Super Simple Cheesecake

I can hardly believe that I don't have this recipe posted on this blog. It is THE most requested recipe of anything I have ever made. My mom passed it onto me years ago, but I have no idea where she got it from or if it's something she made up herself. Either way, now it is yours too.



Super Simple Cheesecake
1 8 oz. block cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. white sugar
1 Tbsp. white flour
Vanilla wafers

Topping Choices:
Serve plain or with a canned fruit pie filling of your favorite variety. We invariably use cherries. Recently discovered that Magic Shell is marvelous when drizzled across the top of chilled cheesecakes.

Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. By the way, neufchâtel works wonderfully. Combine cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Sift in flour. And yes, sifting is necessary or you may get lumps. If you don't mind lumps, then do what you like. ;o)

Place cupcake papers in a muffin pan. Put one vanilla wafer in each paper, flat side down. This serves as a crust. Clever, eh? (I have also made real graham cracker crust and pressed it down with the bottom of a plastic cup. Creates a scrumptious result!) Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full. You may have some leftover.

For best results, bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes, then turn off the oven, prop the door open, and let the pan sit in the oven for another 20 minutes. If you're in a hurry, you can bake them at 350 for 13-15 minutes, but you may get some unsightly cracks on the top. (Which matters not when you're covering with pie filling anyway.)

Allow the cheesecakes to cool completely--preferably in the fridge overnight--before adding topping. This ensures that they have set properly before taking the weight of any fruit. Also, they just plain taste better cold.

As a side note, this recipe doubles fabulously, so feel free to be the mom who breaks the cupcake mold and brings 24 cheesecakes to the class party instead. The teachers will thank you!

There--now I have a link to send to people who want my famous cheesecake recipe. Yay!

How To Slice a Pineapple

Once you get this easy-slice method down, nothing will stop you from enjoying a delicious prickly pineapple.

Music: Kevin MacLeod

How to Cube a Mango

Aunt Karen's Fruit Salad

Many years ago, my aunt Karen visited and shared with us her famous fruit salad recipe. I loved it so much that I asked her to write it down for me. My mom laminated it, and I have had it in my arsenal ever since. This recipe makes a LOT of fruit salad, so it's great for potlucks or big groups and families.

Aunt Karen's Fruit Salad

1 pkg. vanilla pudding (cook & serve kind)
1 pkg. tapioca pudding (cook $ serve kind)
1 lg. can peaches
1 lg. can mandarin oranges
1 lg. can pineapple tidbits
3 barely under-ripe bananas

Drain juice from the cans into a bowl or large measuring cup. Add enough water to make 3 cups. Whisk in both pudding mixes and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir, then microwave for another 3 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Cut up any canned fruit halves or slices into bite-sized pieces. Mix the cooled pudding with the canned fruit. Add sliced bananas and toss gently. Serve chilled.

You could add maraschino cherries, and the temptation is great let me tell you, but it will turn the pudding a strange reddish pink color that resembles the gel in "salmon egg" fish bait, so I don't recommend it. ;o)

The Versatile Pancake

My kids love a hot breakfast, and I love being able to make it for them on the fly. We used to spend $8-10 on frozen waffles every two weeks, but I soon realized that a $3 box of baking mix will make enough pancakes to last almost an entire month.

So I make a huge batch, adding to the dry mix such goodies as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, pancake syrup, jam, etc. (Not all at once, mind you!)

No need to measure the water or milk either. Just add enough so the consistency is wetter than you probably think it should be. You want it to be able to pour easily, not plop it. (Rather like good, wet mud.) If you add too much water, just add in a little more baking mix. Use a small ladle to make measuring easy.



Keep the heat at medium since you're going to be cooking for awhile. Remove the pan from the heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray between pan-fulls.

I flip dozens of flapjacks in one session, cooling them on racks. The cooled pancakes can be layered with paper towels in a plastic bag and frozen.


(No, that isn't mold, for this batch, I shook sprinkles on the cakes after ladling them into the pan. They melted when I flipped them. But hey, they still taste the same!)

Lay the bags flat in the freezer at first, but once they reach Frisbee rigidity, they can be stacked like cards (or Frisbees for that matter) or however you'd like so you can reserve space in your freezer.

To warm them up, wrap loosely in a paper towel and microwave for 30-45 seconds or, better yet, to keep them crispy on the outside, place them in a toaster oven at just above medium high heat and press the button for toast.

Impromptu Caramel Apple Topping
Bite-sized apple chunks, peeled
Caramel sauce
Butter

Melt a pat of butter in a pan. Add apples and cook til tender. Add enough caramel sauce to coat the apples and then some. Serve over pancakes or waffles or...ice cream!

PERSONAL NOTE: My kids love the fruit cups from Chick-fil-A, but they aren't crazy about the apple chunks. I save these and use them the next day for pancake topping. A couple extra containers of caramel sauce from McDonald's apple dippers work great for this recipe. (I know, we probably eat out WAY too much!)

Smoothies in Less Than a Minute

I have a strange fascination with infomercials. I love to watch them, but 98% of the time, it's my interest in marketing ploys, er, techniques that has me fixated to the screen at 2:00 a.m. Admittedly, most of the stuff sold on TV is extra junk and clutter.



The Magic Bullet, however, is one of those things which actually looked like a good idea. It doesn't take up a lot of space, and it makes single servings. Strangely enough, a couple weeks after I saw their infomercial for the first time and completely unsolicited, my mom gave me a Magic Bullet. It's been sitting on our counter, getting used at least a few times a month, sometimes a few times a week, and mainly for breakfast smoothies.

Quick Fruit Smoothie

Fruit
Yogurt
Orange Juice (or milk)

Start with any fruit you have on hand (canned, frozen, fresh), and don't be afraid to mix fruits. If you have some leftover peaches, go ahead and throw them in with the pears. Who knows? It might actually be yummy. (Or you won't even taste the difference.) Any stone fruit (fruit that has a seed), berries, or other soft stuff like bananas, are going to be great for smoothies.



Add some yogurt and juice or milk. Use as much as you like. A whole Yoplait container is usually perfect, but do whatever strikes your fancy that morning.

Try different kinds of yogurt too. The combinations really are endless. I usually have a standby of vanilla yogurt on hand, but don't shy away from throwing in that blueberry yogurt with a banana and some pineapple. Maybe try the key lime yogurt with some mandarin oranges. Ooo... That sounds pretty good actually.

The amount of juice or milk you add depends on how thick you'd like your smoothie to be. More liquid for a more drinkable smoothie; less for a spoonable one.



Blend your ingredients in a blender until smooth.



Of course you don't HAVE to have a Magic Bullet to make smoothies. You could make it in your food processor if that's all you have. The Bullet just makes it a whole lot easier and requires less cleanup.

Experimentation Tip: I've heard of people adding instant coffee to their smoothies for a little extra kick. I haven't tried it before because I'm not sure how I feel about mingling fruit with the sacred beverage. Also, my opinion of instant coffee is not very high. At all.

If you've tried this before, do comment! I would be interested to hear if it makes a difference in taste or potency.

How to Cut a Mango

A mango is a popular tropical fruit that can be found in most grocery stories. Though fresh mango is incredibly tasty, it is one of the most perplexing fruits to cut. It has a large, almond shaped seed on the inside which holds onto the mango flesh like it never wants to let go. There are plenty of tips and tricks out there on wrangling this fibrous fruit, but here's the one that always seems to work for me.

1. Start with a good, ripe mango. That is, it should yield to pressure just a hair over "slightly."



2. Slice off the mango's "cheeks." Think of your mango in terms of having three parts: two sides and one seed. The cheeks are the meaty sides of a fruit. You can tell by the shape of the body which direction the seed lies inside.

Use a sharp knife and cut as close to the seed as you can on either side. You will then have three parts.



3. Score the flesh into cubes, but only cut to just inside the skin; then invert to make the cubes pop out for easy removal.



The real key here is to make sure your mango is ripe. You may need to experiment over time to get a good sense of when a mango is at its peak. If it doesn't yield to gentle pressure, it's not ready.

How do YOU slice your mangoes? Comment and share!

Coming up: A short infomercial, and Make a Fruit Smoothie in less than a minute!

The Plymouth Fury II

This is a knock-off from a little delicatessen called Firebrand in eastern Colorado. They call it the Plymouth Fury because it has turkey and cranberry sauce in it. (You know, Thanksgiving, pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, etc.) My Junior year of college, I probably ate one of these at least twice a week. Their soup at the Firebrand is to DIE for.

I've knocked-off the Plymouth Fury many times over the years in various incarnations. This is the latest one and the first I have documented.

The Plymouth Fury II

Bread (original uses sourdough)
Sliced deli turkey
Cream Cheese
Cranberry sauce (whole or jellied)
Lettuce (original uses alfalfa sprouts)

Spread your bread or roll or bagel with a generous offering of cream cheese. Both sides please. Arrange the turkey, then top with cranberry sauce and lettuce. (I have to say that the alfalfa sprouts are quite tasty. But I don't usually buy that sort of thing.)