Another Cheesecake

Colleen's Cheesecakery has been very busy! Last week I made this Dulce de Leche cheesecake. It has a caramel shortbread crust, a layer of dulce de leche cheesecake, a layer of plain cheesecake, and caramel swirled sour cream topping!

Eleyn's Wedding

So, here are a few (OK, a lot) of pictures of what I was up to this past weekend. My co-worker Eleyn got married, and I contributed these monogrammed cookies (atop cupcakes) for her desert buffet. The "E" is for Eleyn (the bride), and the "B" is for Ben (the groom). They are a simple butter cookie with a blue tinted royal icing (it doesn't look very blue in the picture, but I swear it is), and white buttercream for the letters. Most of the cupcakes were gobbled up before I could get a picture, hence why the plate looks so bare.
I also did all of her flowers. I love doing flowers, I wish I had more reasons to make bridal bouquets! This wedding was very simple. All blue and white.

For the centerpieces I did blue and white daisies. The groomsmen had blue carnation boutonnieres. And the bridesmaids had matching blue and and white carnation bouquets. The groom got a white double white rose bout.And the brides bouquet was made with small white roses and white lillies.

I'm working on it!

So you may have noticed that I didn't do a new post last week. I am working on it, I promise! I am also thinking that I am going to abandon my plans for structured weekly topics (after only 3 months...I know, I know...). I have a back log of things to post about, and I am feeling a bit restrained by my own attempt at blogging organization.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I am going to stop being so anal, and just post stuff already. Keep watching, some good stuff is coming! (I promise!)

In the meantime, here is another alcohol themed cupcake for ya! This is a Margarita cupcake I made for a co-workers bridal shower a few months ago (it was a "fiesta" theme). Lime cupcake with keylime cream cheese icing, set in a margarita glass with green colored sugar.

Clothespins

So my co-worker discovered these giant clothespins, and I instantly fell in love. Basically they are photo holders, but they are just too fun to decorate! I started by taking them apart and painting them. Putting them back together after paining them is a bit of an ordeal, but so far it's worked out OK. After that, I used hot glue to attach ribbon, rhinestones, and other random embellishments.

As usual, the pictures suck...I'm getting a good camera one of these days...

Tiki Cupcakes

Last weekend a friend of mine hosted a tiki party (best tiki party I've even been too!). She went all out - full tiki bar, grass table skirts, even filled an area of her patio with sand. I was impressed! As my contribution to this shindig (because I can never go anywhere without baking something), I created some tiki themed cupcakes! Inspired by "Island" drinks, I made up a dozen Pina-Colada and a dozen mojito cupcakes! The pictures suck, but hopefully my tantalizing descriptions will be enough to make you drool (nope, no modesty here!).The Pina-Colada Cupcake: pineapple cake with a rum glaze, coconut cream filling and pineapple icing; finished off with sweetened coconut shavings, a cherry, and of course - a paper umbrella!

The Mojito Cupcake: key lime cake with a rum glaze, key lime curd filling, and a crushed mint cream cheese icing; garnished with a key lime slice and those adorable paper umbrellas!

Recipes you say? Sure! Since the mojito cupcakes seemed to be the biggest hit, I'll give ya those. If anyone wants the pina colada recipe, I'll gladly give it out upon request.Key Lime Cake
Use your favorite white cake (or box) recipe, and substitute key lime juice for the water. The cupcakes will come out a little denser than normal, but that's ok - you're going to dump rum on them in a little bit!

Key Lime Curd
Ingredients:
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice
1 teaspoon grated Key lime peel

Directions:
1. Whisk all ingredients in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until custard thickens and boils for 30 seconds, about 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (mixture will thicken).
2. When cupcakes are cooled, spoon curd into a pastry bag and pipe into center of each cupcake.

Rum Glaze
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter
1/4 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Rum

Directions:
1. In a saucepan, combine butter, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum.
2. After filling cupcakes, spoon glaze over the top of each one.

Crushed Mint Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter
8oz Cream Cheese
2 cups Powdered Sugar
2-4 tbs Mint (very finely chopped)

Directions:
1. Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar together
2. Gently stir in mint.
3. Frost your cupcakes!

Cocktail Party

This post is a little late, but the Internet hasn’t been very kind to me the last few days. Regardless, I’ll be sharing a few “cocktail party” recipes. These are some creations I came up with for a cocktail party I hosted a while back. They key to a good cocktail party is lots of finger foods, a few sweet treats, and of course cocktails. I like to go simple, offer a small variety of drinks, rather than a full bar. This not only cuts down cost, but also ensures you aren’t pouring drinks all night. Likewise, finger foods keep you out of the kitchen and keep your guests mingling.

For this party, I had red and white wine (two buck chuck from Trader Joes of course), and Black Raspberry Martinis with a pink sugar rim (It was a girly party). Bottled water and a few non-alcoholic options are also a must!Also in that picture is the chocolate fountain I set up for dessert. Chocolate fountains are always a hit! I had fruit, ladyfingers, and cheesecake balls for dipping.

Cheese and crackers are a must at cocktail parties. I like to set out the usual sliced cheese, along with a little something fancy – brie, stilton, pesto torte, etc. Also, a variety of crackers can really spice up your platter. Olives and pickles set out in small bowls are a nice addition too.

Here are two of the recipes I created for this party. They are pretty easy and can be made up a few hours ahead of time. For this first one, I’ll be honest, I really didn’t measure anything. I just kept adding ingredients to the bowl until it tasted right.

Endive Cups

Ingredients:
Endive Spears
1 Pear (diced)
Gorgonzola Cheese
Prociutto
Sweet Vinaigrette (I used a papaya seed dressing from Maui, but any kind you like will work)
Caramelized Pecan Halves

Directions:
1. Cut prociutto slices into small pieces.
2. Toss desired amount of pear, prociuttto, and gorgonzola in a large bowl. Lightly drizzle vinaigrette and mix through.
3. Place a spoonful of the mixture onto each endive spear.
4. Garnish each with a caramelized pecan half.

Caprese Skewers

Ingredients:
Grape Tomatoes
Small Mozzarella Balls
Fresh Basil
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Toothpicks

Directions:
1. Thread 1 grape tomato, 1 basil leaf, and 1 mozzarella ball onto each toothpick
2. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette over skewers, and finish them off with a little cracked pepper

Cooking For Two

Cooking for two is hard! Lord knows, I am notorious for cooking WAY too much food, only to end up throwing it out a few days later because we forget to eat it the next day. Of course, even for large groups I cook way too much. I am always paranoid that there won’t be enough, and I end up with a week’s worth of leftovers. In a few instances, however, I have actually managed to come up with a few things that work perfectly for two.

Chicken Tenders
When buying frozen chicken (lets face it, it’s cheaper and easier than foster’s farms), get the tenders instead of breasts. The tenders are much easier to work with and portion control is much easier (2 tenders per person is one serving, although my husband usually eats three). When you buy the breasts, sometimes you get 8 moderate sized breasts, some times you get 4 breasts that look like they came from a mythical beast-sized chicken. So yeah, tenders all the way!

Make Your Own Rice-a-Roni
Stay away from those boxed flavored rice and noodle deals (ie: the San Francisco Treat), and make your own. Those boxes have more than two servings, not to mention WAY too much sodium. Buy a big bag of plain white rice (or brown), store it in a Tupperware container. When you cook it, only measure out what you need for TWO SERVINGS. To change things up, try cooking it in chicken broth or pineapple juice instead of water. Those little bullion cubes are great to have on hand, just toss one in with your rice and water. Don’t be afraid to add some spices and herbs to your cooking rice, or even some onion and veggies. Adding some peas and Parmesan cheese right at the end of cooking is great little treat!

Say No to Mold
Stick to non-perishables. Whatever you do, don’t stock up on food that is only good for a week, in an amount that you could never possibly eat. I have thrown out enough moldy and expired food in my time to know my limits. Yes those little veggie flat bread pizzas from Trader Joe’s are yummy, but I can’t eat all 8 of them before the green fuzzies come and be dammed if Chris is going to eat them. That’s not to say you should never get anything fun like that, just don’t fill up your fridge with them, it’s a waste of money and makes for one stinky trash day.

Make a Plan
When cooking, make a plan before hand and think ahead. Since you can’t freeze EVERYTHING, come up with something to do with those leftover ingredients. If you need to open a can of black beans to complete that fiesta meal, instead on letting the other half of the can rot in the fridge, plan to make chili sometime that week. Be creative with your meal planning – you don’t have to eat the same thing every night, but you can reuse the ingrediants!

I’ll leave you with my favorite “meal for two.” Everyone loves lasagna right? But it can be a lot to store in your fridge if there are only two of you eating that mega sized casserole. Instead, I make “lasagna roll ups.” Portion control is easy (two roll ups per person), and there are endless combinations of meats, veggies, cheeses, and sauces. Here is my basic, cheese-sauce recipe, but feel free to get creative and try adding ground beef or turkey, diced chicken, spinach, mushrooms, Alfredo sauce, etc. Have fun with these!
Lasagna Roll Ups

Ingredients:
4 Lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg*
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce

Directions:
1. Boil noodles according to package directions.
2. Mix ricotta and egg until blended (you can also some basil oregano, pepper, etc for flavor). Spread a spoonfull of ricotta onto each noodle (cover the noodle, but not too thickly).
3. Spoon sauce onto the length of the noodle and sprinkle desired amount of mozzarella cheese.
4. Roll up the noodles and top with a spoonful of sauce and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned.

*(Why the egg you ask? I’ve noticed that a lot of people skip this step in lasagna making. Basically the egg keeps the cheese together, instead of leaking out of your lasagna in a melty mess. This is especially important for these roll ups.)