Mini Snickers Cheesecakes

If there has ever been proof that there is a higher power, in my mind it would be cheesecake. I adore cheesecakes. You could give me a list of 100 types and I would not scratch one of them off and I would love to try every single last one of them. Is it any wonder that my butt is so big? I think not! The smoothness in the texture... the sweetness, creamy and tasty.

I talked to Scott recently about a childhood memory of his grandmother. He wrote that he loved her cheesecake as it had extra butter in the graham cracker crust. I agree with him that there needs to be real butter used... and just enough sugar... not too much as it will spoil everything.

What is my favorite type of cheese cake? I am not sure... but I don't think that I have met it yet, as there are simply too many. I really like pumpkin cheese cake with a ginger snap crust. It is AMAZING... and different and a little bit of heaven in my mouth.

I recently discovered a Mini Snickers Cheesecakes at a blog called Six Sister's Stuff. Please join them there for a peek at all of their wonderful goodness that they share with their readers. They have some amazing recipes they share. I have spent a couple of hours there reading. Love it.

On to the dessert... here is the recipe. My family loved it. Mini servings that I baked in my Demarle cupcake pan. No liners needed. Mini means portion control to me as I seriously could eat three slices of cheesecake if people don't watch me. I would pay for it as it is too rich for my stomach in that much quantity... yet... the taste makes me driven for more. I was able to send some of these home with my son Taylor and my daughter Amanda. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Six Sister's ... you did good with this recipe. IT IS AMAZING!

Mini Snickers Cheesecakes Copy and pasted from their site. Please use link above to visit,

2 c. chopped Snickers Bars
2 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbl. granulated sugar
5 Tbl. melted butter
2 8oz packages softened cream cheese
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbl. pure vanilla
3 Tbl. caramel sauce

**The original recipe suggests making these in a muffin top pan but I used a regular muffin tin pan and they worked fine! If you are using a regular muffin tin, use a little bit less than 1/4 c. when you are pouring the filling into each tin so they don't overflow.**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place chopped Snickers Bars into a bowl, set aside for now. Place graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter into a mixing bowl to combine. Spoon a couple spoonfuls of crumbs into each section of the muffin pan and press down and up the sides. Bake for 5-6 minutes or just until browned. Remove from oven.

In a stand or electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined, scraping sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in caramel sauce until well combined. Pour about 1/4 c. of cheesecake mixture over each baked crust then top evenly with chopped Snickers. Bake for 23-26 minutes or until cheesecake edges are just starting to brown and centers are nearly set. Remove and let cool completely. While still warm, loosen all edges with a plastic knife to make for easier removal from pan. Refrigerate once cooled then top with caramel sauce and whipped cream to serve!

12 individual cheesecakes

Easiest Ever Rhubarb Pound Cake

I know, I know, yet another Rhubarb recipe. I love it so very much... one of my favorite parts of the summer, and you, the readers are going to have to suffer with my obsession of the wonderful, very favorite thing. (my favorite thing today... it may change tomorrow of course)

This recipe was so good when a fellow banker, when I worked at the bank, brought for a potluck. Her name is Betty. Betty was always slower to learn the procedures at work, and had a difficult time dealing with irate customers over the phone. She was elderly. She had the most beautiful white to silver hair. She still is very pretty. Her husband, at the time was battling cancer... so she and I bonded right away. She is kind and she is caring... and she is anything but a banker. She is a listener, she is a nurturer, she is a mom and a grandma and a sweet lady, but banking wasn't her niche either. She would be the best volunteer at a hospital to visit sick people. She would be a wonderful woman to rock sick babies... she would be the best greeter at a church... as she makes people feel loved... it is just her way... but not a banker... she was lost in the industry. She and I were the cooks on the team. When she brought this dish in one day... she was reluctant to give me the recipe as it was... top secret. She pulled me into the corner as it was that much of a secret.

Here is what she told me...

Cut up rhubarb and put it into a 9x13 baking dish. Pour on sugar... when it looks like enough, pour an extra handful on top. Buy an instant pound cake, or short cake at the grocery store. Mix according to directions. Pour it on top of the rhubarb and bake as directed. When it is cooled, serve with either cream poured on top or whipped cream...

There you have it...

I used
9 stalks of rhubard
2 1/2 cups of sugar
PLUS...
and extra handful (for good measure as Betty told me to... remember rhubarb is sour...)

I then used the pound cake. I have used the shortcake as well. It is on the top shelf of the cake aisle at the grocery store. (Both the pound cake and short cake. I like the shortcake better, but both are excellent.)

I have also added strawberries to it in the past which is fantastic as well...

I cooked mine for 28 minutes. Keep an eye on it. I started at 20 minutes and added time.

ENJOY... Today I thought of Betty as I made this. Her husband died shortly before I exited the banking world. He was her world. I said a little prayer for her. She loved him so and she said this was one of his favorite dishes... Blessings on the journey Betty.

Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars with a Sour Cream Glaze

Before I get questions about this, as I ALWAYS do, don't worry about the sour cream glaze. It is fantastic. Sour cream picks up any flavor you use it for. This is a sweet and wonderful flavor and it isn't sour at all. It isn't the same without it, so trust me on this one.

I few if my favorite things of summer....
1. Saturday Markets... LOVE THEM
2. BBQing... carne asada is my very favorite thing to bbq.
3. My kids when they would run through the sprinkler... they are 23 and 20 now and they refuse
to do it anymore... oh... yes... we can't forget I also have a 6 year old so we are all good with the
sprinklers for a few more years.... YEAH!!!
4. Popsicles on the back porch....
5. Sitting on the back porch at night listening to Carlie tell her stories... I have a few years of her
thinking it is ok to sit and chat with mom still...
6. Going to orchards and picking fruits and veggies since I don't have a garden here now... but
I promise to have one next year... for sure...
7. The sound of the ice cream truck coming down the street. I am not sure which is louder, the
music of the ice cream truck or Carlie screaming that it is coming down the street. It really
is a toss up...
8. Taking the kids camping...
9. A few days with no rain here in Oregon, notice I said a few... don't hold your breath on that
one.
10. Fresh corn on the cob (nothing better than when we lived in Iowa... nothing even compares),
fresh strawberries, and also...

BUT of ALL of these things, nothing quite compares to my love for RHUBARB! I love it so much. I want to plant it in my backyard, SO BAD. It is so expensive to buy right now. I remember when my parents had huge bushes of it in their back yard. I would make rhubarb sauce to eat on top of ice cream. I would make pies... coffee cakes... you name it... we would eat it and it was heaven. Now, this is when the older kids didn't realize they were going to be picky eaters. I think Taylor still likes it... but Amanda will have nothing to do with it. Carlie, she isn't too sure, but I can tell she doesn't like it now... but there will be a day she loves it. I hope so anyhow.

This recipe was given to me by a lady named Phyllis that used to go to a forum I belonged to that we would exchange recipes. As soon as she posted it, I knew I would love it... and I did. In fairness she received it from her daughter, but I am not sure what her name was and this has been about six years ago....

So, during the summer, if you call me and you are not able to find me... I am hiding in the closet eating the whole pan of these. They are that good.

Also, I have now discovered I am a place mat, table cloth and dish freak. I like to take photos of my food on pretty plates, in my pretty bowls, on my pretty table clothes... not on paper plates. Forgive me, Father for I have sinned... as this is at a block party and it was on... GULP... a paper plate. Oh so sad. I know, I know... I have the perfect idea. I have some rhubarb on hand... and some sour cream... I think I shall make some more tonight and I will add some more photos when it is done... how is that for compromise? If you call me when you see the new photos... and I don't answer... you already have a great idea of where I will be....



Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars with a Sour Cream Glaze

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 tbsp white sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cup rhubarb (finely chopped)
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp white sugar
Method
1 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease an 11x7-inch baking dish.
2 In a bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, the softened butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar until well combined; press into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
3 Bake the crust in the preheated oven until it starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the crust. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4 Using the same bowl, thoroughly mix 1 cup sugar with 1/4 cup flour; stir in the rhubarb and toss to coat. Spread the rhubarb mixture over the baked crust. Using the same bowl, mash the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the egg until the mixture is creamy; spread over the rhubarb.
5 Bake in the oven until the rhubarb is bubbling and the topping is set, about 35 minutes.
6 In the same bowl, mix sour cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar; spread over the hot dessert. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Refrigerate leftovers.

Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker... Southwestern Crepes

As per my previous post, you can see I do scour food blogs. One blog that caught my attention from day one is Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. I love foodie blogs of course, but hers has so much more to it.... life stories... do it yourself articles, and it just has a homey feel to it. She likes a lot of the same food I do by the looks of things. Sooooooo.... when I saw this recipe... I had to change my whole breakfast menu for my upcoming girls weekend. It looked THAT GOOD to me.

Well I made her recipe, but I did half just the way she wrote and half, I put extra sugar and cinnamon on the top layer... for my son Taylor. He is autistic and he has a thing with textures sometimes and I wanted something a little crisper on the outside. Now you wonder I am sure, why I didn't take a photo of both textures... the one just like hers, and the special one for Taylor. Quite simply... since it was a half batch... and there were three of us eating it... it was gone in no time flat... and all I had left were Taylor's... so as Gilly from Saturday Night Live would say... SORRY....

First... here is her site and the recipe for southwestern crepes. You will love it over there as much as I do. She is a super sweet lady too. Her recipes are to die for. I have many on my list to try. I just had to do this one as soon as I saw it though as it looked so good and we have girls weekend coming up this weekend. Yeah. I will be topping these with whipping cream as well just so our butts grow a little bit more. What are girls weekends for?

Second... try this recipe.... super easy and so very good.

Third, I am not giving you the recipe here... you need to go to her site to see it... and browse there. LOL! You will be glad you did.

Another blog that I have looked at for hours...

Getting started. Carlie always wears a tshirt when she cooks to keep her clothes clean. I really wish I knew how to sew well as I would make her a cute little apron with frills, whistles and bells for Christmas or her birthday. For now, she loves the tshirt. She always says she is cookin with Dr King. LOL


Carlie making a batch for her brother to take back to his home. She loves cooking for others as well. Wonder where she gets that behavior from.

She is always so pleased with herself when she completes things in the kitchen. She did a great job. Now the mess she made... she did a great job at that too... 100% or nothing with this little girl.


I go to some of the cooking or foodie blogs and when I have the time I could stay there forever... so very fun for me. People surely must think I am crazy. That is okay... they won't be the first. I have so many posts to catch up on with things I have been cooking here for my family... but... I will start with this one.

I found Mommy's Kitchen in the first couple of days I was on blogging this go around. I saw this particular recipe right away and knew I was going to make it for the 4th of July. Each year our neighborhood gets together for the 4th and we eat and laugh and talk and enjoy each other. Everyone brings fireworks and we let those off when it gets dark. We also live near the golf course and they have a larger fireworks show that we can watch from the street. It is fun for everyone. The deal with the potluck is... everyone brings their own meat to grill. Some people opt to share, but in reality it is for your family. They then bring one side dish. So... not yo mama's banana pudding was on my bucket list of to makes. Something cool for a hot day. Something I knew not anyone else would make. I also try to incorporate Carlie helping me in the kitchen as she loves to cook. So... we did... and it was fun. We had a great time. She was a little bossy with me... but that is nothing unusual when we are cooking as she wants to take over. I may have a future chef on my hands. So... we did this recipe together. We doubled the batch however, so I could send an 8x8 back home with my son Taylor... (but he is a nilla wafer fan so he got that in his... with his autism, sometimes you are better off leaving well enough alone on some of the things he likes...) and I took an 8x8 to work for the people that had to work swing on 4th and had to miss out on festivities. This had raves... and it was wonderful... so try it... you will like it....

We never bring one side dish... it just isn't me... and those that know me know it isn't me. So.... we also brought some corn on the cob... some limeade punch... a taco salad, and an enchilada casserole. We had carne asada for our meat. It was sooooooo very good.

And visit her blog... she has a lot going on over there and you will love her site...

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6-8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 - 5-ounce box instant French vanilla pudding
1 - 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 -14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 - 12-ounce container frozen whipped topping thawed
or equal amounts sweetened whip cream.

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: 12 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Difficulty Level: Kid Easy
Adapted from: Let's Celebrat

OMG Lemon Cheesecake Bars ... so good

So I am the lady... THAT LADY. I am not so sure if it fits my personality or not... I hope it does as I think of myself as a generous person... but I am THAT LADY on the block that loves to bake and take things to people. Not always to my block... lots of times at work... no matter where I work... etc. So... last week we had a meeting at work at 3:30p. Now, not that I so much mind missing out on sleep or anything, but when I rush to work for this meeting as I am told there is possibilities of people being fired or written up if they don't show up... and then the meeting lasts 8 minutes. Oh... the eight minutes is because he had to repeat things to people that showed up late. Now to me, that seems awfully silly. However, I got up early (remember, I work graveyards, so I don't go to bed til 9 or 10 am... to make these cheesecake bars. Now I had made them before, but it had been a year or so. I understand why.... they are so darned good.... they are addicting. One guy at work actually ate like seven of them... hahaha. Everyone asked for the recipe... so I shared. Anyhow. I debated about posting a photo of them as this is an ugly plate from work and if anyone knows me they know I am a plate and dish snob.... I like my dishes.... just the way I am built. (Perhaps it is a sickness and I am just in denial. YIKES...)

Anyhow... Lemon Cheesecake Bars... Enjoy them. I am going to make these to take to Amanda's baby shower this weekend as well I think....

2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Powdered sugar
1 cup Butter -- Softened
8 ounces Cream Cheese -- Softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup Evaporated milk
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Flour
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 teaspoons Lemon Peel -- grated
1 cup Sour Cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350F degrees.

In a bowl, combine the flour and powdered sugar; cut in the butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles crumbs. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 13x9 baking pan. Bake crust for 25 minutes.

In a blender, combine the cream cheese, eggs, milk, sugar, 1 tbsp of flour, lemon juice, and grated lemon peel. Blend until smooth. Pour into baked crust. Bake for 15 minutes or until mixture is set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Spread sour cream over the top and chill. Cut into bars.

German Chocolate Upside Down Cake

When G had his birthday he had just gotten out of the hospital. We did take him to Olive Garden but he wasn't able to eat much. Today I made my promise to Carlie and made his birthday for him. I had to go to the grocery store... which seems like a small task...but when you have a daughter who lollygags... and gets distracted... it is a long process. I also cooked with her which is priceless, but also slows me down. All in all, I would rather be cooking with her at a slower pace than not cooking with her. So.... it all works out and we had a lot of laughs and giggles today... (and I only pulled out one handful of my hair)... KIDDING!!!

The site for the day... See Jane in the kitchen. I used two of her recipes today... perfect for us... check her out... great site...

Find the recipe here... German Chocolate Upside Down Cake

The cake is like a southern butter gooey cake recipe I have from Paula Dean, just a little different. It is superb and you will love it. It is a moist cake with a crust that is hard... but... it is perfect!!! Enjoy!!!!

German Chocolate Upside Down Cake

1 german cake mix, prepared according to box directions

1 cup coconut

2 cups chopped pecans... I used walnuts... always love walnuts...

1 cup melted butter

1 pound powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

1. Spread greased 9x13 pan with 1 cup coconut and 2 cups (or so, depending on preference) chopped pecans.

2. Prepare german cake mix according to directions and pour over nuts and coconut.

3. Mix butter, powdered sugar and cream cheese together and pour over cake. Swirl with knife.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This is after pouring cake batter over coconut and walnuts.


Putting the cream cheese, powdered sugar and butter on cake mix.


Marbling the cream cheese mix into the cake...


Right out of the oven... smells so very good...


Ready to eat. It is so very good... to die for...