KT Baked It: Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cheesecake

Happy Thanksgiving 2015! 

This year, we are staying home and cooking this annual meal for our family of three. We are sad that we will not be able to see our families, but I am excited to make my mom's most beloved Thanksgiving dishes this year. These include baked cream cheese mashed potatoes, broccoli and carrot casserole with horseradish dressing, sausage stuffing, cranberry jello salad, and last but certainly not least her favorite pumpkin cheesecake!

Today I am excited to share her cheesecake recipe with all of you!

What you need:
For the crust
3/4 cup crushed pecan Sandies
4 Tbl melted butter
2 Tbl brown sugar

For the filling
3 8oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs + 1yolk
1 cup pumpkin
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbl corn starch
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
2 Tbl cream or milk

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, use a food processor to break apart the pecan Sandies into fine crumbs. Then combine the crumbs with the butter and brown sugar. NOTE: I ended up using an entire package of Sandies crumbs because the mixture was too oily.

























Press the crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9" springfoam pan.

For the filling, combine the eggs, sugar and cream cheese with an electric mixer. 

Next, add the pumpkin. Another deviation from the original recipe - I used an entire 15oz can of pumpkin by mistake! However, it still turned out perfect (thankfully). Next, add the pumpkin pie spices or create your own blend of spices to taste (I used nutmeg, cinnamon, ground cloves and ginger).

Finally, add the cornstarch, vanilla, pinch of salt and milk or cream. I substituted 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour in place of the cornstarch and used almond milk. 

Then pour the filling into the crust.

Put the cheesecake into the oven and bake for 55 minutes. Allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven with the door ajar. 

And you have a delicious pumpkin cheesecake perfect for the holiday season!

KT Made It: Diaper Wreath

Last weekend I was lucky to celebrate with my husband's family at my sister-in-law's baby shower as she looks forward to welcoming the long awaited arrival of a baby boy to the Baker family. I wanted to make her something special for her baby shower, and the invite to a diaper raffle afforded a great opportunity to make her something! I've seen many different diaper crafts including wreathes, bouquets, and cakes on Pinterest. I decided to make a wreath for this celebration!

There are several ways to make a diaper wreath. For this one, I chose to use a wire floral wreath. I used a package of size 2 Pampers Swaddlers, although any size will do. You also need rubber bands and ribbon. 

To make, open the diaper and insert the wreath in between the two sides of the diaper, with the open end facing outside. Secure with a rubber band as you see here. 

Add diapers around the circumference of the wreath, as many as you can fit. 

Next, tie ribbon around each rubber band.

Ta-da!

Clearly this needed a little more decoration! So I decided to make a large bow to go on the wreath. To make the bow, I started with a circle of stiff felt for the base and four different sizes and colors of ribbon 

I cut two slits in the center of the circle, and slid a long piece of ribbon through the center which would be used to attach the ribbon to the wreath. Next, I used the ribbon of the largest width and folded the ribbon lengthwise to make loops, attaching them around the circumference of the circle with my hot glue gun. 

Using the next ribbon, I created loops by folding the ribbon so that the outside ends were touching as you see below. 

Then I glued each loop around the circle...

Then I did the same thing with the next color...

And the same thing with the last color...

Finally, I used the green ribbon and made small circles and glued them close together in the center. 

Voila! And here is the finished wreath. Hope that I get to make another one of these soon!

And of course matching closet dividers like the ones that I made for my little Princess!

KT Made It: Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Happy November! So very excited for the upcoming holidays, and no better way to get things rolling than with some comfort food. This is a much loved dish that my mom would make throughout my childhood. I have not had these meatballs in years, and I have never made them myself so preparing and eating these today was quite a treat!

What you need:

For the meatballs...
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I made my own by toasting a slice of bread and then pulsing in the food processor)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbl olive oil
1 egg
1 tsp minced garlic

For the sauce...
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl soy sauce
2 Tbl white vinegar
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can pineapple chunks

First, combine bread crumb, salt and pepper, egg, oil and minced garlic with ground turkey or beef. 

Take a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture to make your meatballs. Makes about 25.

Cook meatballs in a preheated over at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. 

Now it's time for the sauce! Chop your peppers (and onions if your like), and saute them in olive oil in a large sauce pan until tender. 

Add the remaining ingredients to the sauce pan...

Finally, add the meatballs and let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes before serving over a bed of rice. Bon appetite!