Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing

You would not believe the amount of excitement that came from Aubrey when I told her we were making "pucakes" for family night this week. She loves to help make treats in the kitchen. I wanted to try a new frosting recipe and found this one posted by Ina Garten. I'm not usually a big fan of peanut butter cake or brownies, but this recipe reminded me of the peanut butter play dough I used to make for Olivia when she was Aubrey's age. We always ended up eating it all. It does taste very similar, only it's very, very light. So light that I thought it would lose its shape, but it didn't for several days. It's amazing that the cupcakes lasted that long in our house. It's all because of the "proper serving size" eating habit we started this month. Blast those cupcakes! I had to keep them out of sight.

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Rice Pudding

Rice pudding is one of my favorite comfort foods. I remember when I was playing basketball in middle school our bus broke down about an hour away from home after a game. It was a cold, Idaho winter night and we were freezing on that bus while we waited for another one to come and take us home. When Jessica and I got home, Mom had this warm rice pudding waiting for us. We sat and ate it and talked. It's a good memory.

A few weeks after I had Aubrey the Relief Society asked me to make 32 cups of rice pudding for a dinner they were having. Looking in my cookbook, I see that I made eight times the original recipe. That's 16 cups of milk, 16 eggs, 4 cups of raisins, 42 ounces of evaporated milk, and 5 cups of sugar. To make it worse, I accidentally made twice as much rice as I needed. And then, I put the pudding in plastic airliner cups like they asked me to only to find that the hot mixture melted the cups and they were crazy shaped. Why didn't I think of that? I blame it on my postpartum brain and lack of sleep. It turned out that the dinner was not well attended due to a snow storm and they brought almost all of the pudding back to me. We ate it for a long time and were so sick of it. And I hadn't made it since until yesterday and it was so good. Just the way I remember it. I had one warm bowl full and was completely satisfied.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice (leftover rice works best)

2 cups milk

5 1/3 ounces evaporated milk

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Scald milks together. Measure raisins into a strainer and set over boiling water long enough to plump them. Combine cornstarch, salt, and sugar. Stir into hot milk mixture, stirring constantly over medium heat until slightly thick and smooth. Add rice. Reheat to full boil. Remove from heat. Pour a 1/2 cup of hot rice mixture into beaten eggs while stirring rapidly. Return egg mixture to hot rice mixture while stirring. Continue to stir for about 2 minutes until thickened. Stir in raisins, spices, and vanilla. Ladle into bowls or dessert cups. Sprinkle with extra nutmeg or cinnamon. Serve either warm or cold. Makes eight 1/2 cup servings.

Dave's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies are my least favorite thing to bake. And honestly, I can think of a hundred desserts I'd rather eat. I wasn't always like this. It's all Dave's fault. It really is. He ruined me. You see, many years ago, during the beginning of our marriage we made a deal. I wanted to go home for Thanksgiving and he wanted to go somewhere else. I really, really wanted to go home because I like to cook with my mom and sisters and because my mom knows how to make Thanksgiving the best holiday ever. I must have been pretty desperate because I agreed to bake Dave cookies every Sunday for one full year -- cookies of his choice -- if we could go where I wanted for Thanksgiving. It was a done deal. Thanksgiving was enjoyed and the year long baking was tolerated -- at best. The worst part was that he insisted on me making only about three different kinds of cookies all year. I don't like to cook the same thing over and over again. And so I got all cookied out. And now I never, hardly ever, make cookies. And the girls know I won't do it and they love the time they get to spend with their Dad in the kitchen cooking one of their favorite treats.

That being said, cookies in Texas are not that great. They just aren't the same as when you make them in the West. Let's blame it on the humidity and altitude. Dave finally perfected a recipe from an old friend's old girlfriend, Natalie. We call it Dave's Chocolate Chip Cookies. They have the perfect crunchiness on the outside and are chewy in the inside. I've had my fair share today.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup butter flavored shortening

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

12 ounces chocolate chips

Directions:

Beat butter, shortening, sugars, eggs, and vanilla for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Add flour, salt, and baking soda; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet for 11 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

New York Cheesecake

During the holidays, my mother-in-law and I made the Famous Borjas Cheesecake. The Borjas cheesecake is very traditional, in fact, it's practically a member of the family. It shows up at important family events and celebrations. It's been around since the early 1950's. And I can't deny it's good, but for me, it's temperamental. I have about a 30% success rate with it. So I decided to find out the the secret of this cheesecake, you know, why it only works sometimes. And I found an interesting tidbit: the difference between the New York cheesecake and other kinds of cheesecake, is the thin layer of sour cream on top. I also found a new recipe fairly similar to the Borjas Cheesecake and some cheesecake cooking tips. The girls and I had to try the new recipe. We made it and felt so rebellious! It worked perfectly and was so good.

(adapted from Joy of Baking.com)

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Spray a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling Ingredients:

32 ounces (4 - 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature (do not used reduced fat cream cheese)

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream (not low fat or fat free)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour in mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth, (about 2 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat on low until mixed. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake on a cookie sheet and set on the center rack in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees and continue to back for about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. This tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day. Serve with fresh fruit or fruit sauces.

To freeze: Place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag. Seal and return to freezer. Can be frozen for several months. Thaw uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight.

Tips: To help prevent the surface of the cheesecake from cracking, do not overbeat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar. Also, do not overbake. Your cheesecake is down when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet. Finally, make sure the springfrom an is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools.

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

I tasted a soup like this at a potluck dinner a couple of months ago and wanted to get the recipe. Then I forgot about it until my sister posted it on our family recipe blog. It's a new favorite. The Italian sausage adds so much flavor. Makes me feel like I'm sitting in a little European cafe in the wintertime.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian ground sausage (mild)

1 medium onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth

1 3/4 c. water

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg. (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 pkg. (6 oz) fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped

2 1/4 tsp. minced fresh basil or 3/4 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

dash crushed red pepper flakes

shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:

Crumble sausage into soup pot; add onion. Cook and stir over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add the broth, water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil.

Stir in tortellini; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-8 minutes or until tortellini are tender, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach, basil, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted. Serve with cheese if desired.