Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

I love chocolate and peanut butter, but the combination is simply irresistable, so this is the second chocolate peanut butter dessert I'm posting. :) I've brought them to a couple different parties and they're always a hit.


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CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKES
Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:
3/4 cup finely crushed Oreo cookies
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
12 Kisses
2 8-oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup chocolate chips/bar/etc.
1 tsp shortening


1. Heat oven to 325F and line muffin pan with 12 foil liners. Combine oreo crumbs, butter, and 1 tbsp sugar in small bowl. Divide among the 12 lined cups and press into bottoms. Place one Kiss point-side up in each cup.

2. Beat cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla until just blended. Beat in peanut butter. Spoon into each cup, making sure the Kiss doesn't get knocked over. The cups should be just about full. Bake for 25 minutes or until filling is set. Remove and cool in the pan for 30 minutes.

3. In small saucepan, heat chocolate and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Once melted and smooth, remove cheesecakes from liners and drizzle melted chocolate over the top. Chill for 1 hour before savoring the yummy goodness!

Much To Be Thankful For

Before we head to Colorado for Christmas, I figure it's about time to post pictures from Thanksgiving... sheesh.

We have so much to be thankful for. Here's just a small sample of my blessings:

First off, I am so thankful for family. God allowed me to be born into a fabulous one, but then I was twice blessed when He placed me into a wonderful second family too! Shaun and I went to our friends' wedding in Atlanta the weekend before Thanksgiving, where we spent time with my in-laws before they drove down for Thanksgiving with us.

Dan, Donna, Collin, Amber and Shaun at the wedding

It goes without mention that I am also incredibly thankful for my stud of a husband. Donna took this picture of Shaun outside of our commissary. That picture to the left of him is Shaun, the CGO (company grade officer) of the quarter for the whole base!


I'm thankful for new beginnings and fresh starts. Our dining room set was given to us as a hand-me-down from some dear family friends, but unfortunately the fabric had several worn spots where the stuffing was peeking through. Donna, a former Home Economics teacher, did a magical renovation to our chairs while she was here. She reupholstered our chairs in a gorgeous new cranberry and cream paisley pattern... What a difference it made!

Shaun and Donna hard at work on the chairs

Living in Florida, we've got a great appreciation for the sunshine and warm weather. We took Dan and Donna to one of our favorite beach restaurants, Toucans, for lunch one day. It was fun to stroll the beach afterward!

----Then, there was Thanksgiving----

Our morning started with a family run around our neighborhood, followed by a lot of good bonding time in the kitchen! :) The run helped us to be thankful for our health and strength God gives our bodies. The food was just another reminder of God's provision in our lives and His grace we receive daily. Though we don't have pictures of the run, we have several of the feast preparations!

Dan did the duty of testing the turkey giblets.

Donna and I with the turkey!

Mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, ginger-rum carrots, cranberry sauce, and deviled eggs... Mmm!

Our 2nd Thanksgiving together (with the same last name)!

So colorful! :)

Turkey and wild mushroom stuffing-filled acorn squash

Showing off the spread with Dan and Donna!

I'm thankful for our wonderful friends too. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our friends. They're from Canada, so it was fun to compare traditions with them and show them an American-style Thanksgiving.

With the Fathers -- Mark, Sally, and Kaede

The table!

All in all, we have much to be thankful for. It was so great to spend time with family for the holiday, and it makes us even more anxious to get back to Colorado for Christmas!

Thanks for the visit, Dan and Donna! We love you guys!!

500 Cookies

Back in October, Tyndall Air Force Base's facebook page had over 500 fans, so they offered a competition -- do anything you can think of with the number 500, make a video, and get as many people as you can to "like" your video on their page. If you got the most votes, you won $500. What better idea than to make 500 chocolate chip cookies and pass out plates of them to meet your neighbors on base?

However, 500 cookies is no small feat, so I asked my friend Lisa to help out. Together we made over 550 cookies (because you can't just let the rest of your dough go to waste!) and then proceeded to go door-to-door, passing out friendship on a plate!


We fought hard to get votes over the next couple of weeks, but unfortunately we were beat out by a video with two adorable children... it's hard to beat that. But it came down to the last 20 minutes of voting, and we gave it a good fight. If you were one of the people who voted for us, thank you for your support! We definitely felt loved -- over 580 votes!

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We spent over 4 hours baking these suckers!
Our kitchen was very warm that morning!

These were only my batches... the video link shows all 500+ cookies at once!