So the boyfriend was beggin for cheesecake, but more importantly he was begging for cheesecake for his grandfather's birthday party/everyone in his family who was born in January. Well, I can't remember ever having made a cheesecake before so I decided to practice first. I used a recipe from Alton Brown for a sourcream cheesecake. It came out amazing, but was missing some extra something to make it mine. So the boyfriend suggested adding orange zest and ginger. This turned out amazing!! We also decided to forgo the traditional graham cracker crust and instead made ours out of ginger snaps. Delicious!
Well here's about the recipe we used:
Crust:
38 ginger snaps, crushed but still with big chunks.
1 stick of butter, melted
Filling:
1 1/4c sour cream
20 oz cream cheese (2.5 packages)
1 c sugar
2 eggs
5 egg yolks
1/3 c heavy cream
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 tbs cinnamon
1/2 tbs nutmeg
1 tbs orange zest
1/2 tbs grated ginger
Preheat your oven to 300. Butter a springform pan or line a regular pan with parchment paper. Mix ginger snaps and butter til coated and spread evenly in bottom of pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 300 F. Lower oven temp to 250
In a stand mixer mix sour cream on low for about 30 seconds. Add cream cheese and sugar, mix on low until sugar is wet. Then turn up to medium and mix until smooth. In another bowl mix together eggs, cream, and vanilla. Pour this mixture slowly into mixer, scraping down bowl halfway through. Once this is smooth add the cinnamon and nutmeg. The mix should be speckled. Then add the orange zest and ginger and mix it well making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to get any bits that the paddle misses. Once the mixture is super smooth pour it into the pan with the crust. Put this pan into a larger pan. If you are using a springform surround it with foil to prevent leaks. Fill the larger pan with warm water just covering the crust line of the smaller pan. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour at 250 F. After an hour, turn off the oven and open the door for 1 minute. Then shut the oven door and leave in oven 1 more hour. Place in refridgerator for another 3-4 hours or overnight if you can.
That's all I did, but feel free to garnish with more gingersnaps or orange slices if you would like!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday, December 26, 2009
About to be off the grid for 1 week!
I love cruises, you go to sleep in place and wake up in a completely new place. It's amazing, except of course for the motion sickness, which seems to only affect me. But it's not too bad. But anyways, we're debark tomorrow on Royal Caribbean and head to Honduras, Cozumel, and somewhere else.
But one of the "wonderful" things about cruises is that on the ocean, or gulf, or sea, there is not internet unless you want to pay the outrageous fee the cruise line charges. And I of course do not, so I will be without internet for one whole week! No facebook, no blog, no explosm, no email, and for the most part no texting! How will I ever survive?
That is very simply answered with all sorts of things! All sorts of buffets, work out rooms, volleyball courts, games, and when we land all sorts of things to do at each port! I'm very excited about all the things that I can do and only slightly worried about not being connected to the rest of the world. The cruise will be a nice break from the constant life updates of facebook, not that I mind knowing what everyone is doing of course, but still it will be nice to wonder.
So I bid you farewell online world, for at least a little while.
But one of the "wonderful" things about cruises is that on the ocean, or gulf, or sea, there is not internet unless you want to pay the outrageous fee the cruise line charges. And I of course do not, so I will be without internet for one whole week! No facebook, no blog, no explosm, no email, and for the most part no texting! How will I ever survive?
That is very simply answered with all sorts of things! All sorts of buffets, work out rooms, volleyball courts, games, and when we land all sorts of things to do at each port! I'm very excited about all the things that I can do and only slightly worried about not being connected to the rest of the world. The cruise will be a nice break from the constant life updates of facebook, not that I mind knowing what everyone is doing of course, but still it will be nice to wonder.
So I bid you farewell online world, for at least a little while.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Why does "A Christmas Carol" even exist?
I'm currently watching Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" wondering as I do so how the story works. We're all familiar with the story: Scrooge is a grouchy old man with no love for his fellow men, Bob Cratchit is his hard working assistant, there's Tiny Tim and Jacob Marley, but my question deals more with Fred, his nephew and a little with Bob.
Neither Fred nor Bob knows the backstory of Scrooge. Neither knows about the horrible family, the father that didn't love him, the loss of his true love. Yet both continually wish him Merry Christmas, neither abandon him because of his shortcomings.
They are tried and tested to the limits of their sanity I'm sure. Scrooge refuses to acknowledge his good natured, yet poor nephew even though the nephew asks nothing of him.
Bob continues to work for Scrooge even though his boss cares nothing about his sick son, or the level of poverty his employee is forced to live in because of his stinginess and greed.
Why do they not abandon Scrooge? Why do they not turn away from him? He is after all, a horrible old man that seems unlovable. He doesn't learn from the people around him, he doesn't listen to their helpful advice and explanations. He cares nothing about them and refuses to help himself even though he could. He even seems to turn down the help of Jacob Marley, and we can assume he was the same type of man to Marley as he is to everyone else.
I believe I've come to know the answer to this question. They love him, even with all of shortcomings and vices. They love him and accept him as he is even though they wish he were different.
Why is this important to understanding the story? Because if they had not loved him, if they had left him after one too many blow ups and mistakes he would have learned nothing. Jacob Marley cared for him and came back to save him from his own mistakes. His family and friends love for him even though he was horrible saved him and is what changed him.
Even after a questioning of faith, even after a loss of faith I can still see the parallel between this story and that of Jesus.
Jesus we all know was persecuted unjustly, he gave those around him chances to repent, he warned his apostles of what would happen. Yet no one listened or believed. Even after all this he sacrificed himself to save them. Because of love.
This quality of love I speak of, if real, cannot be affected by loved ones mistakes and mess ups. While some people can push us to our limits and infuriate us with their mistakes and shortcomings, there is always the quality of love to save them. We love people not because they are perfect but because they are imperfect. We love because we recognize our own imperfections and know that if we can find someone that completes us those imperfections no longer matter. We love because we can, just as Fred and Bob loved not because Scrooge loved them but because they truly loved the old man.
I feel as if I could write on this topic all night, but I've rambled long enough.
Neither Fred nor Bob knows the backstory of Scrooge. Neither knows about the horrible family, the father that didn't love him, the loss of his true love. Yet both continually wish him Merry Christmas, neither abandon him because of his shortcomings.
They are tried and tested to the limits of their sanity I'm sure. Scrooge refuses to acknowledge his good natured, yet poor nephew even though the nephew asks nothing of him.
Bob continues to work for Scrooge even though his boss cares nothing about his sick son, or the level of poverty his employee is forced to live in because of his stinginess and greed.
Why do they not abandon Scrooge? Why do they not turn away from him? He is after all, a horrible old man that seems unlovable. He doesn't learn from the people around him, he doesn't listen to their helpful advice and explanations. He cares nothing about them and refuses to help himself even though he could. He even seems to turn down the help of Jacob Marley, and we can assume he was the same type of man to Marley as he is to everyone else.
I believe I've come to know the answer to this question. They love him, even with all of shortcomings and vices. They love him and accept him as he is even though they wish he were different.
Why is this important to understanding the story? Because if they had not loved him, if they had left him after one too many blow ups and mistakes he would have learned nothing. Jacob Marley cared for him and came back to save him from his own mistakes. His family and friends love for him even though he was horrible saved him and is what changed him.
Even after a questioning of faith, even after a loss of faith I can still see the parallel between this story and that of Jesus.
Jesus we all know was persecuted unjustly, he gave those around him chances to repent, he warned his apostles of what would happen. Yet no one listened or believed. Even after all this he sacrificed himself to save them. Because of love.
This quality of love I speak of, if real, cannot be affected by loved ones mistakes and mess ups. While some people can push us to our limits and infuriate us with their mistakes and shortcomings, there is always the quality of love to save them. We love people not because they are perfect but because they are imperfect. We love because we recognize our own imperfections and know that if we can find someone that completes us those imperfections no longer matter. We love because we can, just as Fred and Bob loved not because Scrooge loved them but because they truly loved the old man.
I feel as if I could write on this topic all night, but I've rambled long enough.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Studying during finals...preposterous!!
I recently (like 5 minutes ago) looked at a calendar and realized I have a 6 page paper due tomorrow, a 12 page paper due on Wednesday, and Classical Greek language final on Wednesday!!! And I've been making cookies!!! Now, it occurred to me that I should start working on these papers, and study for the final. So instead I'm writing this!
But really, I opened a word document to start writing the first paper and realized the prompt is at the boyfriend's house. He is not home, he is studying. His door is locked. So, I will instead brainstorm what I remember about the paper and then write it frantically once he returns home for the night.
But really, I opened a word document to start writing the first paper and realized the prompt is at the boyfriend's house. He is not home, he is studying. His door is locked. So, I will instead brainstorm what I remember about the paper and then write it frantically once he returns home for the night.
Friday, December 11, 2009
3rd and 4th cookies!!
Well, I quickly flew through the 3rd and 4th cookies of the platter. The first of which was Peppermint Meltaways:
1 c butter softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1-1/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 c cornstarch
Frosting:
2 tbsp butter softened
1-1/2 c powered sugar
2 tbsp milk (I added a touch more milk to get a smoother consistency)
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
2-3 drops red food coloring
1/2 c crushed peppermint candies
1. In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
2. Shape into 1 in balls. Place 2 in apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.
3. In a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, extract and food coloring; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in an airtight container.
These cookies were super easy to make and I knocked them out in about 45 minutes! The icing was fun to apply, with a butter knife. It was also quite fun to smash the candies...I did so by leaving them in their wrapping and hitting them with a rolling pin.
After these were done, I moved onto just simple chocolate chip cookies. Now I prize this recipe and it will be included on the recipe cards that come with each platter, but I won't be posting it here. However, this recipe makes a lot of cookies! And they always seem to turn out very well, even if sometimes the oven gets too hot, or I forget to turn on a timer.
Since it made so many cookies, after this batch I decided to enjoy some cookies and milk and watch A Nightmare Before Christmas! Great night over all if I do say so myself!
2nd cookie of the Saga!!
Well I made my first attempt at candy making and failed horribly. I attempted the butterscotch hard candy...however I burned it badly and don't want to discuss it any more.
But I have gotten half way through the making of the 2nd cookie... The Chocolate Espresso Ribbon Cookie!
This cookie takes a while and is in the fridge chilling right now. So I have time to list the recipe.
1 pouch sugar cookie mix
1 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 c butter softened
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1/3 c bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 c crushed chocolate covered espresso beans (I get mine from Target, they're cheaper than Starbucks)
1/3 c coarsely chopped toasted almond
1. Line 9-5 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, flour. butter, almond extract, and egg until soft dough forms. Divide dough in half; place half of dough in another bowl. Stir melted chocolate into half of dough. To remaining half of dough, mix in espresso beans and almonds.
2. Firmly press half of chocolate dough evenly in bottom of loaf pan. Evenly press half of espresso dough over chocolate dough in pan. Repeat with remaining chocolate dough and espresso dough. Fold plastic wrap over dough to cover. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
3. Heat oven to 350F. Remove dough from pan; unwrap. Place dough on cutting board. Cut dough crosswise into 4 equal pieces. Cut each piece crosswise into 12 slices. On ungreased cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart.
4. Bake 9-10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.
While this was chilling in the fridge I cleaned the kitchen to get ready for the next batch, and relaxed in front of the fire watching The Grinch and drinking egg nog.
So now the espresso cookies are done...and I in my infinite wisdom forgot to take pictures of the finished product before packing them away.
Attire for grocery shopping
This morning I found myself dressed in fleece penguin pj bottoms and a button down fleece polar bear pj top.
I realized I needed some key ingredients to continue my baking today. As I went outside to my car I realized what I was wearing and then began to have an internal argument about whether or not it was socially acceptable to go dressed the way I was.
My first instinct was of course this is fine, go to the store, who cares what other people think. But then a second voice took over. What about your new goal of dressing for each day, and not looking like a hobo? And then of course I had to ask myself why I felt the need to dress a certain way just because other people were going to see me. Was it because I felt that I needed their acceptance into their mundane days, did I need a nod of approval in order to feel that my attempts at dressing myself were praiseworthy? And if so, why? Why could I just not go to the store dressed as I pleased for a cold winter day? Why could these people also go to the store dressed in whatever attire made them the most comfortable? And then my head started to hurt.
So I compromised, I went inside and put on a fleece pullover so that I didn't look like an abnormally tall 6 year old. As I was driving to the store I wondered what I had compromised? My individuality, my ability to choose to dress myself as a I wished? Did I not compromise and instead conform? But if I was not conforming and instead actually cared about my appearance, is that the same as conforming to other's ideals? Are my ideas of appropriate dress simply caused by what my peers think is appropriate dress? And do I really choose my own style, or does everything around me choose it instead?
Oh well...too philosophical for me. I'm going to stick with cookies. Which I've wondered recently why isn't it making me any money. I'm good at baking, I enjoy baking, others enjoy my baked goods? Why haven't I marketed this yet and how do I go about doing it?
I realized I needed some key ingredients to continue my baking today. As I went outside to my car I realized what I was wearing and then began to have an internal argument about whether or not it was socially acceptable to go dressed the way I was.
My first instinct was of course this is fine, go to the store, who cares what other people think. But then a second voice took over. What about your new goal of dressing for each day, and not looking like a hobo? And then of course I had to ask myself why I felt the need to dress a certain way just because other people were going to see me. Was it because I felt that I needed their acceptance into their mundane days, did I need a nod of approval in order to feel that my attempts at dressing myself were praiseworthy? And if so, why? Why could I just not go to the store dressed as I pleased for a cold winter day? Why could these people also go to the store dressed in whatever attire made them the most comfortable? And then my head started to hurt.
So I compromised, I went inside and put on a fleece pullover so that I didn't look like an abnormally tall 6 year old. As I was driving to the store I wondered what I had compromised? My individuality, my ability to choose to dress myself as a I wished? Did I not compromise and instead conform? But if I was not conforming and instead actually cared about my appearance, is that the same as conforming to other's ideals? Are my ideas of appropriate dress simply caused by what my peers think is appropriate dress? And do I really choose my own style, or does everything around me choose it instead?
Oh well...too philosophical for me. I'm going to stick with cookies. Which I've wondered recently why isn't it making me any money. I'm good at baking, I enjoy baking, others enjoy my baked goods? Why haven't I marketed this yet and how do I go about doing it?
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