Pumpkin Walnut Cheesecake Recipe

I haven't made this recipe yet, but it looks delicious and I thought I'd share it with you! If you put your cheesecake skills to the test with this recipe, let me know all about it... I bet it is amazing!

Ingredients

courtesy of Taste of Home magazine

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 
  FILLING:
• 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• 
  TOPPING:
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

• Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of prepared pan.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, cream, cinnamon and cloves until blended. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour over crust. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.
• Bake at 325° for 1 hour. For topping, in a small bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Stir in walnuts. Carefully sprinkle over hot cheesecake.
• Bake 30 minutes longer or until center is just set. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Yield: 12 servings.

Choir Social hosted by the Soprano Section :)

 Made by popular demand, these "Spruced Up Trader Joe Muffins" (check old blog posts for the recipe) will be at the choir social this evening. Thanks to our mystery friend who "boo-ed" us during Halloween, we got to use the perfect little baking wrappers and tooth pick pumpkin signs :) Thank You!!!

Happy Veterans' Day! Happy Fall! Sopranos Rock! We Love Choir! We Love Carol! Happy Singing!

Girls' Night Out Cook-Off!

Thanks to Jen and Monica, the girls of Bethany Youth Group had an awesome time at this month's GNO :) The Cook-Off competition was a huge success and a ton of fun!

on your marks, get set, go!

The winning team, "Team Amazing" (Lindsay, Libby, Katie, and Amy) lead in a surprising victory over "AAA ATTACK!" (Alicia, Amber, and Anna) with only a point to spare! They were judged on 1) their use of $10, 2) taste, 3) presentation, 4) creativity, 5) incorporating the 3 randomly drawn colors

Jen & Monica along side two surprise judges

Team Amazing takes 1st Place in GNO's 1st Annual Cook-Off!

The winning recipe needed to incorporate colors: blue, purple, and orange.  They made an exquisite mixed berry smoothie along side a waffle topped with berries and an orange slice.
They used Krusteaz waffle mix and a Costco recipe for the smoothie:
Very Very Berry Smoothie
3/4 c. (6oz) Dannon Light 'n Fit Strawberry Yogurt
3/4 c. (5oz) mixed Frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries) -or- 3/4 c. fresh berries & 1c. crushed ice
1 banana, peeled and cut in chunks
Place all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth and serve immediately. (Makes 1 serving)


AAA ATTACK, 
the runner-ups, needed to incorporate colors: brown, black, and yellow. They served a very unique and tasty cupcake.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes:
1 box yellow cake mix (and ingredients needed to prepare as directed)
24 ice cream cones
chocolate chips
sprinkles
milk chocolate frosting
Prepare cupcake mix as box directs. Wrap foil around bottom of each ice cream cone (to prevent toppling cones) and place in an individual muffin tin. Then place 1/4 c. of batter into each cone (fill cone until it begins to widen at the top). Sprinkle batter with a few chocolate chips. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool completely (to speed that up, pop the pan into the freezer for about 10 minutes and they should be good to frost). Frost with the milk chocolate frosting and sprinkle each top.

Crisscross Apple Crowns Recipe

look at those little crown creations :)

I made this recipe over the summer when having BBQ with some family friends. They are really tasty and since I came upon the picture (I made these before the idea of my blog came about but they were so cute I had to capture the moment) I took of them, I thought I'd post this recipe to share with you! Hey, if you want to add a Thanksgiving breakfast biscuit or mini apple pie treat to your fall meals, this one is it!

Ingredients

• 1-1/3 cups chopped peeled tart apples
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• Dash salt
• 1 package (16.3 ounces) large refrigerated flaky biscuits
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted

Directions

courtesy of Taste Of Home magazine

• In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the apples, walnuts, raisins, 3 tablespoons sugar, flour, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until almost tender.
• Flatten each biscuit into a 5-in. circle. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle a rounded teaspoonful of sugar mixture over each. Top each with 1/4 cup apple mixture. Bring up edges to enclose mixture; pinch edges to seal.
• Place seam side down in ungreased muffin cups. Brush tops with butter; sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. With a sharp knife, cut an “X” in the top of each.
• Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.
• If you are serving these as desert, serve them á la mode... enjoy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Makes: 7 dozen!

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Stir in the walnuts if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 75 | Total Fat: 3.2g | Cholesterol: 5mg

allrecipes.com 

the famous pillsbury halloween design sugar cookies

Amy and I just got done baking the famous Pillsbury Halloween sugar cookies...yum! This reminds me of my days at Bethany when our friends would bring these to share with the class :) now, it's our turn to share them with our AP lit English class as we celebrate Halloween & the witches of "Macbeth"

We bought these brake-and-bake cookies at Fresh & Easy for $2.49 (2 dozen cookies)

Beef Dip - A Random Recipe from "Bethany's Best - 2001"

This bread bowl dip is always a favorite appetizer of mine when at a party... you'll absolutely love it too! Thank you Marcia and Dixie for submitting it into Bethany's cookbook!

ingredients:

1 loaf round bread or sourdough

1 (8oz.) cream cheese
3/4 c. grated cheddar cheese
3-5 diced green onions
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 small jar chipped beef
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

directions:
Mix all ingredients except bread. Cut round opening in top of bread and remove the interior of the bread and save round topping. Put mixture in bread, replace round opening, wrap in foil and bake at 300 degrees for 1-1/2 hours. Use interior of bread & cut vegetables (&/or another loaf of bread) for dipping. 

This picture is actually of a different kind of dip, but I didn't have a picture & you get the idea :) plus, I can't compete with Marcia's beautiful arrangement when she makes it :)

ENJOY!