Conversation Heart Cheesecakes

I’m so lucky to be on a great negotiating team at work with people that I really do enjoy spending time with. We’re a great group with lots of opinions and although we don’t always see eye to eye we manage to have a great time together while we’re stuck in a room together for hours on end.  Since we had a holiday and day off before our next negotiating session and the following day was Valentine’s Day I decided to make a tasty treat for all of us.

I searched Pinterest for a cute Valentine’s Day treat that everyone would enjoy. I found these really cute Conversation Heart cheesecakes. I had never made a cheesecake and since I love a challenge and baking I thought it would be a great project.

I had this silicone mold with hearts but figured only making six at a time was going to take way to much time so I went and got these cute individual silicone hearts to use also. First I made a graham cracker crust and then put about 2 tablespoons of the crust in each heart. Then placed them all in the refrigerator while I made the cheesecake filling. 

The filling was super easy to make. I used Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Cheesecake recipe. Then I separated the filling evenly into six bowls and then used food coloring in the usual conversation heart colors.

I then baked them in a water bath for about 45 minutes. Once they came out of the oven I put them in the freezer for 15 minutes and the the refrigerator for an hour. The cheesecakes in the first mold I had (the one with six cavities) did not work out very well at all. When I tried to take them out of the cavities they crumbled. They were way to difficult to get out. The ones in the single molds came out really easy. 

  

In the directions the next step was to use red food coloring to write the usual messages you see on conversation hearts. I did a few but I wasn’t happy with the results. My writing just wasn’t looking like the examples and started to bleed so I left the rest of them plain

I thought all of the plain ones turned out really well. The cheesecake turned out perfect. I had plenty to send with Kelly to work for her coworkers that night and took the rest for the negotiating team to enjoy at lunch. Kelly said they were a huge hit with her coworkers and my coworkers also enjoyed them.

I hate finding things on Pinterest that look so good and easy and then you make them and they are horrible. This is definitely one that I would do again. The only thing I might do next time is pick one color instead of so many. I think it got a little overwhelming and some of the colors didn’t seem very appetizing especially the blue and orange.   

Happy New Year

I’ve had some pretty bad luck over the past few months. Back in November my refrigerator broke, a few days later while cleaning out all the nasty food that spoiled in the said refrigerator the pipes from the garbage disposal backed up and all the nastiness backed up into the washer pipes and ended up in the garage. My car battery died and needed to be replaced and I got a nail in my tire that needed to be fixed. The week of Christmas the pilot light went would not light so I had almost a week and a half of no hot water (luckily I was able to stay at Kelly’s so I could have a hot shower). Then on New Years Eve my garage door opener decided to break. So, my first purchase of 2014 was a new garage door opener. 

On the positive side I did a pretty good job at saving money in 2013 and had the money to fix the things that needed fixing. I also have very handy and supportive family members that were here on a moments notice willing to help me fix the things that needed to be fixed.  I only needed to pay someone to install the garage door opener. I don’t know where I’d be without such supportive people in my life.
 
Kelly and Dave had to work on New Years day so after finding my garage door opener Noelle, Karly, Hope and I got the chance to hang out. We took a ride out to Wal-Mart with Grandma to get Pop some new socks for his birthday and some other things.

Noelle and Karly found this Duck Dynasty hat and thought it would look great on Hope.

Then we came home a played a little. Hope decided to take Noelle’s snack and give them to her baby doll. Noelle was a good sport and tried to feed them to the baby and Hope. Hope didn’t find that funny. 

         

While Hope napped Noelle, Karly and I did some baking. While we were at the store the girls picked out a Funfetti cake mix with hot pink frosting. Karly decided that the cake needed to “fun” to so we used some dye to make it purple.

We spent a little time talking about the New Year and what that means. Made a special dinner, played a little more and took baths.  Then they got to spend time decorating their cakes and eating them.

I think that the girls were in bed by 8:00 which gave me a little time to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. It was a great day and perfect way to start 2014. I’m looking forward to all the adventures that this year is going to bring.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is the one holiday out of the year that I host at my house. I get a little stressed out because my house is so tiny but it always turns out just fine. This year Mom made a pork roast, I made “crack potatoes”, and Kelly made a corn casserole and fruit salad. For dessert I made my first completely from scratch chocolate satin pie and reindeer cakes for the kids.

 

 

After dinner we opened our gifts from the names that we pulled from a hat.

Noelle had me and I had her….

Thomas had Hope

Dave had Thomas

Karly had Kelly

Hope had Karly

and Kelly had Dave

While we were cleaning up the kitchen someone left the refrigerator open and Hope found her way into it and got her hands into my pie. She was very proud of herself!

 

The reindeer cakes were a huge hit with the kids.

The kids were dressed in what Pop liked to call their Little House on the Prairie Christmas pajamas. I thought they were awfully cute.

After dessert we hurried and cleaned up the house, packed up the car and headed back to Kelly’s so the kids put cookies and milk out for Santa.

Baking weekend with the kids

For the past several years I have taken one weekend in December when they are with me to do nothing but Christmas activities and baking. It’s one weekend out of the year where there is nothing on the TV but Christmas movies, the ipod is playing Christmas music and the books we read are about the Christmas season.

Friday night we started the weekend with the Grinch that stole Christmas and popcorn.

All the kids got new Christmas pajamas to wear today. Noelle and Karly were especially happy about theirs because they came with matching nightgowns for their baby’s.

Then the kids and I sat down and talked about who we should deliver our goodies that we make to. I had some friends and family that I wanted to take them to and each of the kids got to pick one special friend.

Noelle and Thomas sat and wrote out the tags. Since my kitchen is pretty small they each picked what treat they would help make. Then the other kids waited their turn they watched watch a couple of Christmas movies and colored Christmas pictures.

 

Karly went first and make Cake batter chocolate bark. She was especially excited about the sprinkles she got to add to the top.

That of course is the one we kept for us. LOL

Noelle made some chocolate peppermint drop cookies and some peppermint fudge.

 

Thomas made chocolate mint fudge and turtle bark. The chocolate mint fudge was amazing. Definitely something we will make again next year. 

Hope took her turn and stole a peanut butter cookie while I was busy helping the kids do something.

 

 

We finished that evening of watching Charlie Brown Christmas and pizza. Then the next morning we cleaned up the house and then went and delivered all of our goodies. Noelle, Thomas and Karly loved doorbell ditching everyone. I think they enjoyed that more than they should’ve. I was proud of myself because we didn’t save anything and I only ate a couple of pieces of the mint fudge. Yay me!!!

I think this year I bit off a little more than I should’ve as far as how many things we made. I was exhausted by the end of the day. Hopefully I will look back at this post next December and wont make the same mistake.