Happy Thanksgiving from Grammie Jan…

 

Cheesecake update…

It’s an awesome recipe.  I still think I would cut back on the butter in the crust to 1/2 cup, since I blotted a lot of excess with paper towel.  But it’s a keeper, it was yummy!

Tonight we’re going to do the bourbon sauce with it… Healthy eating is going all to hell this week.  Scarlett will worry about it Monday…

A quick update for you…

It’s a busy day at Ryans, as we’re having Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, doing prep work today. 

We’re making Nisha’s Chicken Velvet Soup later in the week with turkey breast leftovers, she wanted me to remind you all of this great recipe.  If you want something special, ladies, this is it.  And so easy to make, too.  You’ll love this one, pinkie swear…

Here’s the click…

I’ll be around, hopefully with baby Abby pictures for you.

~ jan

It’s finally out of the oven…

Okay, here’s the scoop.  I used a 9” springform pan, instead of a 12” because I like a thick, dense cheesecake.  Well this puppy just wouldn’t get done.  I cooked it an extra 50 minutes, no that’s not a typo, 50 minutes longer than recipe called for, and it’s still pretty jiggly.  It was so thick, no wonder it took forever, but it seems like I’ve messed with it all day!

However, it smells awesome, and I think it will be great when it cools.  I did tent it for the last 15 minutes loosely with foil, because it was starting to brown.  And yep, it cracked, but I think it will be a goodie.  I’ll let you know the results when we cut into it at Ryans…

Oh, one other note, if you’re not a cheesecake baker, always take a piece of foil, I usually double it, even with heavy duty foil, and set the springform pan on it, then mold it around the outer sides of the pan.  If you don’t, the butter from the cheesecake will leak out in the bottom of your oven and you will have a mess!

If you’re confused about how long to bake it – when it is set all around the edges, and a good way into the middle, it’s done.  I never cook cheesecakes that come clean with a toothpick in the middle.  I would rather undercook it just a bit then have it dry.

~ jan

Cheesecake tweaks…

When you make a recipe for the first time, it’s a learning experience.

The crust recipe called for 2/3 cup butter, that’s a LOT of butter, I usually use 1/3 cup in a crust, but I followed her recipe, baked it for 10 minutes, and it was super oily.  So I took paper towel and blotted the excess, next time I will use less, maybe cut it back to at least 1/2 cup.

The recipe also calls to do to it in a water bath, but my cheesecake pan won’t fit in a 9x13 pan, and my jellyroll pan is one of those air kind, so I was afraid if I used it the bottom wouldn’t cook, so I just put it directly in the oven.  That’s what I always do, it may crack a bit, they do sometimes, but that’s no biggie.  I will watch it tho, and if I think it’s getting too brown before the center is no longer jiggly, i’ll loosely tent it with aluminum foil.

I tasted that batter, it was excellent, I’m thinking this is going to be a great recipe.

I’ll update you on how it cooks, not going to cut it until Monday or Tuesday, though…

I always watch FoodTV while I’m cooking, and today Paula Deen’s cousin was on her show, the lady owns a bakery so she should be a good cook.  Paula said her pumpkin pie recipe was the best she’s ever eaten.  Great reviews for it online.  Check it out here….

I’m not running the show this year…

We’re going to Ryan and Lindsay’s this year for turkey day.  We went last year as well.  Before that I made Thanksgiving dinner every year since LC and I have been married, well except for one year when we went out, and John threw such a hissy because he hated the food and didn’t have leftovers that I never tried that again.  I was an only child, so was hubby, no siblings to trade off holidays with, it was all up to me. 

Well, girlfriends, the times they are a changin’ and I couldn’t be happier.  I’m tired of cooking all that food!  Oh, I’ll still be in the kitchen working alongside the family, but if I want to take time out and rock sweet bebe Abby, I can…

Ryan has a big kitchen with a big working center island, it’s so much easier this way. 

And today, I’m making the pumpkin cheesecake.  I decided to make the one from Susan Branch, here’s the click again in case you missed it when I posted it a few days ago.  That’s the good thing about cheesecake, it’s better after it ages for a few days. I’m also making another batch of caramel corn, the family can’t seem to get enough of it this year.  I made a batch last week when Charlie and Nish were here, he loved it, so she made it yesterday. Yeah, here’s the link for it, I know you want to look at it, too.

We’re also going to try the pumpkin streusel rolls for Thanksgiving morning.  Carlene sent me this recipe last week, and I was intrigued, as our family loves cinnamon rolls, it will be interesting to see how these turn out.  It’s a recipe from Cooking Light, only 214 calories per bun and rave reviews.  Here’s your click….

Okay, I’m outta here, I got work to do girlies…