St. Patty Whoopie Pies

Imagine for me, if you will, a beautiful, crisp spring day. The sun is out. The skies are clear with maybe just a little puffy cloud here and there... A nice, refreshing breeze that blows up all the leaves that have fallen off the trees into the air, dancing around you as if trying to prove that there is life after death. That they are still beautiful even though they are broken, brown, and seemingly drained of their bright green pride. You are feeling new. You are feeling motivated. You are feeling like cozying up by a lake, reading a book, sipping coffee and maybe sharing a conversation with a friend or a stranger. You watch your kids outside, playing and getting dirt all over their gorgeous faces.

It's one of those days where you can't help but smile, open up the windows, breathe, and fully appreciate the oncoming brighter days. The knowledge that finally, the worst of winter has passed, and the time for sundresses, popsicles, beaches and lemonade has arrived.

When it comes to my favorite type of days... these have to be up there in my favorite. There is something just so renewing that comes with a gorgeous bright day that appears right after the more crummy, yucky ones.

It's gotta rain before it can shine, right? Right.



So, with such a perfect day to take a hold of, I really wanted to make something pretty... and festive! Afterall, St. Patricks day is coming up, which means that making these cute little whoopie pies are a must. Best part about it? They are IN. CREDIBLY. EASY. Which means instead of staying inside and making these, you can quick whip 'em up, make 'em, prepare the frosting while they are baking and then all you have to do is assemble them and, if desired, roll them in some pretty bright green coarse sugar. Heck, even if you aren't irish... make 'em! Even better, find someone who is Irish and share them! Or just find someone who likes cookies and cream cheese frosting. I'm sure that can't be too hard. :)

Here's to brighter days for all of us.

And yes, I know I totally sounded like a hallmark card.



Super-Easy-Peasy Whoopie Pies

INGREDIENTS:

For Cookies
1 box of french vanilla style cake mix (like duncan hines)
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 egg

For Frosting
4oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Coarse sugar, for decoration (*optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prepare oven to 350F

2. For cookies, use a handmixer or kitchenaid to combine the cake mix, butter, and egg together until moist. Don't worry if mixture is a bit dry. For smaller, mini whoopie pies, drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet. For normal whoopie pies, drop by tablespoonfuls.

3. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Take out and leave to set on pan for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To prepare frosting, mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add teaspoon of vanilla. Add powdered sugar in 1/4 cup intervals to mix until you get a consistency you like (I used 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar).

5. When cookies have cooled completely, fill with about 1-2 teaspoons of cream cheese mixture, and sandwich cookies together. If desired, roll the edges of the cookies in coarse colored sugar. Store cookies in air-tight container in the refrigerator. Makes about 25 mini whoopie pies and 15 normal sized ones.

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

I am starting to slowly realize that when it comes to holidays, sometimes it's best to just stick with what people like, instead of going all out to change every single thing. You know what I mean?

Sure, it's cool to show off with some fancy shmancy roasted garlic mashed 'tatoes... It's awesome to come up with some magnificent cake with perfectly iced fall leaves on top for decoration. It's fun to sit there and come up with ways to make your cornbread stuffing that much better than last years stovetop...

It's understandable for a foodie to wanna go all out to impress guests and family.

But sometimes. Sometimes you just needa little somethin' that's traditional.

And i'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful for the instant mashed potatoes, the freeze and bake biscuits, and the simple stick-in-the-oven-and-fuggeddaboutit turkey (that was my awesome donnie brasco impression). I'm thankful for it all. Because regardless of whether it's homemade or store-bought -- it still brings a family together. And that's what actually matters.

Truth.

I'm also thankful for this Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake.

And i'm pretty sure everyone else at the dinner table last night was, too.

(P.S: Did I mention that it's lower in fat & calories than the original recipe? Second slice, please.)

"Snappy" Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

(Adapted from Taste of Home, August/September 2008)

CRUST

1 cup cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup ground cornflakes (grind them in a food processor until they get crumby)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter, melted

FILLING

2 8oz packages of neaufchatel cheese (or 1/2 reduced fat cream cheese), SOFTENED

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place a greased 9 inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy duty foil (about 18in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon cracker crumbs, ground cornflakes and pecans. Stir in butter. Press to the bottom and 1inch up the sides of your 9 inch springform pan. Bake this at 325F for 9 minutes or until set (should be a darkish slightly golden brown). Take out and cool on a wire wrack.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat SOFTENED cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs; beat on low speed until just combined (DO NOT OVERBEAT).

4. Place 1 cup of the cheesecake filling in a seperate bowl. To that seperate bowl, add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Stir together to combine. Remove 1/2 cup of the pumpkin filling and set aside.

5. Pour remaining pumpkin filling into the crust. Top with plain cheesecake filling. Now go to the 1/2 cup of pumpkin filling you set aside, and with a large tablespoon, just scoop and drop spoonfuls ontop of the cheesecake. Take a smooth knife (butter knives work best) and just run it through the top of the cheesecake to get a marbled effect. Have fun with it!

6. Place the springform pan into a larger baking pan (like a roasting pan or a large 13x9 baking pan; the kind you'd bake brownies in) . Add some hot water inside the baking pan (NOT ontop of the cheesecake) until the water comes up 1inch. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top is just set and looks slightly dull (to check if it's set, tap the sides of the pan. If the center jiggles slightly, it's ready to come out).

7. Cool on a wire wrack for 7 minutes. Run a clean, smooth knife around the edges of the cheesecake pan to loosen the crust from the pan. Cool 1 hour longer.

8. Refrigerate cheesecake overnight. Then remove the sides of the pan and reward your patience with one big slice o' cheesecake. ;]