Last weekend was my little sister’s 29th Birthday! Emma has never been a dessert girl but since I was the one hosting her birthday dinner this year there was no way I was going to miss out on the opportunity to try and convert her to the sweet side. I gave her a call and had a lengthy discussion over what type of desserts she sometimes enjoys and what exactly it is that she dislikes about other desserts. What it came down to was that she doesn’t like plain old cake…she thinks it’s boring. She does like however: crumbles, pies and cheesecakes. I decided I would try to give her a bit of everything she loves in a dessert. This NY Cheesecake has it all, minus a pie crust.

FOR THE CAKE:

FOR THE BLUEBERRY SAUCE:

FOR THE CRUMBLE:

Make this ahead of time

• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup old fashioned or quick cooking oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 butter, cubed and softened

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl or stand mixer, mix the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, salt and butter with a fork or paddle attachment until crumbly. Spread mixture out on a baking sheet and bake for 7-10 min. Keep an eye on it as the sugar will burn quickly since the crumble is not on top of fruit while it is cooking like crumble normally is. When it is golden remove it from the oven and scrape it into a bowl. Once you have assembled the cheesecake top it off with as much crumble as your heart desires.

*Please note this crumble is quite crunchy, it’s more like a candy topping than a traditional crumble due to the fact that it is baked separately on a baking sheet.

I love Pea soup, my Husband loves pea soup. Unfortunately we do not love the same Pea soup. My favourite is Habiton pea soup in a can mmmmmmm! I love it so much it is guaranteed that I will not be able to wait for it to cook before I have jumped in spoon first to the cold pot of soup. Kegan on the other hand was born in Montreal and grew up eating and loving traditional french-Canadian split pea soup. Because of this I have learned to love and appreciate both styles. Recently we spent a week at his family cottage in the Laurentians, it was cold….. but oh so cozy and we spent our time eating every comfort food you could imagine. Meat pie,Chicken pot pie,lasagna, Mac’n cheese, shepards pie and Split pea soup from a local restaurant. It is this soup that I have tried to recreate. I am not saying it’s the same…at all but it’s the same style and it made Kegan very happy.

•  2 tbl butter
• 2 ½ cups of dried yellow split peas
• 1 small bunch of carrots,peeled and chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 med Onion,diced
• 1 Leek,chopped
• 1 smoked ham hock ( 1lb )
• 1tsp dried Thyme
• 1tsp dried Savoury
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot sweat the onions,leeks,carrots and butter over   med-high heat until the onions become translucent about 5-7 min.
2. Add water ,split peas,ham hock,bay leaves,thyme and savoury.
3. Bring soup to a boil over high heat then reduce to med-low and simmer.Place lid on pot and let it go for about 3 hours or until the peas are soft and turning into a puree.
4. Remove the ham hock and pull the meat off of the bone. Now you can cut it into chunks. I like smaller chunks but if you like a bigger bite of meat go for it! Set meat aside ( do not put back into the pot as you will be using the immersion blender and will lose the yummy ham chunks )
5. remove the bay leaves.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Now you can use that immersion blender and make the soup as smooth as you like.If you prefer a chunkier soup skip this step.
8. Last but not least add the Ham and serve!

* Please note I used Ham that I had pre-cooked and in the freezer ( gasp! ) I know this sounds gross but I have a good reason for having a boat load of frozen pre-cooked ham in my freezer…it was from my baby shower that I didn’t get to go to as my water broke the morning of the shower. All the food was kindly packed up and sent to my home and whatever could be frozen was frozen.