Oreo Cheesecake

Good Morning! Who's excited for a short work week? I cannot wait to get to Minny and see my sister...we are gonna have a blast. Today is an especially tough one for us, because exactly 3 years ago, we lost our Dad to Pancreatic Cancer. Thanksgiving will never have the same meaning for us...but at least we will always be together at this time of year to celebrate him.  And what a sweet fiance I have....he misses Thanksgiving with his family every year, so that he can support me on that day. 

Miss you Daddy!

On a lighter note, this past weekend was busy, busy, busy! Friday night started with a dinner party in honor of our friends move to MS.

Melissa brought IGE's Sweet and Spicy Pepper Jelly Dip for an appetizer! Delicious...

Megan still thinks our 50 and 60 lb dogs are LAP dogs. She picks them up every single time she comes over.

And they love her for it :)

Dinner was a big Pizza Baked Ziti. I call it that because it includes spicy sausage AND pepperoni.

Followed by Oreo Cheesecake!

Eric waited patiently...

We are SO going to miss these guys!

Saturday night was surprise date night! I'll give you more details on that later- I have A LOT of food and fun details to share. It was a great night.

Yesterday was spent with Jeff's family. Erik smoked 3 pork butts and made a yellow (my favorite!) and red BBQ sauce for it. So good!

A lot of hanging out with the cutest kids in the world!

Someone was tuckered out from all the excitement...

Such a sweet little guy.

Okay, now for the recipe for today. Oreo cheesecake! This is a pretty easy dessert, that looks much more complicated. Start by crushing 30 oreos.

Next, add in some melted butter and press the mixture into the bottom of your springform pan. Then, mix up your filling.

And add in some more crushed oreos and pour the filling on top of the crust....

Bake it for about an hour or so (I let mine go about 5-10 minutes too long, but it still came out ok). Once it's cooked through, place it into the fridge for about 3 hours to chill. Drizzle the top with melted chocolate and add more oreos to garnish it.

OREO CHEESECAKE

Adapted from Kraft

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, divided

1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) butter, melted

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup  sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

4 eggs

Make It

PREHEAT oven to 325°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 300°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Place 30 of the cookies in resealable plastic bag. Flatten bag to remove excess air, then seal bag. Finely crush cookies by rolling a rolling pin across the bag. Place in bowl. Add butter; mix well. Press firmly onto bottom of pan.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Chop or crush remaining cookies. Gently stir 1-1/2 cups of the chopped cookies into cream cheese batter. Pour over crust; sprinkle with the remaining chopped cookies.

BAKE 1 hour and 10 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Cut into 16 pieces. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.