Sweet Thirty

I have been told that your thirties are your best years.  You are confident in who you are, what you want, and your body is still strong.

I will let you know if this is true.  I just turned 30 and don't feel like it is yet...

But maybe I just need a cheesecake!  Mmmmm.... cheesecake.

When my hubby and I first started dating, we shared a Dulce de Leche cheesecake at TGI Fridays.  Since then, we have had a soft spot for Dulce de Leche.  When I found a recipe for the cheesecake, I said, "Why not?"

Dulce de Leche is essentially just caramel, but it sounds a little more exotic, right?  I mean, let's compare "Caramel Cheesecake" to "Dulce de Leche Cheesecake" and determine which one would have the higher price tag...

You can either buy a can of Dulce de Leche at the store (if you are lazy/impatient like me) or buy a can of sweetened condensed milk and cook it.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, immerse a can of sweetened condensed milk on its side, and boil for 2 hours.  Remove the can and let it cool for 1 hour before opening.  I didn't have the patience for 2 hours of boiling + 1 hour of cooling, so I just splurged a bit and bought the stuff at the store! (It was in the baking aisle right next to the sweetened condensed milk.  If you can't find it there in your store, look in the Latin Foods area.)

I have tried this cheesecake with both a graham cracker and gingersnap cookie crust.  I think I like the gingersnap better just because it is different, but either way, it is yummy!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

• 1 c graham cracker crumbs (or gingersnap cookie crumbs)
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 3 packages cream cheese, softened (8 oz- sometimes I use neufchatel instead of original cream cheese)
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/2 c Dulce de Leche (caramel) sauce + more for topping
• 3 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Combine butter and graham cracker/cookie crumbs.  Press into the bottom of the springform pan.
3. Beat cream cheese & sugar in a large bowl until creamy.  Mix in 1/2 c Dulce de Leche.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating on low until blended.  Do not overmix.
4. Pour batter over crust and bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes.  Center will still be a little jiggly.  Cool completely before taking the rim off.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
5. Use reserve Dulce de Leche sauce for topping by microwaving 15-20 seconds before drizzling over cheesecake.

Snickerdoodle Skookies

Have you ever heard of Skookies?  My in-laws introduced them to us a few years ago.  It's a cookie baked in a small skillet with ice cream and whatever other toppings you want on it.  Believe it or not, I can down a whole skookie all by myself.  Shocking, right?  My kids love 'em too!  My husband, on the other hand, is not a big fan of ice cream (I know, I know, what on earth do I see in him???) and doesn't get into the skookie craze like we do.

When first we tried these, we only used chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream.  However, I have come to discover that snickerdoodle skookies are HEAVEN!!!  Something about the cookie consistency with vanilla ice cream makes it so incredibly and delectably sweet.  I am not too secretive about my snickerdoodle recipe, so I will share it now!

Snickerdoodles (for 1 skookie and a few extra regular cookies)

• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 butter (softened)
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t cream of tartar
• cinnamon sugar (for sprinkling & rolling, about 2 T)

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Grease small cookie sheet and skookie skillet.
2. Cream sugar and butter in a large bowl.  Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Stir together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a small bowl.
4. Stir dry ingredients into wet until well-mixed.  If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.
5. Put about 1/4 cup of dough into skookie pan.  Press to the edge of the pan.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for 10-13 minutes (depending on how doughy you want your skookie to be).
6. Meanwhile, roll the rest of the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar.  Put dough balls on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake 8-10 minutes.
7. When skookie is done, let cool for about 5 minutes.  Top with vanilla ice cream and other toppings as desired (nuts, whip cream, fruit, syrups, etc.).  Eat quickly (with a friend or two, unless you have a large dessert stomach as I do) since the ice cream melts fast!
8. When cookies are done, let cool for 2 minutes on the pan and then move to a cooling rack, eating them warm or saving them until later.

Sorry, no pics.  The skookies don't last long enough for good pictures!

I'm Steph and I'm a sweetaholic... or whatever!

I come from a long line of people addicted to sweets.  We have serious issues.  Growing up, my Mom would have to hide the sweets in my house from my dad so he wouldn't eat them all.  Usually he asked her to do this.  Despite our sweet tooths, my family and I are fairly active.  Both my parents have run marathons and are self-proclaimed gymrats.  I believe it is due to our activity that we are not obese.  I'm pretty sure that is the only reason I am not 300 pounds.

Now that I have a family of my own, and my children are keeping up the family tradition of sweet addiction, despite my husband's shocking disinterest in sweets, I am in charge of family nutrition as the planner, cook, and server of most meals in our house.  I try to set limits for my kids and how many desserts they can have (truth be told, I let them eat less sweets than I do myself on occasion), but some days are better than others.  I enjoy cooking and finding yummy recipes that I can modify to suit my taste for the day.  I also enjoy eating out, especially at local places and especially when I have a coupon!  I like deals, but am not obsessive.  I won't spend hours and hours to scout out the best deals on everything or hours and hours in the kitchen to make the best recipes.  If a recipe calls for too much work, I probably will find a different one.  After all, I don't want to spend my whole life in the kitchen!  Especially if I'm going to be blogging more...

I decided to start this blog to share recipes and stories about the sweeter things in life.  I have started to test out desserts to see what my family and I like best.  I think I have found a few staple recipes, but I have a lot left to find out.  And my tastes may change!

So that's a bit about me and what I aim to do on this blog.  So without further adieu... let's get started!