Strawberry Cheesecake

It's Autumn in my part of the world but I know for a lot of our readers Summer is not too far away, so I thought it a perfect time to share the Summer Strawberry Cheesecake recipe I concocted last summer.

Base

1 packet Marie biscuits (or sweet biscuit), crumbed

100g melted butter

Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter together thoroughly and press into the base of a greased cheesecake tin. Refrigerate.

Filling

1 cup strawberry puree (see instructions below)

1 tablespoon powdered gelatine (or substitute *)

375 grams cream cheese (bring to room temp.)

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 and 1/4 cup cream, whipped

For puree - Hull and wash 2 punnets of strawberries, if large cut in half. Using a food processor or suitable replacement, puree the strawberries with 1 tablespoon of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Leftover puree is wonderful on yoghurt, icecream, even cereal.

Place 1 cup of puree into a small saucepan with the gelatine, caster sugar and lemon juice and stir with a fork over a low heat. You want to heat the ingredients, not cook them. Leave to cool while you:

Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Beat in the cooled strawberry mixture until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream lightly. Pour onto the base and refrigerate until set.

Topping

3/4 cup strawberry puree

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons arrowroot

Warm ingredients together in a small saucepan (once again - just warming, not cooking). Pour on top of set cheesecake and refrigerate until set.

Serve with additional whipped cream if desired.

*For those who wish to not use gelatine there are some alternatives here.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, maybe you are lucky enough to have strawberries in your garden!

Posted by Kelly

Sugar Sweet

Rose Quartz Wire Wrapped Earrings



Fabric Flower Cocktail Ring





Rustic Love Pillow Cover



Laura The Little Teddy Bear





Nursing Bracelet

Chicken Tetrazzini

Today's recipe comes from Donna. Donna is a member of the Schooling at Home Etsians as well as the owner and creator of Naturally Comfy, homeschooling mother of 4 and blogger.


According to her blog, this recipe is a family favorite. We hope you enjoy it as well.
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Chicken Tetrazzini



¼ C butter or margarine
¼ C flour
½ tsp salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 C chicken broth
1 C whipping cream (half-n-half also works well)
2 Tbs sherry ( I use water)
1 package (7 oz) spaghetti, cooked and drained)
2 C cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1 can (3 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (I leave these out and it's fine)
½ C grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350*F. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour and seasonings. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in wine, spaghetti, chicken and mushrooms. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 20 minutes or until bubbly.
6 servings

Sugar Roasted Peanuts

This is one of our favorite fall snacks. My mom has made these for years and they are usually gobbled up before the evening meal is served.

If you have small children, they will enjoy watching the last few minutes of boiling as the sugar re-crystallizes onto the peanuts. So gather round the family kitchen and cook up a new family tradition!



Ingredients:
2C Sugar
1C water
4C dry raw peanuts

Instructions:
In a large saucepan mix all ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir every 5-10 minutes. Continue boiling and stirring until the water is COMPLETELY dissolved and the sugar re-crystallizes onto the peanuts. (Around 30 minutes)

Immediately remove the peanuts from the stove and pour into well grease baking sheets or 9x13 casserole dishes. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes.

Allow to cool, then enjoy!

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This recipe was submitted by Sonja of VeryVerdant.

Creamy Ranch Corn Salad

An easy, comforting recipe that is perfect for summer meals!

Creamy Ranch Corn Salad

1 (16 oz) package frozen whole kernel corn, partially thawed OR 2 cans drained whole kernel corn
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 chopped green onions
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 cup diced red or green pepper
1 cup bottled ranch dressing (more or less according to taste)

Gently combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

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This recipe is reposted with permission from Prairie Cottage Rose.
Shelly, the mind behind Prairie Cottage Rose, is a talented seamstress and a member of Sheteam. She specializes in primitive and folk are pieces as well as crocheted baby items.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/puddintoes
http://www.etsy.com/shop/prairiecottagerose

Family Recipes from Sheteam

My sister actually taught my second oldest how to make these oven crisped sandwiches. They have become a favorite in our house so I thought we would share them with you.

















Ingredients List:

8-10 French rolls from the local deli

3-4 sweet large onions

10-12 ounces thinly sliced deli ham or turkey

8 ounces thinly sliced provolone cheese

1/3 C mayonnaise

1/3 C Dijon mustard

Preparations Instructions:

First slice the onions into thin rings and lightly sauté in butter or olive oil. There is no need to season the onions. While the onions are being sautéed slice the rolls into halves and set the tops and bottoms open faced on a cookie sheet. Set aside for later. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

To Prepare the bottom portion of the French Rolls.

In a small dish, mix 1/3 cup Dijon mustard with 1/3 cup mayonnaise. Using your fingers, scoop out a small portion of the bottoms of the French rolls and into the holes place 1 tablespoon of the sauce mix. On top of that place one slice of Provolone cheese and set this back on the cookie sheets.

To Prepare the upper portion of the French Rolls.

On the top portions of the rolls layer 1 piece of deli sliced meat and a good portion of the sauteed onions. Place these back on the cookie sheets.

Place both cookie sheets in the oven and allow the sandwich halves to cook until lightly golden. Serve while hot. YUM!

~Originally posted at VeryVerdant...used with permission.

Chocolate Cake!

Who loves chocolate cake? (ME!) Here are 2 of our favourite family recipes for you to enjoy.

125 grams butter

2 cups plain flour 

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1.5 cups milk

2 tablespoons golden syrup

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarb)

Prepare a large cake tin (I used my fruit cake tin) with baking paper and oil or butter.

Melt butter and syrup. In a bowl sift flour, cocoa and baking powder.

Add the sugar and eggs, then vanilla, milk and baking soda, beat for 1 - 2 minutes.

Mix in the butter and syrup liquid, beat for less than 1 minute. Pour into tin, bake in a moderate oven for 35 - 40 minutes.

*Note - I ended up cooking mine for longer than stated as it was still gooey in the middle, so keep checking it with a skewer. I also covered the top of the cake with baking paper after the first 20 minutes of cooking to prevent burning or overcooking.

2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup plain yoghurt
3/4 cup cocoa
200g soft butter
1 & 1/2 tspn vanilla essence
1 tspn bicarb soda
1/4 tspn salt
3 cups SR flour
1 cup of hot, strong espresso OR 1 cup hot water with 3 heaped tspns instant coffee

Place all ingredients in this order in a food processor for 1 minute. Place in greased baking tin (2 loaf tins or 1 20cm tin)
Cook at 160 degrees (C) for about 1 hour, use a skewer in the middle to test for readiness.

This goes really well in the freezer.

Buttercream icing:

I usually beat a couple of tablespoons of butter until creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar (and cocoa if you want chocolate icing- food colouring if you want it coloured) until it starts to get very thick. You can also add a small dash of milk to make it more creamy or to make a larger quantity so you can add more icing sugar without it being too dry.

This makes a really good. moist and flavoursome cake without being too rich or over the top.

Posted by Kel @ The Handmaden and Nourish from Scratch

Comfort food

It's a great time for comfort food and SHE team members have been busy cooking up a storm!
Rather than listing recipes I'm giving links to the recipes on blogs for you to check out. Bon appetit!



Chicken Tetrazzini by Donna (NaturallyComfy)


















Creamy corn chowder by JewelsByJane



















Chocolate Pudding by thehandmaden




















Onion Tarts by raggyrat

Are you hungry yet? Now go do some cooking!

Posted by Kelly of The Handmaden

Mud pies with worms for the kids!

Here is a fun holiday activity for the children - and the best part is it's edible!

We got the idea from "God's Design for Life - The World of Animals" by Debbie and Richard Lawrence (a most excellent set of Christian science books).

First, mix a packet of chocolate instant pudding according to the instructions on the packet. I don't usually go for this pre - packaged stuff, but it is quick and easy. You could substitute with home made chocolate mousse or similar if you don't like the packet stuff.

Crush some chocolate cookies (we used Chocolate Ripple biscuits).

Place some of the cookie crumbs in the bottom of a clear plastic or glass cup. On top of this, place a gummy worm so that it sits up a little.

Spoon the pudding mix in dollops and add another gummy worm if you want. Sprinkle a thick layer of cookie crumbs on top.

Refrigerate until set, then watch them disappear into waiting mouths!

By Kelly of The Handmaden