'Happy Birthday, Eleanor! Cheesecake,' or, Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

If Eleanor was still alive, today would be her 95th birthday!* Over the last few months, I've learned a bit about Eleanor and what made her tick, and so, in her honour, November's cheesecake is the first non-plain cheesecake I've made from the box. To me, making a chocolate cheesecake instead of the plain ones of the last nine months was an excitement I don't think anyone who hasn't made one cheesecake a month every month for nearly a year can understand. But I recognise that it may not be the best honour for Eleanor, who, by all accounts preferred plain cheesecake to nearly any other dessert. Nevertheless, I think she would appreciate the effort... even if she didn't understand why I started this project in the first place. I don't know how Eleanor liked to celebrate her birthday, but I can imagine that most years it involved Bingo, a cheesecake, and a lot of time with her friends... and let's be real, that sounds like a pretty great birthday to me.

Grandparents are a rare breed-- when they become parents (and then grandparents), they give up so much of themselves in favour of their children and grandchildren, and it always strikes me how much of that involves giving up their own birthday celebrations. I can't even count the number of photos that exist of me sitting on the lap of one of my grandmother's, helping them blow out their birthday candles, stealing their thunder when I was still tiny. It's not a unique thing: we all do it when a child comes into our lives. We share our birthdays, we share Christmas, we share the holidays-- it's just what we do. But I just turned 30, and, selfishly, I still love having my own birthday. So the older I get, the more I respect that Eleanor shared her birthday with all of us, but still managed to have her own parties, her own celebration, and her own vibrant life, even as a grandmother. She was a strong, brave woman, and I hope that when I'm 95, I'll have inherited some of that spunk.

We're ten months into the Cheesecake Saga, and though I originally counted 13 cheesecakes in the box, I can only find one more recipe now, so maybe I miscounted and perhaps we're closer to the end than I thought! But regardless, here's to Eleanor, and the first cheesecake I've made that came out of the oven without a single crack in it. I think she was probably looking down from heaven and giving my cheesecake just the right amount of je ne sais quoi that it needed... or maybe I'm just finally learning what I'm doing. This one is a bit of a pain-- it involves the food processor (to grind the crumbs for the crust), the mixer (to blend the filling), and then a whole separate bowl (to whisk together the chocolate layer). But somehow, despite all that, it seemed to go faster than the last few and much smoother than my early iterations.

If you've been debating making one of these cheesecakes because you're on the fence about plain ol' cheesecake, then this one is at your service. Creamy and chocolate-y without being overly sweet or heavy, it's straightforward and gorgeous, so it's perfect for taking to a holiday party, making for yourself, or (if you can bear to part with it) eating on Thanksgiving. AND if you HAVE been making plain cheesecakes along with me, then take note that this one doesn't require beating any egg whites OR even separating any eggs (we take our gratitude where we can get it in the House of The Recipe Box Project).

*You may be noticing a theme here, which is that in the month of November, my family has a lot of birthdays: mine, then my mom's, then Eleanor's, then my grandfather's-- all one week apart each. Weird, right?

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. It's swirly, pretty, smooth and fluffy, and with just enough chocolate to make it exciting.

The recipe:

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

the directions:

Preheat oven to 165C/325F.
Combine crumbs, 2 tbsp sugar, and melted butter and pat into the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan, then set aside.
In a microwave, slowly melt chocolate chips with ½ c sugar, stirring frequently until melted and smooth, then set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Gradually add ¾ c sugar, beating until smooth.
Mix in sour cream and vanilla.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Divide batter in half and stir melted chocolate into one half, leaving remaining half plain.
Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan, then gently (and as slowly as possible), pour plain batter on top, then use the tip of a knife to marble the cheesecake.
Bake for 35 minutes until just set, then leave it in the oven with the door slightly open until cooled to room temperature.

the ingredients:

1 ¼ c rich tea biscuit crumbs
2 tbsp + 1 ¼ c sugar, divided
¼ c butter, melted
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 c cream cheese
½ c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Shredded Yams & Squash Casserole

This year will be the fourth Thanksgiving that Judson and I have been married, and the third that we'll be celebrating in the UK. When I was in undergrad and lived in Paris, Thanksgiving was just about the only time I felt really, truly homesick. This could have something to do with the fact that I had a full day of class on Thanksgiving (and Black Friday), but since then, I haven't minded too much dealing with Thanksgiving in the UK. It's still kind of weird celebrating a holiday here that no one else is observing, but we celebrate on the weekend before and it's still a lovely time to get together with new friends (American or not), eat good food, and, for me, make all the recipes I've bookmarked since the year before.

I love Thanksgiving-- it's not my favourite holiday (that would be Halloween, followed by New Year's Eve), but I just adore Thanksgiving. Having an excuse to meet with your friends, eat delicious food, and feel gratitude is a great tradition that I love taking part in every year... and in a year like this one, where so many tragedies seem to be taking over the news lately, I'm looking forward to remembering some of the things that I'm grateful for. 

More on that soon, but in the meantime, here are some new veggie recipes you can serve as a side dish with your Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving) dinner.

The verdict:
Shredded Yams:

2 spoons out of five. The directions on this recipe were exceedingly difficult to follow, and I feel fairly confident I messed something up. Shredding them took nearly half an hour, and the finished product was way to salty... but somehow, also too sweet. So I made some revisions and the final product (as written below) is much better-- at least 4 spoons out of five. I know the name of the recipe should be changed since they are obviously no longer shredded yams, but the name was too awesome to change and I couldn't think of a better one.

Squash Casserole:

3 spoons out of five. I couldn't find summer squash (I KNOW, how weird is that?) so I used a hokkaido squash and an acorn squash, and it was still great. If you like squash, you'll love this recipe-- I just am pretty indifferent to squash in general.

The recipe:

Shredded Yams

the directions:

Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
Peel and chop potatoes in bite-sized pieces, pouring into a large bowl full of water as you go (to keep potatoes orange).
Sprinkle salt in the bowl and stir well.
Drain potatoes and rinse well.
Pour potatoes into a shallow roasting pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together sugar, water, golden syrup, butter, and pineapple juice.
Pour mixture over potatoes and cook until yams are tender and stringy, approximately one hour.

Serves 6.

the ingredients:

1 lb raw sweet potatoes
½ tbs salt
½ c sugar
¼ c water
½ c golden syrup or corn syrup
1 oz butter
½ c pineapple juice

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the recipe:

Yellow Summer Squash Casserole

the directions:

Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
In boiling water, cook squash and onion for five minutes, then drain.
In a separate bowl, combine soup, water, sour cream, and carrots.
Fold in squash and onions, then set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, butter, and herbs.
Spread half of crumb mixture in a small baking dish, then spread squash mixture over the crumbs.
Sprinkle other half of crumbs over the squash, then bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Serves 6.

the ingredients:

1 lb summer squash or a mix of acorn and winter squash, sliced
¼ c onion, chopped
½ can condensed cream of chicken soup
½ c water
½ c sour cream
½ c carrots, coarsely grated
½ c bread crumbs
¼ c butter, melted
Herbs of your choice: I used 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, and a pinch each of thyme, nutmeg, dill, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Deluxe Pecan Pie

Last week, before the horror that unfolded in France, I wrote the below post about my birthday. In light of recent events, I deliberated for several days about whether or not to post this, but I've decided to proceed in light of the fact that Paris has always and will forever hold a special place in my heart. If you're equally heartbroken over the events of the last week, please consider donating to the Red Cross in your nation, who help cities all over the world pick up the pieces when tragedies like this week's unfold.

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Eating Nutella crepes on the banks of the seine, listening to the weeknd and hanging out with my friends. May life always include moments this perfect.

Remember how I warned you that I was going to be celebrating my birthday somewhere foreign, but that I didn't know where? Well, on the night before Halloween, Judson made the big reveal and told me we were heading to Paris for the week.

I was so excited, you guys. In case you don't remember from back in March, Paris has always been a super special place for me-- it was the first place I visited outside the US, I lived, studied, and worked there in uni and almost four years ago, Judson and I got married there. It's my favourite place.

See that island in the back? We got married there.

On the metro, with an accidental and irreversible filter with Kate.

And even though I've been there a thousand times-- maybe BECAUSE I've spent so much time there-- I was stoked. I knew instantly that this had been a vacation that Judson had planned with my interests in mind, and I knew it would be great.

So the next morning, we arrived in Paris, knocked on the door of the AirBnB where we were staying and, surprise, a pair of our closest friends from Atlanta answered the door. I gasped, and then I shrieked, and then I hugged everyone four or five times each. And that's when Judson told me the rest of the plan: we were spending half of the week in Paris, half of the week in Berlin, and then heading back to Edinburgh all together where we would hang out for the last few days of our vacation and get to show some of our best friends around our adopted home.

Of course we recreated my favourite photo from our wedding (Judson wore the same coat that daY).

Judson surprised me with tickets to a purity ring show in the marais, and we had a lot of fun selfie-ing before it.

But the next morning, it got even better when, in the middle of breakfast at a nearby cafe, one of my best friend's from grad school walked up to our table as though everything was totally normal and I realised she was joining us for the week, too!

Not only did I get to bean around in my favourite city in the world with some of my very favourite people, but then we got to explore a brand new city none of us had ever visited, and we got to show off Edinburgh to boot. It was, quite honestly, the best birthday I've ever had. We saw some amazing sites in Paris, I got to fulfill my French-speaking quota for at least another year, and I added three more dear friends to the list of people I've visited Paris with. And then in Berlin, we ate the most amazing food, drank excessive amounts of German beer, stayed in an converted factory, and generally just enjoyed each other's company. (I even ate real German sauerbraten-- Eleanor would be so proud!)

The louvre courtyard on our first night in Paris with John and lacey. 

I feel like this  photo sums up our relationship pretty accurately. Me thinking whatever i said was totally normal, kate trying to act like she's not thinking i'm weird.

Judson and john in the castle where we ate dinner on the night of my (and Lacey's!) birthday.

Even after we returned to Edinburgh, though, the fun vacation continued as we got to show two new friends around town, and share more amazing memories with Kate, who lived here for the first year Judson and I were here in Scotland. I don't know how to capture for you just how special the week was for me, but I will forever be grateful to Judson for planning this amazing party for me, and to John, Lacey, and Kate for coming all the way to Europe to celebrate my birthday with me.

I'm so grateful to Kate for agreeing to travel to a city she already had been to (Paris) and then a city where she had once lived (Edinburgh). Special shoutout to John and Lacey, as this was their first time out of the country and they kept it a complete secret from all social media so that I would be surprised, and a double shoutout to Lacey because she and I share a birthday (she is one year to the day younger than me), so she agreed to come celebrate my birthday in clandestine fashion even though her own birthday was happening at the same time. And I have the big, huge, mega-insane thanks to give to Judson, for knowing me so well that he knew what would be the best way to ring in 30 for me: surrounded by my favourite people in my favourite place in the whole world.

So I turned 30. The world kept spinning, I kept having fun with my friends, I haven't found any wrinkles, and on the day of my actual birthday, Lacey and I were mistaken for a 24 and 25-year-old, so it's not all bad. In fact, it's all pretty great.

Judson and lacey were much less enthralled with the eiffel tower than me, Kate, and john.

Picnic at sacre-coeur, because with autumn weather like this, who needs the indoors?

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If you're getting your Thanksgiving menu together and you need some inspiration, look no further than this pecan pie. It's insanely decadent without being overly saccharine thanks to the use of golden syrup (and a smidge of black treacle or molasses if you can get your hands on it!), and the added colour gives it a deep, toasty flavour and look that will make your entire house smell amazing. The best part is that the ratio of pecans to filling is so perfect that you don't get that weird 'floating pecan on top of an inch of sugary filling' thing that many basic pecan pie recipes give you, and it all comes together in a single bowl, no mixer needed. Make this pie and enjoy it with all those that you love.

yours won't be nearly this dark if you skip the treacle.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. It's easy, it's cosy and filling and it has a better depth of flavour than most pecan pies I've said. That said: if you can't find golden syrup (and I don't know where you would be able to stateside) you can make this just as easily with corn syrup-- but you might want to cut out ½ tablespoon or so of the amount below so that the filling ratio still stays like it is in mine.

The recipe:

Deluxe Pecan Pie

the directions:

Preheat oven to 175C/350F and prepare your pie crust, then set aside.
In large bowl, stir together eggs, golden syrup, treacle, sugar, butter, and vanilla until well-blended. Mixture will be thick, so stir well to make sure it's uniform.
Stir in pecans until mixed throughout.
Pour into pie crust and bake 40-50 minutes until it's not completely liquid but still not set all the way (filling will set upon cooling).
Let cool well before serving.

the ingredients:

1 unbaked pie crust (your favourite recipe)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
¾ c golden syrup
¼ c black treacle or molasses (optional, but if you don't use these, then replace with an additional ¼ c of golden syrup)
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ c pecans