Sunday Night

Our Sunday night consisted of dinner with the fam, dessert, and games. We played catchphrase. The reason for this post is simply because my dad obviously didn't listen when the clues were being given, and it made me laugh.

Example 1:

The clue was, 'time to get out your watch'. His response was 'Annie get your gun'.

We all laughed really hard because, well, that doesnt make sense. Then it was his teams turn again, and he really wasnt listening.

Example 2: 

The clue was, 'you float with these when you go swimming'. His response was 'a metal detector'. 

It was a really fun night!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

I seem to have trouble making cheesecakes. They are never very smooth. But this one turned out so great. You have to make it, it is totally worth the effort!

On a side note, I know the picture looks like there is cauliflower on top of the cheesecake, I forgot to take a picture the day we had it and turns out whip cream the next day looks a whole lot like cauliflower. When I make it again I will fix the picture.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Crust:
4 Tbsp Butter, melted
2 1/2 cups Chocolate Cookie Crumbs (I used Oreos)

Filling:
4 (8-ounce) blocks Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup Sugar
4 large Eggs
1 tsp Flour
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Sour Cream (I used light and it worked just fine)

Cookie Dough:
½ cup Butter, softened
½ cup Sugar
½ cup packed Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Water
2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

An additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips to fold into the batter with the cookie dough balls

Garnish:

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, whipped to stiff peaks (add 1 tablespoon powdered sugar while whipping if you like a bit of extra sweetness)
Mini Chocolate Chips, for sprinkling (I forgot and ate all of my extras while it was baking)

For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugars for the cookie dough. Add the water, vanilla and blend. Mix in the flour, salt and the chocolate chips. The dough will be fairly soft. Gently roll the dough into small balls (about a teaspoon size) and place them on a wax paper lined plate or baking sheet. Place them in the freezer to harden while making the rest of the cheesecake.

For the crust: Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, combine the butter with the chocolate cookie crumbs (you could easily use a food processor to crush the cookies and incorporate the butter). Press onto the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.

For the cheesecake: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour until smooth. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix just until blended. Be careful not to overmix – incorporating too much air into the batter can contribute to a cheesecake cracking on top during baking.

Pour half the batter into the prepared crust. Gently stir in the cookie dough balls and the additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Pour into the pan, spreading the batter to the sides of the pan and evening it out across the top (it is ok to see bumps of cookie dough here and there, smooth it the best you can). Bake the cheesecake at 325 degrees for one hour. Turn off the oven and prop the door open several inches. Let the cake sit in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate until chilled (ideally, overnight). To serve, cut into slices and top with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips.

Recipe Source:www.melskitchencafe.com

Cookie Face

I haven't shared anything about Annie in a while so I thought I would. Annie is almost 2. She is getting so big so fast. I just thought I would share some pictures just cause she is so darn cute! Get ready cause here we go. . .

Annie's Cookie Faces. . .

She is just a cutie . . .

S'mores Bars

I was skeptical about these, but they were really good. The one thing I hate about s'mores is the chocolate never seems to melt all the way, and these taste just like a s'more but are better because they chocolate is melted. Try 'em, you will love 'em.

S'mores Bars

1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1 large Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/3 cups Flour
3/4 cup Graham Cracker crumbs 

1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
2 king-sized Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
1 1/2 cups Marshmallow Fluff

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough, they should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This part can be tricky. I spread mine out on parchment paper and flipped it over. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe Source: thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com

Maycie is 6 Months!

Maycie turned 6 months on August 5th. 

 

So many things have happened in the last 6 months with our little Maycie. . .

*She learned to crawl(she army crawls), but she can move and thats all that matters!

*She learned to sit up. She can sit up without falling over. She can go from her tummy to sitting up and from sitting up to her tummy without smashing her face into the floor.

*She sleeps from 8.30pm to 7.30am.

*She loves to put anything she can find in her mouth including her toes and her bottom lip.

*She loves to follow Annie everywhere she goes. 

*She loves to laugh.

*She loves to yell.

Just some pictures of our cutie on her 6 month birthday. . .

Look at all that hair!!

She loves to smile!

When she cant find anything else she loves to eat her toes!

Thats our little sweetie at 6 months!

**Just out of interest at 6 months and 2 days Maycie got her first tooth!**

Twice Baked Potato

Potatoes are one of my favorite foods. They are so good. There are so many ways to have a potato, all very delicious. This was no exception. My husband who hates potatoes, still required BBQ sauce to make it worthy to eat.

Twice Baked Potato

4 large Baking Potatoes

8 slice Bacon

1 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Milk

4 Tbsp Butter

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. I used potato nails to bake mine so they cooked faster. You can just microwave the potatoes instead because its faster and they taste just as good. About three minutes per potato, just check for tenderness. Make sure to poke holes in the potatoes with a fork before microwaving so that they don't explode.

Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl leaving about 1/4 inch of flesh so the potato maintains it's shape; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and milk (start adding 1/2 cup of milk but you may not need to add it all depending on the consistency you want. You don't want them too runny). Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese and bacon. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Cherry Cobbler

I have honestly never had cherry cobbler before I decided to make this. It was super easy. We ate it warm with vanilla ice cream and it was delicious.

Cherry Cobbler

1/4 cup Butter

1 cup Flour

1 cup Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Milk

1/4 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 (21oz) cans Cherry Pie Filling

Heat oven to 275 F. Place butter in 8x8 baking dish and place in oven to melt butter. In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add milk and vanilla, stir. Remove baking dish from the oven as soon as the butter is melted. Pour flour mixture into the dish. DO NOT STIR. Pour fruit evenly over and DO NOT STIR. Raise oven temperature to 350  F and bake for 55 minutes, or until golden brown.

Recipe Source: allrecipes.com