When Quilters Gather….

There is a dessert table!!!

And not just a dessert table….but a great buffet lunch table too. Let’s just admit it. We love our food as much as we love our fabric….

And it is going to take many more walk/jogs to burn off what I consumed yesterday!

There was NO shortage on CHOCOLATE, that is for sure! There were FOUR different kinds of brownies! And look at the chocolate cake with the white drizzle icing! There was a coconut pound cake that was so moist and delicious, and some other yummies, like peanut butter chocolate rice crispy treat bars....oh my! What is it they say about life being short, and eating dessert first?!

I think the one thing that took the cake CHEESECAKE were these:

DO YOU SEE THESE?!?? Oh My….these are Oreo Cookie Cheesecake Bars! And they were to die for. Seriously.

I posted the picture yesterday on the Quiltville Facebook page, and got many requests for the recipes, so here you go!

Oreo Cheesecake Bars!

What You Need

36 OREO Cookies, divided

1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided

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

1 cup sugar

1 cup Sour Cream

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

((I am assuming you can use the “light” version of both the cream cheese, and the sour cream…if you REALLY want to!))

Make It

HEAT oven to 325°F.

LINE 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides. Finely crush 24 cookies. Melt 1/4 cup butter; mix with crumbs. Press onto bottom of prepared pan.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each just until blended. Chop remaining cookies. Gently stir into batter; pour over crust.

BAKE 45 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate and remaining butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir until smooth. Cool slightly; spread over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve.

Tips:

How to Make Mess-Free Cookie Crumbs

Crushing cookies into crumbs can be a messy task. To keep the mess to a minimum, place the whole cookies in a zip-lock type plastic bag. Flatten bag to remove excess air, then seal bag. Crush the cookies into crumbs by rolling a rolling pin across the bag until the crumbs are as fine as you need.

How to Neatly Cut Dessert Bars

When cutting creamy-textured desserts, such as cheesecake, carefully wipe off the knife blade between cuts with a clean damp towel. This prevents the creamy filling from building up on the blade, ensuring clean cuts that leave the edges intact.

Not only did we eat, but we had a great time with the class! And this student won the prize for SEWING with Millenium Y2k fabric! It’s a classic!

I know, I know, you saw some of these yesterday. This is what happens when I teach the class two days in a row in two separate towns, but it was sure fun…

		Pineapple Blossom Workshop, Florence AL May 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m headed off to Winchester TN this morning – but before I do I need to spend some time packing up my room! I’ve been a sewing fool! And I really hit the mother lode on this one. I think THIS room makes up for the tiny-ness of that first room a week ago….just LOOK at this space!!

Wooowhoo!! Plenty of room for setting up my sew ezi table….I’ve tried sewing at these desks before, but the problem is that the desk chair never goes high enough, and I feel like an 8 year old trying to sew up above my shoulders….that’s why I brought the table this time.

Look at that counter!!! CUTTING TABLE HEIGHT! YAY!!!! Funny how little things can make a traveling itinerant quilter GIDDY!

Big TV…lots of NCIS, Law & Order and CSI have been enjoyed during my evenings here!

But the best is yet to come! I’m to be the guest of Miss Diane of Treadle-fame! She’s got my new baby hand crank all ready to roll for me, and we get to play for a couple days before I give a lecture to the Material Girls Guild in Winchester on Friday, and a Virginia Bound Workshop on Saturday! I’ve got some string piecing blocks with me, and I think that will be a perfect thing to learn to control the hand crank with. And she promised me some treadle lessons too! I’ve got a few treadle machines, but honestly? I’ve not sewn on ANY Of them. I wish there was someone in my area who could help me get them up to par, because I’d love to use them.

So….off I go to pack up the bomb that has exploded in my little haven of a room here….and the journey continues!