Ricotta Mascarpone Cheesecake

Serves 8-10

2 pounds ricotta cheese

1 pound mascarpone cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

6 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

zest from 1 large lemon

1 tsp fiore di sicilia or 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp lemon extract

powdered sugar

preheat oven to 325 degrees

generoulsy butter a 9 inch springform pan, the cover bottom and sides with foil.

place pan into a larger casserole dish and pour enough water to come up to the sides of the springform pan by 1 inch.

USING A MIXER BEAT TOGETHER RICOTTA, MASCARPONE, SUGAR until light and fluffy, then add the eggs and yolks one at a time beating between each addition.

Add lemon zest and extracts and mix until well blended. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake 1 1/2 hours.

Turn over off and let sit another 30 minutes. Remove from ob=ven and let cool at room temperature.

Using a sharp knife to help loosen the sides of the cheesecake from the pan and place on a plate.

Refrigerate several hours- sprinkle with powdered sugar and trim with berries.

Simple Crochet Gift Bag

Use 5 mm hook

Any kind of yarn and gauge does not matter

chain 17

Row 1- SC in second chain from hook and across- turn

Row 2- Ch 1- SC in second chain from hook and across-turn

Rows 3-4-5- Repeat Row 2- do not turn work at the end of row 5.

Row 6- chain 1,turn work counterclock wise 90 degrees, work 5 SC along the edge, CH 1, turn counterclock wise 90 degrees, work 15 SC. Chain 1 turn work counterclock wise, work 5 SC, Ch1, turn work 90 degrees work 15 SC. Mark 15 st SC with marker, base of bag is made.

From this point on you will be working in a spiral, at the end of each round, do not turn work, do not join with a slip stitch and do not work chains unless directed to do so in the pattern.

Next round

Starting at the marked stitch SC 3 TOG,work 3 SC, SC 3 TOG,work 13 SC, SC 3 TOG, work 3SC, SC 3TOG, SC to marker.

Work SC in marked stitch, place marker in this new stitch and continue in a spiral until work measures 9 cm in length from the base. Remember to move the marker at the end of each round.

Bag Handles

Starting at marked stitch, work 9 SC, CH 8, skip 8SC, SC in 9th SC., work 8SC, CH 8, skip next 8SC, SC in 9th SC, Sc to marker. ( this is where I found a mistake in the pattern, if you work it up this way the handles do not line up for me, so I just eyeballed it!)

Work a further 3 rounds working SC into each chain space made on CH 8.
Fasten off.

fruit flies

Our home is infested with fruit flies and last summer I remember finding a recipe to kill them off heh heh. You will need one small bowl, one cup of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap. Place in the spot where you last saw the flies, at the end of the day, gone baby gone!

Pandora Bracelets

In an effort to keep my mind off of food and indulge my insatiable creative impulses I have assembled pandora type bracelets with the authentic sterling silver bracelets but with the much more affordable non pandora beads. Shopping around for beautiful beads is half the fun and assembling them is soo much fun. My Etsy store is up BeaderDenEver, but not functional, that where my DIL comes in! Keep posted for pictures of my creations.

merengue tip

when making merengue for pie, a trick I use is putting my kitchenaid bowl and whipping utensils in the freezer. whips up great swirls.

Fastest growing tree

My Dad lost his beloved Magnolia tree last summer to bugs. If I were him I would plant in it's place a Gleditsia Shademaster. My son planted this tree in front of our house just 5-6 years ago after I had the ugly tree that was there before removed. Now I am not in the habit of having trees removed, but this tree really was offensive to me, it was ugly, had huge unsightly leaves and provided way too much shade for what I wanted for the front of the house. Also it dropped these bothersome pods at one point every summer and frankly I just wanted it out! I have the habit of going around for walks around the neighborhood to get ideas for my landscape needs and improvements. I found this beautiful tree with fern like leaves that are at once delicate and offering dappled shade with the sun sparkling through, the large fronds. This tree was what I wanted in appearance. I also had wanted a fast growing tree, as I had gotten flack from my son for removing the tree in the first place. So I wanted a fast grower but found nothing when a Googled it. This Shademaster has surprised us. It grows 18-24 inches each and every year and has now surpassed the tree that was there before by a foot or two in five short years. Now Gleditsia has at least two types that I am aware of, there is the bright almost yellowy green and the regular green that we are used to when we say "green" Hence shademaster is the one to get. The light colored yellowy green one does not grow as fast. Hope this helps and I know you will just love this tree.

Quick appetizer

Ok so I needed an appetizer that does not have to be baked because I only have one oven and I need to bake the tiropitas the baked brie and asparagus with parmiggiano on Sunday morning. So I came up with this.

1 lb of bacon

2containers sour cream

endives


the only exact item is bacon because I just winged it here.

I thinly cross cut the bacon while in its packaged form, meaning do not separate the strips.
next fry the bacon up all at once in frying pan until brown and crisp but not burned! you will end up with what looks like bacon bits, that what you want

separate the endives and prepare the serving dish you will be using to serve these

fill each endive with sour cream the amount need depending on the size of each endive, smaller ones will require less and larger ones more.

next sprinkle with the bacon bits to taste!


I hope my guest will like these, making them tomorrow morning for Easter Lunch. Christos Anesti!