Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

I'm trying a new twist to an old favorite - we love cheesecake at our house, and pumpkin pie is the only dessert we pine for when whispers of Thanksgiving dinner start. Here's what we're making this year!

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Crust:
2/3 C Gluten Free Pantry All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either in a mixer with a whisk attachment or by hand, whisk together the ingredients until they look like coarse sand. Even in my kitchenaid mixer, I had to finish this task with a hand whisk. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes, and allow to cool completely.

Filling:
2 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 C sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 C canned pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Using either a mixer or by hand, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add pumpkin and spices into the mixture, and blend until well mixed. Pour into the prepared springform pan.

Bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees, adding 10 minutes at a time if the pie isn't set yet. The middle should puff up as it bakes, then will lay back down. Filling should be "set", meaning the cheesecake won't be really jiggly if you shake it a little.

To remove from the springform pan, run a knife around the edge of the pie BEFORE you open the lock on the side, and please wait until the pie cools before you take the sides off. It will make a huge difference, I promise :)

I topped my pie with cool whip and a dusting of nutmeg, you could get creative and make it pretty! Ours didn't last five minutes so we didn't mind the presentation.

Gluten Free Banana Streusel Muffins

I had too many bananas, and 6 over-ripened. I found this recipe and was stunned at how tasty the muffins were! I of course bent the recipe to my own gluten free wants, here's what I did :)

Banana Streusel Muffins
Muffins:
1 1/2 C Gluten Free Pantry All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 over ripe bananas
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/3 C butter, melted
1/2 C brown sugar

Topping:
1/8 C Gluten Free Pantry All Purpose Flour
dash of cinnamon
1 Tbs butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tin or use paper liners.

I always use my kitchen aid mixer, but you can do this by hand as well! Mix together bananas, sugar, egg, and butter. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder (I pile these together into one large measuring cup and mix them a little before adding to the wet ingredients).

Pour into muffin cups or tin.

Combine topping ingredients and mix until crumbly and well blended. Sprinkle generously over muffin cups and lightly press into the muffin batter.

Bake for 20 minutes or so, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

*I think you could also make this as a cake, but I would use a greased 8 or 9 inch pan and bake it at 350 degrees, maybe for 30 to 40 minutes, using the toothpick test again. I haven't tried making it into a cake yet, so don't quote me!!

Celiac Disease and dishwashers

I was diagnosed with celiac disease 6 years ago, Big Kid was diagnosed 5 months ago. I still hover trying to teach him about gluten safety, I can't help it. About a month ago he started getting sick here and there, obviously glutened. I started to go nuts wondering if he was eating at a table after someone else did and didn't wipe their crumbs, if he made his sandwich on a dirty counter, really going insane because who wants their kids' guts ripped up by gluten?! One day I was emptying the clean dishwasher and noticed one of the forks had a bit of food stuck to it... and it suddenly hit me. What if our 3yr old dishwasher wasn't doing it's job already? I stopped using it completely and bam, Big Kid stopped getting sick. He hasn't had a single issue since I started hand washing our dishes!

So I'm thinking my pretty, all black, pricey dishwasher will be freecycled soon and I will install a set of drawers in it's place. So far hand washing isn't that bad, we even survived washing by hand after a good sized Halloween party! I fill one side of the sink with super hot, soapy water and soak and wash there, then put the washed dishes in the other side to rinse. I'm hoping I'm not being too wasteful with water!

The only thing I really miss about the dishwasher is how nicely it cleaned all the sippy cup valves and lids... I have yet to find the perfect brush to get into all the crevices of those darn lids!! Might be time to switch to an easier to clean brand (sorry playtex). I guess once I uninstall the dishwasher I just keep the water turned off on the pipe, since there is only a flexpipe coming out from under my sink to feed the dishwasher. Have to read up on that part.