Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

The title says it all - what's not to love! My BFF in NC sent me this recipe link and I made it that night because it looked so amazing and I wanted to do a test run before Thanksgiving. Again with the cell phone pictures because I'm too lazy to break out the camera and take a nice shot, so I'm forgoing a picture of the food and posting one of me and my momma from years ago! Please do me one favor and MAKE YOUR CRUST! The pre-made graham cracker crust tastes like sawdust and a yummy homemade one is easy to whip up!  Now to get off the food topic for a minute.

This is the first Thanksgiving without my mom (December 1st will be the six month anniversary of her death) and it's proving to be a difficult time for me. The festivities do not hold the same magic they have in the past and I know my momma would not want it that way. However, it's hard...plain and simple. Gatlinburg, TN was my momma's favorite place on earth and a turn of events has landed us there for Thanksgiving weekend. I really felt God's hand in this situation because he gave me faith that I will see true joy again. For the first time in a long time, I felt that twinge of joy that had always been a part of me when I found out we'd be in Gatlinburg.....it's like I'll be with my momma in spirit because I know that's where her spirit is every day. My wish is that everyone holds the ones they love a little bit closer and takes the opportunity to get to know who their family really is. We all grow with age and those relatives who were a pain in the ass when we were young, aren't necessarily that way anymore. Get to know the family members in your life as they are today and truly embrace your relationship with them. I hope we all love a little more, forgive a little more, and appreciate what we have a little more staring right now while we have the opportunity.

Recipe Adapted from Taste of Home found HERE

Ingredients

2 C graham cracker crumbs
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C butter, melted
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups chopped pecans
1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) caramel ice cream topping
Additional caramel ice cream topping, optional

Directions

Melt the butter in a bowl, and then stir in the graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Press graham cracker mix into a pie pine and up the sides as evenly as possible.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth.  Spread into pastry shell; sprinkle with pecans.
In a small bowl, whisk remaining eggs; gradually whisk in caramel topping until blended. Pour slowly over pecans.

Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before slicing. If desired, garnish with additional caramel ice cream topping.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

I am not a chocolate fan...I mean it's okay, but not my favorite. I'd prefer a fruit pie or a vanilla cupcake with white frosting....or a deep fried pickle. However, Matt loves chocolate, so I'm always trying to satsify his "chocolate" tooth. I came upon this recipe in an amazing chocolate cookbook by Francois Payard called Chocolate Epiphany. I have made these cookies several times and fall in love with each new bite. They melt in your mouth and you want to eat them until your tummy hurts. If these were the only cookies I'd ever get to eat again for the rest of my life, I would be content. These cookies have turned a corner for me...a chocolate corner. I hope you love them as much as I do.

1/2 C plus 3 T (68g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

3 C (350g) confectioners' sugar

Pinch of salt

2 - 3/4 C pecans (the original recipe called for walnuts...go the pecan route and you won't be disappointed), *toasted and coarsely chopped

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 T (15g) pure vanilla extract

• Place a rack in the upper and bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

• Combine the cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, salt, and pecans in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture has slightly thickened. Do not overmix it, or the egg whites will thicken too much. (pay very close attention...I did this once).

• With a 2-ounce cookie, ice-cream scoop or a generous tablespoon, scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, to make cookies that are 4 inches in diameter. Scoop 5 cookies on each pan, about 3 inches apart so that they don't stick when they spread.

• **Put the cookies in the oven, and immediately lower the temperature to 320 degrees F. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until small cracks appear on the surface of the cookies. Switch pans halfway through baking.

• Pull the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire cooling rack, and let cool completely before removing cookies from the papter. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.

*To toast the pecans spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer; place on the middle rack in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Watch carefully and shake during baking several times. Nuts burn easily and you can smell when they are toasted perfectly. Let the nuts cool and coarsely chop - I use a knife b/c the toasting softens the nuts and my knife easily runs through them.

**I have never followed these steps and my cookies have turned out wonderful; except that one time I overmixed the batter.

This batter was so very yummy when I licked the spoon! Mmmmm!!!

The cookies turn out very beautiful. They'd be great wrapped up in some clear cell0phane with a cute ribbon and given as a gift.

This picture is a little blurry, but I love it. It really makes me wish I had a cookie in my hand right now!