Chocolate-Covered Cheesecake Squares

I had grand plans for these babies. I found the recipe in Taste of Home (Oct/Nov 2007) and was instantly determined to make them at some point. I found my perfect chance when planning desserts for my friend Ellen's baby shower. She loves cheesecake and chocolate, so what could be better?

Well, let's just say that mine didn't turn out exactly like the picture. See, you're supposed to cut the cheesecake into bite-sized squares and dip them completely in chocolate. Sounds simple enough, I guess. And the picture showed absolutely flawlessly dipped little delights. Huh.

Maybe my first mistake was not adding enough butter to the crust. See, I doubled the recipe (which calls for 1/4 cup butter) so we could have some at home and made it in 13x9 inch pan. So technically I should have used 1/2 cup butter, or one whole stick. As I was getting down to work, I realized that most of my butter was in the freezer. Except for one "almost" whole stick in the fridge. It might have been missing 1.5 Tablespoons. So I just used that. Disastrous decision. My crust turned out so crumbly, it made dipping nearly impossible because all the crust would just stay in the chocolate. Argh!!! Crumby chocolate is NOT impressive. Well, that's what you get for improvising a little when baking. Not a good idea. So I had to alter my dipping strategy a little. Truthfully, I don't know if that extra butter would have made THAT much difference......I just can't see how dipping these could be easy after trying it.

Regardless, the result was delicious and people raved about them.

Recipe:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 packages (8 0z each) cream cheese, softened (reduced fat is fine)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup sour cream (light is fine)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 t. vanilla extract

24 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I used this amount for my double batch and still had a little left over....I guess because I didn't dip mine all the way)

3 T. shortening

1/4 cup white chocolate chips, optional

Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil and grease the foil. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, pecans, and butter. Press into prepared pan; set aside.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour over crust.

Bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until chilled. Freeze overnight.

Melt chocolate and shortening, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Using foil, lift cheesecake out of pan. Gently peel off foil; cut into 49 squares. Remove a few pieces at a time for dipping; keep remaining squares refrigerated until ready to dip.

Using a toothpick (or fork or your fingers), dip squares, one at a time, into melted chocolate.

Place on wax paper lined baking sheets. Let stand 20 minutes or until set. (I tried dipping only the cheesecake part and only the crust part. Both were easier than trying to cover the entire square. Plus I could drizzle extra chocolate in a contrasting color on the top.)

If using white chocolate, melt it until smooth and pour into a sandwich bag. Snip off one tiny corner and drizzle the cheesecake squares as desired.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

These can actually be eaten frozen, although they taste much better thawed for a little while. They are really good. And of course, you could customize it by changing the cheesecake flavor.

My first Baby Shower Cake

My friend Ellen is expecting her fifth baby in November and I had the pleasure of helping with her baby shower last Friday night. My job was to make the desserts. I made chocolate dipped cheesecake squares (recipe to come soon) and the cake. Here are a couple of shots of my creation.

This is how I cut it to shape it into a onesie. I think if I make one like this again, I wouldn't make the angles on the legs quite so sharp. I think. The cake was a doctored up devil's food mix with pudding, sour cream, extra oil and eggs, and mini chocolate chips added. It was very tasty.


The finished product. I had the most difficult time with smoothing the frosting. I don't know if it was because I made it the day before and it had been refrigerated all night, or because I had the windows open and it was a little humid in the house, or what.....but it just did NOT want to smooth out for me. It kept getting lumpy and smearing and causing great anguish. Corban's birthday cake frosting worked out MUCH better, same recipe.


The sweets table....I just made the chocolate dipped cheesecake squares and the cake. It turned out very pretty, and everyone enjoyed both quite a lot, I guess.

Oh, I pretty much copied this cake from one I found on this website. You can get all kinds of inspiration there. Actually, all of the birthday cakes I've made for the kids except Corban's elephant were inspired from the treasures on there.

Diaper Duty

This afternoon, Corban was watching me change Annika's diaper, the following conversation occurred.
Corban: "Hey Mom, when I grow up and have kids, will I get to wipe their bottoms?"
Me (laughing): "Oh yeah, buddy, you sure will!"
Corban: "Good!"

And he really meant it.

And now I've documented it to remind him in a few years. Hehehe.

Happy Birthday, Corban!

Five years ago today, I gave birth to our firstborn, our precious son Corban. I don't think a mother was ever more glad to have that baby finally out....twelve days late and a forty hour labor!
He is such a blessing, our boy. He has such a good heart, he wants to do the right thing all the time and is disappointed with himself when he fails. He takes such good care of his sisters and loves helping Grant and I with whatever he can.
He's been looking forward to turning five for a long time. He wants more responsibility around the house and desperately wants to be able to tie his shoes. Oh, and he wants to start losing teeth. I've told him that will probably not happen until he's six, but he still has hope.
He loves to give compliments and is always sincere. When he saw the streamers and balloons Grant and I had put up for his party, he exclaimed, "That looks awesome! You guys did a great job!"
I don't know what we'd do without Corban. Praise to God for giving us such a wonderful son!

Just a few minutes old.

Just finished enjoying his first birthday cupcake.

Two-years old, had a blue/gray elephant cake that he greatly enjoyed!


Three-years old, Thomas the Tank engine was the star of the show.

Four-years old - this year Gordon was the main attraction.


And this was last night, five years old. His monster truck cake suffered a little damage from one of the trucks sliding off....oh well.

Here's a shot of the cake before any damage.
Note: This was by FAR the easiest birthday cake I've made for one of our kids.

He had a really fun party, with a total of nine children plus our three in attendance.

Isaiah, Corban, Kylie, and Marissa having pizza and watermelon.

A rousing game of hot potato.

Corban made it to the final two with Rachel....but she won.

Corban got lots of wonderful presents at the party, but we saved the biggest for today. This castle (which I won off ebay) was a gift from both sets of grandparents and us. It's a Playmobil castle with lots of little people. He got a few knights last night to go along with it, which was wonderful. He had no idea the castle was coming!



Both girls seemed nearly as excited about the castle as Corban!

Marissa especially liked playing with the women people.

This set is going to provide countless hours of entertainment and creative play for all of our kids and friends too. It was really a special gift.....for a super special boy.

Election 08

Who am I voting for in the presidential election?

You might be surprised by my answer.

His name doesn't rhyme with Don or Osama.

I'm voting for Chuck Baldwin.

Who?

He's the candidate for the Constitution Party and is on the ballot in at least 35 states.

I hadn't even heard of him until a few weeks ago, when some of the conservative blogs that I read mentioned him. When I read up on his beliefs, I knew that he is someone I can place my vote for and not feel like I've violated my own morals and beliefs.
And lest you say that I'm just "throwing away" my vote, take a look at this article he wrote a few days ago.

When asked why they will not vote for a third party candidate, many people
will
respond by saying something like, "He cannot win." Or, "I don't want to
waste my vote." It is true: America has not elected a third party candidate
since 1860. Does that automatically mean, however, that every vote cast for
one of the two major party candidates is not a wasted vote? I don't think
so.
In the first place, a wasted vote is a vote for someone you know does
not represent your own beliefs and principles. A wasted vote is a vote for
someone you know will not lead the country in the way it should go. A wasted
vote is a vote for the "lesser of two evils." Or, in the case of John McCain
and Barack Obama, what we have is a choice between the "evil of two
lessers."
Albert Einstein is credited with saying that insanity is doing the same
thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. For years now,
Republicans and Democrats have been leading the country in the same basic
direction: toward bigger and bigger government; more and more socialism,
globalism, corporatism, and foreign interventionism; and the dismantling of
constitutional liberties. Yet, voters continue to think that they are voting for "change" when they vote for a Republican or Democrat. This is truly
insane!

Take a look at the recent $700 billion Wall Street bailout: both John
McCain and Barack Obama endorsed and lobbied for it. Both McCain and Obama will continue to bail out these international banksters on the backs of the American taxpayers. Both McCain and Obama support giving illegal aliens amnesty and a
path to citizenship. In the debate this past Tuesday night, both McCain and
Obama expressed support for sending U.S. forces around the world for
"peacekeeping" purposes. They also expressed support for sending combat
forces against foreign countries even if those countries do not pose a
threat to the United States. Neither Obama nor McCain will do anything to
stem the tide of a burgeoning police state or a mushrooming New World Order.
Both Obama and McCain support NAFTA and similar "free trade" deals. Neither
candidate will do anything to rid America of the Federal Reserve, or work to
eliminate the personal income tax, or disband the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS). Both Obama and McCain support the United Nations. So, pray tell, how
is a vote for either McCain or Obama not a wasted vote?

But, back to the "he cannot win" argument: to vote for John McCain is
to vote for a man who cannot win. Yes, I am saying it here and now: John
McCain cannot win this election. The handwriting is on the wall. The Fat
Lady is singing. It is all over. Finished. John McCain cannot win. With
only three weeks before the election, Barack Obama is pulling away. McCain has
already pulled his campaign out of Michigan. In other key battleground states,
McCain is slipping fast. He was ahead in Missouri; now it is a toss-up or
leaning to Obama. A couple of weeks ago, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida
were all leaning towards McCain, or at least toss-up states. Now, they are
all leaning to Obama. Even the longtime GOP bellwether state of Indiana is
moving toward Obama. In addition, new voter registrations are at an all-time
high, and few of them are registering as Republicans. In fact, the Republican Party now claims only around 25% of the electorate, and Independents are increasingly leaning toward Obama. Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama is headed for an electoral landslide victory over John McCain. John McCain can no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton.

I ask, therefore, Are not conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain guilty of the same thing that they accuse people who vote for third party candidates of doing? Are they not voting for someone who cannot win? Indeed, they are. In fact, conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain are not only voting for a man who cannot win, they are voting for a man who does not share their own beliefs and principles. If this is not insanity, nothing is!

So, why not (for once in your life, perhaps) cast a
vote purely for principle! Vote for someone who is truly pro-life. Someone who
would quickly secure our nation's borders, and end the invasion of our country
by illegal aliens. Someone who would, on his first day in office, release Border
Patrol agents Ramos and Compean and fire U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Someone who would immediately, upon assuming office, begin leading the charge to dismantle the Federal Reserve, overturn the 16th Amendment, expunge the IRS, and return America to sound money principles. Someone who would get the US
out of the UN. Someone who would stop spending billions and trillions of
dollars for foreign aid. Someone who would prosecute the Wall Street bankers
who defrauded the American people out of billions of dollars. Someone who
would work to repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, the WTO, and stop the NAFTA
superhighway. Someone who would say a resounding "No" to the New World Order. Someone who would stop using our brave men and women in uniform as global cops for the United Nations. Someone who would stop America's global adventurism and interventionism. Someone who would steadfastly support and defend the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Well, that's enough to convince me. That would be true "CHANGE", not all the nonsense that the Democrats and Republicans tout as being change. I want America the way it used to be, the way it was founded. And we're certainly not going to get that from either McCain or Obama.

Magic Capsules, or something even better?

The kids and I swung by Target after gymnastics today for a couple of things and I saw something like this in the dollar aisle. Reminded me of a couple of years ago at Christmas time when my sister, mom and I put together little goody bags for all the kids. We had sets just like this in the bags, and when Corban (age 3 at the time) opened his, his delight was authentic and exuberant.

He loudly exclaimed, "Oh Yay! Vitamins!"

He was just a little disappointed that they were not indeed vitamins. Or candy. Or even edible at all. But he did eventually enjoy them.

Firetrucks and tackling

On Saturday afternoon we noticed a firetruck was parking itself right in front of our driveway. We discovered that some firefighters from our nearby station were passing out pamphlets door-to-door in observance of October being Fire Safety Month. Since the truck was going to be there a few minutes, they graciously gave Corban and Marissa a little tour of the truck and Corban even got to sit in the driver's seat. He was pretty thrilled, to say the least. God bless Firemen!
Last night Annika was practicing walking and decided that she had the most fun walking to Corban so she could "tackle" him. He commented that she was going to be just like Sabrina (his two-year old cousin). Marissa was a bit jealous that Corban was dominating Annika's attention, but there was nothing to be done about it. There's just nothing like a fun big brother!