cheesecake

First Day of School 2023

I decided to do something different this year, and start the new school year on a Friday, so we could spend a day doing only the fun, first-day-of-school stuff, and not worry about diving into the work until next week. Last night, I made sure the school room was ready to go…I made a few minor changes this year, but for the most part, our setup is the same as it has been:

I also got the Schultüte assembled:

After we look through our materials for the year, pictures are always a priority:

I decided we needed a fun outing to kick things off, so we drove all the way to Livingston, IL (about 40 minutes away) to the Twistee Treat Diner at The Pink Elephant for ice cream cones. It’s on Historic Route 66, and we’ve driven by it every time we’ve gone to Chicago, and I thought the time was finally right to check it out!

Would it even be the first day of school if we didn’t build a Lego set? I decided the Disney Villains Icons set would be a nice bridge from our fairy tale themed summer school…it’s a very clever set, and the girls let me build the Sleeping Beauty part. We’ll just ignore the hard time they gave me over the VHS tape build!

A (poison) apple for the teacher!

Ladybug requested a special dinner from Lilo and Stitch: The Official Cookbook. She really wanted to try the Pelekai Sweet and Sour Pork, and it was excellent! I also made a super decadent, super chocolatey cheesecake for dessert.

I really liked starting the school year this way…it was nice not to have to immediately get started on our actual work! I think we just might do it this way again next year (which will be Ladybug’s last first day of school with me)!

Tasty Tuesday–White Chocolate Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake

Once I perfected my white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe, I started wondering what other kinds of cheesecakes I could make following the same basic recipe. For my first attempt, I went with one of my favorite flavor combinations, blueberry-lemon. It turned out just as well (although maybe not quite as pretty coming out of the cheesecake pan), and the flavor is amazing…I think I like it even better! The real star of the recipe is the sauce, which would also be good on pancakes and waffles, ice cream, and anything else you can think of!

Blueberry Lemon Sauce:

  • 10 oz. frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch

Combine blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until sauce is thick, about 5 minutes. Strain through a mesh strainer. Refrigerate overnight.

Graham Cracker Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all three ingredients together, then press into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool to room temperature. When cool, place in freezer for at least an hour.

Cheesecake:

  • 2 cups white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half
  • 24 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Preheat oven to 325. Melt white chocolate chips and half-and-half in double boiler; cool slightly. Mix cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add lemon zest, lemon extract, and melted white chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour half of the batter over frozen crust. Spoon 3 Tbsp. blueberry sauce over batter. Slowly pour in remaining cheesecake batter. Spoon 3 Tbsp. blueberry sauce over top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect. Bake in the preheated oven until top is set, 60-75 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for another 30 minutes. Cool cheesecake to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve with remaining blueberry sauce

Tasty Tuesday–White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I’ve been tinkering with this cheesecake recipe for a while, and I have it to a point where it’s the single best cheesecake I’ve ever made!

Raspberry Sauce:

  • 10 oz. frozen raspberries
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch

Combine raspberries, water, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until sauce is thick, about 5 minutes. Strain through a mesh strainer to remove seeds. Refrigerate overnight.

Graham Cracker Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all three ingredients together, then press into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool to room temperature. When cool, place in freezer for at least an hour.

Cheesecake:

  • 2 cups white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half
  • 24 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Melt white chocolate chips and half-and-half in double boiler; cool slightly. Mix cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and melted white chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour half of the batter over frozen crust. Spoon 3 Tbsp. raspberry sauce over batter. Slowly pour in remaining cheesecake batter. Spoon 3 Tbsp. raspberry sauce over top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect. Bake in the preheated oven until top is set, 60-75 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for another 30 minutes. Cool cheesecake to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

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!