cheesecake

Tasty Tuesday–A Day Inspired by Final Fantasy XIV

Ladybug has been wanting to prepare a meal (or two!) using recipes from The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Online Cookbook, and we decided that spring break was the perfect opportunity. So last Wednesday, we had a day of Final Fantasy XIV-themed foods, starting with a “Sandwich Basket” for lunch. It included egg salad, roast beef with horseradish sauce, and lettuce, tomato, and avocado varieties:

For dinner, she choose “Deep-Fried Okeanis,” which was pretty much a schnitzel that would also work well for pork katsu sandwiches. It was served with some herb roasted potatoes that were really good.

Every good themed meal needs a special drink, so we made “The Black Shroud Lemonade,” which had a simple syrup made of honey and sugar…that gave it a unique flavor that I really enjoyed!

And for dessert, we made a “Rolanberry Cheesecake,” which had a combination of cherries, strawberries, and raspberries in the sauce. It was really delicious, and it didn’t crack at all!

I’m not really familiar with the game itself, but it certainly did provide us with a lot of good food!

Bobunk on Kirby Day

Last year, we celebrated Bobunk on Twosday, this year, we’re celebrating it on Kirby Day, because Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe was released on the Nintendo Switch today!

Ladybug made Kirby-inspired hot chocolate bombs, and today was the perfect chilly day to enjoy them!

I made the Kirby mocktail I invented last year…it looked really nice in our pink glasses!

For dinner, we did something new for Bobunk and got Super Gyros, which was delicious and made our house smell like Chicago:

For our Kirby Day dessert, I turned to the new Official Disney Parks Cookbook and made the Grand Californian’s Storytellers Cafe recipe for mini strawberry cheesecakes.

It was nice to have something fun to look forward to in the endless abyss that is February!

Quote of the Day

This conversation between Chandler and Rachel on Friends will never not make me laugh, and it also always makes me think of Eli’s Cheesecake!

“Where do you want to go to lunch?”

“Mama’s Little Bakery, Chicago, Illinois!”

The Easter Feast

Let’s start by focusing on what I liked about our Easter dinner. I set a very nice table, don’t you think? I love getting out our table linens and china, and making some kind of centerpiece. The side dishes were our standard family favorites: roasted potatoes, carrots, and brussels sprouts, pan-fried asparagus, cherry cola Jell-O, and mini croissants. Nothing terribly fancy, but dependably delicious. And the dessert was great. I tried a new recipe for a lemon curd swirl cheesecake with a homemade strawberry sauce. It took hours to get the whole thing made yesterday, but it looked and tasted great, so it was worth it. Those are all good things about our Easter dinner!

You may have noticed I didn’t mention the lamb. Despite the fact that I followed the recipe exactly (a recipe I have successfully made in the past, for the record), the lamb was way overdone. I don’t care what anybody who was at the dinner table said…it was not good. And since that was supposed to be the star of the meal, that was a huge disappointment to the chef.

Anyway, I’m going to try to focus on what I liked about the meal. And maybe not make lamb again next year.

Tasty Tuesday–St. Patrick’s Day

Here’s a list of all of the St. Patrick’s Day inspired recipes I’ve shared. Less than a week to go!

Tasty Tuesday–Pumpkin!

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Since fall (and the approach of Thanksgiving), is the time of year when it’s all about pumpkins, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite pumpkin recipes. And one of them isn’t even a dessert!

Also, you can add a can of pumpkin to pretty much any chili recipe to add a little depth and some extra nutrients! Can you tell I love cooking and baking with pumpkin?

Tasty Tuesday–National Cheesecake Day

In honor of “National Cheesecake Day,” here are a few of my favorite cheesecake recipes!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Strawberry Margarita Cheesecake (possibly my very favorite!)

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

Mint Oreo Cheesecake

Tasty Tuesday–Sopapilla Cheesecake

I tried this recipe out for Mother’s Day, and it was delicious! I’m not claiming it’s authentic or anything, but it’s easy to make, and so good! It was also be good topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries (neither of which I had on Mother’s Day…maybe next time).

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  • 3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 8 oz. cans crescent roll dough
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.
Beat cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape the each piece into a 9×13 inch rectangle. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture over dough, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough.
Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Stir the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar together with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the cheesecake.
Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting.