Sunday, October 29, 2006

Party time!


Great fun was had by all at our annual Hallowe'en party yesterday! Wewh:) Here's Joe and I decked out in our Morticia and Gomez Addams get-ups. I'm going to try to take come pictures of the kids in their costumes in the next fews days. They weren't cooperating for the camera yesterday:)
I made carmel corn and cheesecake for the first time and they both turned out great!
The carmel corn recipe I got here. It's very, very yummy and has chocolate drizzled on top!!

The cheesecake recipe is from Martha Stewart's everyday FOOD magazine. I've gotten a few issues of this magazine because I was a subscriber to her KIDS magazine (and *loved* it!) and sadly it went out of publication, so this was our compensation. Glad I got a good recipe out of it, at least.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
For crust:
20 chocolate wafer cookies
2 tbls. sugar
4 tbls. butter, melted

For filling:
2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) bar cream cheese
1 c. sugar
1 c. canned solid-pack pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
3 tbls. all-purpose flour
1 tea. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tea. salt
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Leaving an overahang on all sides.

Blend cookies with sugar until finely ground, add butter and pulse until moistened. Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 min. Set aside to cool.

Mix cream cheese in bowl until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix to combine. Set aside.

Chocolate in microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 sec. increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 c. pumpkin mixture, stir to combine. Set aside.

Pour remaining pumpkin mixture in prepared pan, over crust. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture, swirl to marble. Bake until cheesecake is set and jiggles slightly when gently shaken. 40 to 50 min.

Cool in pan. Cover, chill until firm, at least 2 hours. Using overhang, transfer bars to work surface. With knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve. YUM!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You two look adorable! Glad your party went well...I had to back out on our annual Trick or Treat night bash for the kids because my pregnancy has worn me completely to the bone. I know I am going to miss it. Next year though! And I may have to try that caramel corn, yum!

Lilli in Vancouver said...

Wheee! Looks like a great Splash! Thanks for sharing the menu. My Steve is going to drool over the pumpkin cheesecake squares :)

Anonymous said...

I have to try this caramel corn recipe. IT looks wonderful.

chanel said...

looks like fun, the caramel popcorn sounds awesome, i wish i could have some right now ..... yum!