Shortcut Homemade Turtles for Enid inspired by The Walking Dead

We're three days into Dead Eats: Recipes inspired by The Walking Dead now, and I really hope that you're enjoying seeing the food that Dionne, Kim, and I have been inspired to make by this show and cast of characters that we love. Today I'm sharing something that I knew I'd make from the moment we saw the demise of our serene turtle friend.

If you need a refresher, I'm going back to episode 2 of season 6 again. The episode is titled "JSS" after the mantra that Enid created for herself - just survive somehow. We finally get a glimpse into Enid's past. We see how she loses her family and makes her way to the walls of Alexandria.

Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Gingersnap Crust

You know how time flies, right? One holiday sneaks up on you, then you blink and another one is right in your face. Well, this month I'm prepared. I'm grabbing Thanksgiving by the horns and wrangling it in. Starting November 1, I'll be sharing recipes and roundups featuring recipes fit for Thanksgiving all month long...because Thanksgiving is my favorite food-day of the entire year!

Why mention that now when it's still October? Well, I'm taking advantage of this month's pumpkin theme for Progressive Eats to get a head start on November. Thanksgiving and pie go hand in hand, and traditionally it's always been pecan and pumpkin pies in my family. When I got older and started making my own pies, I started adding another one or two to the mix every year.

Well, this may be the year that I add a cheesecake to the mix. I decided to bake this last week and test it out on my extended family last week at my grandpa's 90th birthday celebration. Let's just say that I didn't bring a single piece home. The rich, creamy, lightly spiced cheesecake filling sits perfectly atop a spicy gingerbread crust and is adorned with crunchy bits of candied pecans.

I know this is practically sacrilege, but it's almost like Pumpkin Pie Plus. It tastes an awful lot like pumpkin pie...but richer and creamier. And you'll have to check back with me on this (once I've eaten it a couple more times), but it wind up replacing pumpkin pie altogether on our Thanksgiving tables of the future.

Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Gingersnap Crust

This spiced pumpkin cheesecake that sits between a gingerbread crust and a layer of candied pecans is a delicious alternative to pie this Thanksgiving.

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert vegetarian soy-free Thanksgiving American fall winter

Ingredients (serves 10-12)

for the crust:

• 4 ounces gingersnaps
• 1.5 ounces (1/3 cup) pecan halves
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup firmly packed) brown sugar
• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

for the filling:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, at soft room temperature
• 8 ounces (1 cup) pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 ounces (3/4 cup firmly packed) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• pinch of fine sea salt

for the topping:

• 2 ounces (1/2 cup) pecan halves
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• pinch of fine sea salt

Instructions

Make the crust:

Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan. Combine gingersnaps and pecans in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add the brown sugar and melted butter and pulse a few times until it is the texture of wet sand.

Pour the crumbs into the springform pan and use your fingers to pan the mixture into the bottom and about 1-2 inches up the sides of the pan as evenly as you can get it. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

Make the filling:

Rinse and dry the bowl for the food processor. Add all of the ingredients for the filling to the bowl and puree until very smooth, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides if needed. Pour and scrape the filling into the chilled crust, smoothing the top.

Set the whole thing onto the prepared baking sheet and slide into preheated oven. Bake until the cheesecake is set and a thin-bladed paring knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Let cool completely on a wire rack, removing the outside of the springform pan once you see the sides pull away. You can run a thin-bladed knife around the edge to be sure that nothing sticks first. Wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Make the topping:

Set aside 10 pecan halves; finely chop the rest. Heat the butter in a small pan over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the pecans and sprinkle the sugar and a pinch of salt over them. Cook, stirring, until the sugar melts and the nuts are toasted and covered in caramel.

Transfer to a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool completely. If it sticks together in large clumps, just use a sharp knife to chop it back up into fine pieces.

Just before serving, sprinkle the candied pecans evenly over the top of the cheesecake and arrange the extra pecan halves evenly around the perimeter.

-adapted from Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining

Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. This month's theme is all about Pumpkin and is hosted by Jeanette Chen who blogs at Jeanette’s Healthy Living. With Autumn’s arrival, it’s the perfect time to start using fall’s harvest in our menus. We have some great ideas this month to use pumpkins in all sorts of dishes, both Savory and Sweet.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.

Savory

• Pumpkin Cappuccino Soup from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Pasta with Mascarpone Pumpkin Sauce and Toasted Walnuts from Creative Culinary
• Kaddu Ka Ambal - Sweet and Tart Pumpkin Curry from Spice Roots
• Roasted Pumpkin Herb Focaccia from Pastry Chef Online

Sweet

• Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Gingersnap Crust from All Roads Lead To The Kitchen
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownies from Never Enough Thyme
• Pumpkin scones from Mother Would Know
• Skinny Pumpkin Chai Latte from Jeanette’s Healthy Living
• Caramel Topped Pumpkin Cheesecake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Snack Cake from Miss in the Kitchen

We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but we will always need substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. To see our upcoming themes and how you can participate, please check out the schedule at Creative Culinary or contact Barb for more information.

No-Churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream inspired by Butter | #FoodnFlix

I will state the obvious before I go any further. I made ice cream as my Food 'n Flix inspiration two months in a row. I don't know why that makes me feel a wee bit guilty; both are rooted in the particular movie and both were too delicious to let that guilt weigh too heavy on my mind. So, on to this month's inspiration...

This month's Food 'n Flix pick is Butter, as chosen by our hostess Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Here's the thing—I picked up a copy of the dvd when it was first released...and didn't really like it. There were funny bits, and the opening scene of movie said it was "...the cut-throat story of greed, blackmail, sex, and butter." I had high hopes, but it just didn't connect.

I think it was just that I could not stand the racist, elitist snob that was Laura Pickler (played by Jennifer Garner). When I think about it, it's funny that a single character could overshadow (in my mind) the great characters played by Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry, and Yara Shahidi. But, I gave it a second chance. Wiped the slate clean and decided to watch it as if it were the first time.

Red Cabbage and Golden Raisin Salad

Once the new year hits, you hear people left and right making resolutions and setting goals that often revolve around their diet. I'm not immune to getting in that mindset, but I also try to be realistic. You know, with myself. I definitely get the urge for lighter and fresher. But the thing is—it's January. And January in my world means it's still downright freezing outside. So, I'm still knee deep in hearty stews, slow cooking roasts, and comforting casseroles. And don't plan on letting those go for at least a few months.

That said, I love adding a bit of freshness to those meals meant to warm you to the bone. Although that can also be a bit of a challenge this time of year. While I love locally grown produce, and devour it with an urgency as soon as the ground thaws, sometimes we have to get a little creative with what we have this time of year. Onions, winter squash, tubers, and cabbage abound! You know what's great about that, though? All of those crops are inexpensive and extremely versatile.

When you think red cabbage, images of a big pot simmering on the back of your grandmother's stove may fill your head. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that (pass me a bowl!). But, I know many people who don't like cabbage...or think they don't like cabbage. And it's usually memories like boring boiled cabbage that they cite as the reason why when I ask.

Pomegranate Salad

Are you knee-deep in holiday sweets yet? Since it's already two weeks into December, that scenario is almost impossible to avoid. It can be easy to forget that life is not all about the butter...the sugar...the chocolate...the glacé fruit (okay, maybe nobody ever thinks it's about the glacé fruit). That is why I'm sharing this salad with you today. Okay, that and the fact that I'm today's stop for the Sharing Morocco blog tour!

The thing is, looking at this salad, you don't necessarily think healthy. You think beautiful—or at least I do. The deep, rich reds and greens that come straight from the earth rather than a tube. Busting out this salad in the middle of the holiday madness is like bringing home somebody to meet your family for the first time. Everybody's nervous and wondering if they'll fit in. But instead of being awkward, it's like they were supposed to have been there all along. They just fit.

Aside from the colors that just scream winter, I think it has a lot to do with the addition of lightly candied nuts and nature's own little sugar bursts, dates. This salad is just one of the many vibrant dishes lining the pages of the new (released in October) cookbook by Ruth Barnes, otherwise known as The Petite Gourmande.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread inspired by How to Bake a Man

Let me start off by saying that this book is pure fun. I took along with me to read on my flight to Seattle a few weeks ago, and finished it shortly into my return flight. I was disappointed after I turned the final page, not because of the book, but because I didn't want to stop reading.

How to Bake a Man is a fast, light-hearted jaunt into the world of 27-year old Becca who hasn't quite figured out yet what she wants to do with her life—other than bake (because that's what she's truly good at). Just as she's about to go back to school for her MBA, she decides that she'd rather push a food cart filled with baked goods through an office building. She's a feeder, and anybody who loves to cook or bake knows that her choice is inevitable (oh she who speaks from experience...).

With a cast of characters that includes (but is in no way limited to) a long-distance best friend, a handsome and confident snakeskin boot-wearin' neighbor, an evil doppelganger,  the perfect man, and a menu full of tempting food—I found it hard not to lose myself in the world of Becca's Best.

Drunken Hummingbird Cocktail

When Blue Chair Bay Rum invited me to be a part of their Blogtender Nation by joining them in celebrating the first-ever International Pineapple Day, visions of serene sandy beaches danced in my head. And I said yes...obviously! Me, fresh pineapples, and rum? We go hand-in-hand.

Let's talk about Blue Chair Bay Rum first. Created by singer Kenny Chesney, BCB just celebrated it's 1-year birthday! They offer three flavors - White, Coconut, and Spiced Coconut. I was able to pick one flavor to sample and create a cocktail with; it was a hard decision, but I went with Coconut. After the long, brutal winter we're still trying to shake here in the Midwest, I needed a little tropical getaway.

So, first impressions are important, right? It's true. Blue Chair Bay made a helluva first impression. The bottle is gorgeous. It's made of a smoky-blue matte glass that fades into clear and makes me want to rub my hands up an down it. A wooden-topped stopper accented with a thin, rustic sort of nautical seal bearing the words "nowhere to go, nowhere to be" complete the package.

Apple Butter Rummy Pecan Ice Cream + Scoop Adventures Cookbook Review

Guess what I'm doing today? Kicking off the blog tour for the upcoming book by Lindsay Clendaniel of Scoop Adventures! There may be snow outside my window, but ice cream never goes out of season. Let me give you a little bit of background on the book, and then I'll tell you why the ice cream that I'm sharing today fits me like a glove.

Okay, so Scoop Adventures is the title, but it's not the full title. The Best Ice Cream of the 50 States is also part of it. The book is divided into regions, by chapter, in which Clendial shares the story of where each particular recipe originates.  Although I'm guessing that a trek across the country in search of the best creameries and exciting flavors would be the ideal roadtrip, if that's not possible, this book comes in a close second.

I've highlighted a few of the recipes from the book that are tops on my "to make" list below, but really there's not a single flavor that I wouldn't love to try from the book. Each one is unique and inventive. It's a good thing that I keep my ice cream canister in the freezer year round.

Sweet & Salty Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies inspired by Stranger Than Fiction {food 'n flix}

This month's Food 'n Flix pick is another one that doesn't necessarily fall into the "foodie film" category. Since I hadn't seen it since around the time it first came out, I rented it from the library and sat down to watch it one morning when I was the only one at home. It was like watching it for the first time...again.

Our main character, Harold, is an IRS agent who lives a life of routine. We know because the narrator leads us through it. Only she's not just a narrator, she's a successful author riddled with a severe case of writer's block, and Harold is the main character in the novel she is currently writing. But somehow, he's also a real person.

"Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death."