Mac and Cheese and Cheesecake - oh my :D

What a great supper we had tonight - bbq burgers/sausages/ribbies, macaroni and cheese, tomato/cucumber salad (all from our garden!) and the piece de resistance - Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. I can now die happy (and heavier, LOL!). Mmmmmmmmmmmm :)

I made a few minor changes to the recipes - I cooked the white/cheese sauce for the mac/cheese in the microwave instead of on the stove, and I didn't add velveeta as I didn't have any. I doubled the breadcrumb topping because - well - because I like it :D The cheesecake was made as per the recipe (what a great crust recipe - I'll use that on other cheesecakes). My melted chocolate was a bit warm when I added it to the cream cheese so it didn't blend in fully - it was a little bit "flecky". Still delicious tho! I don't have a 9" pan so I used my 10" one and the cake was done in 45 minutes. Will most definitely make both of those recipes again!

Check out Zoomer in the background of the cheesecake picture - I waited for him to move into position just so he could be in the shot :D

Fruity Soda Bread

Recipe here --- this was FABULOUS! I didn't put the glaze on it (hubby's preference), and I increased the sugar content to about 1/2 cup because - hey - thats what I do, and thats how I keep my svelte shape *cough* *cough*. It would be really nice with lemon curd, and would make a nice not-too-sweet dessert. It's like a nice hefty scone - you could have it for "tea" too! Well, in our house we don't do "tea" - we have grab 'n run where everybody ... well ... grabs ... then runs!! We're a couth bunch ... ;)

What's for dinner?

We had company for supper last night so I went to a bit more effort than normal. Chicken caesar salad (no specific recipe - I just toss bbq'd chicken breast pieces into a big caesar salad, lol), Jeanine's Pasta Salad (you have NO idea of how good this was - omg! I'm eating leftovers as I type this post, and I decided that the recipe would also make a fantastic potato salad, if I changed the macaroni to potatoes :D) and Easy Lemon Pound Cake - everything was delicious :)

Panzanella :)

MMMMMmmmmmmmm panzanella - recipe provided by Colleen, and posted by Jeanine @ The Baking Beauties - I can't wait to dig in!!

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread !

Recipe here ... mine looks just like hers! Delicious! Whipped up quickly, using ingredients I had on hand - I did make one substitution - I never use buttermilk - I always use regular milk "soured" with a tbsp.ish of lemon juice. Cooking time was 45 minutes just like in the recipe - I normally check a few minutes earlier, but in this case, the recipe was spot on. Really nice dessert for a supper at home, but definitely nice enough to serve to company or to take as a hostess gift. Thank you Nicole @ Baking Bites for the inspiration!

I also made a lovely spinach salad for supper - the kids LOVE this! A salad similar to this was served at my niece Jennifer's wedding last year - this one was made with spinach leaves, mandarin orange sections, sliced almonds and Kraft Signature Mandarin Orange with Sesame dressing. DS1 didn't like the dressing much, so I may change it next time around. Or at least - after this bottle of dressing is finished, anyways, LOL.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

New (to me) recipe - try 'em!!

Peach Cobbler

Same recipe as the Blueberry Cobbler - here - but using a 28 oz. (796 ml) can of peach slices for the fruit. I took this one out of the oven at 40 minutes, as it is a perfect light brown and tests done. Doesn't it look fantastic?


I'm also making "Favorite BBQ Chicken" from this recipe, and will serve it with stuffed baked potatoes and coleslaw - doesn't it sound like a great meal? The guys will love it! The chicken looks really small in the picture because of the angle I was holding the camera - the breasts were HUGE, but they looked pretty small from that angle, LOL. Everything turned out great, but I forgot to make the coleslaw!!