Weekly Wal-Lah: My Mouth's Watering Again

     We let my brother hitch a ride and made a trip to Waco to celebrate Patrick's uncle's birthday. It made for a short and sweet visit with my mom and pop, and ditto with his side of the family. We caught up to speed on everyone's lives over ginarmous deep dish Chicago style pizzas at Rosatis, and of course the occasion called for me to go to work in the kitchen.

     I stumbled across an interesting reciepe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake and thought it was worth trying. And man was it.........But I made a couple of changes to the original. I added a tablespoon of Amaretto, a few sprinkles of cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of flour to the main mix (I was worried that the mix seemed thinner than normal cheesecake batter, and it called for 1 package of cream cheese than most, but it turned out perfect.)

     Then I prepared the homemade cookie dough, always faithful to the Butter Flavored Crisco can's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie reciepe, but doubling the vanilla, and adding extra semi-sweet chocolate chips. (I even had some extra for cookies.)
     The crust, curtesy of my trusty Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, was 1 1/2 cups of crushed graham crackers, 1/2 cup of melted butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and of course, a few shimmy shakes from the cinamon shaker (all mixed together and pressed into the bottom of the cheesecake pan).


     Next on my list was the preparation for our trip meals. I invented Hogs in the Blanket (screw pigs in the blanket; these things are way better), using cut smoked garlic and jalenpeno link sausage, 1/3 slice of provolone cheese, and a triangle of canned pillsbury cressant rolls for each one. Try them. They will change your life for the yummier.

     How could I post about such devilishy naughty food without leveling the palate field with a scrumtious healthy side dish? Oh yes. It's called Apple Coleslaw, and it's the bomb. I found the original reciepe on Pinterest, but added my own personality to it for the better. And seriously, it only takes about 5 minutes to make this; it does not need to "chill" for 2 hours before it tastes good! Mix a bag of fresh shredded broccoli slaw mix (found in the produce section of  your local grocery), a handful of gradded carrots (I always keeps a bag of pre-gradded carrots in the frig to sneak into our meals), and 2 sliced and diced Gala apples. Then for the dressing (in a shakeable container) combine 6 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, 2 tablespoons of Splenda, and several sprinkles of poppy seed, and pepper to taste. Shake up the dressing well, and pour over slaw mix. Done, Son.

That's not all I made, but keep you hanging for the rest until later, Gater.


Note: I'd like to give a special thanks to my husband, who makes all of this possible by constantly cleaning up after me in the kitchen. Otherwise, I would have no dishes to use for the preparation of these products. You are not forgotten, nor under-appreciated.