Category Archives: Holidays

Recipe // pumpkin cheesecake

October 3, 2013

Oh my! Pumpkin Cheesecake!  I made this recently for my book club and it was a hit!

The homemade crust made of gingersnaps, pecans, and graham crackers is a deal breaker!  So yummy!

It is nice change from pumpkin pie, and would be excellent at your Thanksgiving table.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
adapted from I wash you dry
For the Crust:
25 small, 2 inch gingersnap cookies (I prefer the ones from trader joes)
1/2 cup pecans
4 large sheets of graham crackers
1 tbsp  brown sugar
1 tbsp powdered sugar
5 tbsp butter, melted
For the Filling:
3 x (8 oz packages) cream cheese, softened
1 (15 oz can) pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla bean paste. (vanilla extract is also fine)
For the Topping
Salted Caramel Sauce (link to recipe below)
Whip Cream topping (homemade is best!)
Instructions
1. In your oven arrange a rack on the lowest shelf and the other in the middle.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degress F.
For the Crust:
    1. Combine the gingersnaps, pecans and graham crackers in a food processor and chop until the mixture becomes a find crumb. Add the sugars and melted butter and pulse until combined.
    2. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan, and slightly up the sides of the pan. I sometimes use the bottom of a drinking glass to help smooth it out.
    3. Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven and set aside. (Leave oven on)
Place a 9×13 inch pan on the lowest shelf in your oven and fill half way with hot water.
For the Filling:
  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin, eggs and yolk, sour cream, sugar, and spices. Beat until combined and smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.
  2. Add the flour and vanilla and mix until combined. Pour mixture into the prepared crust.
  3. Bake for 1 hour on the middle rack with the  pan with water underneath on the bottom rack. Turn oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 2 more hours (this helps prevent cracking), then remove from oven and let come to room temperature completely before placing in fridge for 6-8 hours (overnight for best results).
  4. Once chilled properly, serve with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce, and whip cream. Enjoy!
I love this caramel sauce.  Add a pinch of fleur de sel sea salt to the caramel if you want the salted caramel.
Enjoy!

DIY // duct tape uncle sam hat

July 3, 2013

With the 4th of July right around the corner, we decided it would be fun to make some patriotic Uncle Sam hats using Duct tape and things we had around the house!
Even though you can buy them at the store, we thought it would be a fun activity to make them at home, and they were actually pretty fun to make, and didn’t take a lot of time!
You’ll need to gather a few supplies:
1) Recycled containers or cardboard to make your hat with.
2) Red, white, and blue duct tape
3) Pencil
4) Exacto knife
5) Scissors
6) White paper plate
7) Star template (or you can just free hand it)
8) Self healing cutting mat
Step One
Make your hat using recycled cardboard, or a cylinder type of container.  Use duct tape to start making the stripes. Start at the bottom and go to the top and trim off the excess.
Step Two
Use red and white duct tape to alternate the stripes up the hat.
Step Three
Continue around the hat with the red and white stripes
Step Four
After completing the stripes, line the top with red duct tape and trim off any excess.
Step Five
Wrap the base of the hat using white duct tape around the bottom.
Step Six
Lay out some blue duct tape sticky side down onto your self healing cutting mat.  Place some print outs of stars on top, and cut line them up and cut through them to the duct tape to cut out a star shape.
Step Seven
Using the exacto knife to carefully peel back the cut out stars.
Step Eight
Carefully peel back the duct tape with star shapes cut out in the center and line them around the bottom of the hat.
Step Nine
Place the top of the hat on top of the white paper plate and trace around the white paper plate.
Step Ten
Cut out the circle in the middle of the plate that you traced.
Step Eleven
Slide the white paper plate brim over the top of the hat.
Try it on your little patriotic sweethearts. And they can celebrate Independence Day in style!

DIY: father’s day key chains …

June 10, 2013

Father’s day is this Sunday, and if you are scrambling for a quick and easy DIY Father’s day gift idea, I have a fun one to share with you!

The children and I made these fun Father’s Day keychains for their daddy!  We spelled out things like, “I Love Dad” and “Best Dad!”

They were simple to make and the children loved to be involved in the project!

For the full tutorial on how to make these Father’s Day key chains, head on over to my step by step post for Hellobee blog!

{All photos by me}