Every time I move I make some sort of clean out the pantry dish. Trevor reminded me of the first one the other day when I was starting to clean out the fridge. I’m almost embarrassed to show you –  not only does it look awful, if I’m remembering correctly, it also tasted awful. But hey it’s on the Internet so it’s fair game. I was just a little baby blogger then, wasn’t I?

The second time was not so bad: Cranberry Cornmeal Cake (warning, that post comes with a lot of emotions about graduating from Duke) and a less-thrilling but still decent Corn Broth Quinotto. Coincidentally, I have a lot of cranberries, cornmeal, and quinoa in my pantry now, too – aparently I always hoard cranberries in the freezer in October and it turns out I almost never use them after November. The third time I moved was when we moved to this apartment – only two years ago – during a summer that was almost as hectic as this one, with me away in Russia at least once a month. I made this Baked Blackberry Oatmeal to help me stay sane and somewhat energized during the move (still a favorite recipe) and also these Corn, Goat Cheese, and Jalapeno Tartines (which I can’t imagine particularly helped me clean out the fridge, but maybe I was just planning on leaving all my extra food for my roommates).

I’d like to think that both my cooking and photography skills have improved since then but I’ll let you be the judge. This time around, some of the fridge languishers were rhubarb, cream cheese, half a package of frozen puff pastry, and a few splashes of rosé. A tart seemed the obvious way to use up the puff pastry, and from there I worked backwards to end up with a cheesecake filling topped with rosé-poached rhubarb stalks. I left the rhubarb stalks whole and poached them just to the point of tenderness for presentation’s sake, but the flavors will be just as good if you let the rhubarb soften a little bit more. The tart was delicious, but between the puff pastry and the cheesecake filling it’s very rich – a small slice is perfect after a long day of packing and moving but it’s definitely a little indulgent!

I hope this is the last time we move for a long while. It’s funny, reading my post from the last time I moved; there’s a lot more sadness about what I was leaving behind. This time, I’m mostly just looking forward to turning our new house into our home. Perhaps I’m not sad because I’m not leaving any people, but I have to admit that I’ve never really loved the apartment that we’re in now. At least not the way I loved my house in Somerville – although I only lived there for 2 years, it felt like home from the first night on, maybe even more so than my childhood house. Our new house needs a lot of work and love before it will be even close to as nice as my Somerville house, but I hope that it starts to feel like home soon.

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Rosé-Poached Rhubarb Cheesecake Tart

• 1 c. rosé wine
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. sugar, divided
• 1 lb rhubarb, trimmed to the length of your baking dish
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 7 oz. / 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted according to package directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a small rectangular baking dish with 4-6 cups of capacity and set aside
2. Add the wine, water, and 1/2 cup of sugar to a wide-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then add the rhubarb to the pan. Simmer the rhubarb until just tender, about 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the rhubarb. Check the tenderness of the rhubarb frequently by squeezing gently with tongs, removing each stalk of rhubarb as soon as it begins to give way to pressure from the tongs. Place the rhubarb on a plate and set aside. Continue simmering the syrup until it has reduced to 3/4 of a cup and is very thick, then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature
3. To prepare the filling, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla until a smooth batter is formed.
4. Unfold the pastry sheet and line the prepared baking dish with it, stretching the pastry out as necessary to cover the bottom of the dish. Poke the pastry all over the bottom with the tines of a fork. Pour the cheesecake filling into the pastry and bake until the filling is almost set and the puff pastry has begun to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully press the rhubarb stalks on top of the cheesecake filling, then continue to bake until the filling is fully set, another 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
5. Serve the tart chilled with the reduced rosé-rhubarb syrup.

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No new Monday morning resolution this week. I’m still going to stick with all the resolutions I’ve created so far, but I’m not adding any new ones for a while. This is partly because of Christmas coming up, but also because I already have six resolutions going, and it’s a lot to keep up with! I figure it’s better to take a break and let these six truly become a part of my daily routine then to keep adding new resolutions, get overwhelmed and end up backtracking on the progress I’ve already made. I am planning on doing another winter cleanse during the first few weeks of January, so maybe I will pick up the new resolutions again after that.

We had a lovely Christmas party at my house on Saturday night. The house looked pretty and festive, the food was yummy, the drinks were free-flowing, and everyone seemed to have a great time. I made a few of my childhood Christmas favorites – a fancified holiday trifle (the recipe for which you can find on Life’d), punch with sherbet, and this Bailey’s Chocolate-Chip Cheesecake.

This cheesecake is one of my all-time favorite desserts, and every bite tastes like Christmas to me. It’s super rich, creamy, and the Bailey’s flavor makes it totally addictive. It does require some planning ahead, however, since it has to sit in the oven for 5 hours after it’s done baking (to allow it to set) and then chill for a few more hours. I should also admit that I didn’t splurge for real Bailey’s this time, I used the knock-off stuff… it still tasted great, though. Maybe next time I’ll just make the liquor myself too!

Bailey’s Chocolate-Chip Cheesecake

Adapted from the Bailey’s website. Serves 16-20.

• 10 whole graham crackers
• 4 TBS salted butter, melted
• 32 oz. cream cheese (four 8-oz packages), at room temperature
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. Bailey’s Irish Cream liquor (or other Irish cream liquor)
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the sides of a 9-inch round springform pan. Place the graham crackers in a heavy-duty plastic bag and crush into small pieces with a rolling pin. Mix with the crumbs with the melted butter, then press the crust into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan on top of a rimmed baking sheet, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth. Beat in the Bailey’s, then mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla, then the flour, stirring just until smooth.
3. Stir half of the chocolate chips into the batter, then pour the filling into the prepared pan (careful, it will be very full!). Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top of the cake, gently folding into the top half of the cake with a spatula. Place the cake (still on top of the baking sheet, in case of leaks) carefully into the oven.
4. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed. The cake will still be jiggly in the center at this point, but it will continue baking in the closed oven. Let the cake sit in the oven for 4-5 hours, to finish baking and setting. Remove from oven, then chill for 3-4 hours before serving. Serve cold, with whipped cream as a garnish.

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Margie – [Pronounced Marrrr-ghee]  A hilarious species native to Israel.  I mean, New York.  Known to carry a large camera, abbreviate most words in the English and Hebrew languages, and ask for crowns relentlessly.  Often seen practicing Judaism and stealing bagels at the Freeman center.  Adapts easily to some external habitats, but will stagnate in others, most notably the park in Budapest and dirty hostels in Cesky Krumlov.  Is much better than Helen Wang at carrying large bags of groceries.  Enjoys Taylor Swift, Mika, Steph Wells, Miley Cyrus, and no other musicians.  Highly lovable.

Seriously, Margie and I are Praha besties.  Sophomore year we actually lived on the same hall as each other and didn’t speak for the entire year, except for one time – a time which I remember vividly and she remembers not at all. I cut my hand on the espresso machine at the coffeehouse during a late shift, and when I got back to the Crave Megan was already sleeping and I couldn’t find my bandaids without the light.  Bleeding, exhausted, I was standing in the bathroom at 3 in the morning, when Margie pads in in bright red feetie pajamas, looks at my hand, and runs back to her room to get a bandaid.  I thanked her, she went on her apparently exceedingly merry way, and we never spoke again.  That is until I showed up in Prague and saw her name on my apartment door.  Awkward.  Good thing she rules, and we quickly bonded over the fact that we’re both kind of cheap and occasionally grouchy and bigoted.  Especially when it comes to Asian roommates.  Kidding!  We love you Helen, even though you can’t cook rice and store food in the dishwasher instead of dishes.

Anyway, being together in Prague was a blast, and now I have an incredible friend at Duke too.  Honestly, that was not at all something I was expecting when I escaped to Prague via NYU, but it definitely worked out in my favor.  And Margie’s too, because I rule.  Now, on to the birthday part.  I’m really glad Margie’s finally 21 … I think I may actually have been looking forward to her birthday more than she has.  People like my parents and Steph and Trevor keep asking me how I’m doing, and I’m like “great, Margie’s birthday is in 15 days!”  And they sort of pause awkwardly and decide to just move on.  What can I say?  I really like Margie and I really like birthdays.  And I really like making cupcakes, and this time around, I went with mini key-lime and raspberry cheesecakes.

All the components of these cupcakes have a reason behind them – the key lime is because she ate all of my break-up key lime pie out of the freezer, the cheesecake is to pay homage to the one I made her in Prague a year ago (it was a serious feat considering they don’t have cream cheese in the potraviny), and the raspberry swirl/white chocolate layer/almond crust is for keeping it classy, like her.  D’aw.  These were delish – they taste kind of just like you would expect them to taste, given the description.  You can taste all the components, and they go well together.  And that, my friends, is the end of the cupcake extravaganza.  I’m going to go have a salad.

Mini Key-Lime Cheesecakes

Makes 18.  Recipe adapted from Modern Comfort Food.

• 1 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 c. sliced almonds
• 4 TBS butter, melted
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. white chocolate chips
• 8 oz neufchatel cheese, room temperature
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 oz (1/2 c.) key lime juice
• 1/2 c. frozen raspberries
• 2 TBS sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.  In a food processor, pulse graham crackers, almonds, and sugar, until fine.  Mix in melted butter and stir or pulse until all crumbs are moistened.  Press a tablespoon of crust mixture into the bottom of each cup.  Top with a few white chocolate chips.  Bake for 3-5 minutes, and remove from oven.  Immediately spread white chocolate chips into a layer over the graham cracker.  Pop into the freezer while you prepare the other components.*
2. In a large bowl, beat neufchatel (cream cheese), sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks, until combined.  Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm raspberries and sugar, stirring constantly.  Break up the raspberries with the back of your spoon.  Cook until all of the raspberries have broken down and have formed a slightly thickened sauce.  Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Remove muffin tin from freezer.  Place 3 tablespoons of cheesecake batter in each cup.  Using a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon, spoon 3-4 tiny dots on top of each cheesecake cup.  Take a toothpick and gently swirl the raspberry into the cheesecake batter, forming a marble pattern.
5. Bake the cheesecakes for 20 minutes, until set.  Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.  Serve cold.

* If anyone can think of a better way to do the white chocolate layer, let me know.  I tried heating the chips with a small amount of cream to form a makeshift ganache, but it soaked into the graham cracker layer.  Ideally, I’d like a crisp layer of white chocolate over the graham cracker firmly separating the crust from the cheesecake.

Want some more?

Cupcake Lovin’, Part One

Cupcake Lovin’, Part Two

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