Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

Here is my recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake with a caramel sauce and homemade whipped cream.

Crust:

½ cup chopped pecans

1 cup crushed gingersnap cookies

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups brown sugar

5 eggs

3 tablespoons flour

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

¾ ground teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 tablespoons of whiskey

2 15-ounce cans of pureed pumpkin

Preheat oven to 375^o F. Mix together pecans, crushed gingersnap cookies, brown sugar, and flour. Add the melted butter and press in the bottom of your pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool fully before adding filling,

Set oven to 325^oF

Take the pumpkin puree and squeeze out as much excess water as possible (I just squeezed it in between paper towels).  In a large bowl mix together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and all spice. Add the salt, pumpkin, vanilla and whiskey. Next, beat the eggs, but go one egg at a time making sure it is smoothly blended before adding another. I used a hand mixer to blend it all together.

In a separate bowl combine the cream cheese and brown sugar until it is creamy and smooth. Making sure your cream cheese is room temperature will make this process very easy. Then gradually add the pumpkin mixture into the cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth. Then pour over the cooled crust and bake for 1½ hours. After the hour and a half, shut the oven off and prop it open and leave it to cool in the oven for an hour. Then you just have to chill it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Caramel Sauce:

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

½ cup whipping cream

*Use a large pot. When the cream is added the sugar mixture will foam up.

Melt sugar on high until it is an amber color. Whisk in the butter. After the butter is melted. Turn take the pan off the heat. Count to fifteen then slowly mix in the cream (this is when the mixture will foam up). Whisk until smooth. The caramel should be good up for about two weeks.

Whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

Put the whipping cream and sugar in a bowl. Whisk until stiff peaks are formed. (I used an electric hand mixer because it’s faster)

Mediterranean Chicken

Well, I'm back again. Life has been crazy. Between working, school, and trying to have a social life, I haven't had much time to cook. When I do have time to cook it's usually basics for my family, but the other day I put in some real effort and came up with a new recipe. Jonathan and I recently celebrated our five year anniversary (go us!) and when we did we used an Olive Garden gift card that one of my favorite customers was nice enough to gift to me! While there I dined on their Mediterranean chicken and I knew that I had to figure out how to make it at home! Jonathan of course thought that this was a fine idea and offered to make a video of me creating this dish!

Ingredients:

Chicken

Angel hair pasta

Fresh spinach

Cherry tomatoes

Feta

Lemon

Shallot

Dijon mustard

Olive oil

Basil

Parsley

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

For the vinaigrette you want to juice one lemon, add 1/4 cup of olive oil to the lemon juice. Mince 1 tsp of shallot (In this video I used a red onion because it was what I had on hand) and add in to the mixture. Then, add 1/2 tsp of dijon mustard and whisk. Set aside for later.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat to cook the chicken. Season with basil, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until it is no longer pink.

While the chicken is cooking boil water for the pasta and cook until it is done and drain. Put the pasta back into the pot and add a couple had fulls of spinach, cherry tomatoes (I cut them in half first), the vinaigrette, and let it all heat up. Add the feta before plating and then add the pan seared chicken on top and you're all set!

Long Time No Post

I've been really slacking in my posts lately and I do not like it. I am currently working two jobs and I'm also a full time student so that really does not leave a lot of time for blogging if I want to have a social life outside of work and school. Currently, I'm putting off writing a paper which is why I now have time to update :)

Work is great. If you did not know, I work for both Journey's and PetSmart. I love working for both of these businesses. Journey's is great because I get to work with some awesome people, it's super laid back and for me it's easy to sell people shoes because I love shoes! We have dance parties all the time and my Joe, my manager, and I are constantly trying to copy the sweet dance moves from the music videos that play in the store. PetSmart is seriously a great company to work for. They are a little more strict about things within the work environment, but it's still a fun place to work. I get to pet dogs all day and interact with people who love their pets! Also, PetSmart does not sell cats or dogs because there is such an overpopulation of both already. As a company PetSmart partners with local shelters to help adopt out abandoned cats and dogs so that they can be placed in a good home and so that animals don't have to be put down because overcrowding. If you couldn't tell, I really love my jobs! What I'm not loving is having to write a paper on race relations in the United States for my sociology class, but I must now get back to writing it as I have taken too long of a "break" already. 

A Taste of Fall; Pumpkin Cake w/ Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello friends!

I just spent a sweet weekend hanging out with some wonderful ladies at a retreat called Women's Weekend! There was painting, button crafts, worship, hiking, waterfalls, deep talks, and the annual V-games. It was a sweet balm for my soul and it really got my creative juices flowing so I decided to blog it up! Fall is definitely my favorite season. The warm colors, sweaters, and food just make me so happy. Because I love fall so much I definitely wanted to make a pumpkin cake. I LOVE pumpkin! It's super delish and really easy to work with. This is a decadent-in-the-moment-but-you-should-probably-add-extra-reps-to-your-next-workout kind of cake. It is worth every extra mile, sit-up, or squat. I promise! 


I hope that you really enjoy this cake! If you really enjoy beer, I suggest eating this cake with Great Lakes Oktoberfest. I know what you're thinking, beer and cake, really... really Katie? It seems like a weird pairing, but it is a fun fall combination that Jonathan and I really enjoyed. 

The Cake:

You will need: 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl combine the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin using your electric mixer. Beat until it's smooth.

In a separate bowl mix together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda.

Mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture gradually and at the lowest speed on your mixer. Blend until it's smooth and creamy.

Pour your cake batter into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Then put it in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center and comes out clean. 

Let the cake cool completely before you ice it.

The Icing:

In a large bowl combine the cream cheese and butter. Use your electric mixer to combine them until the mixture is smooth.

Add the powdered sugar very gradually and at a low speed. Powdered sugar is very light and will go EVERYWHERE if you're not careful. I learned this lesson the messy way. Once the sugar is completely mixed in add the vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until everything is combined.

Once your cake has cooled completely, frost it up and then enjoy!

The Whole Shebang:

Cake:

4 eggs

1 cup of vegetable oil

1 15-ounce can of pumpkin

1 and 2/3 cups of granulated sugar

2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl combine the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin using an electric mixer. Beat until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda.

3. Mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture gradually and at the lowest speed on the mixer. Blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour the cake batter into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center and comes out clean. Let cool.

Icing:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 pumpkin pie spice

1. Combine the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth.

2. Add the powdered sugar very gradually and at a low speed.

3. Add the vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until everything is combined. 

4. Frost the cake and then enjoy!

Jambalaya

I know that I promised a post about sea salt caramel and I WILL post it, but today is cloudy, a bit dreary and they’re calling for rain in the evening so I decided to post an easy, delicious jambalaya recipe instead. It just goes with my warm, comfort food mood. This recipe is a huge hit in my house. In fact, my parents LOVE the show Seinfeld so making jambalaya causes my dad to walk around the house like this:

This jambalaya is done in the crock pot so you can just put it all together and then let it cook all day on low!

You’ll need:

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of chicken broth

1 can of tomato paste

2 medium bell peppers

1 medium onion

1/2 a jalapeño*

1 Serrano chili*

4 celery ribs

5 garlic cloves

3 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons dried basil

1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce. I went with Franks Red Hot Sauce, but any will do.

1 pound of chicken breasts

1 pound smoked sausage

Rice

*These were leftovers from when I made grilled corn pico de gallo so I decided to add them to the jambalaya on a whim and it was delicious! 

First I would like to take a moment and say how flipping awesome Reynolds slow cooker liners are! We use our crock pot a lot in my house and these have a been an incredible investment for us. They keep the food from sticking to the inside of the slow cooker and they make clean up super easy! Okay, that's enough of my unsponsored plug for Reynolds. 

The first thing you want to do it take your diced tomatoes UNdrained, chicken broth, and tomato paste and combine them in your slow cooker. Make sure you really get the paste mixed in.

Next you chop up your onion, bell peppers, Serrano, jalapeno, and celery and then add them to your tomato mixture.

Then you cut up your chicken into one inch pieces, slice up the smoked sausage, and then add them to your crock pot. 

Now it's time to kick up the flavor and season this jambalaya up! Mince your garlic then add it to the slow cooker along with the parsley flakes, basil, oregano, salt, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, and hot pepper sauce. This is really a time to experiment with flavor. I gave you measurements close to what I used but don't be afraid to add or take away. I made this jambalaya so my whole family could enjoy it, but you can definitely add more spice or take some away. If I was just making it for myself I would have added more cayenne, more hot sauce, and more crushed red pepper flakes. Food is meant to be experimented with so have fun with it and don't fear changing some of the spice additions. 

Once you've added all your spices give everything a mix, set your slow cooker on low and go about your day!

About a twenty minutes before you want to eat you'll need to prepare your rice according to the directions. Then you just serve the jambalaya over the rice and enjoy!

If you want, you can also choose to add shrimp to the jambalaya. Make sure they are uncooked, peeled and deveined. You can add them to the jambalaya about twenty to thirty minutes before you're ready to eat. If you add them before that they will get tough and rubbery which is not yummy. 

The Recipe Recap:

You will need:

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of chicken broth

1 can of tomato paste

2 medium bell peppers

1 medium onion

1/2 a jalapeño*

1 Serrano chili*

4 celery ribs

5 garlic cloves

3 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons dried basil

1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce. I went with Franks Red Hot Sauce, but any will do.

1 pound of chicken breasts

1 pound smoked sausage

Rice

*These were leftovers from when I made grilled corn pico de gallo so I decided to add them to the jambalaya on a whim and it was delicious! 

1. Mix the diced tomatoes UNdrained, chicken broth, and tomato paste in your slow cooker. Make sure you really get the paste mixed in.

2. Chop up the onion, bell peppers, Serrano, jalapeno, and celery and then add them to your tomato mixture.

3. Cut the chicken into one inch pieces, slice up the smoked sausage. Add them to the crock pot. 

4. Mince the garlic then add it to the slow cooker along with the parsley flakes, basil, oregano, salt, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, and hot pepper sauce. 

5. Stir everything up, set the slow cooker on low and cook for 5-7 hours.

6. Serve the jambalaya over cooked rice.