'm going to share this cheesecake recipe with you and recommend you go ahead and skip dinner. Just eat this. For dinner. Or breakfast. Or any meal you'd like. Because I've been told by a reputable source that it's okay to eat cheesecake first.

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 6 ounces)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/4 tsp almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix the graham crackers with 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter and press into bottom and sides of 9 inch pie pan. Chill while preparing filling.

2. Combine raspberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

3. Boil for 1-2 minutes, until thick.

4. Combine cream cheese, egg, remaining sugar, remaining corn starch, and almond extract in an electric mixer until smooth.

5. Pour cheesecake into the crust.

6. Pour the raspberry sauce over the cheesecake and swirl using a knife. Bake for 30-35 minutes until cheesecake is set.