Sara Lee Cheese cake

Sara Lee Cheesecake
Crust:
1½C fine graham cracker crumbs
¼C Granulated sugar
½C Butter (softened)

Filling:
1 pound Cream cheese
1C Sour cream
2T Cornstarch
1C Granulated sugar
2T Butter (softened)
1t Vanilla extract

Topping:
¾C Sour cream
¼C Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. For crust combine crumbs, sugar and butter and mix well. Press firmly into 9” pie pan or spring form pan covering bottom only. Bake for 8 min., or until the edges are slightly brown. (I think the crust is a little thick so I sometimes do a little less)
Reduce oven temp to 350 F. For Filling, combine cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, and sugar in a bowl of mixer. Mix until sugar has dissolved. (because over mixing causes the cake to crack, I like to just barely stir it and then let it sit for a while to dissolve the sugar and then finish mixing it) Add the butter and vanilla and blend until smooth. Be careful not to overmix, or the filling will become to fluffy and will crack when cooling. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for 30-35 min., or until knife inserted 1” vrom edge comes out clean. (for me this always takes 50 min regardless of the oven I use. Maybe elevation?) Cool 1 hr.
For topping, mix sour cream and powdered sugar. Spread mixture over top of cooled cheesecake. Chill or freeze until ready to eat. (I’ve replaced this topping with several others and love it. We’ve used Caramel Ice cream topping, Fudge ice cream topping, strawberries in Danish dessert mix, Crushed cookies, Toffee candy bars, butterfinger bars, etc. etc.)

Pumpkin Basil Soup

So, I had all these pumpkins lying around from our fun pumpkin patch adventure with the Whites and the Stones. I decided to do something different with one of them.
This is a knock off of a soup I love from a local lunch bistro. Theirs has green bell peppers (which aren't my favorite) so I omitted those entirely, but I think it might be good with sweet red peppers (sauteed beforehand). Sperry's not much of a veggie soup lover, but this worked for him. Enjoy! :)

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup celery, roughly chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced small
4 cups chicken broth

-Boil veggies in broth until tender. Set aside.

1/4 cup butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 tsp curry
1 tsp basil
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large can pumpkin or the rough equivalent of cooked pumpkin
1 can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings

-In Large pot, melt butter. Add flour and stir using a whisk, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add broth using whisk. Then add milk. Stir until thick and bubbling.
-Add all spices and canned pumpkin to creamy mixture. Heat through. If you are using chunky, cooked pumpkin, add pumpkin, then hand blend (or use your blender) to puree the base of soup. Using a strainer, add the liquid broth from the veggies that were set aside. Do this slowly while still blending to get a nice thick bisque.
-Then add veggies and canned pumpkin. Heat through. Add salt, if needed. Serve with a dollop of sour cream in center of bowl.

Buttermilk Cornbread

This was a great recipe. We all loved it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2.
Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Potato Moussaka

This is a family favorite. I just typed up the recipe for a friend and since it was on the computer- I thought I would share it here. Moussaka is a Greek dish- usually made with eggplant. But moussaka means "layered dish", and thats what this is.
Potato Moussaka
7-8 medium  potatoes, thinly sliced- I like to use reds
Beef Layer
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion-diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped (I usually substitute 15 oz can of diced tomatoes)One 8oz can tomato sauce
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp dried dill
Cheese Sauce
½ cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 large eggs, slightly beaten1 cup shredded Kasseri or Kefalotiri cheese ( I use cheddar)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cook the ground beef, onion and garlic until the beef is browned. Spoon off excess fat. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and dill. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the milk. Reduce the heat to low; stir in the eggs. Cook until mixture is smooth and thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in ½ cup of the cheese, salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 350degrees. Into a 9X13 baking dish spoon one-third cheese sauce. Layer half of the sliced potatoes, half of the meat mixture, and one-third of the cheese sauce. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, meat and cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup grated cheese. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 15 minutes longer, or until the mixture is hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.