Shyanne’s ‘Two Kind’ Cheesecake

This recipe was chosen last year for one of the birthdays, but we never actually made it. This year, we tried it out and changed things a bit to work better for us. Everyone loved it, but the original recipe was a little dry. After the changes, it was amazing!

Shyanne really loves this and would ask for the ‘two kind’ cake when she wanted more…lol. This works with any boxed cake mix and would also work with a packaged brownie mix. You could make the brownies as directed on the package and bake them in the springform pan so they could be your ‘crust layer’.

**Special thanks to my son-in-law @moments2lifephotography for the amazing cover photo!

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No-Bake Cookie Cheesecake

This recipe is so easy and is always a favorite around the dinner table. We even used this recipe to make the Groom’s Cake for my daughter’s wedding. This is almost always requested for special dinners like Thanksgiving as well.

It can be changed to use any cookie you like, or you can use graham crackers for a more traditional cheesecake.

**Special thanks to my son-in-law @moments2lifephotography for the amazing cover photo!

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Eema’s Vanishing Cream Cheese Cookies

Mr. Awesome has gotten hooked on the cream cheese cookies from a certain sandwich chain. We tried a ‘copy-cat’ recipe, but it had so many crazy and hard-to-find ingredients that I decided to try tweaking our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to make something close to what he was craving. After a few tries, we definitely have a winner!

I call them ‘Eema’s Vanishing Cream Cheese Cookies’ for a couple of reasons. First, I became a grandma last year and we decided that I will be called ‘Eema’ by the littles… so cute and precious to hear that! Secondly, these cookies tend to vanish before your eyes, so you’ve got to be quick to grab one when they have cooled down enough to eat. They are so GOOD! I’m so excited to share this recipe with everyone I know!

You could probably use any dried or freeze-dried fruit as long as it wasn’t hard, like dried bananas. I don’t think fresh fruit would work unless you ‘dry’ it in the oven for a bit before using it… You can probably research how to dehydrate fruit in the oven for some ideas on how to do this.

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Mini Garden Makeover and Fall Reset

How are you doing? I’m praying all is well… everyone here is good. We’ve really enjoyed having a week of reflecting on our blessings, and eating outside was a hit with the weather being just right. We will definitely be observing Sukkot in the future and plan to make a few small changes in the future.

This week, we are taking a breather from school for ‘Life Skills’ as the gardens need a little attention and revamping. I’ve had a vision for part of the garden, and we’ve been working on making it a reality. We haven’t had to buy any materials as we have been repurposing some things that we already had on hand. I am contemplating the purchase of some fencing for the garden, but seeing it come together makes me second-guess that idea.

You may remember the Pallet Gate project that we did a bit ago… this is another baby step towards the goal! We put together a small raised bed just enough to allow the guys an edge to weed eat and maybe save my chives… lol.

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Homemade Pizzelle Cannoli

We wanted to make this in honor of Christopher Columbus Day, which we happened to celebrate a little early, as it fell during the Biblical Feast of Sukkot this year. I think they looked pretty good, and everyone agreed that this will need to go on REPEAT for the dessert schedule!

This is not the traditional way to make Cannoli, however, this is the easiest way for me to get them made during busy days here. We found that we can use our Pizzelle recipe to make the shells… gotta work quick to roll them up, but it isn’t too bad other than your fingertips get a little warm. Having a cannoli roller works well, but is not completely necessary… we use a turkey baster to roll some of them, and it worked just as good!

NOTE: You definitely do not want to fill them too early. I chose to fill them before we served dinner, and they were still crunchy after we ate, but some of them were a little soggy the next day. We did put some in the freezer, and the kids really liked them!

Don’t worry if you don’t have a Pizzelle Maker or forms… you can turn this filling into dip, and eat it with some graham crackers, or fresh fruit!

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