Friday Friend Recipe #203 - Oreo Cheesecake

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell...
About 19 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?

Because  one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipe #203

Theda's Oreo Cheesecake

Mouthwatering! 

Delicious, creamy, smooth, divine!

I have no more words.

It's really, really good!

Theda, my oldest friend in the whole wide world-- not in age, but in longevity--I just like to call her my oldest friend (It makes me smile)--went on a road trip a few weeks ago.

One stop was Pullman, Washington, home of Washington State University, which has a bookman sculpture on it's grounds. John (Theda's husband) said "oh we HAVE TO send a photo to Debbie".

He knows I love books.

Then fast forward to a trip they are on now....(she sent these pictures yesterday)

They found a really cool post office in Port Townsend, Washington.  So, they sent me a photo of Theda on the steps. She sent many photos of it--it's quite impressive and on the National Historic Registry.  It was once a customs office.

They know I love snail-mail, letters, and post offices. 

I bet those postcards in her hand are for me!

We have known each other since Junior High and BFF's since high school.  And even tho we don't get to see each other often, she lives in Oregon, me in Nevada--We keep in touch, see each other whenever we can and we have been known to meet up in the strangest places.

A couple of weeks ago we were both traveling with some of our grandchildren.

GRANDCHILDREN!!

How in the world did this happen?

Anyway, it dawned on us that we would be passing thru the same town on the same day

--so we met up for a quick moment in time--and tried to take a selfie with the grandchildren we had. 

We told them the story of how we met and  how we became best friends--not sure they were that impressed. 

And then one of just us.

My grandchildren were also not impressed when I told them that if it wasn't for Theda--Granddad and I might not be married.

Theda and I were going to a drive in movie and the Handyman invited himself.  When I told Theda that he was going also, she said "if he goes I'm not going".

He did, she didn't. 

The rest is history.

(I swear she grew to like him and really still does.)

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This is recipe #203 only 164 left to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #73 -- Peanut Buster Dessert

 

 

Friday Friend Recipe #73: Peanut Buster Dessert

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 15 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

 

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

 

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

 

Which brings me to this... recipe #73

 

My mom/Bev's

Peanut Buster Dessert

This is the best and one of the easiest frozen desserts you can ever make.

It's like a Dairy Queen dessert, only better!

 

Just be careful not to do what I did.

 

What did I do, you ask?

Well, in this recipe you layer on vanilla ice cream on top of an oreo cookie crust and then top with fudge sauce.

My fudge sauce was very thick, so I heated it in the microwave and then poured it on top of the ice-cream and added the nuts.  I put it in the freezer and when I took it out, the ice cream had floated to the top.

 

It was still great!  It just doesn't look exactly like it was supposed to.

Like I said tho...this is the easiest dessert you'll ever make.

So good!

Peanut Buster Dessert

FF My mom!  Bev Hambelton

Kennewick, WA

 

1 pkg Oreo cookies, crushed

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 gallon softened vanilla ice cream

1 1/2 cans Hershey's Fudge syrup

1  6oz can Spanish peanuts

 

Combine Oreos and butter. Press into a 9x13 pan.

Save a handful for topping. 

Layer on ice-cream, then fudge, then nuts.

Top with cool whip and sprinkle with reserved crumbs.

Freeze for 2 hours, cut into squares and serve.

 

This marks my mom's 9th time in the FF Cookbook Countdown.

See all her recipes here.

And here is a photo of  she and my dad on a cruise.

They were lucky enough to do a little bit of traveling and they enjoyed it very much. 

 

 

My mom story?

Her first kiss?

her first kiss was when she was playing hide and see in her neighborhood with the neighbor kids.

My dad was one of those kids.  They were 10.

He told her he knew of a good place to hide and they went inside a neighbor's chicken coop.  He went to kiss her and she turned her head and he kissed the wall.

They got married 8 years after this failed kiss attempt.

 

In this little church.

 

 

 

And that is my mom/bev story for today!

 

******************************

I will just keep on keeping on with this cookbook.

 

 

Oreo Cupcakes

Yesterday I had a day all to myself...it's been a long time since I've had one...and it will be a long time until I get one again.  It's my busy time at work.  So, since I had a day all to myself, I decided to make these Oreo Cupcakes I had found on  Beantown Baker.
(she has tons of cupcake recipes on her blog, so I plan on making more of her recipes soon.  They all look great)
Once I made them, I wasn't quite sure what to do with 24 cupcakes.  It's the Handyman and myself.  He would eat 2 or 3 and that meant there would be 22 left for me.  Not to say I couldn't eat 22 of these delicious cupcakes, but I didn't WANT to.
To rephrase ...I did WANT to, because they tasted great, but I knew I shouldn't eat 22 cupcakes.

So, I did what any self-respecting person who is trying to watch what they eat, but loves to cook would do.  I invited my grandson over.

He's making a significant dent in them.  Good thing too, because this is  a really good cupcake and I would have trouble resisting if they were left around.
I will let you get the official recipe over at  Beantown Baker since it's her's anyway.  I think that she uses a cookies and cream recipe--her original one, of course,  for the batter and adds Oreos.  The batter is very good.  And I know.  I ate spoonfuls of it.

My grandson and I were going to go on a long walk this morning, but he got distracted hunting deer in my backyard  (no we do not have deer in the backyard, but it kept him busy having fun for an hour or so).
Right after he came inside, (having seen a coyote, but not a deer)  he asked me,  "Gramma, were you ever young once?"  I started to answer  (seriously people are surprised to find out I'm 51, and I've always taken pride in that--looking a bit younger than I am), but then he said,  "oh of course you were, I just can't imagine it."

Fine.  He can imagine deer and coyote in the backyard, but not me young.   I just shoved another cupcake in his mouth.

Oreo Cheecake on "What's outside your kitchen window Wednesday"

Oreo Cheesecake. YUM!


I'm still on a baby high, so that's why this is a later in the day post for "What's Outside Your Kitchen" window.
(That's a better excuse than just plain old procrastination) (and thanks for all the baby congrats and comments you guys! They are doing well for as early as they are. I'll post some pictures tomorrow)

If you will recall... (inside my head I when I write that phrase, if you'll recall, I hear old cartoon voices from the late 60's early 70's. Like Rocky and Bullwinkle or Dudley Do-Right and Sweet Nell..."When we last left our heroes..." and, no, I'm really not crazy, even tho I'm hearing cartoon narrators voice-overs inside my head. LOL ) (I can remember all sorts of odd trivia from my childhood )

So, if you'll recall, last week, when I took a photo of outside my kitchen window, I "turned" in a different direction.
This week....3 pics, a 180 degree view of outside my kitchen window. (the camera seemed to be focusing on my window this time. )

I was trying to get my yellow iris and my purple lilacs.
If you want to see better photos of them check out my garden blog here.

If you click on this link, you can see how much we've greened up here in the high Nevada Desert, since I started doing this.

Speaking of cartoons and cartoon voices...what better treat when you were little than an Oreo? A couple of Oreos and a glass of milk? Eating Oreos, drinking a glass of milk and watching cartoons?
When we were kids and we would eat them, we'd have an "Oreo" ring around our lips. It didn't matter, because everyone else had Oreo rings around their lips too.
The only "store-bought" cookies we had when we were little were:
Oreos
Fig Newtons
Animal Crackers
and Coconut Macaroons.

And every once in a while Gingersnaps and Lemon Coolers (does anyone remember them?)

This list looks like a lot of "store-bought" cookies, and I said "only". LOL
My mom always had home-made cookies on hand....it was my grandparents who had the others.
Except for the Oreos. They must have been my father's favorite, because we always had Oreos in a cookie jar.

Here is a great "cheat" cheesecake made with Oreos. It's fast and easy and really, really, REALLY good.
I'm always the hero in my house when I make this cheesecake. But if I give credit where credit is due, this came from my good friend Shelly, another one of her signature dishes.
It's in our Friday Friend Cookbook. I think if you try it, you'll love it!

Oreo Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
4 T. melted butter
**mix and press into a 10" springform pan. Place in the freezer.

(I opted to use a store-made chocolate cookie crust . It was not big enough)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, whip till stiff
3 8-oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
1 cup sugar
24 Oreo cookies, quartered
**whip cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and blend. Fold in cookie pieces. Add whipped cream. Turn filling into the frozen crust. Smooth top. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Glaze: (optional)
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate--melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
**Add whipping cream and vanilla to cooled chocolate. Glaze the top and sides of the cheesecake. Refrigerate 30 minutes until the glaze sets.

*****

The stuff you need...simple! (but I would advise you to make your own crust)

ebony and ivory