Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake

So these aren't the prettiest pictures ever, but I had to show one of only two cheesecakes ever that haven't cracked! I'd always heard not to beat the cream cheese too much, but I think maybe I've always been afraid of that so never mixed it enough. I'm not sure, maybe I'll only make this cheesecake from now on :)

















And here's a slice the next morning. Again, not a great picture or great cutting, but a very tasty piece of cake!

Thanks to the Tea Lady of Tea and Scones for this week's pick!

Gingerbread Truffles

I wanted a chocolate to go with the little holiday plates for the neighbors, and my fudge didn't work, so I tried going for truffles. I used the Gingerbread Truffles on epicurious. The reviews were very helpful, the ganache sets very firm, so they're a bit tough to roll. I wasn't ambitious enough to temper the chocolates, so I just rolled in a mix of cocoa powder, powdered sugar and nutmeg.

I loved these! My husband and his friend thought they'd be great without the gingerbread flavor. But these were my favorite treats this year!

Puppy Cookies

We have a fantastic neighbor who is so good to our kids, so I wanted to make a little something for her "kids" for Christmas. I'd made a recipe from the vet many times before, but that cookbook's packed up already, so I looked online and found DogTreatKitchen.com. Such a fun site! I tried the
Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits, and they worked great! The dough was very easy to work with, and I liked that it didn't have any dairy or egg. I don't know if it's true, but I'd think these might have a longer shelf life. It is more like a roll or bread dough than a cookie dough, so the bigger cutters seemed to work better. The trees were great (the reindeer's antlers didn't work so well :) ). This one's so easy - definitely a keeper!