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Sunday, November 17, 2013

Pumpkin Cheescake--in a Jar!



I am always on the look out for desserts that are easily transported and shared. This is is the delicious answer to my problem. Nothing better than your own little dessert in a jar! This is a delightful combination of cheesecake and pumpkin pie. I have made it twice in the last 2 weeks--it is that good. Try it - it is a perfect portion of wonderful!

Pumpkin Cheesecake in a Jar
Chocolate Crust
6 chocolate graham crackers
1/3 cup pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
Break chocolate graham crackers and put in bowl of food processor, add pecans and process until coarse crumbs. Add sugar and melted butter and process until fine crumbs.
Put 2 tablespoons of crumbs in the bottom of 7 jelly jars (4 ounces). I used a Tart Tamper to compress crumbs.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
8 ounces cream cheese--softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg--lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Whisk together ingredients for filling. Pour into jars. Put a kitchen towel in the bottom of a large roasting pan add about 1/2 inch of hot water. Place the filled jars on the kitchen towel, this will keep the jars from sliding around. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until a thin knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from water bath and cool completely. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Recipe inspired by Soup Addict
Try these other recipes from Everyday Insanity--they are all delicious!
1 year ago------Harrison's Favorite Scalloped Potatoes
2 years ago-----Pumpkin Bars
3 years ago-----Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
4 years ago-----Baked Potato Soup

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Salted Caramel Cashew Popcorn


Jill is always looking for a new popcorn recipe. Her treats are a hot item at holiday boutiques--they sell fast. Tasty treats and festive packaging, a perfect combo. She wanted a Salted Carmel Cashew Popcorn recipe. She checked out several recipes that all had good qualities but the winner was actually a mistake. And she liked it, I like it and I think you will like it too!

It starts out with1/2 cup of air popped pop corn. We like to use Mushroom Gourmet Popping Corn from Just Poppin. Heat your hot air popper for a least a minute. Quickly turn unit off, add popcorn and turn back on. It will give you 12 cups of beautiful popcorn. Make sure you shake the popcorn and get all the un-popped kernels out. You don't want to break a tooth.


Salted Carmel Cashew Popcorn
1 1/2 cups cashews, halves and pieces
12 cups mushroom popcorn
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar (14 ounces)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons sea salt
Heat your oven to 250. Spray a large roasting pan or cookie sheet with Pam.
Mix together the popcorn and cashews in a very large bowl
In a medium size heavy saucepan melt the butter, brown sugar, Karo and salt. Stir continually on medium heat until mixture comes to a good boil. Lower heat and let caramel boil gently for 5 minutes without stirring. Immediately pour hot caramel over pop corn and cashews, stir, stir, stir. Spread on cookie sheet or roasting pan. Bake at 250 for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. Quickly dump caramel corn on a kitchen surface that has been covered with parchment paper and sprayed with Pam. Spread popcorn.

 Let it cool and dry and then get it in bags quickly. It is so yummy--one (with as little will power as I) must give it away quickly. It will make someone very happy! Put it in a cute tin or a cello bag, tie with a ribbon and make someones day.
Thanks Jill, this recipe will be put to good use!

You may also like:
One year ago-------Pepper Jelly another great Christmas gift.
Two years ago------Pumpkin Muffins with White Chocolate Chips
Three years ago----Candise's Cherry Comfort Bars
Four years ago------Baked Potato Soup--a family favorite.

Monday, November 4, 2013

It's a Miracle!


I like lists - and I have an action packed one to share with you today.  Things have been quiet here at Everyday Insanity.  Here are a few reasons why, as well as a miracle I'm thrilled to share!

1.  My laptop died - just 2 short months after my 3 year Geek Squad Guarantee expired.  Go figure. Blogging without a laptop is nearly impossible!
2.  I purchased a new laptop and left the old, very dead computer at Best Buy. 
3.  The new laptop has Windows 8, which is a whole new world.  You can teach an old dog new tricks, but it takes a long time.
4.  While I'm lost in a sea of my own data Best Buy calls; my old laptop is ready for pickup.  After The Geek Squad worked their magic and cleared 500 bugs and a few crumbs it is running like new!  Now I have a laptop to use while I learn Windows 8.  As miraculous as that is, it is not the miracle I've been excited to share!
5.  The first week of October we anticipated company - we do so love it when our children come home!  A son, his wife, and their darling children from Las Vegas, a daughter coming from Illinois for a photography conference, and a daughter and her family from Idaho.  These visits include good food, much laughter, and many late nights.  However this weekend also included an unexpected, and very welcomed addition!
6.  And now the list can end, and the story can begin...

You may have noticed the button on my sidebar, "Jarom & Candise - Hoping to Adopt".  Candise is my oldest daughter.  She and her husband adopted their daughter, Eliza Jane, seven years ago.  She is a bundle of energy and keeps us all smiling!  Adoption has its ups and downs - and Jarom and Candise have graciously ridden the roller coaster for many years.

On the morning of October 2, the day before they were scheduled to come to my house to visit, Jarom and Candise sent their daughter off to school, and had a discussion about a "to-do-around-the-house" list.  Jarom is a BLM employee, and it was his first full day of furlough.  Little did they know their "to-do" list would drastically change!  About 9:15 their adoption caseworker called and said, "You have a baby girl at the hospital, get here as quickly as you can and bring a car seat!"  The conversation contained little more than that.  They were at the hospital down the street in record time and found themselves meeting an amazing birth mother, and then a beautiful little girl that had been chosen to join their family.  Jarom left the hospital to get Eliza Jane from school - the birth mother wanted to meet her as well!  A short time later Eliza Jane called me, I was surprised to hear from her, as it was the middle of a school day, "Nana, we just went to the hospital."  I thought that perhaps she had broken her arm on the playground.  "We have a new baby sister!" 

And just like that our world turned upside down in the best possible way.  I wanted to hop in the car and get to Idaho - but my other children were en route to my house!  Jarom and Candise decided to keep with their original plan and joined us all in Utah, with a brand new newborn.  And how lucky we were that the photographer daughter Amber Linderman was in town and able to capture some beautiful images of our precious new grand daughter, Annie May. (It was so hard to choose a few images to share - there are some sweet photos of Annie's newborn toes on Amber's Facebook page!)

Photo by Amber Linderman Photography

Photo by Amber Linderman Photography



Photo by Amber Linderman Photography

So again I am reminded of why we named this blog Everyday Insanity. This wonderful family of ours can get pretty insane at times!  Even as I post this I'm awaiting news of the arrival of yet another beautiful granddaughter.  Life is grand!

Stay tuned for some yummy recipes--we still have to eat as we celebrate life's miracles!