Happy Blogiversary, Shelby!

Today is one of my favorite blogger's blogiversary... Shelby of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch! She is celebrating 4 awesome years of blogging! Shelby was one of the first friends I made through my blog and she has always been an inspiration to me. There have been many times over the last few years where I wished I lived closer to her... I just know we would have so  much fun together!

In honor of her blogiversary I am sharing my recipe for chocolate covered cheesecake bites. They are teeny, amazing, and oh so delicious! I hope you'll make them and enjoy them!

Make sure to stop by Shelby's blog to wish her a happy blogiversary! Also, check out the links for those who have also posted in honor of her blogiversary!

Finally, Shelby is hosting a giveaway. Go to her post HERE to find out how to win a $50 gift card!

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Bites

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:
16 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Coating:
24 oz semisweet chocolate
3 TBSP shortening

Line 8" square pan with foil; spray with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix well. Press into bottom of prepared pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour filling over crust.

Bake at 300 for 40-45 minutes or until edges are set. Center will be soft. Refrigerate 1 1/2 hours; then freeze for 2 hours. Cut into 48 pieces.

Melt chocolate and shortening. Cool for 2-3 minutes. Dip cheesecake bites; set on wax paper. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Store in refrigerator.

*Note: I find it easier to pull only a couple bites out of the freezer at a time while dipping. It makes dipping easier if they are still frozen.

Celebrating my Blogiversary with Cheesecake Cakes!

3 years and 669 posts... Happy 3rd Blogiversary to me! :)

I can't believe that I have been blogging for 3 years! My blog has had ups and downs... sometimes I am posting daily, other times a week or two go by between posts. Regardless of how often I post I gotta say that I LOVE having this outlet. I still love trying new recipes and creating my own. I love cooking for my family and friends and I am happy to have this blog to share those recipes.

I decided to make these cheesecake cakes to celebrate. I had bookmarked THIS CAKE over a year ago and never made it. Then I bookmarked THIS CAKE back in March. Then, as if that wasn't enough, my best friend sent me the link to the chocolate/PB cake a few weeks ago. That sealed the deal... I was going to try my hand at a cheesecake cake!

There were two problems, though. I didn't want to make a huge cake and my husband and I couldn't agree on which one to make. My husband wanted the PB & Chocolate cake and I wanted to adapt a Lemon Blueberry Cake that I bookmarked into a cheesecake cake. The solution? Make minis and make both!

I am glad I made minis because I was able to make two different flavors. The lemon blueberry was AMAZING! I think that flavor combination works really well with the tanginess of the cheesecake. I put a thin layer of lemon curd in between the layers and loved the extra lemon flavor. The PB version was also great but I think the PB overshadowed the cheesecake. I think this one is definitely a cake that needs to be made full sized so there is a higher cheesecake to cake ratio. I am looking forward to trying it again one day!

Thanks for sticking around for 3 years and here's to another year of great recipes!!!

Inside of the lemon blueberry (this one wasn't frosted yet)

Inside of the PB/Chocolate

Recipe for the PB & Chocolate Cheesecake Cake can be found HERE.
Recipe for the Lemon Blueberry Cake can be found HERE. To adapt this cake into a cheesecake cake, omit the middle vanilla layer and subsitute the cheesecake from the PB cake. :)

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to me! Let's celebrate with some cheesecake!

WOW! I can't believe that it has been 2 years since I started this blog! I originally started blogging per the request of a friend and to give me something to do while Nathan was deployed. I can't say that I ever saw myself stopping, but I never imagined that 2 years and 540+ posts later that I would still be doing this.

My blog has gone through highs in posting and lows in posting. I think that is true of most blogs. I try to maintain a steady stream of posts, but real life comes before blogging, so that doesn't always happen. Commenting has really fallen by the wayside lately and for that I apologize. I have been able to keep up with posting new recipes here for the most part but have had very limited time for commenting on other blogs. I do check out the posts in my reader and try to comment when I can, but that doesn't happen as much as I would like. So for those who take the time to comment here, please know I appreciate it! I know how time consuming it can become and I love reading whatever you have to say!

Thank you so much to all who have read, commented, and supported my blog over the last two years. I am so grateful for all of you and I hope you will continue to stop by!

To celebrate my blogiversary, I thought I would post my cheesecake recipe. I can't believe that after 2 years I have not posted this. It is probably one of my most requested desserts and I must say that it is fantastic. So rich, so creamy, so delicious!

Ultimate Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

5 TBSP butter, melted

Filling:

5 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 TBSP flour

1 TBSP vanilla

1 1/2 tsp orange zest

1 tsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

5 eggs

Preheat oven to 525.

Mix crust ingredients; press into 9" springform pan. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar through salt; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour filling over crust and bake at 525 for 7 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 and bake 40 minutes longer or until almost set. Remove from oven and cool to room temp.

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Happy Blogiversary to me and a GIVEAWAY for you!

WOW! It has been one year since I started this blog. I can't believe it! I started blogging with the gentle nudging of my friend, Monica. She had suggested it a few times, but I kind of shrugged it off. Then after being sucked into the world of following food blogs, I decided to start one of my own.

It all started with a cooking challenge. I challenged myself to make at least one new recipe per day for an entire month. I ended up making 56 new recipes that month! 56!!!! It was so much fun finally pushing myself to make new things. I have always tried new recipes, but this challenge gave me the chance to chisel away a bit at my "to try" file.

Another wonderful part of blogging has come from the great groups that I am a part of - The Daring Bakers, Tuesdays with Dorie, Cookie Carnival, Cheese of the Month, and Sweet Melissa Sundays. Believe it or not, I will also be joining fellow bloggers in a cupcake baking group! I enjoy being told what to make and discovering new favorites and/or techniques. Plus, I am never short on desserts! :)

I wanted to post about my favorite recipes from the past year, but the problem is that I have too many. I couldn't even begin to narrow it down if I tried. I hope that you have all enjoyed my recipes as much as I have. It always makes my day when I read that someone has tried something I posted about.

Throughout the last year I have enjoyed being a part of this blogging community. I appreciate all the people who stop by and comment on my blog. I am so grateful to everyone who reads my posts. I am looking forward to starting another year and sharing more recipes!

To celebrate one year of blogging, I am going to give away one of my favorite things. Have you heard of Tastebook? It is a fantastic website that allows you to purchase pre-made cookbooks or create your own. My friend, Erica, told me about these earlier in the year. I have made one already and have two more in the works. They are wonderful books and look great! Each book can hold up to 100 recipes and if you don't fill up the book at the time of purchase, you can add more later. Easy, convenient, and super cool!

One lucky person will win their very own Tastebook (25 recipes; shipping not included)! All you have to do is leave a comment here by midnight EST on Sunday, August 2nd. I will announce the winner on Monday, August 3rd.

Good luck and thanks again for making this past year awesome!