Vanilla bean cheese cake

So i had some vanilla beans that i wasn't sure what to do with. so i looked up some recipes and found one that i wanted to try for vanilla bean cheese cake. it has a walnut crust and is the most delicious cheese cake i have ever had. i don't have any pictures of it because it gets eaten so fast once i make it. try it out and let me know what you think. oh if you don't have a cheese cake pan i just use round cake pans and it worked out great.
I am not sure where you can purchase vanilla beans but lately we have been getting it when we purchase the tropical pack in the bountiful baskets.

Ingredients:

Serves: 10

• 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (do not use imitation vanilla)
• 2 lbs cream cheese, softened
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped, preferably Madagascar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° and butter a 10-inch springform pan.
2. In a food processor or blender, pulse walnuts with 1/4 cup of the sugar until finely ground. Add butter and pulse until the mixture looks like moist sand. Press crumbs into bottom of pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.
3. In a small mixing bowl, mix sour cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Cover and set aside.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°.
5. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or using a handheld electric mixer, beat cream cheese on low speed with the remaining sugar and the vanilla seeds until JUST combined. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add remaining vanilla extract and the almond extract. Slowly mix in cream until smooth. Pour batter into pan and bake for 65 minutes or until lightly golden and slightly jiggly in the center.
6. Immediately pour the sour cream topping over the cheesecake and smooth the surface with back of spoon or spatula.
7. Return to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes.
8. Place on wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
9. Run a thin sharp knife around cake and remove the ring.
10. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Remove cheesecake and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Return to refrigerator and leave overnight before serving.

My Fondue

So I took one of my family's favorite recipe's and tweaked it so it would make fondue that you could eat all sorts of goodies with. Originally my family would consume this delicious concoction on top of brownies and ice cream. My dad, when i was a baby, would dip my pacifier in hot fudge and give it to me to get me to stop my crying. I am truly a chocoholic because of my dad. THANK YOU!

Home Made Hot Fudge

1 can of evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 12 oz pkg of choc chips
bring ingredients to a boil. boil for 1 min then remove from heat
add:
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp butter

Now when you want to get adventurous you can exchange the choc. chips for other type of chips. for example in the picture above the left jar if full of mint chocolate fudge and the right is peanut butter and chocolate fudge. my mom has also made white chocolate and said it was really yummy. i also substituted the vanilla with almond extract and it was really yummy too.
here are some fun pictures we took.

Salmon and Mediteranian Salad

So I have been getting on a healthy food kick and have been want to experiment with food. So recently i put the two together. I made some Salmon and a Mediterranean salad. The salad wasn't as good as i would have hoped but the salmon was SO delicious. It is made with a citrus salad which is an unexpected and delightful addition to the fish dish. On a scale of one to ten Adam gave the dish a 7 i would say i would give it a 8 or 9. Adam is less of a fish lover so it made sense but he liked it so i guess that is saying something.

and here are the recipes. maybe you the Mediterranean salad will be better for you.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (1-pound) box Israeli couscous (or any small pasta)
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

In a medium saucepan, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the couscous and cook until toasted and lightly browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Carefully add the stock, and the juice of 1 lemon, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the couscous is tender, but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the couscous.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked couscous with the remaining olive oil, remaining lemon juice, zest, salt, and pepper and let cool.

Once the couscous is room temperature, add the fresh herbs, dried cranberries, and almonds. Toss to combine and serve.\

and here is the salmon

Ingredients

Salsa:

• 2 large oranges
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 scallions, finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salmon:

• Vegetable or canola oil, for oiling the grill
• 4 (4 to 5-ounce) center cut salmon fillets, skinned, each about 3-inches square
• 2 tablespoons amber agave nectar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

For the salsa: Peel and trim the ends from each orange. Using a paring knife, cut along the membrane on both sides of each segment. Free the segments and add them to a medium bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, scallions, mint, capers, orange zest, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Toss lightly and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For the salmon: Put a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush the grilling rack with vegetable oil to keep the salmon from sticking. Brush the salmon on both sides with the agave nectar and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the salmon to a platter and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Spoon the salsa verde on top of the salmon or serve on the side as an accompaniment.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for Joseph

So last week we posted a video to go with our video blog and in it we said that we were dedicating that week's blog to Joseph and as a tie to him we would make some cookies (which were one of his favorite treats). So here are the cookies we made. These cookies have become a new favorite of mine and if I make them then I can stop eating them. The first time I made them I think I ate ten in one day. So be warned they are addicting.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk (add this at the very end just to make dough smooth and creamy)
• 1/2 to 1 cup semi-chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Add milk (from 1/2 Tablespoon to 1 Tablespoon just enough to make the dough moist and creamy. Add chocolate chips and mix till just incorporated.  If necessary, cover and chill dough about 1 hour or until easy to handle.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes about 36 cookies.

Banana splits for breakfast?

My wonderful husband introduced me to a fantastic way to eat banana spits for breakfast. When we were first married my husband asked me if I had ever eaten ice cream in my oat meal. I admitted to him that I hadn't and I also thought it sounded really nasty. But he convinced me to try it and I FELL IN LOVE!!

Basically you build a banana spit on top of your oatmeal and enjoy. We have discovered that we like more fruity stuff than chocolaty flavors.

So here is how to make it. In a bowl cook up the desired amount of oatmeal. My husband and I usually cook it in the microwave. Then place your favorite flavor of ice cream-We have enjoyed cherry(it is probably our favorite actually), strawberry and mountian blueberry (cookies and cream is okay). Surprisingly even though i am a chocolate lover i didn't really like it in this. Then top with desired fruit- We love strawberries, bananas and peaches.
Then pour yourself a big glass of milk or orange juice and enjoy some good eatens!!

My life long dream

I feel that my life long dream has now been fulfilled. I am a wife to the most wonderful and supportive husband (not to mention extremely attractive) and a mother to the most beautiful baby. You would think that I would get annoyed of doing the same thing all the time-Cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking meals, feeding James every 2 hours, Changing poopy diapers, and repeat it all over again. But to be honest I love it! I love being a home maker and taking care of my small family. I find pure Joy in being able to feed my husband tasty meals that he loves and watching my son smile in his sleep. I look forward to the future but I will take my time enjoying the present.

Little Clippings

So a couple days after bringing James home we got had a nail clipping party. I know that this is random to blog about but i thought it was cute so here it goes. It started with me needed to clip my toe nails-i haven't been able to reach them in forever. Then i moved on to James because his nails were long from being overdue and i didn't want him to scratch himself. Then we realized that Oreo needed her nails clipped because she had been scratching the stairs and she only does that if her nails get nice and long so i decided to clip her nails too. Then Adam realized that his were getting long and needed clipping. By the end of it we were all well groomed and pretty (in Adam and James's case Handsome. It was just fun to have our little nail clipping party.