The Joy of Cooking???

Learning to enjoy cooking has been a slow process for me. When I was a kid both of my parents worked so I grew up fixing dinner after school before they came home. My Mom taught me fast, economical recipes that took very little skill. We had a big, busy family and had to fix enough to fill everyone up without breaking the budget. This information proved very valuable to me during our first years of marriage and also the more penny pinching times while Moriah’s medical care was so intense. Typically, I found that recipes intimidated me if they involved too many ingredients or took too much time.

My sweet husband, however, has an artist’s heart and loves to tackle recipes and create all kinds of wonderful things. He’s also incredibly focused and patient, and not afraid to mess anything up. I love cooking with him and have learned a lot about taking my time in the kitchen. Gaining a bit of confidence has helped a bunch! Now I like to look up new recipes on the internet and enjoy planning our meals.

Over the years we have added useful appliances/tools to our kitchen. For example, I love how versatile a Kitchen Aid mixer is! Our “old faithful” mixer growing up could never have combined ground sausage and ground beef for amazing meatloaf! Another new favorite is the silicon muffing cups. Recently I actually even asked for an apron because I was getting so into what I was doing I kept messing up my clothes. We spent Thanksgiving Day in the kitchen cooking together. I made my first cheesecake-ever. It turned out great! The recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine November 2010 issue.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake
Makes 2 pies
38 Ginger Snap cookies finely crushed
¼ cup butter melted (maybe more)
4 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 (15oz) can pumpkin
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
Whip cream
Nutmeg

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9 inch pans Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each just until blended. Pour into crust. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 20 min. or until center is almost set. Refrigerate 4 hours. Serve with whip cream and dusting of nutmeg.