rabbit rabbit

I've been meaning to tell you about these for a while. I had planned to give them to you as part of the one-year celebration, but instead you got a May Day meal. I felt pretty good about that.

I wanted to make ice cream this past weekend. Theoretically, at least. The idea of making (and then having) homemade ice cream was pretty appealing. But Saturday rolled around and my day was spent writing things down, my evening with friends. Then Sunday came, feeling more like a Saturday in the three-day-weekend, and C.T., Daniel, and I were sitting in my apartment.

I brought up ice cream, but then didn't really feel like making it. "Guys," I said, "I don't know what I'm going to bake for my blog."

But then! Inspiration! What better for a Memorial Day celebration than cheesecake? (Honestly, what situation is not improved by cheesecake?) So we took a little field trip to get caffeine (some of us may be addicted) and pick up the ingredients I didn't already have.

I did already have the tiny mason jars, mostly because a couple months ago Daniel sent me a link to one-serving pies in half-pint jars. Clearly I needed to make one-serving cheesecakes. Like I said, what situation is not improved by cheesecake? What is particularly great about the mason jar servings is that you can freeze them and bring them out whenever you want. It's kind of perfect for someone who, oh, I don't know, usually bakes in fairly small quantities, usually for herself and her friends.

And if I may brag a little, these little cheesecakes are good enough to inspire conversations about taking them to market. They hit just the right spot on a hot and humid summer day.



Mason Jar Cheesecake

for the crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp melted butter

for the filling
16 oz cream cheese, room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp.
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

special equipment
4 half-pint mason jars, washed

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of the mason jars. Place the mason jars on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until blended. Then add in the sugar, flour, and vanilla. Next beat in the sour cream. (I did all this with a wooden spoon and there were still some chunks. This is okay! You just wind up with a more rustic cheesecake. It's still delicious.) Finally mix in the egg until blended. Pour into the mason jars, over the now-baked crust.

Put the mason jars (on baking sheet) back into the oven for about 40 more minutes. When done, let cool for about ten minutes and then carefully screw on the lids to the mason jars. You can now freeze them, if you're not going to eat them soon, or just refrigerate overnight.

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Fall is my favorite season (if you couldn't tell by that last post) - every year it brings a welcome reprieve from the oppressive heat of summer. Fall and winter were the main reasons I couldn't make it in Florida; I don't do well in heat. Especially not Florida heat, which is humid but which also never really leaves. The joke is that there are two seasons in Florida - hurricane season and not.

Besides the cooler weather, though, fall has the added benefit of being the season wherein many of my favorite activities take place. Mostly I mean Halloween, which is hands down my favorite holiday. Even lackluster Halloweens are still great - the time two years ago when it was on a Wednesday and my dear roommate Becca and I dressed up to go to Buddhist meditation stands out. (Though really, any time you get to dress up and go out in public is a-okay by me.)


It's also the season of pumpkins - which means the season of my favorite beer (pumpkin ale) and my favorite pie (pumpkin, obviously). I honestly did not realize I liked pumpkin so much until this year, actually. Apparently I'm really into it. You can probably guess what this recipe is going to involve.

One of the main reasons I started this blog was because I hated my job so much. There were no real upsides to that job, other than that it did pay me. It slowly got worse and worse, and then luckily I managed to escape. But it did give me one thing - every month a company newsletter was sent out and every month I read it, not because I really cared what was going on in the company, but because I was so eager for something to do that wasn't work. (Or, because I had nothing to do and needed to look busy, else be sent to the file room. Oh, that wretched file room...) There were, however, also recipes in those newsletters. Most of them weren't great - or not appropriate for a vegetarian - but one grabbed my eye what must have been a year ago.


Pumpkin Cheesecake

That's right. It's like combining my two favorite desserts: pumpkin pie and cheesecake. I'm pretty sure that's a no-fail right there. I was a little surprised at how easy it was to make cheesecake, too. Because of the pumpkin addition, it feels a little healthier to eat than regular cheesecake.

filling:
16 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
3/4 cup sugar
15 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs

crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp butter, melted

Combine the ingredients for the crust and spread over the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Let chill in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until blended. Mix in pumpkin, spices, and salt. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour over the crust in the springform. Bake for 50 minutes.

Chill for as long as you can stand it (overnight is best).