Margarita Cheesecake

 I know, I know. I haven't been on here in FOREVER! But, I created a recipe this weekend, or cobbled it together, and I just HAD to share! 

We had some friends over for a Christmas in July party, and while not many came, we still had great food and great fun! 

I made a Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad, and added chicken to it, and it was SUPER healthy, but SUPER tasty as well!! I have to say, even with kale, lentils, and quinoa, it was delicious!! Unfortunately, I cooked ALL of my lentils, so now I need to find some recipes for those! 

I also went across the state to a little shop and got some farm fresh peaches and made some fresh peach pies, I added a little too much water to the crust, and next time I think I'll add some sugar to it too, but all in all, yum!

And of course, the reason for this post in the first place, Margarita Cheesecake!! I saw a post on Pinterest for this, but when I went to look at the recipe for it, the poster had taken it down! Bummer! The link did say that she had a margarita jelly on top, and the cheesecake was no-bake, so I took her traditional no-bake cheesecake recipe and found a recipe for a cake with a margarita gel, so I put the two together with a graham cracker-pretzel crust, and Shazaam! So, here it is!!

Crust

1 pkg Graham Crackers

1 cup Pretzels

¼ c sugar

12 tbsp butter (melted)

 

Cheesecake Layer

24 oz (3 packages) cream cheese (warmed)

1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 ½ Tbsp lime juice

Pinch of salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 limes worth of lime zest

 

Margarita Gelatin

2 oz water

8 grams KNOX gelatin

2 oz margarita mix

2 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp lime juice

2 oz tequila

1 Tbsp triple sec

Put graham crackers, sugar, and pretzels in a blender and blend for 30 sec. to crush and then add the butter.

Press into a 9-inch round or 20- 8 oz jars.

 

Put the cream cheese in a blender with the confectioners’ sugar and blend until smooth.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until whipping cream has thickened.

 

Sprinkle Gelatin onto the water in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes to bloom.

Add the next 3 ingredients and microwave for about 30 seconds, until gelatin turns clear.

Let it sit for 5 minutes and scoop any foam off the surface.

Stir in liquors and spoon onto cooled cheesecake layer. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Loaves and Fishes (and a LOT of Strawberries)

A few weeks ago (it has taken a little time to recover enough to write about it) I hosted a reception for a “joint service” of Raleigh Moravian Church and Light Mission Pentecostal (which uses our church building every Sunday afternoon).  The members of Light Mission Pentecostal are a group of immigrants from Burundi, and over the past several years, have become near and dear to the congregation of Raleigh Moravian.

Let’s take a step back….  Two or three times a year, I volunteer my services to host the weekly Fellowship Hour after our Sunday church service.  This is a time of catching up with friends and sharing some time with other members of the congregation.  Anyway… I asked the Keeper-of-the-Calendar which weekend would work best for our upcoming schedule and I picked this Sunday (May 15) almost at random.  About two weeks before, I got an email from our Pastor telling me that this particular Sunday would be a special joint service between our congregation and the Burundi fellowship.  As always, I say that I am up to the task.

I needed to up my game a little, since there would be between 160 and 200 people present on this particular Sunday.  (208 to be exact)  Nick suggested that I streamline my menu (not get so crazy) and up my quantities of each dish.  Begrudgingly, I agreed.  I turned to my dear friend, Pintrest, and got to work!

I started off with some basics, crudités of the “3 C’s” celery, carrots, and cucumbers.

One of my favorite fellowship hour staples is my spinach artichoke bread.  I make the dip in advance, then thickly spread it on to sliced baguettes and pop them in the oven for a few minutes to get them nice and melty.  Cool, slice, and place onto a few serving dishes, and BAM!!  It is a showstopper EVERY TIME I make it!

To keep things light, I made a fruit salad with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and kiwi.  I am very glad that I work for a CSA (community supported agriculture) business, and I was able to purchase all of my fruit fresh and locally grown.  (Support your local farmers!! J)

 

Next I turned to a surefire summertime standby - Pimento Cheese Cups.  These little bites of Heaven are easy to make, quick to serve, and always a big hit.  My helpers LOVED the pimento cheese, so I sent her home with what little there was left over! 

I also like to make ham and cheese sandwiches for our fellowship time, they always go over well! However, I wanted to do something a bit different this time. So, I went to BJ’s (it’s like Costco or Sam’s here) and got 5 boxes of mini croissants. A slight change, but I think it made the sandwiches just a bit fancier than basic rolls! I also found Maple Bacon Onion Jam at Harris Teeter, and that just seemed like it was meant to go on these sandwiches. I heard many oohs and aah’s just letting people know what spread was on them!

 

I wanted to try something a little different and stay with a light and springy feel so I made Lemonies Bars (basically, blonde brownies with lemon rather than a chocolate flavor).  These came out a little dense and gooey, but I got no criticism from the congregation.

 

Everything is better on a stick, right??  And since we’re in the height of strawberry season, I made Strawberry Shortcake Skewers.  I even made my own Angel Food Cake from scratch.  They came out pretty good.  I am glad that I had some help in putting them together, because I couldn’t pre-skewer these since I didn’t want the strawberries to stain the white angel food cake.

Since I was going for a fruity/berry theme, and I had heard that the Burundi’s LOVE fruit (hey, who doesn’t?) I thought I’d make something fruity to drink as well. Strawberry Lemonade fit the bill perfectly. It can be a bit challenging sometimes making drinks, since they take up a lot of room in the fridge, so I often have to make my drinks on the day of. Needless to say, there was a lot of blending going on at the Shore house Sunday morning! Nana’s Lemonade worked perfectly with the strawberry puree, and adding a little soda water gave it just enough bubbles to make it interesting!

I couldn’t have pulled off this event without some great kitchen helpers from the Mission Group at Raleigh Moravian.  They were the hands and feet that helped to pull all of my culinary skills into a reality to serve the masses.

 

In the true spirit of our joint congregational service, as I was in the kitchen pulling all of my offerings together for the reception, the members of the Burundi fellowship began arriving for the service and brought many tasty and interesting dishes.  As the tables in the fellowship hall were filling up, we began to shift dishes around, and scrunch things together.  Then more food arrived, and there was more finagling about of dishes.  It was a wonderful sight to see all of the dishes from the two churches coming together to create such a multitude of food!

50th Anniversary Celebration, aka. the biggest event I've ever done!

After quite a bit of time away from my Part Time Caterer duties, the events have come rolling in like the tide.  A few weeks ago, I provided hors d’ouevres for my sister’s wedding between the wedding ceremony and the formal reception dinner.  Life was finally getting back to normal when I got an email from a church friend asking if I could make a cake for her parents’ 50 year wedding anniversary.  Of course!  I love to make cakes and need an opportunity to freshen up my skills.  I responded and offered several ideas of potential cake designs.  A few days later she emailed me back and asked if I would be interested in preparing hors d’oeuvres and/or a buffet as well… for 75 people.

EEKKK!!!

First things first, I had to consult my husband who is the keeper of the calendar.  Of course, the weekend in question, he was going to be out of town for a Half Marathon in Atlanta.  (The Hotlanta Half Marathon… in August… in Atlanta, Georgia… that is HIS own brand crazy there.)  I immediately started working the family phone network to enlist some help for that weekend.  After a few calls, my sister agreed to come down and distract play with the baby so I could work.  Crisis averted!!

Next, I turned to my good friend Pinterest for assistance on developing a menu of “upscale traditional southern cuisine” that I could transform into hors d’oeuvres and a buffet.  I picked out a bunch of things, conferred with my client, and we agreed on a menu.  For dinner; Shrimp and Grits, Barbecued Chicken, Fried Green Tomatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Bacon Wrapped Green Beans, Salad, Watermelon, Biscuits and Cornbread. For the Apps, Okra, Pimento Cheese Cups, Jalapeno Corn Dip and Ham Biscuits. And the cake. Her mom and dad couldn't decide, so I made the bottom layer chocolate with chocolate ganache, and the top two layers white cake with raspberry filling and almond icing.

Mid week, I received an email from my client stating that the RSVP list had grown from 80 guests to over 100 guests.  Oh dear!!  Back to the grocery store I went.  I decided to add another tier to the cake, as well, to make sure there was enough for everyone.

By Thursday, I had been to the grocery store three times, Target and Michael's twice each and to the discount club once.  The cakes were baked, BBQ sauce and pimento cheese had been made, filling for the cakes, and several trial runs on new recipes have been completed.  The week was already moving too fast!

On Friday I had to kick things into overdrive…corn was cooked, and, once my sister came, green beans were wrapped in bacon. She says she never wants to see green beans again. Lol! I didn’t get everything on my list done on Friday, but I was able to send the girls to the In-Laws, so I didn’t have to entertain them while I was a “man down” over the weekend!

Saturday, Nick gets up at 4:30 AM to go to Atlanta. I wait an hour or two and get up. My sister is addicted to enjoys a cup of coffee in the morning, so we go to the grocery store, pick up the last of the expected items, and grab some Starbucks. Back home, we chop, mix, bake, sauté, and in general, run around like crazy people in the kitchen, all while tag-teaming playtime with the baby. He won’t be this little forever! I had AJ cut the requested watermelon into hearts with cookie cutters, so they looked all cute! (Everyone loved it!) And of course, at the last minute, I decide that my cake looked like crap, so I go to the store to buy new cake ingredients. Of course, I forget to get more milk and have to go back (again) on Sunday. And cheese. And cheese again. That’s something I need to work on, the “oh no, I need more ____“ shopping trips.

Sunday… ok, crazy time! Finish fried green tomatoes, make like 1,000 biscuits, start on the cake decorations, cook the grits, and bake the beans. I had bought some gold paint for the cake, but I tried putting it on (in the middle of the biggest tier, so it would be covered by the other cakes), and it looked

Zero Hour…So my sister LEAVES. How dare she! I take Alex to a friends house (with tomatoes in the oven) and tell her everything he needs/likes ie. Why he has my shirt in his diaper bag (he likes to sleep with it. Awe!)

I come home, magically fit everything into my car, and head to Cary. I carry the cake bits in and get some help with the rest. I realize that, though they have a full kitchen (oven, fridge etc.) they have no oven mitts. WHAT? This is a first for me! So everything I put in the oven, I have to take out with washcloths. Oh well, it worked! I am frantically putting together ham biscuits, and I keep looking out the window, willing Nick to get there! My client had one of her friends help out in the kitchen, so she was able to put together some things while I did others. Thank goodness! Nick arrived shortly after the hors d’oeuvres started, and, though tired from a 13 mile run and 6 hour drive, he put on his button-up shirt and asked what needed to be done.

Once dinner started, I realized, I need to put the finishing touches on the cake, and, you know, stack it! So Nick and Dee kept the dinner flowing, and I started putting the cake together and putting the gold dragees on it (edible ball-bearings, as the 10^th Doctor calls them). Of course I spilled them everywhere, they kept showing up whenever I’d move something. I wouldn’t be surprised if the venue was still finding them today! Nick was so nervous, he didn’t want me carrying it, and wanted me to put it on a cart. Dee and I convinced him that the cart looked crappy a little beat up, and it wouldn’t portray what we wanted it to. So, Dee walked ahead of me, and we had to go outside to avoid tables. There were people sitting outside, too, and they started applauding as we walked past! A girl could get used to that! As I set it down, a little boy said “that doesn’t even look real!” I am taking that as a compliment!

After the cake was served, the dinner was put up, and we’d taken half the stuff to the car, my boss convinced us we needed a break. We sat on the patio and just talked! From toilet paper to SNL to hair color. It was nice! But we needed to get home, and pick up the Critter. So we packed up the rest of our stuff, and headed out.

So, after all was said and done, I pulled it off.  Even though Nick abandoned me to go and run a race 6+ hours away, he pitched in to help wash the mountain of dirty dishes when he got back home.  We were both completely dead on our feet (for very different reasons), but after 10 years of marriage, we still work really well together.

A Much Overdue Update

Well, it has been a while since my last PTC posting.  This year has been very busy! First and foremost, we welcomed a new member into our family in January. 

Over the past seven months, Alex has changed the dynamic of our household in a challenging, but very good way.  OK, enough about me and back to why you are reading this…

Surprise Cake Pop Cake on the Road

Since Nick started running marathons and half marathons, our family travel schedule often involves a race.  All the planets aligned in May, when the girls were out of school, an out-of-town race, Memorial Day, and my sister-in-law’s birthday all collided over one long weekend.  We invaded my brother Matt’s house for the 4-day weekend.  My mom and brother, Andy, also made the trip up to Boston. 

We had 6 adults, 4 kids, 2 infants, and a Colombian au pair under all sleeping under one roof. It was crazy, but fun!

I asked Matt what Lisa’s favorite flavor of cake was, and baked it up before we left home.  We made the trek from Raleigh, NC to Boston, MA via upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire with the cake in a cooler and a container of supplies in tow. 

My sister-in-law had no idea we were up to something!  While the runners (Nick, Andy, Matt, and Lisa) all went into Boston to pickup their pre-race materials, I worked on the cake pops and dipped them in different colors of candy melts.  The next morning, while the runners were racing through the streets of downtown Boston, I decorated them with polka dots, swirls, and drizzles.  

Around mid-afternoon, we pulled out the cake pop cake and surprised not only Lisa, but Matt as well!  Everyone was very excited and the cake pops were a delicious afternoon snack! The kids were awesome and didn’t spill the beans to Lisa (zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket!).

Volunteer Thank You Cake

As a thank you to all the wonderful volunteers at church, I was asked to make a cake for a reception in their honor.  Of course I consulted with my best online friend, Pinterest, and came up with some creative ideas to say “Thank You” via cake.  I decided to make a sheet cake and two large flowers out of cupcakes that said “Thanks a Bunch”. 

Overall it turned out really well.  The congregation greatly enjoyed the cake and the combination of cupcakes and a sheet cake made serving 150+ people much easier.  I will need to file that little factoid away for future use!

Special Birthday Cookies

Our dog sitter asked me to bake 25 special cookies for her niece’s 1^st birthday party.  They had someone who was making them, but they had a last minute family emergency.  Of course I said yes, and I was excited because I got to order my first 3-D printed item, a #1 cookie cutter. I was very impressed with the quality!  She gave me some pictures of what she had in mind, so I used my classic sugar cookie recipe and used colored royal icing to decorate them with dots and flowers.  True to PTC form, I waited to the last second and was a little concerned that the royal icing wouldn’t dry in time.  Thankfully, some of my trusty assistants (my sisters) were in town for Alex’s baptism, so they helped me individually wrap all the cookies for the party. 

I even found a really cute box that was pink with white stripes on the inside to pack the cookies in.  When I took the cookies to our vet’s office, my client started to cry because she was so excited.  She said that they were too pretty to eat.  I will take that as a job well done from another satisfied client!

Alex’ Baptismal Reception

As I said, our out-of-state family was in town for the Baptism of Alex.  I knew that if I wanted the fellowship time after his baptism done to my standards, I would have to pull out my apron and do it myself.  Of course when this was planned, I didn’t realize that I would be baking cookies for a birthday party on the same day.  (EEEEKKKK!!!!)  I did delegate some of the party goodies to my mother-in-law, to help ease the work load.  We prepared a summer salad, spiced pecans, lemon curd cookie cups, buffalo chicken dip, ham and cheese sandwiches, and a sticky Chex mix!

And of course, it isn’t a party unless there is a cake.  And of all people, my baby boy deserves the best. It was a white, three tiered cake with blue velvet swirled in! It was simply decorated with white buttercream and I had my “little” sister Alison write his name on top for me! (Her handwriting is MUCH better than mine!)

Since I was a parent of the infant being baptized, I had to be in church rather than in the kitchen that Sunday.  My sisters helped me set up as much as we could before the service began, then slipped out during the sermon to go and get things warmed up.  I joined them later and we got everything set up just in the “Nick” of time.  Being the mother of the baptized, caterer to the reception, baking cookies for a client, and hosting out-of-state family for the weekend, sometimes, I surprise myself!

Kate and Rodney’s Wedding

And lastly, my sister, Katie, got married! She asked me if I’d take care of the hors d’oeuvres between the wedding and the reception, while pictures were being taken. Thankfully, she was going to have the actual reception catered. Now, I have a hard time saying no to pretty much anyone, but especially one of my little sisters! Here’s one of my favorite parts of our conversation about what to serve:

Me: I was thinking… I know you loved the crab Rangoon that we used to get at Double Dragon (Chinese restaurant), I was thinking about making some crab Rangoon bites!

Her: Um, what is crab Rangoon?

Me: You know, the crab filled wonton wrappers that you get as an appetizer at Chinese restaurants?

Her: I literally have no clue what you’re talking about. (Me:*sigh*) But you know what would be good? Those little purse type things that have cream cheese in them! Those were awesome!

Me: That’s exactly what I was talking about!!

Her: Really? That has crab in it? (LOL!)

So, we decided to have; a mashed potato bar (per the groom’s request) with bacon (so much bacon!), cheese, ranch, sour cream and scallions; brie, apple & pecan bites; tortellini skewers with marinara, and of course, crab Rangoon bites!  As usual, I had some last minute assistants. Kyle, my future Bro-in-law, and Christy (also known in our family as Katy Perry). They were some of my best helpers to date! I’ve told them if I make this catering thing a full-time gig, they’ll be the first people I’ll hire.

Though it has been a long time since my last blog post, and I am sure that I have left out some of my boring life activities, but I hope to be able to keep this updated a little more frequently in the future.  As seems to be a theme throughout this post, I get by with a little help from my friends (and family).  Many thanks to all who have helped me as I continue to pursue my dream.  I feel that somewhere, Grandma Frances and Mary Lou are smiling down at me and I love the connection we all share!