Happy birthday, hubby!

Saturday was my husband, Sals birthday, so the whole weekend was his. Whatever he wanted to do…it was his call. Some of the weekend is already planned for him because it’s tax season so he had clients all day Friday and most of Saturday. We fired up the grill to cook steaks and had one delicious dinner. His dessert for the weekend was a sugarfree Blueberry Cheesecake. It’s a recipe I got from my mother-in-law who got it from a friend of hers, so it’s been passed around a little…..but man is it goooooood! It's rather guilt-free because of the loads of sugar you cut out. It does use Splenda, so if you have issues with it, you'll need to make some substitutions. Here’s the recipe if you wanna try it. You can substitute any fruit and preserves you want to. Sal liked the blueberry, but I kinda like the strawberry version better. You try ‘em and see which you like!

SUGAR FREE CHEESECAKE

2 cups finely crushed sugar-free butter or shortbread cookies (I use Murray’s)
1/3 cup of melted butter
1 cup blueberries
3 8oz pkgs of 1/3 less fat cream cheese-softened
1 cup Splenda
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 10oz jar sugar free blueberry preserves (I use Smuckers)
¼ cup plus 3 Tbls of juice from can of Lite Peach Halves (save peaches for something else)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine crushed butter or shortbread cookies and melted butter. Press mixture evenly into bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9” springform pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.

Filling: Drain peach halves reserving ¼ cup and 3 Tbls of Lite syrup. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, Splenda, 3 Tbls of reserved peach syrup and vanilla with electric mixer until combined. Add eggs all at once, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in blueberries. Pour filling into crust-lined pan. Place on shallow baking pan in oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until center appears nearly set when cheesecake is gently shaken. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan and cool cheesecake 30 minutes more. Remove the sides of the pan and cool completely.

Glaze: In small saucepan, melt blueberry preserves over low heat. (about ¾ of a 12oz jar) Remove from heat; stir in the ¼ cup Lite juice from the peach halves. Spread over cheesecake. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving. Makes 16 servings.

Happy St. Patrick's Day....

Last summer I had the pleasure of spending several days in Ireland. What a gorgeous country filled with just beautiful, kind people. I can’t wait to go back again one day.

One of the many places I visited was the Hill of Tara. What is a beautiful field of the greenest grass I’ve ever seen with the most gorgeous 360 views, is in history of major significance to Irelands history. It’s also major in religious history too. This area is where the Kings of Ireland sat for many, many centuries, so politically it is of major significance to the country. But the religious significance impacted me the most. The Hill of Tara is where St. Patrick first used the clover to teach Irish pagans Christianity. He used the three leaves of the clover as a symbol of the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Legend has it that when you find a four-leaf clover, the fourth leaf represents God’s grace which is why it’s considered very lucky…..not every one is lucky enough to find God’s grace and hold it in their hand.

I had so many people tell me not to expect too much from the Irish cuisine. I thought it was delicious! It was very hearty and rustic--exactly the type of food I love. My first night there I went to a pub and had what was called a 'farmer's pie'....very similar to shepherd's pie....and a Guinness. Actually 2 or 3 pints before the night was over. There was a local soccer team there watching a major world soccer tournament on tv and they were alot of fun! Man, can they eat and drink!

There were a couple of food standouts while I was in Ireland. Their 'brown bread' or soda bread I guess, was out....of....this....world! So grainy and rustic and soft and chewy. And top it with Kerrygold butter--the best butter in the world---WOW! I ate waaaaaay too much of that bread, but enjoyed every single bite of it. I tried Irish mountain lamb for the first time too and wow, I just did not like it. I don't like lamb anyway, but this lamb feeds on lavender and mint fields up in the mountains of Ireland and are coddled and massaged and babied so that they are super, duper tender. I was told it was a once in a lifetime experience to eat it. I hated to admit it--I didn't like it. What I did love was Black Currant Jam. I've never had it before and it became a breakfast staple for me while I was there. A fresh scone, Kerrygold butter and Black Currant Jam.....mmmmmmmm.....it's making me drool just thinking about it now. I cannot wait to go back.

So Happy St. Patricks Day to you…..
……and thank you St. Patrick for everything you did……

Slainte mahath! (to your good health)

Snow....

We got snow again last night.....this is from my backyard at sunset.