Cheesecake and Swimming Dog

A few weeks ago I posted that I wanted to make some jams and liqueur. Here's the update:

1) Made 6 jars (8oz) of cherry jam.

2) Made 6 jars (8oz) of double-berry (Blueberry & Raspberry) jam.

3) Prepared 2 pint size jars of each Cherry and Red Raspberry for liqueur. Will be straining the fruits out this weekend and add sugar to the vodka. Then let it "age" for 6 months and I'll have Cherry liqueur and Raspberry liqueur.

Also made a cheesecake using the Blueberry & Raspberry jam 2 weeks ago. It was delicious! Here's the recipe for the cheesecake, it's really a very simple recipe from kraftfoods.com. This is my "go to" recipe for cheesecake and I always add different things to it to "spice" it up.

Double-berry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 premade graham cracker crust

2 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 - 1/2 cup blueberry-raspberry jam

A handful of fresh blueberries, crushed

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, mix well. Scrape sides of bowl. Add vanilla.

3) This next step is totally up to you: you could mix the jam and the crushed blueberries in with the cream cheese or you could pour 1/2 of the mix in the crust and mix the other 1/2 with jam and blueberries.

4) Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hrs before serving.

Now go make this cheesecake and your family will love you even more! :)

I will leave you with a video of Samantha, taken during our June camping trip.