Cheesecake with a Raspberry Sauce

Well!! My recipe was a success!! My husband LOVED his cake and I was very pleased with my work :)

This is a very rich and delicious cheese cake that is bound to please a crowd!

LETS GET STARTED!!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
1 tbsp of Granulated sugar
^^ This section is for the crust^^
2 lbs if cream cheese
1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tbsps all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

For the sauce:
1 package of raspberries
4 Tablespoons of water
4 tbsps of white granulated sugar

Directions!!

Alright lets get started on this delicious cake :)
Make sure you have your oven preheated and your ingredients pulled out so you can move quickly when needed!

Let's first start with the crust! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While that is preheating, take your grahmn crackers, put them in a tight bag, and crush them! (I used the grahmn cracker bag and it worked just fine!)

Next, completely melt your butter in small or medium saucepan. Once your butter is completely melted, add your grahmn crackers and sugar, and mix until warm.

Once the sugar, butter, and grahmn crackers are mixed thoroughly, place it gently in your SPRING FORM PAN and push along the edges to even the crust out. (Make sure you spray your pan with non-stick spray!!)

Place your crust in your preheated oven for about 7 minutes, you don't want to go much longer or your crust will burn!! Once the crust is done, take out of oven and let sit until you are ready to add your filling!!

Now for the cheesecake part :) 

Increase your oven to 400 degrees once your crust is done and out! 

THEN,  Put your cream cheese into a large mixing bowl and mix until creamy and smooth. Next add your sugar, and flour. Beat this until it is mixed and smooth :) 

Next, beat in your vanilla extract, orange and lemon zest! AFTER THAT: Add your eggs in ONE AT A TIME!! (Remember, only 2 egg yolks, so do not add 5 entire eggs!) Mix each egg into the mixure until it is nice a creamy!

Once all your eggs are in the mixture, add your heavy cream and whip the mixture until it is light and whipy. (Yes you will see little air bubbles and that is completely normal AND WHAT YOU WANT!)

After your done with the mixture, grab a little butter and grease the side of the pan so the cake will not stick to the edges of the pan.

^^I took a picture of the pan to show those who do not know what a springform pan is, can see the pan :) It's wise to get one when making a cheese cake, or it might be a little messy coming out of a normal pan!! 

Put your cheesecake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Once those 15 minutes are up, turn the oven down to 200 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes!

Once the baking is done, turn the oven off and let your cheesecake sit in the oven for 2 hours. This will allow the cake to cool gradually and keep its shape well!!

Once the 2 hours in up, place in the fridge over night and it will be a lovely moist cake :) 

now for the sauce :) 

Take your fruit, sugar and water, and put in a small sauce pan. Your stove should be on low so the sugar doesn't burn :) The sugar should start dissolving after 5 minutes. Once you see the sugar dissolve, turn the heat up to medium and let he mixture combine well. The raspberries will become soft and combine with the water, sugar mixture. 

You can serve this sauce either warm or cold!! IT'S SO YUMMY!!! You can always add more sugar if your raspberries are a littel more tart then normal :)

THEN YOUR FINALLY DONE!! :) 

Yes, this recipe takes a while, but baking takes patience!!

I'm sure you will love this recipe as much as my husband and I did :) And yes, I know there are candles in my cake for my husband...the candles signify his age at heart :) <3

I hope you will try this recipe and realize that baking is easier then you think :) AND FUN!! Don't be afraid of baking just because your measurements have to be spot on!! Once you get a recipe down, you can play with it all you want :)

And as always.....

Much Love and Happy Cooking!!!

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup!

Here comes the fall weather!! It's 63 degrees today and I decided I wanted to make a nice pot of soup for dinner! I can't believe it's already fall! WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE??!!!

This recipe is very simple but has a little bit of prep time before the actual cooking begins : )

Ingredients!
1 bunch of broccoli
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 red-skinned potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup flour
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon of ground Nutmeg
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
One 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
Salt
Pepper
2 Green onions for garnishing

Directions!!
Alright first things first....CHOP CHOP CHOP! Chop your red-skinned potatoes, onions, and broccoli. When you are cutting the broccoli, make sure you separate the stem from the florets. DO NOT THROW THE STEM AWAY!!!! Cut the very bottom of the stem off and discard. The rest of the stem, wash and peel the first layer off with a potato peeler. The stem is actually very tender and full of nutrients, so whenever you can save it, SAVE IT!!

Combine the onion, stems of the broccoli, and potatoes in a large pot and let cook and become tender. I also drizzled some olive oil to help the potatoes stay moist and keep everything from sticking on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the onions are nice and tender.

Next, add the flour and stir until everything is coated. The flour will act as a thickening agent and will make the soup nice a thick! Next, add your chicken stock and let it come to a boil. Once it is at a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

While you are waiting for the boil, grab another small pot and combine your broccoli florets and a 1/2 cup of water and let the vegetables steam. Steam your broccoli for about 5 minutes and then add the entire contents to the soup. Also, add your nutmeg and stir in the mixture.

See how it's all starting to come together!!??? :)

Next, take the soup off the heat and add your cheese, Worcestershire Sauce, and evaporated milk. Mix this until the cheese is completely melted. Season with salt and pepper and YOU ARE DONE!!

This is what your end result should look like :) When you serve, garnish with the green onion and it will make it SO DELICIOUS!!!!

This is an amazing recipe to have when the air is nice and crisp and cool!! I hope you all love it as much as I do!!

And as always....... :)

Much Love and Happy Cooking :) 

White Chicken Corn Chili

Hello everyone!!! :) It has been a while since my last post! Between school, work, and taking care of the little one, I have had NO time to try new recipes out!!

UNTIL LAST NIGHT!!! This recipe is sooo yummy!! I pulled a recipe from the internet to see if I could doctor it up and make it what I like. But turns out, I never even followed the recipe, other then SOME of the ingredients! :)

I apologize ahead of time, there are no pictures :( I forgot to take one!!!!

Alright lets get started!! :)

Ingredients!!
Chicken Stock
2 cans of white canned beans (or bean of your choice!)
1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of green chili's
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2-3 ears of corn
1 pound of cubed COOKED chicken
Pepper
Salt

Directions!!
Alright this recipe is very easy!!! Make sure your chicken is cooked ahead of time! I just boiled my chicken a few hours before I started cooking this meal. You can grill or even bake your chicken. It's really your preference :)
FIRST:  Mince your garlic and onion and saute them in the bottom of your large pot with some olive oil until the onion is nice and tender!
NEXT:  Put your chicken stock, tomatoes, chili, spices, and beans in the pot. Let that come to a simmer and let sit for 10 minutes at least!
THEN: Add your corn and chicken and also let that simmer for at least 10 minutes. (You can put as much or as little of corn and chicken as you like! MY family LOVES corn so I put 3 ears of corn in the chili!)

This was a great recipe to have when Colorado was getting sooo much rain!! It's also a great recipe to freeze and keep until your ready to use it! Just make sure you add more chicken stock if you plan on making this a freezer meal :)

My family loved this and ate soooo much of it, I could hardly get anything to eat! This is a mild recipe, (but you can make it spicy if you like!) so it was easy for my little baby to eat.

I hope you all love this recipe as much as my family did :)
And as always.....

Much love and happy cooking :)