Hello! The sun is shining and all is right with the world. I am going to share what I have been up to lately and I have just a huge bundle of ideas for more! Let’s just dive in!
Recipes
New York Style Baked Cheesecake
Crust 1.5 c. flour .5 c. sugar 1.5 t. vanilla 2 egg yolks 4 eggs 1.5 c. soft margarine
Grease a springform pan well. Mix ingredients and pat the dough on the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake at 425 degrees until light brown.
Filling 2.5 pounds of cream cheese 1.75 c. of sugar 1.25 t. of vanilla 2 egg yolks 4 eggs .25 c. heavy cream
Add eggs one at a time to the first three ingredients beating after each addition of egg or egg yolk. Add heavy cream and beat until incorporated. Bake in a 525 degree oven for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 275 degrees and bake for an hour and ten minutes. It will still be jiggly in the center. Turn off the oven and all the cheesecake to cool in the oven for an hour.
*I don’t use a water bath as if the cheesecake cracks on top it doesn’t bother me. If it does you, just wrap about 3 layers of foil around the bottom and up the sides of the pan, place in another larger pan with about 2 inches of water. Otherwise, the directions stay the same.
Donut Holes/ Baked Donuts (aseasyas applepie.com)
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup+1 tablespoon (65 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅓ cup+1½ tablespoon (100 ml) skim milk feel free to use full fat milk
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the cinnamon-sugar topping:
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a donut pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a small bowl whisk together the milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula just until combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the donut cavities or use a large ziplock bag. Cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cavity, filling ¾ of the way full.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool down until you can handle them.
- Make the cinnamon-sugar topping. In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
- Brush each donut with melted butter, then dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated.
*I used a donut hole pan instead and it lowered the cooking time. I just started watching them after about 6 minutes evaluate how brown they were.
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies (joyfoodsunshine.com)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar*
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Mix together peanut butter and sugar.
- Add egg, vanilla and salt and stir until combined.
- If desired, mix in chocolate chips.
- Roll 1 TBS portions of dough into balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (or use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the baking sheet)
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are just barely browned.
- Let the cookies sit on the pan for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
Crafts
I did a couple of fun and simple decorations for Cinco de Mayo.
Corona Bottle
I just put orange paint (you could use any color you would like) inside the bottle and twisted and turned the bottle until it was completely covered inside. Then I turned it upside down to allow excess paint to drain out. After it was dry I added some brightly colored flowers.
For this one I just bought a few cans of Spanish foods, ate the food, of course, and cleaned out the can. I put some floral foam inside and placed some more bright flowers in the can.
Summer Item
I used a tin can and hot glued driftwood pieces around it. For a little extra zip I tied some jute around it and added a shell. I have a few battery operated candles and I used one for this. Just a cute little accent for summer. We live by Lake Erie so it is locally sourced driftwood and fitting for the area.
I had been seeing people marbling the outside of dishes with different products. I decided I would try the nail polish version. It was so easy! You have a pan with 2 to 3 inches of warmish water in it. Then you have a few nail polish colors. You hold the bottle as close to the surface of the water as you can and pour some in. If you hold it up higher the polish sinks to the bottom and you want it to float. When all your colors get in there you twirl the colors gently with a wooden skewer and then dip the outside portion of what ever dish you’re doing in the water and pull it back out again. This whole process from the pouring of the color to the dipping of the dish has to be rather quick. When you lay your dish down to dry, take the wooden skewer and twirl it through the polish which is now dried and floating on the surface. Then you can add more colors, either the same or different ones and do it again. It is really fun. The mug I double dipped to see the difference. The second dip was lighter in color. I don’t believe you should microwave these pieces or use a dishwasher but that’s ok with me.
Hacks
*If you have a sick pet, before you go to the vet video your pet displaying the sound or movement that is a concern. The pet may not display this particular thing at the vet but you will have the evidence for the vet to see.
*When traveling to a new city, check out Free Tours By Foot. The site has tours listed for more than 50 cities across the globe. There are pay what you wish tours and self-guided tours as well.
*You can save 35% on food and 20% on drinks if you eat during happy hour rather than peak dinner hours or later. Learn something seniors have been doing for years and save some dough! LOL
*Experts now say that between substantial monthly cellphone bills, often large deductibles and hidden clauses in the contracts insurance on your cellphone is not a great value.
*If your still frying meatballs in a frypan, save the mess and bake them in the oven. Put the meatballs in the sauce and warm all of it in the oven. Baking bacon in the oven is a lot less messy too!
*When browning ground beef there’s a step to take prior to cooking. Break up your meat (2 pounds), add 1.5 t salt and .75 t baking soday. Let the mixture setr for 20 minutes and then brown. This methold allows for the meat not to shed a lot of moisture and it browns nicer.
*Staying in an Airbnb or other rental? Take a quick video of the place before you leave. That way you have evidence as to the condition you left it in incase you should need it.
*Want to repurpose your used dryer sheets? Use them to clean your electronics. The material works perfectly since it is designed specifically to not cause friction.
A final note, if you haven’t explored diamond painting yet, you need to! Super relaxing and fun. Don’t know what it is? Google to see!
Have a great month and see you in June.
