Pomegranate Cheesecake

I made this for Christmas Eve dinner but we were so full and we kind of forgot about it until everyone was leaving. So I brought it to Christmas Day dinner for everyone to enjoy. This is an awesome cheesecake recipe. The crust is more like a sugar cookie which I like because sometime the graham cracker crust flavor can overwhelm the cheesecake flavor. Also, it's really creamy but still light and it has the sour cream layer on top. I loved the pomegranate sauce on top. The only thing I might do different is not put the pomegranate seeds inside of the cheesecake batter. I think it's not necessary since they don't have flavor until you bight into them and you're using them as a topping too.

This is my new favorite traditional cheesecake recipe. I still really like THIS version but it's more dense and a thinner cheesecake and this new recipe is more traditional to me.

Pomegranate Cheesecake
From: My Kitchen Cafe (also has a tutorial for seeding a pomegranate)

*Plan Ahead: the cheesecake needs to be chilled for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pomegranate Glaze:
1-16-ounce bottle pomegranate juice (usually found in the refrigerated section of juices)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

For the crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat butter on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar. Beat until combined. Add egg; beat well. Beat in flour until combined. Divide dough in half. Cover one portion and set it aside.

Remove the sides from a 10-inch springform pan and set aside. Spread first portion of dough on just the bottom of ungreased springform pan base, spreading dough to edges. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely. When cool, attach sides of pan. Press chilled dough onto the sides of the sprinform pan to a height of 1-3/4 inches, using a thin metal spatula, like an offset spatula, to spread dough.

For the filling: reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In an extra-large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the flour on low speed until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla all at once, beating on low speed just until combined. Mix in sour cream and lemon peel. Then, using a wooden spoon or a spatula, gently fold in pomegranate seeds (if you use the electric mixer for this part, the seeds will burst and stain the filling with the juice - and it won't look as pretty).

Pour filling into crust-lined pan. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 65 minutes or until edges are puffed and center jiggles slightly when gently shaken. Remove from oven. (It doesn't matter if the cheesecake cracks on top since it will have a sour cream topping.)

For the topping: stir together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spread sour cream mixture over top of baked cheesecake, spreading gently to the edges. Return to oven; bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan. Cool for 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan; cool completely. Cover; chill 4 hours or overnight.

For pomegranate glaze: in a medium saucepan bring pomegranate juice to boiling; reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, until reduced to 1 cup (12 to 15 minutes). In a separate bowl, stir together brown sugar and cornstarch. Add to juice. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Transfer to a medium bowl; cover surface with clear plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature. Store, covered, in refrigerator until serving time.

When ready to serve, remove cheesecake and pomegranate glaze from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Spoon some sauce over top of cheesecake; pile remaining pomegranate seeds in center of cheesecake. To serve, slice cheesecake. Pass remaining sauce. Makes 16 servings.

Mango Orange Glazed Carrots

Another Christmas Eve dish but we also have this almost every Sunday too. It's that good.

Mango Orange Glazed Carrots

6-7 Carrots (washed but not peeled)

1/4 t. ginger

1 T. sugar

1/4 c. mango-orange juice (you can also use just orange juice)

1 t. corn starch

2 T. butter

1/4 t. salt

Slice carrots crosswise about 1 inch thick. Put carrots in a pot and add just enough water to cover the carrots. Salt the water. Drain when cooked. (Approx. 15-20 min. depending on how thick your carrots are.)

Combine sugar, corn starch, salt and ginger in a small saucepan. Add the mango orange juice. Cook stirring constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles. Stir in butter. Pour over hot carrots tossing to coat evenly. Serve hot, serves 4-5.

Apple Cider

The next 5 posts will be dishes we had at our Christmas Eve dinner. The pictures were taken after everyone had dished up and was already eating, definitely an after thought so the pictures aren't great but at least there is a picture.

Apple Cider

1 gallon apple juice

1 1/2 c. orange juice

1/2 c. brown sugar

6 cinnamon sticks

12 whole cloves

12 whole allspice

Mix together and bring to a boil. Simmer at least 30 minutes.*

*I put all of the ingredients in a crockpot for 1 hour on high instead and it worked great and then it was easy to keep warm through the night.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I wanted to try a Broccoli Cheese Soup that didn't have processed cheese in it. This recipe from My Kitchen Cafe was really good and I love the taste of the swiss cheese in it.

(I had already eaten half my bowl when I thought to take a picture and Ashton decided to help me stir the cheese in as I took the picture)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 can chicken broth (about 1 3/4 cups of broth)
1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
3 c. steamed chopped broccoli florets

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Popcorn

This is what I made for neighbor/friend gifts this year. It's cheap and you can make alot of it at once. I made 5 batches of this recipe.

Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Popcorn
Ingredients
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 quarts popped popcorn (1 c. unpopped)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Drizzle chocolate over cooled popcorn and let set.

*Add 1 t. to your chocolate chips when you melt them. You can also add nuts, candy, pretzels or anything else you want to the popcorn.

River City (Portland) Clam Chowder

Wow! I loved this clam chowder. I had an issue with the potatoes (see notes after recipe) and after searching for the recipe again I found another blogger with the same issue I had. But I'm sure I will be making this again soon.

River City (that’s Portland) Clam Chowder

From: Your Homebased Mom

8 slices pepper bacon, diced (I use a whole pound) (I used 1lb of normal bacon since that's what I had on hand and added pepper while it was cooking)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery (2 large stalks), chopped
1/2 cup flour
4 (6 oz.) cans chopped clams or 2 cups fresh clams, shucked

3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half and half
salt and white pepper (I have used black pepper also, just effects the color of the soup)

In a large pot over medium high heat, cook bacon until browned. Drain grease. Add butter, onions and celery to pot and cook over medium heat until softened and onions are translucent.

Add flour and cook 3 minutes, stir constantly.

Drain clams and reserve liquid in a 1 pint measuring cup. Add enough water to clam liquid to equal 2 cups.

Add this liquid slowly to mixture in pot, stirring constantly. Add potatoes and bring mixture to boil. (**see notes below)Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add clams, milk and half and half. Heat until thickened, being careful not to boil or burn. Add salt and pepper and serve. (I usually make the day ahead and refrigerate, it gets a little thicker this way)

**After adding the 2 c. of liquid what was left was a really thick consistancy and so there was no liquid to boil the potatoes in. I ended up adding a total of 2-2 1/2 c. water so that there was liquid to boil the potatoes in and to keep everything from burning and sticking to the pot. In doing so my chowder wasn't thick but it still tasted great. Next time I'm going to boil the potatoes in a seperate pot in the clam juice liquid and then add all of it to the pot or I'll cook them in another pot with water and drain and add the potatoes when it's time. Not sure yet. But then I'll be able to control how thick I want the chowder and if it's too thick I'll add water.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes and a Birthday Cake

My aunt's birthday party was a Fiesta Theme and I was asked to make a cake using bright green, pink and yellow and a sombrero. I still wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do for the cake until the night before and I think it turned out pretty good. I didn't have much time to put it all together so Matt helped me make everything on the cake. He's a pro at cake decorating.

I decided to make these Key Lime Cupcakes to go with the cake and fiesta theme. They have a filling in the middle and everyone loved them. I really liked them too except next time I think I'll use a cream cheese frosting or maybe a glaze type frosting. I thought the whipped cream on top was too light and didn't seem right on the cupcake for me. But nobody else complained and they were gone quick.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

Wendy Paul - 101 Gourmet Cupcakes

• 1 box white cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. half and half
• 6 T. key lime juice (I used regular lime juice)
• 1 c. sweetened condensed milk
• 1 recipe whipped cream (below)
• 4 T. grated lime peel (3 limes)

Mix together cake mix, eggs, half and half and 3 T. key lime juice. Pour 1-2 T. batter into each paper liner. In a separate bowl mix sweetened condensed milk and the rest of the lime juice. Evenly divide lime milk into batter-filled cups. Top with remaining batter and fill 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

Whipped Cream:

• 2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 1/4-1/2 c. powdered sugar

Pour cream into a large mixing bowl and start mixing on low speed. Gradually increase speed until cream thickens and soft peaks form.

Turn off mixer and add sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Frost with whipped cream and grate lime peel.