Cookies and Cream Cheesecake

It's a sad afternoon here in the B house....we have just come to the end of 4 lovely days off and whilst this morning we woke up feeling like we had definitely had more then the normal 2 days off, it was over all too quickly, and here we are, Sunday evening with work in the morning....massive thumbs down to that!

So before I disappear into Sunday night misery, let's talk about how Mr B and I spent our 4 days off.

On Thursday Mr B did some work outside while I stayed inside and had a craft day. I think I have told you all before that I make my own jewellery and I also sell it too. Anyway recently I was looking for a new way to present my items and then I remembered my old stamping kit! When I was younger my Mum and I got right into stamping and we had all the gadgets and the ink pads and the embossing powders and we used to always make our own Christmas cards and Birthday cards and it was so much fun. I really enjoyed getting back into it and I am so happy with the outcome. Here is a pair of earrings that I made on one of my new backing cards....

Then on Friday Mr B and I went shopping for some furniture to go in our new pergola, we have our eye on a wine barrel for the table, but we can't find any barstools to go with it - everywhere expects you to buy the stools as part of a set with a matching table, but we will keep looking. We also caught up with our friends and their beautiful baby for lunch, I got my nails done, Mr B got a tetanus shot, we had a nanna nap and followed our tradition of watching the long weekend fireworks.

On Saturday Mr B did some more work outside and I tackled my To-Do list (damn that To-Do list!). It started with a visit to Mum and Dad who had just returned home from a week away and boy was it good to see them! Next stop was the grocery shop, oh how I hate grocery shopping, the supermarket is like a big black hole, you walk in and rush around and you walk out loaded up to the eyeballs with heavy bags and all of a sudden an hour has gone by! Then by the time you get home and unload, it turns into a half day job! Anyway, my next stop was right down in town - I was headed to the local craft superstore to check out their range of stamping stuff. After my little play around the other day I was keen to get back into it. As it turns out, the world of stamping has jumped ahead in leaps and bounds and there were little tiny thin adhesive stamps that you stuck onto big clear blocks to use and to be honest I just wanted some tried and true wooden stamps. I did leave with plenty of ideas though.

My next stop was a local organic health food store that I have been dying to spend some time exploring. Oh my goodness how much fun did I have. I have had a hankering for muesli lately, but not your regular supermarket muesli, I wanted specific things in it, like banana and coconut and big juicy sultanas and I didn't want 'weird' stuff in it, like paw-paw - I have issues with dried glace style fruit in my muesli. I did a couple of laps of the store just to get a feel for everything and then I grabbed my basket and loaded it with all the goodies I could find. Did I mention the peanut butter?? I have always wanted to make my own peanut butter and with the peanut butter hating Mr B nowhere to be seen, I pounced on the machine and added some freshly made crunchy peanut butter to my basket too! Now I just have to wait until next weekend to actually try my muesli creation.....

Last night Mr B had a craving for pizza so we descended on Pizza Capers and managed to demolish 3 delicious pizzas -all of which, totally unintentionally, had potato on them.....chicken and potato, potato and bacon, potato, rosemary and beef.....hello potato pizza heaven. Then we waddled our way to the movies and watched Frankenweenie 3D, Mr B has been dying to see it and frankly if it stops him walking around saying 'Frankenweenie!' all the time, then I'm willing to give it a go, plus it was a Tim Burton film and you generally can't go wrong there!

And today - the last day of our 4 days off, and the first day of sunshine so it was time to get out and make the most of it! After our usual Sunday morning Egg and Bacon breakfast, we jumped on the bikes and hit the road. The last time we went for a ride it was super windy and I got blown around all over the show which led to me totally freaking out and bursting into tears....I have been really hesitant about getting back on the bike, but I knew the longer I left it, the harder it would be. Mr B and I had such a lovely ride, the sun was shining, the road was quiet and to top it all off we stopped up at Meadowbank Dam for a laze around in the sunshine.

Do you know what would have made that laze around in the sunshine absolutely perfect? Obviously, it was sunny and warm and I had my gorgeous Mr B there with me....but some cookies and cream cheesecake would have just topped it off nicely! Mr B and I have demolished this cheesecake for dessert over the last week and to be honest, this is not a Mrs B creation, this one was all Mr B's doing! If you want to whip one of these babies up for yourself, here's how it's done....

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake (Updated November 2013)

3 x 150g pkts Oreo Cookies (I used 2 x chocolate and 1 x classic)
50g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 tspn gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
2 tbspn lemon juice
1 cup thickened cream

Place 1 pkt of the oreos into the bowl of a food processor and process until they are down to fine crumbs.

Add the melted butter and mix well. Press the mixture into the base of a lined 20cm springform pan and place in the fridge.

Place the remaining biscuits into the food processor and process so that they are broken up into small chunks, but not to the point where they are crumbs, you want chunks of biscuit in your cheesecake!

Whip the cream and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the lemon juice and gelatin and beat until just combined. Gently fold through the whipped cream.

Stir through the cookie chunks and pour the filling into the prepared crust. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set.

Now when we made this cheesecake we thought 'well you know it's not huge, but if we get 2-3 nights out of it that will be great.' 5 nights later we are still going!! I made some lindt chocolate whipped cream to go with it and it was superb.

Well there is no avoiding it...time for lasagne, followed by pancakes....ice cream....bed!!

Mrs B xx