Got this recipe on foodnetwork.com from Ina Garten and then adapted it to suit my kitchen and family. I don’t know what the original version was suppose to taste like but mine was heaven. I doubt it could get much better than my end product.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼  Cup plus 2 T flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼-1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 4 medium-diced white boiling potatoes,
• 1 can corn (2 if you like lots)
• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 4 ounces Monterey cheese, grated

Directions

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the corn to the soup, then add the half-and-half and cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.

My kids are really into telling jokes right now. Here are a few that they are rattling off to me as I type,

Ozzy: Why does a horse eat cars?
Mom: Why?
Ozzy: It does not have surgery?

Jaren: Knock Knock
Mom: who’s there
Jaren: Ang
Mom: Ang who?
Jaren: Ang fighting underwear

Jaren: Where does the dentist go to on vacation? To Misses boy hair

Ozzy: knock knock
Mom: who’s there
Ozzy: why does a phone eat
Mom: why?
Ozzy: because they like garbage

Jaren: Why does a phone jump? Because it doesn’t have legs.
Jaren: Where did moms phone go before school? To happiness

Ok. I know these are random and none of them seem to make sense but they sure do make me laugh! So I guess technically they are good jokes right?

Best cheesecake I have ever made and quite possibly the best I have ever tasted. Some of you were looking for the recipe so here it is. It is a recipe I adapted from online. If you want the original recipe I am sure you can Google the title and find it so you can see what changes I made.

Almost Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup gingerbread cookies crumbs
• 2 T brown sugar packed (for crust)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar ( for cheese cake)
• Salt
• 2 pounds cream cheese , at room temperature (very important)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brush a 10-inch springform pan with butter. Stir the remaining butter with the crumbs, brown sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the springform pan with foil (make sure there are no holes) and place in a roasting pan. (Maybe double the foil to be sure there are no holes)

Beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream. Put ¼ cup of mixture aside for later.  Add the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt, and the spices and beat until just combined. Pour into the cooled crust. Mix set aside batter with 1-2 T milk to thin out and pour on top. Swirl with knife for a decorative design. I lined a 12 in springform pan with foil on the inside and then pour hot water (the hotter the better) in the pan till it covers the bottom and place the smaller 10 in springform pan with foil on the bottom inside. It fits like a glove.

Place the pans in the oven. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the door briefly to let out some heat. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from the roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Bring the cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove the springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of the whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with the toasted pecans.

We have been earning check marks for toys the last couple months. (Not a system I am that fond of to be honest.) Anyway Jaren has to earn 10 check marks to get a toy. Both the boys were so good tonight. They cleaned a VERY messy room all by themselves without complaint. They got ready for bed including brushing of teeth without me nagging. They went straight upstairs and got ready for scriptures and prayers when we asked. I told them that for being so great tonight they could both have a check mark.

When I went to give Jaren his checkmark it looked like he had already done it.  He told me that I told him previously that he had earned a check mark for getting dressed and helping out with Tyler earlier today. I couldn’t remember and told him not to worry that I would give him a chance to earn his check mark tomorrow. We kissed the boys after bedtime routine and left.

10 minutes or so later as I was sitting down to Quickbooks and Jaren came out looking timid with watery eyes. I asked him what was up. He explained again what he told me earlier about his check mark. I asked him if he was telling me the truth and he assured me he was so I handed him a pen and told him to go give himself a check mark.

He came back in tears. I asked him what was wrong. “Mom, I’m just so happy,” he said and then started just bawling and hugging me. It was so precious! I can’t describe the wonderful feeling of love and joy that came over me. I know it was a piece of heaven having him in my arms, both of us crying because we were so happy. He is such a sweet and innocent little boy. Its a memory I will cherish. I hope it is something he holds on too also.

The neighbors have way more leaves than we do. Right now the house is empty and we can just keep raking the leaves into piles for the boys.

I love this picture. The leaves in the air falling around Ozzy are so cool.

Jaren showing off his moves.

Another great one of  Oz. I like this pic so much that I might have Bry post process it and hang it on the wall.

Jaren lost his first tooth Wed Nov 4th. The tooth fairy brought him $1 and a coupon for a free David’s Ice (he has a small infatuation for the place.) He keeps putting everything through the hole in his mouth to see if it “fits” in the crack. He also keeps telling me things like, “Mom, its my first piece of candy with a lost tooth; Mom, its my first time seeing Grandma with a lost tooth; Mom, its my first time going to a parade with my lost tooth; etc..” Its pretty entertaining.

This is the first year we did the family theme costume gig. I think it went over pretty well. Jaren and Ozzy really wanted to be Star Wars characters this year so we went along with it.

I love Ozzy’s face in this one. He looks like more of the bad guy than the Jedi, Obi One. Jaren is Darth Maul.

Here is the family minus our little Ewok who was sound asleep and we didn’t have the heart to wake him up. If you cant tell Bry is Anikan and I am Queen Amadala.

Here is our little Ewok.

Ewok with a binky. I’m sure real Ewoks use binkies too. They are one of the greatest inventions EVER.

Bryant and I painted our faces  like Zombies this Halloween (aside from our Star Wars costumes) and went to the megaplex downtown. It was really fun. Here are some zombie shots.

Jaren did a self portrait and talked about himself on the last day of preschool last year. I have had the picture hung up in his bedroom since. Other things have become more important to him now so he took it down to make room for newer things. I couldn’t let this go without posting it.

This was our first year carving pumpkins with the kids. We ended up only carving one because the kids were so disgusted with the “guts” of the pumpkin. Ozzy repeatedly kept saying, “ewwww, pumpkin guts are yucky, stinky, gross, etc…”

This is the boys watching because they didn’t want to touch the pumpkin guts

Ewww!

Carving the face Jaren drew on paper for daddy

This is as close and excited as we could get Jaren to the pumpkin after it was finished.

Here is our other pumpkin.

His very first smile on camera!

A few weeks back we had a hail storm that lasted all of 20 minutes. Jaren got so excited when he saw it was snowing that he put his snow suit on and ran outside. By the time he actually made it out the hail had stopped and was already melting off the grass. He did not want to take his snow suit off, so he wore it the remainder of the day.