A few more recipes

This past week has been a Christmas catering extravaganza for me. I made a lot of my favorites like artichoke stuffed potato bites and cake truffles but the two things that were new and never before attempted by me were a real hit. One of my big Christmas events is the Pharmacy Practice Department retreat. This is great because the last two years it has been held in Alex City at the rustic log cabins of Emily Mann. If my geography serves me right this area is a beginning point of the Appalachia, and the rolling hills and serenity as well as Emily's hospitality and the warmth of her home, make this a delightful place for a retreat. From breakfast in the morning through snack and lunch I get to work in Emily's kitchens and tempt everyone with the smells of cooking while they try to concentrate on their agenda. One of my culinary surprises this year was a cream cheese spread for the morning bagels that just came out of my head. Last year I put together a recipe I'd found in a Southern Living cookbook and had so much left over I decided it wasn't a hit. I'm not good at simple offerings like butter and plain cream cheese, there has to be something a little different so I checked out my pantry and decided to use some of the dried fruits I keep. I chopped dried apricots, cranberries and dates really fine and added the zest of an orange and juice squeezed from half an orange. It went, I came home and wrote down the recipe. The second surprise was the dessert. When Maggie Phillips and I were discussing the menu we agreed that last years apple pies were good but probably didn't fit as well with our chili offerings this year. I spent several days ruminating over what would be a good dessert when I came across a recipe for Sopapilla Cheesecake. My husband had mentioned to me that Sopapillas would make a great dessert and I gave him the "you've got to be kidding" look and proceeded to describe the labor intensive process of making them after which he agreed they were not ideal. When I found this recipe I decided to take a chance on it. It sounded a bit unorthodox but was to intriguing to pass up. I made it at the retreat because I thought it needed to be served warm and indeed it was good that way but the little bit I took home was equally wonderful cold. I had so many people ask me for the recipe that I will share that with you here.
2 - 8 oz. packages neufchatal cheese softened
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp Mexican vanilla extract
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Honey to drizzle
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray
Beat together the neufchatal, 1 cup sugar and vanilla, set aside.
Beat together the 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and butter, set aside.
Press one of the cans of crescent rolls into the bottom of the 13x9 pan. If you are using the pecans, sprinkle these over the dough. Spread the cheese mixture over the dough smoothing so it is fairly even. Carefully lay the 2nd container of crescent rolls over the cheese mixture. You can try to press the seams together before you transfer to the pan but I found it's just as easy to press them together once you lay it on top of the cheese. Drop the cinnamon butter mixture randomly all over the top of the dough. You don't have to spread it just put pinches of it all over the top. Bake this for 30 minutes or until it is nicely golden. When you pull it out of the oven drizzle honey liberally all over it.

I'd love to hear if you try these recipes what you think of them.