Ginger snappy bar

I was browsing the aisles at the Whole Earth Co-op in River Falls and saw a package of Sturdiwheat Ginger Snappy Bars. I was very familiar with the Sturdiwheat brand as I have made their pancakes, but hadn't seen their dessert mixes. I love how easy their products are to prepare, but even more, I love how great they taste.

Start to finish, it took me 6 minutes to get the bars in the oven. After pulling the baking dish from the cupboard, I softened the butter in the microwave and preheated the oven to 325. As their slogan states, just add water! In a mixing bowl, I stirred all the ingredients until it had a sticky consistency. As is said on the back of the package, I pressed the batter into the dish and put it in the oven for 35 minutes.

Really, I can't say enough about the Sturdiwheat brand. It's a local company (Red Wing, MN) and I really love supporting local businesses. Plus, they don't add preservatives and their products taste extremely good and of high quality. If you ever need to make a quick treat for a party or to bring to work, look in the baking aisle for Sturdiwheat products. You'll receive praise for your baking abilities and the consumers will be very happy. You both win. I wonder if Sturdiwheat needs a national spokesperson...I'm willing.

Ingredients:
1 package Sturdiwheat Ginger Snappy Bar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup water

Music: Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing
Weather: 53-degrees, rainy

Breaking news: Joe Mauer is named American League Most Valuable Player

Pumpkin Cheesecake

To remain consistent with my attempt to use recipes that include the color orange, I decided to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake. Saturdays have been designated "Dessert Day" in the little world of Kevin Eats. Last week, I had a lot of success with pie, so I thought I would take another stab at it. This has successfully been the second real pie that I have ever made.

I searched the Epicurious website for a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I could manage on my own. I'm shocked by how long the preparation time is for cheesecake. Most of the recipes recommended the cheesecake sit in the refrigerator overnight. I didn't want a NoBake Cheesecake, but I did want to eat it tonight. All that hard work should pay off, right?

I still haven't been able to taste the pumpkiny goodness, but it looks like it turned out well. I had a spoon full of the cream cheese and sugar mixture and thought I was briefly in heaven (actually, that's not true, heaven is going to be way better than cheesecake, but I bet cheesecake will be in heaven). I was concerned about the consistency of the filling before I baked it, but it looks like it has the perfect consistency. I didn't put enough fatty ingredients in the filling to promise Cheesecake Factory quality, but I'm still confident that it will satisfy my sweet tooth.

I bought a premade crust because I knew that I'd have had too much difficulty making a crust while taking care of Isaiah. The filling didn't take a lot of time and was very straightforward, which was nice. I fluffed the cream cheese and then added the sugar and brown sugar. I blended it until it was fluffy again. Then, I added the eggs and egg white one at a time and stirred them in separately. Finally, I put the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and mixed them together. It took roughly 15 minutes while I entertained Isaiah on the side with silly dancing and singing. He was amused (so was I).

I poured the filling into the pie crust and slid it in the oven at 350-degrees. I baked it for 65 minutes until the filling "puffed" up and the center moved only slightly.

I will post my review of this pumpkin cheesecake in the comments section as soon as I try it. I'm excited.

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
3/4 cup half and half
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt

Music: Adele - Chasing Pavements
Weather: 55-degrees and sunny